What dog do you have? And advice

I have a cocker spaniel. I have a very little house and yard, but he does come to work with me and we do big walks as often as possible, and an off-lead country run every day. If I have to miss one for whatever reason, you can't half tell too, he gets very cheeky!

My trainer is a fan of HPRs, and has these tips on her website - you might find them helpful in deciding:
http://www.onthescent.co.uk/tt-hpr-breeds.php
 
Do you work full time?

Nothing to do with size of the house, but I don't think GSPs would be the best breed to be left all day every even with a toilet break at lunchtime.... They are real people dogs and can suffer with seperation anxiety and leaving them is something that has to be worked at. The max amount of time I leave H is about 6 hours, but that is only every now and then, usually it's only 2/3 hours at a time. They are so people orrientated that I just don't think one would be happy left all day.

Harley prob gets 2 hours exercise a day (occasionally less, but usually that's the min). He loves playing ball which is an easy way to quickly exercise if you don't have a lot of time! I have taken him out with my horse and he does agility too. When they are out and about, they are pretty full on and run and run and run! The rest of the time at home he's asleep, occasionally gets up and has a play, and then sleeps again. He's had an hour up the yard with me this morning with a bit of ball throwing, then left at home for 2 hours while I went out teaching, was pleased to see me for 5 mins when I got home and is now asleep on the sofa again where he will stay untill 4pm when we go back up the yard! He's not a rare GSP.... I know a lot of them and they are all like H. Full on when exercising and the lazy cuddly toads at home! They do think they are small dogs and will try and curl up on your lap as an adult like they could when they were puppies!!!
 
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I live in a smallish 2 bed semi, the garden is an ok size an half under cover, on a housing estate and have two jrt's and an English mastiff
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I leave for work at 6 so I'm usually up at 5 an take them out for half an hour then when OH gets home from work at 2 they go out with him then when we are back from the horses around 7 we put them in the car and take them out for an hour or so. Two are all happy and I wouldn't give them up for the world
 
I replied about the size of garden and what exercise I do. I didn't mention mine suffers separation anxiety and can not be left in the house at all. He learnt to open the front door an chase after the car and has never been left in the house since. He is kept in the run if ever left. He is such a people dog, he is very lucky to have the yard and spends 8hours a day down there. He runs up and down with horses, tractors and plays with my other dog, also I play ball with him most days. I take him out with my oh's dog at weekends for a 2hour walk. I also play with his fluffy teddy when home in the evening. He always wants to be with people, every minute of the day.
I'm not trying to put u off the breed as I adore my dog but he has the rural lifestyle and we have the time to spend with him.
 
Hi
I have a number of GSPs; they vary tremendously and I would recommend that you do a lot of research into breed lines. Some are much more suitable to an energetic pet home than others; some are happy burning energy off doing agility; some are happy more with mental stimulation...for instance, tracking; some just live to hunt and if it moves/leaves a scent they will hunt it.....whether in this county or the next!

All can be prone to SA if not brought up correctly.

Size of house/garden is irrelevant IF you are prepared for a minimum of two hours exercise a day whilst the dog is in its prime....most of this being off-leash. They are an intelligent breed and need a degree of mental stimulation and human interaction.

Join the breed club and go to meetings/trials/shows to discover more.

Good luck

GG
 
we have an american bulldog... i do not recommend them to many folk...! :o i love her to bits, and would get another when Betty is gone, but thats only because i know what im letting myself in for!

(just to clarify- they are wonderful dogs, and in my experience great with people, especially kids, but not so good with dogs... or cats...!)

anyways- we only have a small semi-detatched house (2bed) with a small garden. she only uses the garden for her late night pee before bed, and spends the day in her kennel and run out there while we are out at work (8.30- 4.30 to 5.30 latest)

during the weekdays in winter she gets less exercise than in the summer, (2 x 40 min lead walk... but a speed walk!) and she copes just fine. at the weekends she gets lots of ball play off lead in a secure area (cannot be off lead around other dogs. :o ) or the beach if its a horrible day!

during the summer she gets much more exercise... off up mountains fishing all evening.... amongst other things!

quite an old photo... she is much more muscular now! but i like it!

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P.S 4faults: beautiful mastiff!!
 
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I have 2 biggish dogs in a 2 bedroom house,I do have a fairly decent size garden but only one of them spends any time in there and then he's just looking over the hedge.

