A few Qs on dogs :)

[Grey_Eventer]

We are thinking of getting a new dog- we already have to lovely Labradors, one who is 11 and the other who is 2. We have always had border terriers and labs, although before we got the 2 year old, B we had a border. She had a heart murmur and we had to take her back and she died at 1 1/2 y/o. anyway, after taking her back we searched for a border but because she had been so perfect, none of them were right so when my mums friend said to go and see her lab pups we did. fell in love and she came home 4 weeks later
anyway, with old teddy bear getting older, we feel young pup needs something to play with. Also when ( don't like thinking about it) old teddy bear does go, we don't want young pup left on her own but i don't think we would be able to get a new one at all soon after as i have known him as far back as i can remember...
the next issue is this:
do we go for a rescue dog? we would probably want to train it and possibly take it shooting/beating so not sure that would suit a rescue dog unless previous experience or a puppy. we would also want it as young as possible so we could train it etc. We were thinking of going through labrador rescue as one of young pups brothers had to go through this due to the new owner realising you can't look after a puppy if you have night shifts which run till 11am...
what breed would you recommended? I don't know whether trying to fine a border would be a good idea as i think we would always compare to the first border and as she was so perfect, i am not sure that one could ever fill that spot.
Obviously we could get another lab- possibility... we are not too keen on spaniels, obviously some can be lovely, but some seem to just be bonkers and i am not sure old teddy bear would appreciate this...
so any suggestions!?

 

[CorvusCorax]

There are plenty of pups in rescue you can look at, my friends have just picked up a collie x lab pup from a rescue centre.

I know there is at least one user on here who has retrained rescue spaniels for beating so it can be done.

Just out of interest, did you send the bitch back to the breeder/seller when a heart murmur developed? I know in principle I would always send a pup back if a deficiency became apparent but I don't know if I could actually do it in practise.
Sorry if I have misunderstood, I am not judging, we have sold on two youngsters who didn't turn out to be suited to what they were bought for and they both got lovely new homes.

Collies can be a bit high energy so be aware, if they come from working lines and don't get the occupation they need, they can be a bit wired!

Personally speaking we took on a six month old male as company for our ten year old bitch and it worked well, baby puppies *can* be a bit trying and irritating for older dogs but some can work well together and it may give him a new lease of life

 

[CAYLA]

I would jsut stick with labs if u are familiar with the breed it will no doubt help u in puppy up brining if u have been there before, you could indeedy train a rescue, we send alot of our spaniels onto the prison and gsd's onto the army/prison and the majority pass their training previously been bored house dogs in families.

Def steer clear of spaniels they are loons and we need no new spaniels on here if u plan to stay

 

[Grey_Eventer]

Basically what happened T (the pup.) had been looked at by their vets, apparently they were fine. We had actually chosen a different puppy but then the family wanted that one so they gave us T. When we took her to the vets our vet said she had a bad heart murmur. Mum spoke to the breeders and they were very adamant that it was fine- er. no it wasn't! Anyway, mum stopped the cheque as they said they would bank it! and we said we were going to have to bring it back (gutted). Their vet then rang our vet complaining that we had stopped the cheque unprofessional much? thankfully our vet was great throughout. He said that for what we wanted- a working dog, it would not be fair and in a way i am glad we took her back as if we had made a bond i think it would have been heartbreaking to see her go at 1.5 years old The issue was that a) they had lied to us, unless the vet was incompetent- he had checked them the day before we got her so its not like it would have developed so suddenly! b) they were going to bank the cheque despite us saying we were going to bring her back and c) I think they knew that she had an issue as they swapped which pup we were having the day before, presumably after the vet came. Such a shame
I think as we also want it to be a pet a high energy dog such as a collie wouldn't really suit us.
I think that it will be great for the older dog to have a baby again, but also nice for what would be the middle dog as old dog isn't really up to much playing any more...
good to know that you can re-train a rescue dog, obviously it would depend why they were a rescue but if we did go down that route its good to know that that is an option.

 

[Grey_Eventer]

I would jsut stick with labs if u are familiar with the breed it will no doubt help u in puppy up brining if u have been there before, you could indeedy train a rescue, we send alot of our spaniels onto the prison and gsd's onto the army/prison and the majority pass their training previously been bored house dogs in families.

Def steer clear of spaniels they are loons and we need no new spaniels on here if u plan to stay

lol, thats sort of why we want to stay away from spaniels- far too hyper
I think getting another lab would be nice, although having something different would also be nice...
i want a irish water spaniel or one of those allergy free dogs- know one of each and are both loverlyyy
ah exciting

 

[Foxyfilly]

A lurcher !

