The joy of Pet Ownership

Reptiles are great!

dfaris@gomembers.com — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:33:00 GMT

This is the summary about how great reptiles are.

Golden Retreivers Rock

dfaris@gomembers.com — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:27:00 GMT

From Wikipedia -- The Golden Retriever is a breed of dog, historically developed as a gundog to retrieve shot waterfowl and upland game during hunting. As such they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and an instinctive love of water.Their intelligence and versatility sees them employed in a variety of roles including illegal drug detection, search and rescue, as hunting dogs and as guide dogs. Its friendly, eager-to-please and patient demeanor has also made it one of the most popular family dogs (by registration) in the world today.

The temperament of the Golden Retriever is a hallmark of the breed and is described in the standard as "kindly, friendly and confident". They are not "one man dogs" and are generally equally amiable with both strangers and those familiar to them.Their trusting, gentle disposition therefore makes them a poor guard dog. Any form of unprovoked aggression or hostility towards either people, dogs or other animals, whether in the show ring or community, is completely unacceptable in a Golden Retriever and is not in keeping with the character of the breed and as such is considered a serious fault. Nor should a Golden Retriever be unduly timid or nervous. The typical Golden Retriever is calm, naturally intelligent and biddable, with an exceptional eagerness to please.

Whether the object is a thrown stick, tennis ball, or flying disc, retrieving can keep a dog of this breed occupied and entertained for hours, particularly if water is also involved. Goldens might also pick up and "retrieve" any object that is near to them upon their masters' arrival, all of this lending to their retriever name

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I don't know why people like hamsters...

dfaris@gomembers.com — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:21:00 GMT

Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 18 species, classified in six or seven genera.

The name hamster is derived from the German word Hamstern, itself from earlier OHG hamustro, from ORuss choměstorǔ, which is either a blend of the root of Russ khomiak "hamster" and a Baltic word (cf. Lith staras "hamster") or of Iranian origin (cf. Av hamaēstar "oppressor")

Behavior can vary depending on their environment, genetics, and interaction with people. Because they are easy to breed in captivity, hamsters are often used as lab animals in more economically developed countries. Hamsters have also become established as popular small pets.

Hamsters are crepuscular. In the wild, they burrow underground in the daylight to avoid being caught by predators. Their diet contains a variety of foods, including dried food, berries, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables. In the wild they will eat any wheat, nuts and small bits of fruit and vegetables that they might find lying around on the ground, and will occasionally eat small insects such as small crickets or mealworms. They have elongated fur-lined pouches on both sides of their heads which extend to their shoulders, which they stuff full of food to be brought back to the colony or to be eaten later.

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