Dog gone it

[DevilAlumna]

Aibo!

[TillyGalore]

If y'all can't decide, you could have virtual dogs and change breeds every month or two. No kennels. No training. No clean up. No shedding. No allergies.

For that matter Lavabe could have a virtual cat and ILJ wouldn't have allergy problems.

[devildeac]

Aibo!

Looks like a great addition to the Lavabe family.

[littlejohn]

Is there a BEST time of year to get a dog? Is there a WORST time of year to get a dog? Are there things to be aware of when getting a dog in the winter time?

Thanks,
Lavabe

Lav,

If its not too late a few more things for you to consider: (I own 3 medium sized pups, all about 50 pounds. Two australian shepherds, and one australian cattle dog. Two rescued and one I got as a 7 week old pup. The 7week old has been a pet therapy dog since he was 14 months old and he's now 7 1/2 years old.)

The baby was the first dog we crate trained at a suggestion from one of my sisters who has had dogs for 25 plus years. A good crate gives the puppy a sense of security since all dogs are den animals; also, dogs won't go to the bathroom where they sleep unless forced to do so. Puppies can't "hold it" all night, so for 2-3 months we treated him as a human baby and got up in the middle of the night to take him outside to go to the bathroom. Doing that in the winter is far less enjoyable than the Spring or Summer. That's the downside to a youngen'.

The plus side is a very well trained dog, totally house broken. The crate went back over the garage after several months, and he now sleeps on a dog bed on one end of the house. (Or they all like to sleep on the floor in the winter as we have radiant floor heating.)

As to exercise, all dogs need regular exercise. We used to live at a place which had 1 1/2 acres under fence. A vet who writes a nationally syndicated column stated that even with a yard that size, a dog will know every square inch within 2 weeks. Walks outside "their" territory are essential to their good health in my opinion. You will also find out daily walks make for a much better dog, especially in temperament.

Hope this helps. Good luck with whatever pup you choose.

[Lavabe]

Lav,

If its not too late a few more things for you to consider: (I own 3 medium sized pups, all about 50 pounds. Two australian shepherds, and one australian cattle dog. Two rescued and one I got as a 7 week old pup. The 7week old has been a pet therapy dog since he was 14 months old and he's now 7 1/2 years old.)

The baby was the first dog we crate trained at a suggestion from one of my sisters who has had dogs for 25 plus years. A good crate gives the puppy a sense of security since all dogs are den animals; also, dogs won't go to the bathroom where they sleep unless forced to do so. Puppies can't "hold it" all night, so for 2-3 months we treated him as a human baby and got up in the middle of the night to take him outside to go to the bathroom. Doing that in the winter is far less enjoyable than the Spring or Summer. That's the downside to a youngen'.

The plus side is a very well trained dog, totally house broken. The crate went back over the garage after several months, and he now sleeps on a dog bed on one end of the house. (Or they all like to sleep on the floor in the winter as we have radiant floor heating.)

As to exercise, all dogs need regular exercise. We used to live at a place which had 1 1/2 acres under fence. A vet who writes a nationally syndicated column stated that even with a yard that size, a dog will know every square inch within 2 weeks. Walks outside "their" territory are essential to their good health in my opinion. You will also find out daily walks make for a much better dog, especially in temperament.

Hope this helps. Good luck with whatever pup you choose.

Thank you very much, Littlejohn. I am copying it and sending it to my daughter. After reading your message, I also took a look at the australian shepherds. Very interesting dog. Any suggestions about the dog?

Cheers,
Lavabe

[DevilAlumna]

I wouldn't consider getting a new puppy w/o a corresponding period of crate training. It make house-training very easy, plus keeps a younger dog from destructive/bad habits while you're not home - happier for everyone in the family.

Our bulldog (now 5) stays and sleeps in his crate during the day, whether we're home, or not. He gets a treat *every single time* he goes in there, so all I have to say is, "go to your bed" and he runs happily to it! (Unlike my brother's pug, who thinks it's a fun game to see how long she can make her parents chase her, before being corraled into her crate.)

[littlejohn]

Lavabe,

Not sure how much background or info you want, but here goes...

First off, everyone thinks their breed of dog is "the best", which is no surprise. Secondly, there is no such thing as a "bad dog" type or breed; its the human component which makes or breaks a dog. For example, one of my sisters is 5'2", about 106 lbs.; her dogs of choice for 20 + years are Rotties. Her last dog, Ripley, outweighed my sister by 25-30 pounds, had a bark that would cause Godzilla to cower, and yet was the gentlest dog you ever met. Ripley absolutely knew my sister was the alpha dog in the pack. Its you not the dog who determines what they will turn out to be.

So on to my Aussies:

Get an aussie ONLY if you want another member of your family. They are very loyal, and make for tremendous watch dogs and kid watchers. One of the documented cases I read, had an aussie taking 3 strikes to the head from a rattlesnake to protect "their" human child. Fortunately the snake struck the very crown of the head and the dog survived the attack, and the child wasn't harmed.

Spenser (my therapy dog) follows me everywhere. The other two pups we have like to be around us, but an aussie will follow you anywhere they are allowed to go. He's under the desk at my feet as I type this. I jokingly call him my "helper dog" because it doesn't matter what project I am doing outside he comes with me to supervise. The other 2 might follow and check it out, but they wander off - not Spenser.

