Tag: Golden Retriever

Our Animal Farm

I’m definitely what people would call an Animal Lover, and yes the cliche is true I love Animals and Despise People. I started to think about all the different pets I have had the pleasure of sharing my chaotic life with over the years, and for prosperity (Mine) decided to do what I do and make a list. I decided to use a timeline format to help grouping and increase clarity. First is the species followed by the pets name.

Growing Up Age: 3 Days Old to 18

A Golden Retriever: Tasha (My Dad’s 1st Dog)

DSH Cat: Little Bit (My Mom’s Cat)

Lhasa Apso: Chuzzle (Suffered chronic ear infections that led to an aggressive and undesirable behavioral problems, but we stuck by him just the same until his natural demise.)

Age 19 years old to 27 years old:

Maincoon Mix: Al (Alize) (was a 5 week old kitten rescued from a dumpster and deflated by hand by a neighbor of mine)

PitBull: VooDoo (Was the last puppy of a litter my co-worker was selling, but her landlord found out and demanded she rid the residence of all Puppies)

Lhasa Apso Mix: Jimbo (I became Jimbo’s Owner abandoned him at the kennel I was working at.)

Iguana: Tribe (A rescue, his previous owner was some kid who ended up going to collage and stuck the unwilling parents with the Iguana)

Bearded Dragon: Drivil (was re-homed to me again due to the fact the child wanted it and the parents ended up taking care of it though they obviously didn’t want to>)

 

Ages 27 years old to Current Age:

Iguana: Gizmo (was captured in the wild by a co-worker who asked me to iguana sit and then ditched him with me)

Pug/Boston Terrier Mix: Rascal (Adopted from Animal Shelter)

Maine Coon (cat): Big Kitty (Was a rescue from an Animal Shelter)

African Chameleon: Not Sure if he/she came with a name. (It was a re-homing as the previous owner bought it as an impulse buy and had decided perhaps that wasn’t the best idea he had ever had.)

Blue Tongue Skink (Lizard): Hook (Hook got his name due to a previous owners neglect that led Hook to self cannibalize, he ate all 4 of his legs, which over the following years became to regenerate. He was re-homed because his owner was suffered a severe head injury while serving in the Military)

Rat: Snafoo (Snafoo spelled this way is short for Snake Food which is what it was intended to be yet the snake gave it a get out of jail card if you will.)

Adabeece: Colombian Rainbow Boa Constrictor (Re-Homed because the owner had to move back home and her parents wouldn’t allow the snake sanctuary)

Monty: Ball Python (Again Re-Homed to me when I worked in a Veterinarians Office because the owner couldn’t treat the snakes chronic dry skin issue. Monty had made a full and significant recovery and if currently fat and happy.)

Love Birds (2): Frick and Frack (I received the love birds from an owner who had accumulated too many to handle appropriately.)

Mollies (fish): Too Many Too Name Individually (Were given to me when a friend of mines shitty girlfriend made him get rid of them.)

Ferrets: Judas (found wondering the streets by a dumpster by some kid who brought him into the Vet’s office I was working at.)

Kabuki: My Wife Bought Him for Me and to give Judas a playmate.

Frankenstien: Came from a co-worker at the Vets office My wife worked at

BooBoo: Re-homed by a friend/co-worker at the Vet office my wife worked in.

Scarlet: Re-homed when her companion died.

English Bulldog:Bubba (We got Bubba when his owner decided he didn’t give a flying fuck about the Dog because he was old and had old man issues, and the Vet I worked for took custody of Bubba from the owner to prevent further neglect, and I ended up bring him home the end.)

DSH Cat: Inky (Was my Wife’s Cat, a package deal who was a stray from the mean streets of NJ)

DSH Cat: Bradshaw (we ended up re-homing Bradshaw to a dear friend because he and Inky actually tried to kill one another, proof animals are capable of hate.)

Hermit Crabs: Various Absurd Names like “The Monster Clint”(I got obsessed with hermit crabs and had a 300 gallon tank that was empty so I decided to convert it into a Hermit Crab “City”)

2 Snapping Turtles: Mrs. Snaps and Mr. Chomps (I ended up rehoming the turtles to a neighborhood acquaintance who had vast experience and love working with wild animals. Last I heard she was feeding them raw Chicken.)