 

[CorvusCorax]

You could also go for a dog who has been retained by a **responsible** breeder but hasn't made the grade for showing, which is how we got ours at six and eight months.

For labs, if you are going for a pup, try to make sure the parents of the dog have been hip and elbow scored and eye tested, and with acceptable results. As Cayla says, 'Vet checked' just means a vet has looked at a pup, they don't have crystal balls or x-ray eyes to be able to determine whether it will inherit a hereditary condition later in life

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

lol, thats sort of why we want to stay away from spaniels- far too hyper
I think getting another lab would be nice, although having something different would also be nice...
i want a irish water spaniel or one of those allergy free dogs- know one of each and are both loverlyyy
ah exciting

Eeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm - IWS are SPANIELS!!

 

[CorvusCorax]

one of those allergy free dogs- know one of each and are both loverlyyy
ah exciting

Be aware with dogs sold as 'hypoallergenic' - anything produced by the mating of a shedding breed and a non-shedding breed has the potential to inherit the coat of the shedding breed and there are cases on this forum where people know of or own dogs who had to be rehomed as they were sold as 'hypoallergenic' but were nothing of the sort.

IWS can be highly strung, Kirstyhen has more experience than me though. We went to look for one as a calming companion for our last bitch and we found them unsuitable.

 

[kirstyhen]

i want a irish water spaniel or one of those allergy free dogs- know one of each and are both loverlyyy
ah exciting

If you do seriously consider an IWS, make sure you do LOTS of research, especially if you want to work it, they take a long time to mature. And remember that they are still Spaniels, so just as loony and hyper as the rest of them.

If I were you I'd stick with a Lab (well actually i wouldnt, but then I'm a Spaniel person )

 

[Grey_Eventer]

You could also go for a dog who has been retained by a **responsible** breeder but hasn't made the grade for showing, which is how we got ours at six and eight months.

For labs, if you are going for a pup, try to make sure the parents of the dog have been hip and elbow scored and eye tested, and with acceptable results. As Cayla says, 'Vet checked' just means a vet has looked at a pup, they don't have crystal balls or x-ray eyes to be able to determine whether it will inherit a hereditary condition later in life

yup, would check all of that our old dog used to (fingers crossed) have epilepsy due to some suspect breeding- the bitch got over the fence! and our younger one has a skin problem, although both parents hip scored, eye tested, elbow scored and passing with very good scores... also never occurred to any of the relatives of these dogs so although a heredity thing, can happen with not knowing how!
Will look into finding a showing breeder, would love to give a pup a home that isn't wanted
foxyfilly- do lurchers shoot? never seen one, but a possibility...!

 

[CorvusCorax]

Haha, good call Hen you forget sometimes!

G_E my fella has a skin condition, none of his brothers, sisters or either parents had it but it is aggravated by sensitivities to pollen, high protein and a lot of foods, have you queried and allergy? Just a thought.

 

[kirstyhen]

IWS can be highly strung, Kirstyhen has more experience than me though. We went to look for one as a calming companion for our last bitch and we found them unsuitable.

We no longer have one

He has suspected Lupoid Onychodystrophy which basically means his nails are crumbling. He was still jointly owned by his breeder (she wanted to keep an entire male dog, but owned 3 entire bitches) who said she would happily take him back and my Mum felt that it wasn't fair to ask him to work given his problems, plus he wouldn't understand why all the others were getting to go out working and he wasn't, my Mum is also having major hip surgery next month so wouldn't be in a position to ferry him to the Vet's every week.
My poor Mum is devestated, she's had him for 4 years and put soooo much effort into to training him, even when he refused point blank to retrieve

 

[Grey_Eventer]

I know IWS are spaniels, but they are so lovely yes very mad, but so cute.
didn't know that about the hypoallergenic dogs, doesn't need to be hypoa but there are 2 in our village and both lovely dogs, although one developed cancer at 2, not sure if that is common though or just bad luck...
maybe we should just get a lab... maybe we can venture into a different colour rather than a black one

 

[kirstyhen]

Haha, good call Hen you forget sometimes!

Well even the KC don't know what to class them as! The are trialled as Retrievers but shown as Spaniels... Technically they are Retrievers as they don;t work cover like a cocker or a Springer, so aren't quite as loopy. But they are pig-headed, stubborn, aloof and very one to one dogs. My Mum's dog was fairly good with other dogs (unless they had pointy ears ) but apparently some can be rather aggressive! I guess it's the irish-ness in them

 

[Grey_Eventer]

Haha, good call Hen you forget sometimes!

