Facts

Well it's circulating the internet.  Again.  The "list" of the "least popular dog breeds."  And it drives me CRAZY because it is FULL of alternative facts.  You see, out of the 25 breeds listed, PONs come in at #21. Right between the Norwegian Buhund at #20 and the Komondor at #22.  The #1 LEAST POPULAR dog is the English Foxhound.  And WHY (supposedly) did WE PONs make the list?  We require grooming (which IS true) - AND we are supposedly difficult to train.  Which is interesting - because on another spot on the same web page, they say we are multi-talented,  .... participating.... in a wide variety of activities such as agility, competitive obedience, and herding.  Seems those alternative facts are pretty evident.  The stats on costs also appear pretty wacky too - $650 for a PON?   They must have had a discount coupon.  Or maybe that's a figure from 1906.   Oh and the weight thing.  Maximum 35 lbs?  Clearly they have not attempted to lift Einstein into the bathtub.  I sometimes wonder who puts these things together.  If you look at the list, it is pretty evident that most of the breeds listed are rare(r) breeds.  So there aren't as many around.  But to list them as "unpopular" gives the breeds a negative connotation.  Which is simply not true.

I saw this poster recently and while it's no doubt got problems as well, it seems to be closer to be a bit the truth.  At least for PONs.  Check it out:
http://www.dogbreedchart.com/
I suppose, though, that the "barking" part is not EXACTLY correct.  Especially when it comes to Einstein.  But I think the other ratings are fair - for PONs.  I'm not crazy about the fact that the poster includes "designer dogs" in the list- because let's face it, they have no breed standards.  I see that Picards got 5/5 for High Energy.  That certainly is true for the FG.  And he got 5/5 for Easy to Groom.  Bingo - that's spot on.  I guess the BEST way to create one of these charts is to get each breed club to submit their numbers.  Assuming they could get all the humans to agree on the numbers.  Good luck with that.

Well time to hunker down for what the weatherman is calling a Nor'easter.  Which means a big storm.  With wind.  And snow at this time of the year.  It's supposed to start later today and into tomorrow.  I hope my human gets the day off!  Paws crossed....