French Bulldog: Dozy (was re-homed to us by a breeder and dogs how pro who decided that she wanted to back to breeding and showing Boxers so she retired all her French Bulldogs, Dozy was a prolific champion who I heard many other dog show people were happy to see go.)

English BullDog: Wally (Re-homed to us when his owner realized he was working more and more which left less and less time for Wally who was stuck in his crate too much for too long.)

DLH Cat: KiKi (Was re-homed to use by an owner who could no longer keep her)

DSH Cat: Mouse (We got Mouse when a dear friend died, Mouse had both her eyes removed at 6 weeks of age due to brutal ulcers that were destroying her eyes.)

DSH Cat: Scooter (Belonged to the same dear friend, BUT was snuck into our house while we were away by our friend. Scooter spent the first part of his life with us holed up in a bedroom closet. He since has broken out of his shell to the point I wish sometimes I could put him back in.)

Miniature Dachshund: Lolly (Lolly came to us from a breeder, see Lolly is white which is synonymous with birth defects. Lolly is completely Deaf and 1/2 blind, but the happiest little fucker I have ever seen.)

DSH Cat: Schmoo (Named for the constant meow meets scream that she made as a kitten. My wife found Schmoo crying under a bush outside our house while hanging Christmas Lights.)

2 Lab/Rottweiler Mixes: Dingus (Gus for Short) and Nymh (Dingus and Nymh are brother and sister puppies we found sitting on the side of a dirt road notorious for illegal Dog Dumping. After we drove past them my Wife called my attention to the review mirror where I saw the Pups chasing after our car for all it was worth.)

 

Thats That for now until another Misfit falls into our laps.

Thanks for the Read as Always,

Les Sober

 

Structural-Functional Theory Vs. The Conflict Theory

Note To Reader:

Before or while reading the following article you must remember its based on a random photography of a “Typical American Family”.

The photo is a simple one, a family portrait.

The Mother and Father are standing side by side with their arms around one another. Positioned in front of them are their 3 children. The eldest child their son, 2 young daughters one around 10 years of age is the middle child, and a the youngest child a girl aged about 5 years. Also in the photograph are the family’s 2 Golden Retriever sitting in the lower right hand corner.

The 2 sides of the photo’s story:

The family in the photograph are an example of an American traditional nuclear family. It consists of a father, a mother, the son (the eldest of the three children) ,and the family’s two young daughters ( the middle child and the youngest/baby) along with two golden retrievers. Now the question at hand is how would this family in the photograph stand up to The Structural-Functional and Conflict theories, what could they tell us about this family?

The Structural-Functional theory would champion the family in the photograph, as the Structural-Functional theory believes that the traditional nuclear family is the only family that provides social institution, social solidarity, shared values and socialization. The biological father is the bread winner/sole income, the biological mother stays at home raising the children and managing household duties, and they have three biological children. The parents are providing (at least as we can tell from this single photograph) the three essential functions of a family which are raising their children responsibly, providing economic support (from the fathers work outside of the house) and giving emotional support. The traditional nuclear family is so instrumental in the structural-functional theory that according to said theory all other family models are considered to be detrimental to society and smooth functionality.
On the other hand, the family in this photograph would detested by the conflict theory specifically due to the fact that it is a traditional nuclear family (though 77% of all American households are not the traditional nuclear family model). Conflict theory would state the problem with this, or any, traditional nuclear family lies in the gross power imbalance between the father and the mother. Conflict theory would say society gives the father more power outside the home as the sole bread winner, but also the father subsequently has more power in the home as the “Man of the house” while the mother is resigned to being a second class citizen who’s only responsibility is to take care of children and clean the house. Not only is there a definite power imbalance between the two parents, but there is also an unfair power imbalance between the family’s three children. Traditionally male children are given significantly more freedom and female children have many more restrictions placed on them. Thus according to the conflict theory all other family types are far more preferable as opposed to the traditional nuclear family.