Question about standing on your dog.

[trumad]

I have a beautiful Standard poodle. He's a big boy---about 65 pounds. I wanted to name him Dave Grohl but my daughter insisted we name him Miles.



I have been thinking about standing on him but I am uncertain if my weight is to much for him?

I weigh 220.

Now I've read here on DU that it's perfectly OK to stand on your dog. Some say it's the equivalent to standing on a horse.

I've been told that if he didn't like it, he'd move or bite me.

The thing is---my dog loves me and would never bite me. He's obedient and has been trained to do as I say.

The question is--- what weight is best suited for standing on your dog?

He's 65 pounds, I'm 220. It's there some kind of weight chart that will guide me?

Oh and one more question---if I do stand on him and here something crack--should I head to the Vet right away?

Thank you,

trumad

[el_bryanto]

1. In your case you should probably not stand on your dog.

It seems like you would seriously injure him.

Bryant

[smokey nj]

2. Miles is beautiful! I like that he doesn't have the usual poodle hairdo, they're so much cuter when

they keep their curls.

[arthritisR_US]

3. No weight is ok for standing on your dog. They

have a spine and like ours it can snap, the disc's can become dislocated and arthritic (I'm treating my 13 yr old fury for both right now).

In truth, some people shouldn't have children or pets. Some people are apologists so they can look so nice and agreeable. Those with humanity need to speak up against the morons who are oozing out from their narcissistic cocoons.

[mountain grammy]

28. "in truth, some people shouldn't have children or pets" So true!!

[Enthusiast]

32. +1

[get the red out]

4. I've been on a break from news sites lately

People here really said it's ok to stand on your dog? OMG, what dog-haters. If this really happened, liberalism is going straight down the damned toilet.

[HereSince1628]

7. No, no one said it's ok for everyone to stand on dogs

As I remember it, there posts about pictures of toddlers standing on dogs posted on social media

The comments were posted in typical DU-General Discussion fashion...being orthogonal to a post in which Sarah Palin was criticized for Trig standing on the back of his service dog.

The issue in the posts was about challenging hypocrisy.

Palin was jumped on while, iirc, Ellen DeGeneres had posted a similar picture and it was seen as cute. And conservative sources have made hay of the hypocrisy.

[trumad]

12. They weren't really clear on that...

I read many posts that said it was OK---but I don't recall a weight chart.

Also---I do remember the Ellen post and I do recall that many were critical as well. hypocrisy---I didn't see it.

[HereSince1628]

16. Perception is like milage...it varies with the driver.

[el_bryanto]

20. Was it just toddlers or people of any size?

I have to admit I haven't followed this discussion as closely as I might have.

Bryant

[trumad]

23. I would not say Toddler.

[arthritisR_US]

61. trumad, you are quite correct. Those who saw a

child standing on a dogs back, using the animal as a stool and saw that for what it is: stupid pathetic parenting and irresponsible animal ownership - those people were equally as critical of the two women. Many did however, see the greater culpability with peebrain Palin in that she is both the parent and animal owner and orchestrated her photo op. Ellen found a photo she thought cute and reposted it.

There were several posters who thought nothing wrong with a child doing what it did. I wonder how they would feel if siblings were made to lie on a cold floor and be a footstool for another?

[Ms. Toad]

34. First - when Ellen posted a similar picture,

it received about the same proportion of negative comments as Palin's did.

Second - conservatives claimed Ellen was allowing her child to stand on a dog. Problem is, it wasn't Ellen's child. On the other hand, it was Palin's child - and it was a series of pictures she used to illustrate a point which endorsed standing on the dog. Being involved in creating the pictures which encourage a child you are responsible for to act irresponsibly with a pet you are responsible for protecting is very different from merely using bad judgment in posting someone else's picture. The bulk of the criticism has been directed at her failure to train a child how to safely interact with a dog, and to intervene if that doesn't work - a criticism which is not applicable to Ellen, since it was not Ellen's child or dog

Third - it was not a service dog - just one more lie from Palin (in a series of lies related to these photos. The dog is less than a year old, was purchased from Iron Hills Retrievers, and trained by Canine Craze, and in their home at approximately 8 months. Given its age, it could not have been trained as a service dog. Almost no one allows a 6 year old to have a service dog (14 is a typical age for most placements). Puppy Jake Foundation (where she says she got the dog) has placed exactly 1 dog, and it is not with the Palins. They will place their second dog in a few weeks - again, not with the Palins.

