Choosing a dog

[Wellwellwell3holesintheground]

Hello, I was hoping some of you could help me think through getting a dog. DH grew up with dogs but I have never owned one. My sister has had one for 8 years (wire/border terrier cross) and I also dog sit for a friend's lurcher collie cross.

I absolutely do not want to rush into this and am prepared to spend a couple of months thinking and researching (which is hopefully where you lot come in!). I've spent ages googling and it's a bit like baby advice - many different ideas, all valid and no one prepared to get down off the fence. So I want the truth! If I gets the end of this and it's not practical then so be it, no dog, however sweet they are.

We have three children (11,8,5) and run our own business which would allow us to have the dog with us all the time. DH feels that he would rather get a puppy so he knows it is properly trained and how it reacts to things.

We have a decent sized garden (have chickens in an enclosed pen and guinea pigs which spend the nights inside and days in a run outside) and are within a 5 minute walk of several open spaces despite being in a city. Short drive to woodlands, rivers and down land. I also have some money set aside for anything we need and the first year's insurance etc PIL happy to dog sit if we need ever.

So where the hell do I start?! I don't think I want a small dog and nothing huge. And then I get stuck. So if anyone has got to the end of this, how do I go about working out if and when and what we should get? Thanks for reading!

That reminds me - what's this cage stuff? Seems sensible but honest answers please! Is it mean?

MaryZ, I've just eyed them up - adorable.
Aka Double Trouble - I wonder why?!

This was me 10 years ago op! Iirc there was a book called 'the prefect puppy' or something daft like that which had good advice about choosing a breed according to your lifestyle and experience . Worth borrowing from the library in any case.

Best advice ever is to take your puppy to puppy socialisation classes. And maybe the children too.

For my money the spaniel collie cross warming my feet up is the best pet breed ever. I hope that the crossbreeding provides good genes as well. At 10 years old I still have people thinking she is a puppy. She did need a little tutorial on co-habiting with chickens but she learnt quickly and permanently. Definitely not a yapper.

No, crating is not mean - in small doses.
Many dogs like to have their own space that nobody else is allowed in to (particularly not overenthusiastic children for instance ).
They can also be a safe and familiar place to leave a dog if they have to be left alone or overnight etc.

Some dogs never take to them, some love them; most will tolerate them.

Perhaps I could crate DS2 and let the dog roam free...

Genius idea - I might steal it.

I have now spent all evening looking at pups on EGLR - I don't even want a pup! Sigh.

DH has just walked in. Now I'm going to make him look at pictures of puppies...

We have had our lab since a puppy and also have 6 chickens (which we had first). As she has grown up with them she is so used to them she just ignores them-even when one escapes into her bit of the garden.
Point I was trying to make is that hopefully if u do get a young dog, especially a really trainable breed, the chickens etc shouldn't be an issue. Def aren't for us

Good to hear! Dammit. I'm going to end up with a dog, aren't I?

Yep

I am living vicariously through you just now.
I still need DS4 to become slightly less of a sociopath more sensible before I would subject a poor dog to him.

Sounds like your DS4 would get on well with my DS2.

consider if you are OK with dogs which are shedding all year and obviously how would you cope with that extra cleaning task

I have JRT and he is lovely companion, he walks in all weathers and doesn't need routine. Some gods need routine and that is important point to look at.

I wish my house was bigger because those pups from EGLR are lovely

Hounds first sighthound rescue are worth a look, they have a website as well as a FB page.

www.houndsfirst.co.uk/hounds/

I've been following them since they started and they are fab, really caring and struggling to keep up with the constant influx of lovely pointy dogs as they are heavily over bred.

If you get the chance, read up on Lena, who was rescued from a pound about to be PTS, shortly after taking her in they realised she was pregnant, whilst tending to Lena giving birth her foster carer fell and broke her hip, an ambulance was called and the paramedics had to deal with Lena as well as the foster carer, 10 healthy pups were born and rehomed successfully, it's a lovely story.

We have a Springer aged 2 and a cocker spaniel of 9 months. They are our first dogs. Quite a few people said we would struggle to cope with spaniels for first dogs (including Dogs Trust, when we enquired) but we haven't at all.

