Dog owners, come and tell me how often you walk your dogs, and help me decide if we should get a dog

[MmeLindt]

and how to persuade DH that we should get a dog

I am thinking of getting a dog but don't know how to organise the walks etc.

The only thing that is stopping me is the fact that DH is away quite a bit and our DCs are only 4yo and 6yo. If the last walk is about 7pm, will the dog be ok?

Also, what kind of dog do you suggest? Must be smallish and obviously child-friendly.

if you're looking at poodle x dogs, as well as labradoodles, there are cockerpoos (the cutest pups) and cavipoos, apparently the "ultimate" living teddy bears! These 2 are obviously spaniels crossed with poodles, giving the non shedding coat and lovability of the spaniel breeds.

Labradoodles are very very big though! Cockerpoos are much smaller and gorgeous.

Also I recently met a Tibetan spaniel which was very cute.

We have a seven month old Miniature Schnauzer, which we got as a puppy from a reputable breeder, cost £650. We chose the breed because a) we like how they look (beards and moustaches, reminiscent of retired Major General) and b)because they are a good family dog. Although a smaller breed, he doesn't yap or bite as some of them do, gets wrestled by my three year old and never gets stroppy about it, and basically goes with the flow in our house. Normally get two walks a day, both lasting 20-30minutes, one at lunchtime, the other at about 7pm. He tends to get longer walks at the weekend. Other than that he gets let out into the garden frequently and plays around in there. However, if I can't the lunchtime walk he doesn't get too fussed about it and tends to sleep alot anyway.

Good luck with it all, as someone else mentioned, with young children in the house I would recommend getting a puppy and meeting at least one of the parent dogs to get a good idea of the likely nature of your dog. I did years of research and had to wait until I was able to work from home until I felt it was the right time to get a dog, its lots of hard work but incredibly rewarding, and I know he is absolutely a part of the family now.

There are two miniature schnautzers next door - they yap and yap and yap and yap. Dh's aunt has had miniature schnautzers ever since he can remember - at least 4 by now. Only one was nice natured, despite being very carefully chosen - didn't trust her newest one with ds (3.5) an inch - expected her to bite.

Ok. Negotiations have begun.

I have so far agreed to

• iron his shirts every Sunday

• hand over my credit and debit cards in return for weekly "pocket money"

• keep the house clean and tidy, with floors mopped at least once a week

• 2 BJs a week

He did not say no outright so there is hope.

No way am I getting a dog with a ridiculous name like cockerpoo or cavipoo, no matter how cute they are

Our dog gets walked 2 - 3 times a day, for 20-30 minutes a time.

When I am off work (19 weeks a year), I try to take her out for an hour long run every day, wp.

just seen a bit on the news about retired greyhounds...........lovely dogs and need minimal exercise! also staffies are excellent with children. we take our bella out for an hour and half walk everyday.....good for me and her.

also if getting a dog please remember the various rescue homes. they have many lovely and loving dogs.

We have 2 labradoodles. They are fabulous dogs, good with kids, bright and really affectionate. ~One is woolly and the other has a more lab coat but they dont shed. They do need a lot of exercise though, ours get an hour in the morning and a short walk in the afternoon, then I let them in the garden in the evening. I am a single parent so I walk the dogs when the kids are at school. They are also big dogs. The eldest is 42kg! and the puppy 27kg at 10 months. If you dont have a lot of time for them they can get quite stressed as the are very sociable. The breeder I got our from seems to often get them back from people living in flats who want one because they are lovely and then dont have the time for them If you dont have much time to walk them get a border terrier.

I just have to contradict elastamum on one thing: please don't get any sort of terrier (unless it's a maltese - but that's not really a terrier) if you don't have much time to walk. Some of the most tiresome and aggressive dogs I have come across are under-exercised terriers - including borders.

I walk for about an hour every day at the moment, so I hope that would be ok for a terrier.

We contacted a local breeder of Westies, but the prices were very high so unless we find someone else it looks like we will be going for a different breed. She had a male puppy for 1000pounds, which is more than we are willing to pay. We are not bothered about fantastic pedigrees.

I am going to ask in the village this week to find out if anyone knows of puppies for sale around here.

We have a springer he gets about 2 hours a day, you could build a wheel in the back garden for them to run in and it would not be enough.

He has a walk at 6 in the morning for about half an hour. Walk at lunch over the farmland at the back of the house for about an hour and at about 6pm he gets another half hour at least and then we let him out in the back gadren for a wee at night.

At the weekends if it is fine he gets at least six hours on one dsy and a few hours on the other.

I went to a brilliant dog show in Lausanne once - can't remember what time of year but I think it was an annual thing. Really fun for the dcs and a good way to get a good look at all different kinds of breeds. See whether you can find out about it.

(It's not particularly hot in Geneva. Nicer than the UK, but hardly extreme like the Gulf or something.)

Gooogly,

found the dog show, looks interesting. Missed it this year as it was in October but have bookmarked it for next year.

This will be our first summer in Geneva, looking forward to it. Snowing at the moment, hard to believe we will be swimming in the lake in a few months time.

Tbh, if I were you, I'd get to know the owners of likely looking dogs in your local area and find out where they got them from. A cross-breed/mongrel is likely to have fewer health problems and the main thing is to see the puppy with both parents if poss, but definitely the mother. Many pedigree breeds have been so overbred that they have ended up with all sorts of problems which are obviously not publicised by the breeders. One example is the cocker spaniel, where some varieties suffer from "avalanche of rage" syndrome (some springers have also had this), which is to be avoided at all costs. Often, if not mainly, with a pedigree dog you are paying for looks rather than a solid temperament, which is surely what you want above all else in a family pet.

Ah, j'adore Geneve!

Well, I asked one of the mums at school today,. She has a lovely golden retriever and I thought that doggy people always know about new arrivals in the doggy world. A bit comical due to language difficulties but she managed to tell me that one of the dinner ladies has puppies at the moment.

They are Bichon Maltese (I think this is Maltese Terrier) King Charles cross. A quick google found these pictures

Hope to meet with the puppy lady this afternoon when I pick the DCs up.

Thanks for all the advice, it has been incredibly helpful.

The maltese x king charles sounds lovely. I grew up with a pedigree maltese and he was delightful. Very gentle little fellow, although apparently when he was a puppy he used to run in between the bars of my playpen and nip me and run out again. We got on fine later, though. My mother did eventually resort to giving him a very radical haircut because she got fed up with the grooming (only downside, I think).

Update here

We have a labrador who is one. He gets a decent walk every day in the morning. Don;t think it matters when it is, although more energetic dogs might be a pain until you take them out. Might just add that it is one of the best things we've ever done as a family. We all love him to distraction and is brilliant for the children.

Do beware of any breeder who sells a labradoodle puppy as non shedding! I have two and they both shed for England. Remember there is labrador in there and they really shed their coats. You cannot tell until the dog is over a year old what sort of coat they will have, as they go through at least one coat change as they mature. If you need a non shedding dog then a poodle or schnauzer are the ones to go for! Please have a look at this site for more info on labradoodles and their coats - a lot of dogs are ending up there because their owners have allergies! ... www.labradoodle-rescue.com/

We have a lab who gets an hour walk/run each day (au pair walks her during the week since we both work) and then an obedience training session each evening (our dog trainer says it's more important to wear out their minds than their bodies)
We had a pyrenean mountain dog when I was a child who needed very little walking (but they are massive )