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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Good companion dog for Mother

79 replies

Ramy48 · 27/03/2015 10:52

Hi, does anybody here have a dog so they can tell me advice what sort of dog is easy to maintain? I want for my Mom please.

OP posts:

ComposHatComesBack · 27/03/2015 15:13

Haven I said I was appalled by it. At best schmaltzy performance parenting at worse treating children that animals are commodities to presented as gifts. I don't imagine that being mauled and yelped over by an enthusiastic toddler was particularly a pleasant experience for a young animal in a new environment.

OliviaBenson · 27/03/2015 15:53

Please don't gift a dog.

How old is she? How active is she?

We have got a rescue dog- elderly former owner had her from a pup. She died when doggy was 2. It's taken lots of patience- doggy was badly trained and not well socialised. Please think of the dog in this- she's only now beginning to settle down after months if training. I don't doubt the elderly owners intentions, but it hasn't been good for ddog.

richthegreatcornholio · 27/03/2015 15:56

By all means gift a dog but don't surprise or force it on her. If she wants a dog then helping her to find one and making a financial contribution towards it are lovely things to do.

londonrach · 27/03/2015 16:33

On the Oldies website i really want toby now. One day soon just need to move out of this flat. Hope they all find homes. Back to op the best dog i ever knew was a rescue whippet, greyhound mix. She was a stunning dog in personality.

ConfusedInBath · 27/03/2015 17:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Ramy48 · 27/03/2015 20:39

Hi again
Thank you for your replies. Mother is in her 70's but still quite active likes to keep fit so enjoys going for her walks and driving. She is alone and I know lonely even though she will never admit it.
What we do is we are going to get a chihauaua because it little and if she don't think she wants it I will take it. There we are

OP posts:

lomega · 27/03/2015 20:47

I've had dogs all my life - various breeds, ages, rescues and from pups, also bred a litter from my lab a while ago - and from my experience, I'd say go for either a rescue greyhound (they LOVE lounging around) or a little cavalier king charles. My grandma had a CKC and they form very close bonds with one person so would be ideal as a companion for your mum. If you go for the latter though, and get it as a puppy, check with the breeder that the parents/pups are health tested, as they can suffer from a condition called Syringomyelia.

lomega · 27/03/2015 20:50

Just seen your last post. Chihuahuas are not particularly friendly or easy to train, and don't make great first dogs. Just because they are small and easy to pick up doesn't mean they are 'easy'. The chi's I've met are nervous and high strung, and tend to nip.

richthegreatcornholio · 27/03/2015 20:54

Yeah, don't get a chihuahua just because they're small! The ones I've met haven't been particularly friendly.

SistersOfPercy · 27/03/2015 20:57

My mum was 78 when she had her pup (she'd lost her old dog a few months previously). She actually loved the puppy stage, reading books and training him kept her busy (she's on her own since dad died).
They walk miles daily.

For mum part of the enjoyment was going out and choosing her own pup.
Also, chihuahua isn't the best idea as mum frequently falls over a fat shih tzu because she doesn't see him, I suspect a tiny dog with an older person who's probably no longer for the best eyesight isn't the way forward. Not exactly a robust dog when he is trodden on.

ArcheryAnnie · 27/03/2015 20:57

Some chihuahuas are lovely, but there's a reason that they are often described, as a breed, as "half tremble, half hate".

You aren't going to discuss it with her first, are you?

Charlotte3333 · 27/03/2015 20:57

Friends of ours have chihuahuas and they are the most ridiculous dogs I've ever met, and completely batshit crazy. And I say that as the owner of a welsh springer spaniel, so I'm no stranger to mad dogs.

Our last dog, Robert, was a lurcher-greyhound cross and we barely even knew we'd got him; he spent 80% of his time sleeping or being turfed out of his bed by the teeny tiny cat. He was the best dog ever. What on earth possessed us to get a bloody spaniel next is beyond me. It was like going from Ghandi to Jim Carrey on crack.

ThatBloodyWoman · 27/03/2015 20:58

They'll also escape through any tiny little hole in a fence.
Lurcher.Lurcher.Lurcher.
Big enough not to trip over.Slight framed enough not to pull too hard.And reward the gentle treatment they need with great loyalty.

SoupDragon · 28/03/2015 08:13

I can't believe you are going ahead with getting a dog as a bloody surprise. Actually, I can believe it as you have totally ignored every single piece of advice about what dog to get as well as wether to get a dog at all. You are being totally irresponsible.

If you want a chihuahua, get one for yourself.

The pair next door are irritating shrill yappy things who beat up my cocker spaniel when he was stupid enough to tunnel under the fence to go play serves him right

ConfusedInBath · 28/03/2015 08:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Stinkersmum · 28/03/2015 08:23

ConfusedInBath I hope so. But I think sadly not....

ComposHatComesBack · 28/03/2015 19:20

And people wonder why so many animals end up in rescue centres. I'd lay odds this poor dog may well end up one of them. An unsuitable breed of dog picked as a surprise for someone who's expressed no clear interest in owning a dog.

Dowser · 28/03/2015 20:39

Mum had a chihuahua. He was a vicious nippy thing. Thought he was my dads guard dog and nipped allmy kids.

Son had a sch tzu . I loved her ith allmy heart she was just gorgeous. That's what I would go for.

A gorgeous cute sch tzu

deste · 28/03/2015 22:16

My friend has a long haired Chihuahua and it is lovely, really friendly and walked to heel at 12 weeks old.

SistersOfPercy · 28/03/2015 23:05

The problem with Shih tzu's Dowser is whilst they don't shed fur they do take a lot of grooming.
Mum manages hers well, but she has no problems with her hands, in not sure an older person with arthritic hands could put in the effort needed to groom daily.

Original poster

Ramy48 · 28/03/2015 23:19

Hi there
I have seen good Chihuahua dogs that are not troublesome like as been described by some of you mumsnetters. I know Mother very well she has a dog long ago, a spaniel but he died.

Already I said if after presenting a nice Chihuahua to her she doesn't think she can take it, then I will have and don't worry I will take very good care of her just like she were my own child. I have already buy lots of lovely things for the dog and she will have own kennel in the house and plenty garden to run nicely everywhere. Nothing bad will happen for her.

OP posts:

ComposHatComesBack · 28/03/2015 23:22

Please, I have no wish to play the thread police but can't the animal owners offering advice on breeds etc. not see that what the op proposes is utter utter madness and please stop giving her encouragement in her Bam tired and struggling for a subject? .
?batshit crazy plan to surprise her mother with the 'gift' of a dog that the mother has no idea about and has expressed no inclination of wanting.

valrhona · 28/03/2015 23:38

To "surprise" anyone at all (no matter their age or circumstances) is a utter disaster of a thing to do.

It's just mean. Don't do it.

TALK with your mother & DISCUSS this with her. Don't foist a poor creature on another creature who may not at ALL want this responsibility.

It's probably a well intentioned idea but "the road to hell..." Etc.

eae123 · 28/03/2015 23:44

A west highland white!
They're beautiful, relaxed and can fit on your knee comfortably!

ComposHatComesBack · 28/03/2015 23:55

op I'm not suggesting you'd be deliberately cruel to a dog no one takes in a dog and thinks 'I'll abandon it in a few months time' but they find the novelty wears off or they find it more work than they thought and the dog ends up abandoned because they haven't thought it through or they don't know what it will involve.

I'd also be very surprised if a reputable breeder would let you take a dog if they knew what you were going to do. What are you going to do? Lie or go to a dodgy breeder who doesn't care about the dogs he churns out?

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