I live in a small village on the outskirts of a town,with lots of different walks nearby,fields,rivers,forest and beaches.

As one of mine doesn't have great recall,they do spend a fair bit of time on a longline,when they are on the lead we walk for a fair few miles,between 2-3 hours,if they are off the lead they get about 1-2 hours.

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gunnergundog said:
Hi
I have a number of GSPs; they vary tremendously and I would recommend that you do a lot of research into breed lines. Some are much more suitable to an energetic pet home than others; some are happy burning energy off doing agility; some are happy more with mental stimulation...for instance, tracking; some just live to hunt and if it moves/leaves a scent they will hunt it.....whether in this county or the next!

All can be prone to SA if not brought up correctly.

Size of house/garden is irrelevant IF you are prepared for a minimum of two hours exercise a day whilst the dog is in its prime....most of this being off-leash. They are an intelligent breed and need a degree of mental stimulation and human interaction.

Join the breed club and go to meetings/trials/shows to discover more.

Good luck

GG
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This is great GG, thanks for your reply! I would look into doing some sort of agility or gundog training for stimulation and extra exercise to what he would get on a day to day basis.

I really would love a GSP but am not sure how he woul fare during the day - there are people around who could let it out or perhaps I could keep him with my neighbours dog during the day, but of course I can't first of all rely on this.

I've decided to go to Crufts with a friend and will speak to some breeders :)
 
Hope you enjoy Crufts; without wishing to point out the obvious, you will only meet show bred and now largely undocked dogs there. (OK, you may bump into a few working types in the gamekeeper ring, but there won't be many.)

Just that I note you say about gundog training so you may want to give some thought to the docked v undocked /show v working bred issue. I know they are supposed to be a dual purpose dog but there are differences, same as there are in the german v english lines.

Have you considered an older rescue GSP? A puppy can be problematical to train if you are not around all the time to start with. An older dog without SA could be your answer. Sue Pitman at Southern resuce is very good at assessing the dogs and has them living with her before rehoming. The GSP SW rescue on the other hand is more like a marriage bureau and just pairs people up with dogs without (generally) meeting the dogs themselves. They do have a degree of bounce back.:mad:
 
I have a Flat Coated Retriever - got to be the most affectionate, sloppy, intelligent girl ever! If you like being mugged, licked and leant on, this is the breed for you :D

She doesn't need loads of exercise but will go all day if the occasion merits. She only goes in the garden to wee & whoopsie, always comes to the yard with me and comes to work with me as well (currently snoring on her bed behind my chair).

She has a very strong will, winds herself into a frenzy of excitement and is selectively deaf when it comes to recall, could scavenge for England and would go off with anyone :D I just LOVE her

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gunnergundog said:
Hope you enjoy Crufts; without wishing to point out the obvious, you will only meet show bred and now largely undocked dogs there. (OK, you may bump into a few working types in the gamekeeper ring, but there won't be many.)

Just that I note you say about gundog training so you may want to give some thought to the docked v undocked /show v working bred issue. I know they are supposed to be a dual purpose dog but there are differences, same as there are in the german v english lines.

Have you considered an older rescue GSP? A puppy can be problematical to train if you are not around all the time to start with. An older dog without SA could be your answer. Sue Pitman at Southern resuce is very good at assessing the dogs and has them living with her before rehoming. The GSP SW rescue on the other hand is more like a marriage bureau and just pairs people up with dogs without (generally) meeting the dogs themselves. They do have a degree of bounce back.:mad:
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Wow you are a mine of information, thank you!

Whilst I will be speaking to breeders at Crufts I understand that they will be showing show stock and not working animals, and although I would like to do some sort of training it wouldn't be anything serious so unsure if they differences between the both would matter?

Could you explain the obvious differences? I'm not going into this with my eyes shut and would love to learn more! :D

Apparently there is a woman who works in the company who breeds Pointers (English or GS, not sure) and I have emailed her to see if I can chat to her too.

Are there major differences between the English and German? (Apart from the obvious!)
 