G_E my fella has a skin condition, none of his brothers, sisters or either parents had it but it is aggravated by sensitivities to pollen, high protein and a lot of foods, have you queried and allergy? Just a thought.

well- lol... basically the insurance wont cover any allergy tests etc. so we haven't done any as of yet, although we are planning on doing so asap.... i think its possibly a pollen thing as when i get bad hayfever she is itching like mad. She also has the weirdest paws in that they become squishy and if we don't wash with salty water they are at risk of joining together! bizarre! she also has issues with being in season, which the insurance will allow us to claim on- she was meant to be spayed, but then something happened which meant that it wasn't the right time Very much an on going process with her, trying to find something that helps her etc. tried all sorts of feed, currently considering the BEFTA (is it called that?!) diet as have heard that this can help....

We no longer have one

He has suspected Lupoid Onychodystrophy which basically means his nails are crumbling. He was still jointly owned by his breeder (she wanted to keep an entire male dog, but owned 3 entire bitches) who said she would happily take him back and my Mum felt that it wasn't fair to ask him to work given his problems, plus he wouldn't understand why all the others were getting to go out working and he wasn't, my Mum is also having major hip surgery next month so wouldn't be in a position to ferry him to the Vet's every week.
My poor Mum is devestated, she's had him for 4 years and put soooo much effort into to training him, even when he refused point blank to retrieve

thats so sad thats awful for your mum

 

[Grey_Eventer]

Well even the KC don't know what to class them as! The are trialled as Retrievers but shown as Spaniels... Technically they are Retrievers as they don;t work cover like a cocker or a Springer, so aren't quite as loopy. But they are pig-headed, stubborn, aloof and very one to one dogs. My Mum's dog was fairly good with other dogs (unless they had pointy ears ) but apparently some can be rather aggressive! I guess it's the irish-ness in them

LOL... maybe not the best dog to join another 2? The one we know is great with other dogs, but you do get exceptions! Like our labs have never stolen food in their lives! So much so that when our older dog found a piece of bread on the floor he picked it up and took it to my mum bless him

 

[CorvusCorax]

Aw, that's **** Hen
The ones we saw all had mad alopecia patches and the one they wanted to sell us was quivering in the corner, we wanted the dog to bring N out of her shell and so we said no, obviously

GE I think we spoke before about your dog, it rings a bell!
The food is perhaps BETA. Without allergy tests, you could try discounting things like pollen (when mine go into kennels with no fir trees for miles, B comes back with an amazing coat!) the carpet, her bedding, a household product, a perfume, cigarette smoke, plastic bowls or toys etc, could be the most innocuous thing.

If she has issues with being in season then she should be spayed to avoid things like pyometra, hope it all works out for her.

 

[kirstyhen]

Well our IWS joined and lived with 5 cockers with not one problem, in fact he was the least likely to get involved in any of their squabbles. However he didn't like strange dogs. Not through lack of socialisation either, he went to puppy classes, ringcraft classes, obedience and agility - mainly because he was a difficult swine to train!
I think the exceptions are the ones that are indiscrimiinantly friendly, rather than the other way around.

 

[Grey_Eventer]

Aw, that's **** Hen
The ones we saw all had mad alopecia patches and the one they wanted to sell us was quivering in the corner, we wanted the dog to bring N out of her shell and so we said no, obviously

GE I think we spoke before about your dog, it rings a bell!
The food is perhaps BETA. Without allergy tests, you could try discounting things like pollen (when mine go into kennels with no fir trees for miles, B comes back with an amazing coat!) the carpet, her bedding, a household product, a perfume, cigarette smoke, plastic bowls or toys etc, could be the most innocuous thing.

If she has issues with being in season then she should be spayed to avoid things like pyometra, hope it all works out for her.

Yes i think we possibly did, when we took her to devon a few weeks back for a weekend- absolutley fine, no itching, same as when we go to scotland, so obviously something in our area.
not smoke, perfume, bedding is washed with speacial stuff and reguarly, carpet is all brand new, she has a fair amount of toys, but again are washed and are teddies... i think its quite possibly pollen as like i said with my hayfever and everything.
we are trying to get her spayed asap, but obviously the timing has to be right etc. as we think there is a risk of pyometra etc. with her. so problematic!?!
hmm maybe IWS aren't such a good idea... the one we know is lovely, but obviously not all will be like this.
might just stick with a lab will look into getting a young rescue...

 

[Grey_Eventer]

We have decided we are just going to go for a border, but it has to be a proper one...
so if anyone knows of any proper borders, nice looking etc. then please PM me, no rush really!
West Midlands area