Fourth - weight bearing service dogs (brace and balance) are generally required to be 2 years old in order to prevent harm to the dog, the dog and owner work together so the owner's weight is distributed in a way that makes it possible for the dog to support more weight than otherwise would be healthy - a 6 year old is not mature enough to understand that teamwork. And the weight distribution would not include concentrating the child's weight on two small footprints.

So while conservatives were claiming hypocrisy, that claim is ridiculous.

That said, there were some fools here, in the present, who took the bait when conservatives dredged up the 6 months old photo. Rather than point out the real difference between using bad judgment between posting someone else's picture, and the underlying question of training your child to interact safely with family pets, a few people did say that standing on the dog in the picture Ellen posted was ok because of the difference in size between pet and child.

[trumad]

40. The best post I've seen on this subject.

Excellent.

[Ms. Toad]

47. If you search for other posts of mine on the subject,

At least two of them include links to back up the assertions I've made.

(Thanks)

[riqster]

41. Excellent post.

[Hissyspit]

45. Also, Sarah Palin is a horrific, narcissicistic, grifter piece-of-shit.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

60. Yes, there's that too. LOL

[get the red out]

43. Well, hypocracy is intolerable

Sigh, this is the kind of stuff that makes me take news breaks. If I had seen the Ellen DeGeneres photos I would have been as upset as the Sarah Palin photo, no question. Harm is harm.

Thanks for explaining.

[pinboy3niner]

5. You have a beautiful dog, but the Palin/dog story is just a distraction

That's not what we're fighting for.

[trumad]

13. I don't think people are fighting palin anymore.

I think they are fighting people who say this is OK.

[KansDem]

6. Perhaps this chart will help...

As a rule of thumb, one might surmise that if you can feel the ribs with your toes, the dog might be too thin and not take your weight properly. However, more research could provide the ultimate dog weight/human weight combinations that would allow you to stand on your dog without concern for its safety.

I also like this chart in that it shows cat sizes for those of us who wish to stand on our cats...

[Enrique]

8. there's a song there

stand on your dog...

[japple]

29. You're right about that, but it should be Stand by Your Dog

and it should be sung by whatever country singer took Tammy Wynette's place.

[hlthe2b]

9. All those saying it is "ok" are absolutely right IF they have already tested out the theory

by letting a tractor trailer truck park on THEIR back. So, for THEM, it is undoubtedly ok.

[Lancero]

10. There is a diffrence between standing on, and squishing.

In this case, you wouldn't need to worry about hearing a crack and having to go to the bet. You might hear a squish though, in which case you'd need a couple mops.

[LynnTTT]

11. Uh, people??

You all do realize satire, right?

[trumad]

14. "satire" well I do declare!

[japple]

30. Must have committed the DU cardinal sin: forgot to use the sarcasm

smilie!

[LanternWaste]

15. I think a handful of halfwits are so invested in criticizing PETA, they will rationalize Palin...

Stripping away the lipstick on the pig, I think a handful of halfwits are so invested in criticizing PETA, they will rationalize Palin to do so.

[trumad]

17. Well I've been quite stunned to read that it was OK to step on your Mutt.

My wife has a Pekingese named Bruiser. He's about 20 pounds give or take a few.

My niece is nine and weighs around ---50 pounds?

Damn I wish I had that weight chart.

[LanternWaste]

21. Feel proud your niece didn't eat the dog to reach the kitchen sink.

Feel proud your niece didn't eat the dog to reach the kitchen sink.

[riqster]

42. Good one.

[Ms. Toad]

44. Not PETA -

They are rationalizing Ellen.

Even though the situations are different, some bought into the lie that they were the same, and have been rationalizing why it was OK for the child in the photo Ellen posted to stand on the dog - but not ok for Trig. Neither was OK.

But the discussion started because the conservatives failed to do any fact checking, and based their claims of hypocrisy on two lies.

The conservatives thought the situations were identical: Ellen allowed her child to stand on their dog, then posted pictures of it. Rather than responding that it is one thing to make a bad judgment call about posting a joke photo that is circulating on the internet, and entirely different to stand around taking multiple pictures of a child you are responsible for teaching proper pet manners to behaving inappropriately with a pet you are responsible for protecting. Ellen doesn't have a child - so her offense is only bad judgment in posting, not in creating the situation in the first place.

The conservatives also insisted that Ellen was not criticized: A cursory read of the posts responding to Ellen's post proves that wrong. She was roundly criticized (at about the same rate Palin initially was). As she should have been.

