Can anyone recommend a dog bible please?

[MsGillis]

Am looking into getting my first dog and having done a lot of research I think a King Charles Cavalier is what I'm after. I've two DSs who are 5 and 7 and I think it would do them the world of good, but mainly I want one as company for me, I work from home and think it would be great to have a dog around to drag me outside on my lunch hour and make me actually walk!

Anyway, I always need to do tons of reading around everything that I do and I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a really good book about dogs, care, psychology, behaviour etc? I've never actually owned one before and need to make sure I know exactly what I'm doing...

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Are you getting a puppy or a rescue?

For the former I'd go for Gwen Bailey's Perfect Puppy book for the latter I'd go for The Complete Idiot's Guide to Positive Dog Training.

Do you believe in pack theory? i.e. do you think your new puppy will spend it's days planning new ways to overthrow your leadership and eventually rule the word? If you do I'd also read Dominance: Fact or Fiction by Barry Eaton.

For further reading anything by Jean Donaldson is worth a look at, especially The Culture Clash and Don't Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor.

[MsGillis]

I'm not sure at the moment, I had the opportunity to take a year old dog that needed rehoming which would have been ideal but I missed out, so am now thinking that a puppy might be the way forward.

I know my mum believes in pack theory but I've never really looked into it - is it gubbins? Will check out the recommendations, thank you!

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Yes it's total gubbins. Dogs do what is rewarding for them at the time, simple as, they do not have the brain capacity to forward plan and are perfectly aware that you are not a dog and they are not a people and different rules may apply

Many Tears Animal Rescue get lots of KCC puppies, however you should be aware that they've now started charging a small fee for behavioural back up, which is unheard of in most reputable rescues. They normally offer it for free to ensure the home works out.

There's also loads of breed specific rescues that might get puppies and young dogs in so it's worth contacting your local ones.

[MsGillis]

So the whole "you are the pack leader" thing is redundant then?

I've just had a scoot round the local pages for rescue KCs but they seem to be like hens' teeth where I am. Which I suppose is a good thing for them!

Out of interest, can anyone give me a ballpark figure as to how much you pay in vet's bills each year? (Assuming everything is routine and nothing out of the ordinary happens?)

[tabulahrasa]

Routine vet care isn't a lot really, off the top if my head I think the new puppy pack was about £80 for worming, flea stuff, both sets of injections and a microchip.

Neutering is about £120.

I don't know how much wormer and flea stuff is by itself because I have 2 cats and they all get done at once.

With boosters as well for an adult dog - its probably about £100 a year. It's the unexpected stuff that costs, but insurance helps with budgeting for that.

[moosemama]

I was recommended Life Skills for Puppies recently and would recommend it.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

Having had 2 rountine visits over small things under the excess of insurance in the 8 months we have had our pup I took out one of those £9.99 a month care plans about a month ago. You get unlimited consults, discount on neutering and some meds, all vet nurse services such as nails, anal glands etc, microchip and vacs boosters.

I look like I'm going to get immediate value as I have just checked him over a couple of minutes ago and he has a gunky ear.

Other than that I pay about £10 a month for advocate flea and worm and the odd tapeworm tablet.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

Oh and insurance is £14 per month for £4000 per condition over life.

[tabulahrasa]

I'm not going to say how much mine has cost in vet's bills - it'd make a prospective owner run for the hills...lol

But, you will get unexpected vet's visits, just minor things like gunky ears or little cuts or stomach upsets - so it'll never be just routine stuff.

If you're lucky though it'll be about another £50 every 6 months or so, if you're not, then you'll be glad of insurance, lol.

[moosemama]

Forgot to say earlier - DOoin's reading list is a really good one.

In my experience, you pay somewhere between £10.00 and £35.00 a month for insurance and then find your pet kindly develops a stream of minor ailments and/or injuries that always seem to come under the policy excess.

I never seem to leave the vets having spent under £35.00, as there's the cost of the consultation on top of any medication.

Vet insurance is still a must though, as vet fees can run into big bucks for more serious illness or injury and you really don't want to be having to consider the cost when it comes to deciding what treatment your dog should have.

I've always bought my worm and flea treatments online, but have recently found out about lungworm, so will be purchasing Advocate from the vet from now on to ensure lurcherboy is properly protected against that as well. I would say consider somewhere from £10.00 to £15.00 per month for Advocate (flea and worm cover) plus a couple of pounds every 3 months for tapeworm treatment. If you live in an area where ticks are a problem, you will need an additional treatment for that as well.

Annual vaccinations (and indeed veterinary costs in general) can vary massively from area to area and even vet to vet and will also be affected by the size of your dog. This is slightly out of date now, but should give you some idea of cost.

Bear in mind that if you ever want/need to put your dog in boarding kennels, they would have to have an additional kennel cough vaccination.

[RedwingWinter]

I would recommend Life Skills for Puppies, and anything by Jean Donaldson (start with The Culture Clash like Dooin suggested).

