Spaghetti Poodle Mania

I know this blog is about lethal white Australian Shepherd rescue, but after getting the go-ahead from Annie (above) to write a diversion, I just had to post some pics of my collection of spaghetti poodles. We do have one little poodle at home, an elderly girl by the name of Desi (12 years old) who is my husband's velcro dog.

As I mentioned in a prior post, my mania for collecting spaghetti poodles started with a joke gift from a family member, and took off from there. I am fascinated with the large number of styles and themes, and especially with those made in post-WWII Japan. As a little girl, I can remember seeing some these on the shelves at Kreiss department stores. (Guess you can guess my age now, huh?)

I've almost stopped collecting now because of space limitations........and dusting chores. Some of my most notable:

A vintage lady with puppies.....

Cabinet collections.....

An entire set holding purses.....

A shaggy, goofy one.....

A wedding couple.....

A cute 50's chick with rhinestone glasses.....

Teapots.....

Believe it or not, a spice set.....

And a set of very ugly planters.....

The Dog Museum

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Texas and Oklahoma, my home states, to visit relatives and do a little fabric and antique shopping. Driving down I-35 to Austin, I found, quite by accident, a most interesting place. Right off the highway a few miles north of Waco, Texas, was a large building advertising ‘Antique Mall and Dog Museum’.

Not willing to pass up an antique mall, much less a dog museum, I stopped and was very surprised at what I found – the world’s largest museum of dog collectibles – a fascinating collection of dog memorabilia and collectibles.

I must admit, I collect 1950’s spaghetti poodles. My collection, which fills a china cabinet, is a great source of jokes at my expense from my family and friends. But I can’t help it, I find the things fascinating. This museum had an entire wall full of poodle collectibles, more than I’ve ever seen. It made my collection look puny.

Plus, it has many more dog collectibles, from the 1700's up to the present. The proprietors and owners of this museum are Barbara and David Hays. You can read more about this museum on its website http://www.antiquibles.com/ and view lots of photos of the collection.

If you are interested in dog collectibles or just dogs in general, check out my Etsy shop http://www.whitedogcreations.etsy.com/.

Why Read THIS Blog

The purpose of this blog is to support and educate the public on the plight of rescued Australian Shepherds, particularly the “Lethal White” Aussie, and to urge people to visit my Etsy shop where I sell vintage fabric and altered art totes to help support Lethal White Aussie Rescue. This blog, White Dog Creations, was named after my own lethal white, Annie, who has been such a great inspiration to me, and whose photo appears in my logo.

You may be asking ‘What is a lethal white Aussie?’ More accurately, these Aussies are double-merle or homozygous merles. The 'lethal white' tag comes not from any lethal genetic defect, but from the fact that many are destroyed at birth because of their potential deafness and/or blindness. You can click on the Amazing Aussies link here on my blog to find out the complete story, but in a nutshell, a lethal white Aussie is a double-merle Aussie, that is, one whose both parents carry the Merle gene. The merling gene in a dog washes out skin and fur pigment, which gives it that silvery, mottled grey and black color, or in some cases, a red and tan mottled color. In a litter of Aussies born from merle parents, statistically the litter can be 25% double merle - MM. The double merle genes will wash out all or most of the pigment, leaving the dog with no pigment in its inner ear hair. If these tiny hairs do not have pigment, they will not transfer sound. Therefore most of the lethal white aussies are deaf, and some can be blind or partially sighted too.

Most white aussies are found in shelters and animal control facilities, left there by guardians who do not want to deal with them, or irresponsible breeders who can't sell them. I adopted Annie from our fantastic local humane society. She has good eyesight but is completely deaf. She excels in agility classes.

The Lethal White Aussie is a loving, capable companion. It just needs extra attention for its special needs such as a fenced yard and diligent caregivers. Many Lethal White Aussies learn fluent sign language and can compete in agility competitions even if they are deaf or visually impaired. Some are Certified Therapy Dogs.