I`ve had J for nearly a year now.(he was 12 weeks when he came)
He`s great with the horses,loves a trek or just as happy to have a big kip.
He`s turning out to be just what i wanted(like my old rottie)
we still have concentration issues at school lol but i keep calm and carry on :)
he is so friendly and has never growled,even when playing tug !

here he is in his christmas jumper i made for him

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I would recommend a GSP, as I got one last October and she's only just 6months old but she's already out on rides with me and the kids. Just wanted to say they're an amazing breed if you've got the time to exercise them properly. :)
 
We currently have three dogs, firstly is Elsie the Rottie who we have had for a couple of months. She is a lazy lump, if she isn't on a walk she is asleep! She enjoys a good run with the other dogs on the beach early afternoon, but if OH rattles her lead after tea she pretends she is fast asleep and snores really loudly :)

We also have a JRT who used to belong to one of my brothers and she is mental, never stops running and is full of energy. If you picked up her lead 10 minutes after a hard 2 hour walk she would be eager to go again.

Last but not least is our Staffy, daft as a brush, adores people, loves other dogs, good with cats, chickens, horses, just an all round perfect little dog. She is the only one of the three who has been ours since she was a pup, and as a result is well socialised and pretty well behaved.

Here they are:

Elsie:

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Roxy:

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Poppy at 11 weeks old:

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Just had to post this one, Poppy used to sneak in the cat basket in the house when the kittens (from a rescue cat) were teeny tiny. The mother cat used to accept this strange additional 'kitten' snuggled up with her own and Poppy was most put out on this photo as she wasn't allowed in with the kittens to play :)

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Two bitches, small house and garden, semi rural so plenty of footpaths. They are a re-homed lab (9yo, Bonnie) and a sort of lab cross (2yo Bella) from rescue. Both need free exercise, love to play and are a constant joy (though Bella sometimes forgets herself and trashes something)

I work from 5am till 1 three days, 5 till 8.45am two days, OH 7am till 4, so not really left for long periods. On the days I am home early, all they do is sleep!
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Just found a picture of the Collie and the GSP :D

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That was taken at Christmas so obviously Ruby (GSP) has grown since then!

LozzyBell
 
i live in a 2 bed end terrace, it has a fairly tiny strip of grass as a garden and a large yard, i have a wolfdogxnorthern inuit and a JRT that live with me, the wolfdog needs a lot of exercise but cant be off the lead, so we go for lead walks and training classes to keep his head occupied, he also suffers from bad seperation anxiety and cant be left
i also have a huskyxBSD and a rottiexGSD who live with my mam, she has a massive garden the rottiex just tootles about in the garden, shes getting on and doesnt need as much exercise, the huskyx needs a lot of exercise and needs a lot of mental stimulation and he cant be let off the lead
 
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English Springer!! :D:D:D
Love her to bits!
We have a large house and garden but if they get decent walks everyday it shouldn't really matter. As soon as she gets home shes quite sane most of the time :D
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We have a 4 year old standard poodle and he is just the best. Very similar in size and build to GSP, someone yesterday thought he was a GSP x he has a close haircut all over so doesn't look like a floofy poodle and everyone you pass out walking asks what he is or they will say 'IT'S a labradoodle!' to which we set them straight, poor lad. He has so much love to give and is great fun he will run and run and play all day but will equally be happy having a quiter day and cuddles. Our house is a decent size with a large garden but we don't use it for exercise, only for sunbathing and he comes out to help with the chickens (which he is scared of!) so will throw a ball to keep him amused while cleaning them out. He comes up the horses with me but after being zapped by the fence now refuses to get out the car. He will happily run along with us out hacking, he is a lot of fun!
 
I have 5 sadly orphaned heeler pups, which when you already have one human baby and a stud full of heavily pregnant mares is a lot of work:(
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Mummy, Mona, died on Sunday, leaving the 3 week old babes :(
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Cookie (terrier mix) Jazzie (Mini Schnauzer) and OH - It's a hard life
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A patterdale (wouldn't have another) lovely with people, but hard work with other dogs etc:

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a Sckipperkee - I love him - a bit vocal, but a good guard dog and very attractive :)

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and a lad x springer bitch - lovely - obedient, soft mouthed :)

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I have Alice Springer, 2yrs old.

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Daisy, 12yrs old.

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George, 3yrs old.

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I only live in a smallish bungalow but my stables and field are at the back so they have plenty of space to run about. Daisy and George I'm sure would be fine in a house with a small garden with a couple of short walks a day but I think Alice would be bouncing off the walls in a situation like that :o She is always busy :D Fortunately I work from home so she has free run of the yard all day, and when the ponies come in I take her in the field to run some more, I've also trained her to be a ratter :)
 
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