Getting A Dog

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Mej

i love GS, i would like to get one when the oppurtunity of getting a dog arises, out of interest what are they like to live with?

Temperament & personality varies. You can get the most intelligent, loyal friend you ever had, or you can get a nutter. Ours was the former, fortunately, as he was huge! Little toddlers loved him, they didn't see "big scary dog with sharp teeth", they just saw "big furry teddy bear", and he was great with them. Great guard dog too though - alert, territorial, and most importantly, restrained - although ours was professionally trained.

Then we got a mastiff. A bit bigger, and an awful lot dumber

[timwilky]

Alex

What you want a dog for when you have a kitten?


Seriously now. What is your lifestyle?
Are you both working? = no dog
Are you even contemplating the possibility of a sprog? = no dog
Do you like weekends away? = no dog.

I relented with the wife/family of getting Jasper 6 years ago as I was working from home. Great for 5.5 years now we are all working full time and poor sod is now alone for 9 hours a day. No wonder he goes mad when I walk in the door. He used to get a walk at lunchtime that has gone. His couple of mile first thing in the morning is now 1/2 a mile, no wonder both him/me are putting on a bit more than is good for us.

Edit, just reread your OP and see the though of a sprog has been mentioned. Dogs can be great with kids and stand a whole lot of abuse without complaining. Jasper is great with my grandkids, they throw him about, pull his ears/tail , poke him etc and when he has had enough off he goes to hide on my knee for protection. Would I trust him. No way, simply because if they start making a fuss of me. He wants to get between us. He is jealous.

Originally Posted by timwilky

Alex

What you want a dog for when you have a kitten?


Seriously now. What is your lifestyle?
Are you both working? = no dog
Are you even contemplating the possibility of a sprog? = no dog
Do you like weekends away? = no dog.

I relented with the wife/family of getting Jasper 6 years ago as I was working from home. Great for 5.5 years now we are all working full time and poor sod is now alone for 9 hours a day. No wonder he goes mad when I walk in the door. He used to get a walk at lunchtime that has gone. His couple of mile first thing in the morning is now 1/2 a mile, no wonder both him/me are putting on a bit more than is good for us.

Edit, just reread your OP and see the though of a sprog has been mentioned. Dogs can be great with kids and stand a whole lot of abuse without complaining. Jasper is great with my grandkids, they throw him about, pull his ears/tail , poke him etc and when he has had enough off he goes to hide on my knee for protection. Would I trust him. No way, simply because if they start making a fuss of me. He wants to get between us. He is jealous.

Yes we both work, but either Catherine or I can go home at lunch to attend, .
Why cant you have a sprog and a dog? plenty of ppl do?
We dont have weekends away, no where a dog couldn't come with us, we are only talking a beagle which is small ish anyway.

[timwilky]

Hi Alex

The reason I say no dog if thinking of sprogs is simply that dogs establish their pack order, when a kid arrives they are not capable of establishing pack order like a puppy, therefore a dog assumes dominance until such time as proper order is resumed.

There is therefore the danger with a young baby that the dog feels it is being unfairly treated and needs to establish itself. unfortunately a baby will come second.

I am not sayhing it will happen, it can. Like I said in my post, I would not trust my own dog. Yes I leave him in the same room as my grandkids. But only for short times such as nipping into the kitchen and the doors are open so I can hear what is going on.

As for weekends away. Fine if visiting friends/family where a dog is welcome. But hotels can be a different issue. You then need to find friends willing to have the dog or kennels that would treat it as you would.

It took me one hell of a long time to agree to a dog in our house. Because I grew up with dogs, I knew the demand on my time/resource they would create. I also knew I had a responsibility to give the dog all it needs

Originally Posted by timwilky

Hi Alex

The reason I say no dog if thinking of sprogs is simply that dogs establish their pack order, when a kid arrives they are not capable of establishing pack order like a puppy, therefore a dog assumes dominance until such time as proper order is resumed.

There is therefore the danger with a young baby that the dog feels it is being unfairly treated and needs to establish itself. unfortunately a baby will come second.

I am not sayhing it will happen, it can. Like I said in my post, I would not trust my own dog. Yes I leave him in the same room as my grandkids. But only for short times such as nipping into the kitchen and the doors are open so I can hear what is going on.

As for weekends away. Fine if visiting friends/family where a dog is welcome. But hotels can be a different issue. You then need to find friends willing to have the dog or kennels that would treat it as you would.

It took me one hell of a long time to agree to a dog in our house. Because I grew up with dogs, I knew the demand on my time/resource they would create. I also knew I had a responsibility to give the dog all it needs

Fair comments there tim, food for thought.

Cheers

Alex

[ophic]

Wise words Tim.

but if you get a really little dog, you can get tank bags especially designed for them
https://www.thepawsmahal.com/dogs/mo..._carrier.shtml

Originally Posted by 454697819

Yes we both work, but either Catherine or I can go home at lunch to attend, .

Some people will say thats cruel, you shouldn't works if you have dogs blah blah blah. I think it's fine so long as you spend quality time while at home with your dog, I dont mean sat on your **** with the dog on your lap watching TV. I mean quality time interacting with the dog and building up that special bond.

Both myself and Mrs Chop work full time, I work office hours and she's a nurse on shifts, I arrange appointments around her shifts so if she's in work I can go home at lunch and spend 30 mins with the dogs. It works for us, but I love my dogs enough to do that. It's a pain in the **** sometimes, but it's worth it.

Originally Posted by 454697819

Why cant you have a sprog and a dog? plenty of ppl do?

Again I think it's fine to have both. Dogs adjust and 'live in the now' they dont dwell on the past as in 'life was great before that arrived', they dont rationalise and they dont think like humans. Just be sensible and dont leave a dog in room with a toddler unsupervised, when the sprog comes along try and not forget about the dog, common sense wins every time.

Originally Posted by 454697819

We dont have weekends away, no where a dog couldn't come with us, we are only talking a beagle which is small ish anyway.

Dogs aint as tying as people make out, you just adjust your life slightly. If I want to spend a morning on the bike, I get up mega early and take them out for a good long off lead walk, put them in their crates and go out.

If we go away we just look for dog freindly accomodation, Holiday Inn's allow dogs at certain hotels, it's not hard.

You just need to make it work for you, do your research on your breed, make sure if your getting a pup that you get it from a good breeder NOT a puppy farm, make sure it's health screened for genetic problem, again if you do your research then you will know what these problems are.

If your getting a rescue then let the dog pick you.

I have 3 dogs now (Springer, Collie and a Chi) and would swap my kids for a fourth one in a shot (another Collie), I honestly find 3 dogs far easier than one dog, I'm not suggesting for a minute you getting a few dogs

You could always do what I do and take one to work with you... My ickle dog being a paperweight...



I do have a very understanding boss though

Good luck and dont let people put you off if thats what you really want. Remember though, it's going to be roughly a 15 year commitment!

Edit: Sorry for the long post lol

Further useful posts mr Chop,

allot of my rationale in that post too.

.

Originally Posted by Mej

i love GS, i would like to get one when the oppurtunity of getting a dog arises, out of interest what are they like to live with?

Too intelligent for their/our own good hehe.

Numbers, you talk about getting a beagle as they're "smallish anyway". Don't matter what size they are, they all have "big spiky teeth"