They are friendly, gentle, loving souls with a lovely nature, a willingness to please (and to eat!), so easy to train. They are fun and energetic with a love for mud, water and flinging themselves with abandon through woods, fields, beaches etc.

Both are from working stock, the cocker in particular. They love any amount of exercise that you can give them. Ours get a good 2 hours at least every day (between DH, myself and 2 teen DC), will take much more (just been on holiday to Scotland and they were getting 4/5 hours daily), but then just chill round the house. Both are calm and not mad spaniels. They do love being near you though and both follow me everywhere, so taking them to work would be great. And spaniels would love your active life.

I think that if you are prepared to put in time, effort, and lots of love and positive training, most breeds of dogs will turn out just fine.

What a lovely post needastrongone!

Yy to advice about spaniels.

They are, generally,
good natured (especially around children - a huge plus point!)
active but not destructive
reliable

their only down point is that they do need quite a bit of walking and they can be rather clingy (and greedy!).

I know people love staffies and this might annoy some posters, but I could never have one with children about

Staffies are called the nanny dogs because they are excellent with children.

Mine was the sweetest most loving girl and when the children came along would stand between any dog or person who came up to peer in the pram.

I would definitely recommend a ex racing greyhound, df has one that was retired because he would not chase the hare, she had cats too.

You could also look at K9 Angels who rescue puppies and dogs from abroad.

Why are there so many Staffies in rescues? Genuine question!

People bred them for fighting money, people would buy them and then decide they are actually no good for fighting or being a guard dog and abandon them, or the 'breeders' would not be able to sell them and dump them, mine was used for breeding and then dumped, emaciated, ill and was at risk of pts now she spends her days sleeping and farting.

We've had a cocker before, he was just lovely. Very sociable and good with the kids.

We've just picked our puppy up on Sunday. She's a springer / patterdale terrier cross. Her mum, the springer, is a working gun dog and dad is a retired and very laid back ratter. So far she's been brilliant. Settled very well, good with the kids (2.5 & 8), training easily, clean and very friendly. Most importantly for me, she doesn't yap!! She's a solid little thing with massive paws, we look forward to seeing how she turns out.

Poor staffies :(

Pants - she sounds great!

I have a golden retriever. He's a sweetheart, tolerates the cat (well, the cat bosses him around), avoids the toddler, but the only downside is the hair... And he likes to eat paper - swipes bills etc from counters. Not madly food motivated though, he's a lover, not an eater!

We had the cat first, then the dog, then the baby. All worked out well.

I have two working cockers, both completely mad as hatters. The older had a dodgy start in life and is more reserved but the younger one is full of life and enthusiasm. They are a pain if they don't get enough exercise but are generally happy enough so long as they've been out somewhere. I feel they are prone to be one person dogs but this may be because we actually work ours and the amount of work that goes into getting a dog ready for the field will lead to a stronger bond between dog and handler. People I know with "pet" working cockers seem to have no issues.
We also recently rescued a Staffie pup, now about 20 weeks old. Considering she came from a drug dealer and had lived all her life in an upstairs flat she is remarkably chilled, the easiest dog I have had for many years (and I've had a few) and most importantly totally devoted to DS(10) She's also (much to my surprise) the ideal dog for him as she's robust enough to play fight with, yet small enough that she can't drag him down the road on his knees. She's keen to learn as well so we have had little problem at least starting to iron out the little issues arising from her past.
Even DH who is a gundog man through and through is decidedly find of her :o

We were where you are now, 10 months ago.

We acquired a lurcher reject (5 months, she had been returned to breeder as she was the wrong look (not fluffy) and a bit too submissive for them)

We went to meet her, and fell in love straight away.

The kids (12 and 10) are still devoted to her, take her out, play with her etc.

She is very soppy, loves to be loved, gentle nature.

She is also my faithful companion (I am becoming soppy too!) and has given us so much happiness already.

Lurchers tend to not be aggressive, either with other dogs or children, so that is nice during walks. Quite calm, though they run like the wind at the sight of a hare!!!

Enjoy your journey to finding the perfect dog.

You may well "fall" for the first one you go and meet! We did

Dh has just come back from work and told me his mate's dog will be having puppies after Christmas. I'm utterly in two minds about this. On the one hand, meeting both the parents is great but on the other hand why is he breeding her?