We should have been pointing out the lies - not justify Ellen's bad judgment when she didn't think through the implications of the photo she was posting. Just acknowledge that she made a stupid mistake. Point out the lies. And move on. Too many liberals let the Ellen piece of this discussion get bigger than it should have been by a knee jerk reaction that we had to defend anything she did - proving the very thing the conservatives claimed: saying it is ok for the child in the Ellen picture to stand on the dog but not ok for Trig to stand on his dog IS hypocritical.

[polly7]

18. Your dog is gorgeous.

Mine is a huge Great Pyrenees cross and would let me stand on him without batting an eye, he weighs almost as much as I do at his 110 lbs. but I would probably at least crack a rib and maybe puncture a lung or injure his spine regardless. I feel sorry for Palin's little boy, that dog could have been one who wouldn't put up with it, and bit him. She should be smart enough to teach respect for animals, especially physically. I think her little guy was very, very lucky she has a well-trained dog.

Also, I've never heard of the Degeneres(sp?) story.

[trumad]

22. Thanks Polly

The picture is actually a couple of months old--- he's 8 months old now and he's still growing. His Dad was around 75 to 80 pounds.

Here's what Miles looks like today.



You should see him when we comb him out.

[polly7]

24. Totally adorable! He looks very happy to be held and cuddled, too.

Mine would look at me like 'are you stupid?' if I tried to lift him, but I'm sure he'd love it too. Dogs are so great ... I just wish I knew what they were thinking, I bet they laugh at us a lot.

[trumad]

25. They are great..

Here's how great they are.

I had to scold him this morning because he got in the bathroom wastebasket and scattered stuff all over the house.

I told him to sit, and said...NO---NO-- a couple of times showing him the basket.

He looked crestfallen. Sad---he knew he messed up. His expression was amazing--- like---uh oh---I messed up.

What's weird is I felt really bad about it because of his expression.

[polly7]

27. Ooooh ..... bad doggie lol, but I think too they do know when they mess up.

It's funny that good pet owners can read their expressions while many just see them as dumb animals. Yours seems to have you wrapped around his finger (paw) - which is great!

[Ms. Toad]

46. 6 months ago

Ellen posted a picture of a toddler standing on a much larger dog to reach the sink, with a comment along the lines of - that's one way to reach the sink.

Conservatives glommed onto it and started ranting about how hypocritical liberals were because (1) Ellen let her child stand on their dog and (2) no one criticized her for it.

Both are, of course, incorrect. Ellen doesn't have a child - it was a photo that (as near as I can tell) was posted on Red.it that she thought was cute so she posted it on her wall. She was roundly criticized on her FB page - the same way Palin was, in about the same proportion.

Some people felt the need to defend Ellen, rather than acknowledging she made a bad call, fueling the claims of hypocrisy.

[polly7]

48. Ohhh, thank you for the story!

I really like Ellen, but agree with people who don't think it's a good idea for any child to step on a dog ........ it's just dangerous, for both. I can see how just posting a picture thinking it was cute would get all sorts of reactions.

Thank you Ms. Toad.

[femmocrat]

19. Not if you are bigger than a monkey!

Your dog however is free to stand on you or to ride a pig!

[lovemydog]

26. Dear Trumad,

It's never okay to stand on your dog. Unless there's a life-threatening emergency. To the dog.

Signed,

lovemydog

[WinkyDink]

31. Perhaps if you had suggested "Dave Growl"?

[trumad]

33. LOL

Never thought of that... Brilliant.

[ileus]

35. I drove over one of my dachshunds earlier this year.

Well not completely over....I can tell you a Xterra weighs too much for a 14lb dog.

[Nye Bevan]

36. Just because Ellen Degeneres and Sarah Palin tweet something

does not mean that it is necessarily a good idea.

[RockaFowler]

37. Love your pooch

Oh and it is never, ever a good thing to stand on a dog

I have had big dogs and little dogs. Big dogs are a big pushover sometimes, but they do get hurt and may not even announce that they are hurt.

As for my little guys - I have 3 mini-dachshunds - they have constant back problems anyway, so I would never even like it if a small child sat on one of my guys. Scooter is 13 years old and has always had a bad back. My niece's daughter wanted to play with him and I knew it would be bad from the get-go. Look, we have to teach our kids that dogs are not play-things. They are animals. And for me they are a part of my family. I was sickened when I saw Sarah Palin's picture because I don't think this was the first time it happened. She taught her child that the dog was just a stepping stool. No the dog is not a toy for her child. And I do think that dog should be taken away from her. She has no respect for it or her son (who could have gotten hurt if the dog suddenly stood up).

[shenmue]

38. Standing on the dog is not cool

Hugging the dog is much better.

[NaturalHigh]

65. No kidding!

Why can't people just love their pets? If they don't love them, they shouldn't have them.

