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Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is a large-sized breed of dog. They were bred as gun dogs to retrieve shot waterfow such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties, and were named retriever because of their ability to retrieve shot game undamaged.  Golden Retrievers have an instinctive love of water, and are easy to train to basic or advanced obedience standards. They are a long-coated breed, with a dense inner coat that provides them with adequate warmth in the outdoors, and an outer coat that lies flat against their bodies and repels water. Golden Retrievers are well suited to residency in suburban or country environments. Although they need substantial outdoor exercise, they should be housed in a fenced area because of their instinctual tendency to roam. The dog sheds copiously, particularly at the change of seasons, and requires fairly regular grooming. The breed is a prominent participant in conformation shows for purebred dogs. The Golden Retrievers' ...
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Lion dog: Shih Tzu

The name comes from the Chinese word for "lion dog" because this kind of dog was bred to resemble "the lion as depicted in traditional oriental art," such as the Chinese guardian lions.  (The Pekingese breed is also called "lion dog" in Chinese) "Shih Tzu" is the Wade-Giles romanization of the Chinese characters 獅子, meaning lion; Wade-Giles romanization was in use when the breed was first introduced in America, but in modern times Pinyin romanization is used, rendering it shīzi. The Mandarin Chinese pronunciation is approximately SHIRR-dzə.  The Shih Tzu is also known as the "Xi Shi dog" because Xi Shi was regarded as one of the most beautiful women of ancient China. Shih Tzu were nicknamed the Chrysanthemum Dog in England in the 1930s.  The dog may also be called the Tibetan Lion Dog, but whether or not the breed should be referred to as a "Tibetan" or "Chinese" breed is a source of argument, the absolute...

Dogs Shih Tzu

The Shih Tzu comes in a range of colours that include various shades of gold, white, brown, red, and blue.  Other colours include black mask gold, black and white, solid black, solid liver, liver and white, brindle and white and grey and white. Though not as common there are also solid blue Shih Tzu.  An interesting point (and often a point of confusion) is that while the coat color of those with black pigmented skin (nose, lips, pads, also referred to as "leather") is determined by the color of the coat itself; the coat color on dogs with either liver or blue pigment is categorized by the color of the pigment.  Thus a parti colored (white and another shade) Shih Tzu with blue pigment is a "blue and white" regardless of the tint of the hair which might very well appear similar to a gold and white or other colors. The same principle applies to solid blue, liver and liver and white. Sometimes you might see dark brown pigments near the shoulders and betw...

Kitten or Kitty

A feline litter usually consists of two to five kittens. The kits are born after a gestation that lasts between 64 and 67 days, with an average length of 66 days. Kittens emerge in a sac called the amnion which is bitten off and eaten by the mother cat. For the first several weeks, kittens are unable to urinate or defecate without being stimulated by their mother.  They are also unable to regulate their body temperature for the first three weeks, so kittens born in temperatures less than 27 °C can die from hypothermia if they are not kept warm by their mother. The mother's milk is very important for the kittens' nutrition and proper growth. This milk transfers antibodies to the kittens, which helps protect them against infectious disease. Newborn kittens are also unable to produce concentrated urine, and so have a very high requirement for fluids. Kittens open their eyes about seven to ten days after birth. At first, the retina is poorly developed and vision is p...

Yorkshire Terrier

The Yorkshire Terrier is a small dog breed of terrier type, developed in the 19th century in the county of Yorkshire, England, to catch rats in clothing mills, also used for rat-baiting. The defining features of the breed are its maximum size of 7 pounds and its gray, black, and tan coat.  The breed is nicknamed Yorkie and is placed in the Toy Terrier section of the Terrier Group by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale and in the Toy Group or Companion Group by other kennel clubs, although all agree that the breed is a terrier. A popular companion dog, the Yorkshire Terrier has also been part of the development of other breeds, such as the Australian Silky Terrier. For Yorkshire Terriers, importance is placed on coat colour, quality, and texture. The hair must be glossy, fine, straight, and silky. Traditionally the coat is grown out long and is parted down the middle of the back, but "must never impede movement." A newborn Yorkshire Terrier puppy is born b...

Labrador Retriever

The Labrador Retriever (simply Labrador, or Lab for short) is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. Even-tempered and well-behaved around young children and the elderly, Labradors are athletic and playful, and are the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  A favorite assistance dog breed in these and other countries, Labradors are frequently trained to aid blind and autistic people, act as therapy dogs, and perform screening and detection work for law enforcement and other official agencies. The modern Labrador's ancestors originated on the island of Newfoundland, now part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The founding breed of the Labrador was the St. John's water dog, a breed that emerged through ad-hoc breedings by early settlers of the island in the 16th century. The forebears of the St. John's Dog are not known but were likely a random-...

German Shepherd

German Shepherds are large sized dogs. The breed standard height at the withers is 60–65 cm for males and 55–60 cm for females.  The weight standard is 30–40 kilograms for males and 22–32 kilograms for females.  They have a domed forehead, a long square-cut muzzle and a black nose. The jaws are strong, with a scissor-like bite.  The eyes are medium-sized and brown with a lively, intelligent and self-assured look.  The ears are large and stand erect, open at the front and parallel, but they often are pulled back during movement. They have a long neck, which is raised when excited and lowered when moving at a fast pace. The tail is bushy and reaches to the hock. German Shepherds can be a variety of colors, the most common of which are tan/black and red/black. Most color varieties have black masks and black body markings which can range from a classic "saddle" to an over-all "blanket." Rarer colour variations include the sable, all-black, all-white, ...