I Love Furry Dogs, But...

I have always said that if I owned a dog, it better be BIG.  I'm not too thrilled with 'pretend dogs'--although I think Westies are about the cutest damn things I have ever seen and would seriously consider getting one.

But, if I had my druthers, I would LOVE to have a dog like Banshee (see last post), an Alaskan malamute.  Other than being rather large and needing quite a bit of exercise, malamutes have one other thing that is annoying and that's the fact that they 'blow their coats' every year.  Now, my long-haired cat sheds, but when a malamute blows its coat, that is another thing altogether.  And if you have never experienced this, it is hard to imagine, so here is a picture of Banshee being brushed by her mom when she is blowing her coat:

 All of that white in the picture is NOT snow, that is her fur.  And the dogs that shed like this need to be brushed multiple times per week--especially during this phase.  This is just one more example of how important it is to research the type of pet you want to get before actually doing the getting--it would save a LOT of animals from being brought to the shelters.  AND this is one reason why I DON'T have a dog like this:  FAR too much upkeep.