[NV Whino]

39. Ask Sarah.

[A Simple Game]

49. Just use the following formula to find out.

[Your weight] = [Dog's weight] × 9/5 + 32

If your weight is equal or less then you are OK.

Oh, wait, I think that may be the formula to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. What the heck, it might still work.

[Octafish]

50. I just wanna be your dog.

[gwheezie]

51. My father in law used to fall on the dog

Well not totally collapse on buddy but used buddy to stop his fall. Bud took it soon himself to look over his grandpa. Bud would lay by my fil and when he got up bud would leap to his feet and walk with him. Fil had dementia so if he tried to open the door to leave bud would stop him. When fil was unsteady he learned to fall towards buddy and steady himself on the big boy. Bud was the smartest dog I owned. My fil was terrified of dogs but loved buddy. He would sit with buddy's head in has lap and say what a nice cat. Bud weighed about 110lbs and fil weighed about 130.

[kydo]

52. Well in the book about my dog

Not my dog but this guy looks exactly like my dog Corporal Hicks


The book I bought before I got my new dog it said straight up your Great Pyrenees is not a horse so don't ride it. It may end up as big as a small horse but it is not a horse. It didn't say anything about standing on him though. But it did offer this tidbit about how they were breed as watch dogs and are not afraid to take on bears and wolfs. And it is rumored one killed a yeti, once. So like that right there kind of gave me a good clue if I should stand on my dog. It probably wouldn't be a good idea.

The stray cat tired to do that thing with its paws on his pretty tail the other day and that did not go over very well. Lets just say its a damn good thing my big fearless yeti attacking dog is scared of this itty bitty stray cat. Probably because for a brief moment in time she was bigger then him and she was not happy about having a puppy all up in her biz, she popped him good. Ended that problem.

[polly7]

56. Beautiful dog!

Here's my Great Pyrenees cross ...... he's gained about 40 lbs. since this picture though (he's only two yet). He was very thin when I first got him from the Humane Society, but he's coming along and is showing many of the traits of purebred Great Pyrenees. About the cats, my Obie dog won't even eat until my cat has finished up his, cleaned his paws and finally walked away. But I know he would probably do big damage to anything threatening him.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

(And here's my older dog Brutus. I bought him as a purebred Cocker Spaniel but strangely he never had much hair - I think I was duped!, but he was a funny, (mostly) bad-ass dog who thought he was a German Shepherd. Anyone who tried to stand on Brutus would definitely end up with a few holes in him/her. Just found his pic and wanted to show him off a little .... )

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[petronius]

53. It should be OK - 65 human pounds is actually 455 dog pounds, so he's a lot

bigger than you realize.

But to be safe, you could work up to it: start with a GI Joe action figure, then a cabbage patch kid, then a mid-sized cat, then a human infant, and so on. It'll take some work, but think how cuddly he'll be under your toes when your drinking coffee on a cold morning...

[Android3.14]

54. This whole thing has been silly

The "outraged" are not gaining any converts because making hay on a special needs child in order to attack the mother is simply a bad move, akin to a stranger stealing candy from a baby, because sugar causes cavities.

The noise is turning off many of the people who typically support pointing at the Palin stupidity, and may even be generating sympathy for Palin.

The drunken brawl, Paul Revere and countless other craphead moves were much better than screaming about a special needs kid doing what many kids have done.

[trumad]

55. oh stop it with the special needs kid meme

This has nothing to do with the kid. This has every thing to do with a Mom who let's their kid stand on a dog. This has to do with knuckleheads who say it's OK for a human to stand on a dog.

What if it was a special needs adult who stood on the dog? Would that make it ok because he has special needs?

[Android3.14]

57. It has little to do with what is "okay"

Perception is everything. If people perceive the critics are picking on the child (and that is what they are seeing, regardless of what you might think is the reality), then it is a bad strategy.

[trumad]

58. the only critics are Palin sycophants...

And you.

[Android3.14]

62. Uh, try reading my post

The critics I referenced are the people criticizing the dog thing. There's no need to get personal.

[trumad]

64. sure there is...

You keep throwing the kid in the mix and it has nothing to do with him. Its not his fault that he has a dumb ass mother.

[mopinko]

59. next time get a bully breed, tru

i think my 100 lb bully would be happy to give me a lift up. i only weigh a little more than he does. if he had an owner as energetic as he is, he would be tough enough for it.

and i am betting that any big pitbull would be cool with it, too.

( as it seems like there are so many here impaired in that department.)

[Android3.14]

63. Here's some animal stupidity to link to Palin