[idirdog]

I can't recommend one but the following list covers nearly everything

General dog books

Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know: What Dogs Think and Know by Alexandra Horowitz
Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs bySuzanne Clothier
How dogs learn by Burch and Bailey
Excel-Erated Learning: Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn and How Best to Teach Them by Pamela J. Reid
Dog Language by Roger Abrantes
On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas
Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide: Interpreting the Native
Language of the Domestic Dog by Brenda Aloff
Understanding the Silent Communication of Dogs by Rosie J. Lowry
Change my mind - abandon dominance
Dominance in Dogs: Fact or Fiction? by Barry Eaton (small but vital book - easy and interesting)
In Defence of Dogs - Why Dogs Need Our Understanding by John Bradshaw
The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson
Oh Behave by Jean Donaldson
Dominance Theory and Dogs by James O'Heare
Bonding With Your Dog by Victoria Schade
The Other End of the Leash: Why we do what we do around dogs by Patricia McConnell
Dogs are from Neptune by Jean Donaldson
100 Silliest Things People Say About Dogs by Alexandra Semyonova

Puppies

Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey
Before & After Getting Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar
Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell and Brenda Scidmore

General training

The Complete Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training by Pamela Dennison
Unlock Your Dogs Potential by Sarah Fisher
100 Ways to Train the Perfect Dog by Sarah Fisher and Marie Miller
Doctor Dunbar's Good Little Dog Book by Ian Dunbar
Clever Dog by Gwen Bailey
Getting in Ttouch with your Dog by Linda Tellington-Jones
How to Handle Living with Your Dog by Winkie Spiers
How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves by Sophia Yin
The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller

Clicker training

Click to Calm by Emma Parsons
Reaching the Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us about All
Animals by Karen Pryor
Don?t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pyror
Clicking with Your Dog: Step-By-Step in Pictures by Peggy Tillman
Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs by Karen Pryor
When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs by Jane Killion

[Iamaslummymummy]

Moose you can get advocate from here, online without a prescription

[LadyTurmoil]

MsGillis whereabouts are you in the UK?

[MsGillis]

idirdog- thanks for the reading list! I'm going down the library first thing to see what they've got...

LadyTurmoil- am in York. Seems like pups are few and far between here! I want to make sure it comes from a decent home and has been screened for all the health conditions that KCs can suffer from...

[MsGillis]

Fanoftheinvisibleman- which £9.99 policy did you go for? Have been looking into pet insurance and wondering where to go/ what level of cover to go for...

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

That is the care package with my vet practice so not insurance. Just covers consults (normally £27), nurse services, chipping and vaccinations. It is Vets4pets.

I did it as all our visits so far have cost around £35.

Our insurance is £14 something a month and is with Tesco extra. It is for £4000 per condition and pays out for life , take care as some cover conditions for 12 months only.

I took the care plan as well as I have a feeling we will use it a lot! Plus I now now that the most a vet visit will cost is £23 (excess is 50 on insurance).

[moosemama]

Iamaslummymummy, they don't have a very good rep. Known for taking payments and not delivery and iirc they aren't actually UK based, despite the website appearing that way (could be wrong about that though). Not sure I'd trust them given their poor online rep.

To be honest, it's prescription only for a reason, as it's pretty strong stuff. It's pricey, but not ridiculously so from the vets, but you can ask your vet to write a prescription and then buy online, which saves you some of the cost.

[LadyTurmoil]

What about Sally I know not everyone on MN likes Many Tears but they have been recommended by others as being thorough and good at matching dogs/owners etc. They have many ex-breeding dogs who need a resident dog in the home already to teach them, but they mention that Sally might be OK as an only dog...

[LadyTurmoil]

oh, and have you looked at the rescues on this list? www.dogpages.org.uk/nth-east.htm If you register with a few of them and keep in touch, they may contact you if a suitable dog comes into their care. Good luck!

[MsGillis]

We found a dog! Oh my god, it was hard work and glancing around epupz and pets4homes it was obvious (even to my unexperienced self!) that there are some very dodgy people out there flogging dogs. (One told me not to get too caught up in doing my research and "scaring myself" about the hereditary health conditions! Another offered me pups ready to go at 7 weeks.)

Hopefully we're picking him up at the weekend but looks like he comes from a lovely family home, his mother and father are both there and are family pets and he's a beautiful looking little chap. I swear I've done more research this last few days into getting a dog than I did into getting pregnant!

Thanks everyone for all the advice. The reading continues...

[paddythepooch]

Best of luck with the pup. Can't add to reading list but kikopup on YouTube is wonderful. Oodles of videos on everything and helps reinforce the reading.

[FragileTitanium]

I'll add my 2 cents worth.

The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey saved my sanity. I'd done loads of reading before getting our puppy but the reality of it was pretty overwhelming. The Perfect Puppy is the reason why our puppy is incredibly well behaved, obedient, calm and happy and is able now at 4 months to be happily left on her own for a few hours.

I also work from home, so just something to think about. The first little while, the puppy needs almost constant attention - especially toilet training when you really do have to take them out every 1/2 hour to hour and teach them voice cue to wee and poo. If your work requires sustained concentration, then this will be a major inconvenience...just something to think about, which I hadn't realised, so thought I'd mention it.

[MsGillis]

Thank you! I've downloaded Perfect Puppy and ordered Puppy Primer and Puppies for Dummies. Picking him up this morning, he is absolutely gorgeous and his parents are both very beautiful, happy dogs.

Fragile- thanks, it's all stuff that needs considering! I only do a couple of days a week and it's not too intense thankfully, so I'm hoping it should be alright. He's not had any jabs yet though so looks like we'll be house bound for a while...