I had a call from a very nice middle aged man who was shocked that his daughter came home with a Doberman pup. He took the opportunity to call me when she went out to walk the dog.

He begged me to take the pup and said, his daughter didn't know what she was getting into and luckily his tooth hadn't broken though yet.

I asked what tooth? I was thinking permanent teeth etc but NO, he meant the tooth on the ROOF of the mouth which only this breed possesses. It folds back like a snakes tooth and when the dog bites it enables him to hold onto his prey. I nearly died and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

This guy sounded like an educated middle-class chap genuinely concerned about his daughter well-being.

I explained the nonsense of the statement to him and assured him that a Doberman is just a dog without any snake teeth on the roof of its mouth.

I have no idea if he believed me.

I have heard many stories about dogs in my long years of Bull Breed rescue but that one is new to me.

Anyone?

> I was thinking permanent teeth etc but NO, he meant the tooth on the ROOF of the mouth which only this breed possesses. It folds back like a snakes tooth and when the dog bites it enables him to hold onto his prey. I nearly died and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Oh my good lord. I'd say it was on a par with the idea that bull breeds' heads split. Or maybe closer to the woman I once met on the bus - child wanted to come closer to see my cat in his basket, but his mum urgently pulled him back.... telling him that cats spit poison if you get too close.

Oh my goodness!!  Mine can't be a very good speciman then, she's 7 and her's still hasn't come through!!

I wonder if judges have to check them at shows, do they get disqualified without them, lol.  Poor guy, how did he get so deluded?

> but his mum urgently pulled him back.... telling him that cats spit poison if you get too close.

And they steal babies breath!!!

Lol, tooth in the middle of the mouth?! Imagine how scary it would be if it was true! My gran always told me that the breath stealing thing came from cats sitting on baby because its nice and warm and accidently smothering it, I've not had a cat since I was about 7 so can someone tell me if cats do sit on babies and smother them? I'm sure its rubbish because I've never heard of a cat smothered baby

Cats do like warmth and people and will cuddle up to any human being. Some cats love sleeping on/near human heads. I guess a very new baby which can't yet move its head properly might be in trouble if a cat plonked itself on the warmest bit. Older babies with more movement would prob be OK. Well that goes all against some countries' traditions where a cat would actually be placed in a new born baby's crib as a protector and moral influence.. child was meant to grow up as wise as the cat.

As a 21 year old new mum and cat owner I had a furious row with an old fashioned mid wife... she instructed me " get RID of those things". My queen made a very good baby sitter alerting me to every murmur my babies made. After a traumatic time and many disturbed nights, at 3 and a half years old my son slept for the first time all night. I ran into his room, (thinking he had died or something), to find him snuggled up sucking his thumb with a very smug looking queen laying beside him. She had some how managed to sneak in his room. Quite clearly she felt it was time for her to step in and do the job properly!! She was always found asleep next to him from then on..... I let her earn her keep ;-)

The first time I was pregnant the health visitor told me "children and animals do not mix". 18 years on I don't think any of my kids agree with that!!

I never let cats in the same room though, firstly because yes, when a baby is young and cannot regulate its body heat or movements, it could be dangerous, and secondly because with a young baby, if you use the breathing monitor (which for my son I found very useful as he did stop breathing several times) it would give you a false reading if there was a live animal in the cot with the baby.

I always used a cat net on prams etc.... but in answer to the question ... No, I have never heard of a baby being smothered by a cat.

Oh my goodness!!! Daft man - where on earth did he get that idea from??  Mind you, we still have people who crossed the road from us when walking our old Dobe, and a neighbour who was happy for his kids to come over to play with the new puppy but went mad when he realised at 9 months old, it was a Dobe and not 'just a mongrel'! He stopped the kids coming over to play and took them indoors when the dogs was in the garden - even though we have 6ft fences!! I'm still at a loss to understand it.

Old wife's tales and urban myths are fascinating and one does wonder how they start. Perhaps it is the get others to accept your point of view, may be they start as a wind up, a bit like pre internet trolls. Think even more amazing is how some continue to believe even when science and common sense prove the belief totally without foundation, like the flat earth society, it is impossible to understand how they can ignore all the facts and evidence and there have been those who have similar beliefs who otherwise seem to be intelligent and sensible beings.

Had similar when we used to carry a sweet little puppy with a tail round town and then when she was old enough to have a 100 yd 'toddle', they asked what she was and usually got told ,at the moment she is a 2/3/4 month baby, yes but what sort? oh she is a rottweiler.........leaps back in horror.
hilarious when she was 8/9 week old scrap......did they think she was going to leap from our arms and savage their nose or something.

Well,not quite so bizarre as Otterhound's post...I had a new Westie puppy come in for grooming some time ago and the owner's brother came with her.As I was booking the pup in the brother said he had a 5 month old Doberman puppy at home and he was wondering at what age their ears start to stand up erect as as the moment they still fold over.I said I thought Doberman's ears did fold over anyway so he said that in the books he had all the Dobermans had prick ears-I did cotton on eventually that he must have American books where they have their ears cropped.
I suppose he would have been waiting a long time if he hadn't asked....I guess he hadn't seen the mother of the pups.

When my GSD was approx 3 months old and was in the vets waiting room, waiting for her second puppy vacc. a lady came and asked where I got my minature GSD from as she had never seen one before and what a good idea to have a minature gsd as opposed to a full size one that could be dangerous and kill !!!

I met a nice lady in the park one day and she was telling me about her little dog.
This little terrier type had been a feisty little lad so her vet had castrated him....

" The worst thing is we've had to changed 'HER' name now that she's been turned into a female"

LOL at everyone -what a great thread if quite worrying at times!!

Recent personal experiences include the kitten buyers (who did have pet dogs of their own, but obviously didn't know much about breeds) who asked if my adult Papillons were Belgian Shepherd puppies and would grow as big as the other dogs. And the lady in the vet's waiting room who spotted me with a Papillon puppy and asked what breed it was, Chihuahua or Pomeranian -and could she buy the puppy? And the lady at a companion show who pointed to our Papillons and told her child "That's the breed mummy used to have -Chihuahua!" The saddest was when my husband and I were waiting at the vet's to have old Rufus the Cavalier put to sleep. He was so tired, had had enough, and was laying across both our laps, too weak to even bother lifting his head. I think it would have been obvious he was ill, and the fact we were both in tears should have been a big clue as well, yet the lady sitting opposite us with a Springer commented on how wellbehaved and laid back our dog was considering he was at the vet's!!!

Oh how sad Marianne! Some people are so silly aren't they. I always get asked if George (my American cocker) is a Cavalier (or at least a 'King Charles' as nobody knows the full breed name) as he is with my 2 Cavs. Erm no, wrong size, colour, docked tail, wrong head, wrong coat - but hey, at least it's a spaniel!

I can't believe anyone would think a dog would have some special tooth like that, that's mad!!

Ooh, I have another one - my Dad at a dog show as a Harlequin Great Dane walks past 'that's a big Dalmatian!' Me - 'SSHHHHHH!!!!' (looking around furtively in case anyone heard)

A lady stopped me and had a go at me for having an overweight boxer. She actually ranted at me for a full 5 minutes before I pointed out to her he's a bulldog and he's exactly the weight he should be, with a nice under line and you can just see the last of his ribs....

toolz I love that one cant stop laughing makes me wonde if its just our young people who need sex education.
I wonder how she would get on with a human being sterilzed male or female ROLFLAO