At night when we settle in to watch some tv, the other two dogs will go lie in their beds, but Spense comes and lays down in the doorway to the room we are watching tv in, to be as close as possible to us. Their "wing" of the house has stained concrete floors, which are bullet proof, so they are allowed freedom in those rooms, but not on the furniture. However our living room has 400 year old antique pine floors, which don't react very well to dog nails, so they are not allowed in that room. Spenser will lay his chin on the wood floor at the door opening so he can keep an eye on me and be as close as he's allowed to be.

Aussies are not needy dogs though so don't get that impression, but you need to be aware they absolutely consider you to be part of their pack. Dogs are social animals, so they want their pack intact.

Aussies are also working dogs so they need some type of activity to bleed off their energy. Some refer to this as them 'needing a job to do'. We live in the foothills of central CA and walk for an hour every day. This not only keeps the pups fit and mentally healthy, but us as well. They don't need that much time every day, although they could take more if we chose to give it to them, but every dog (& humans) need regular exercise. We even got a backpack for the dogs, who rotate turns carrying the pack on our walks.

They will chase a ball, do canine agility, herd almost anything that moves, including you. I choose to live a very active life style. Years and years ago, I used to race in triathlons, and still cycle, play tennis, golf, run, etc. Aussies are a perfect personality match for me.

Now aussies are also very smart, and can be trained to do almost anything. I don't believe in teaching my dog a lot of "trick' tricks, beyond obedience commands, however, I did run Spenser through an agility class which he loved.

As a therapy dog at our local Children's Hospital, he has to be bright enough to deal with total strangers all the time, elevators, weird equipment - iv poles and such - and not be spooked AT ALL by these things. There are some times when he gets to lay in the bed with a child but that is rare. Since the hospital beds are quite high off the ground, the kids often can't reach Spenser to pet him. His command to get up onto or in something like a truck or truck bed is "load". Since I don't want him leaping onto the child's bed, I taught him the command - "paws". When he gets this command, he puts only his front paws up on their bed, where the child can reach him and give him a treat. (Aussies will do most anything you want them to if food is involved; this, by the way, is terrific for training them.)

Now on to picking a pup. I visited several breeders in my area before buying Spenser. My decision was based on three things - how I liked the way the owners ran their operation, what I thought of the pups' parents, and finally the puppy itself. I have rescued dogs I knew little about, however, I would never buy a puppy without meeting their parents. You can tell a lot about the personality traits they might have by how their parents are, again factoring in how the human owners treat their dogs.

One of tricks I have been taught is this: sit down, grab a puppy, and flip him/her upside down on your lap. The puppy should squirm a bit, but rub its belly, and talk to them, to see if it will calm down to your touch. A puppy that settles down after a few minutes will be much easier to train and will much more easily accept you as the alpha dog. A dog who refuses to settle will be much much more difficult to train, so I would avoid them unless you want the challenge.

Grown female aussies usually run 40-45 pounds, with the males running 50-55 pounds. I often weight Spenser on the hospital scales and he comes in right around the 50 pound mark.

Aussies have a very fine undercoat, with a long (3-4 inch) fur overcoat. It will make them seem fat, when they are not. Because of where I live, I have Spense buzzed 2-3 times a year during the hot months, as he is easier to care for that way. I have known people who like the look so much , they keep their aussies shaved all year round, but I let his grow back when the fall weather turns. He looks like he loses 20 pounds when I have him shaved in the Spring.

Aussies run 3 different colors: blue merle (Spenser is black,white,grey, & copper) red tri, which is red and white, and a black tri, which is mostly black with some white. Some have blue eyes, some have 2 different colored eyes, and others are hazel.

Lastly, unless you are independently wealthy - in which case my bill will follow - you don't need to spend $800-2,000 for a show dog. I am assuming you are looking for a pet. I have seen aussie pups range in price from free to a good home to $25-250.

i hope this helps, however, if you have some specific questions, fire away !

warm regards,

littlejohn

[Lavabe]

Littlejohn,
Thank you very much. Those are some wonderful suggestions, and I'll be checking our region to see if we can get a look at them. In many ways, they seem like a great fit for our family.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[colchar]

Thank you very much, Littlejohn. I am copying it and sending it to my daughter. After reading your message, I also took a look at the australian shepherds. Very interesting dog. Any suggestions about the dog?

Cheers,
Lavabe

My brother and his fiance recently got a mini Australian Shepherd so that might be a good compromise between what you want and what your wife wants.

Sidney (their dog) is easily the cutest puppy God ever created - even cuter than any of my own dogs were! If I knew how to post photos here I would and everyone would just melt...

And smart too! Good God that dog is as smart as they come. I am not much for smaller dogs but even I am considering a mini Australian Shepherd now because Sidney is so ridiculously adorable. Basically they are Aussies in every single way except for size.

[merry]

They're all great breeds, but the beagles were by far the hardest to train. The beagle are clever, and very willful.

Seriously? I thought ours was hard to train because he has very limited mental bandwidth. He spent a good six months just looking confused and sorry. If by "clever and willful" you mean that he'll do things he's been "trained" not to do as long as he thinks you're not looking, well, then I agree.

[littlejohn]

Lavabe,

You're quite welcome. You can buy me a pint when I come to UK land, or you can buy me one if you come to CA.

if you run across anything you have questions about, drop me a note. I'll be happy to help anyway I can.

warm regards,


littlejohn

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Whatever dog you decide on, my bit of advice is to begin training right away. We rescued a 10 week old border collie mix. Even as early as 6-8 weeks old she was beginning to learn basic visual commands from a trainer who volunteered her time at the rescue. We continued to work with her from the moment we brought the dog home.

Most trainers I have talked to will say that training is more about your personal interaction with the dog than it is the dog's ability or willingness to learn. Most dogs are very "trainable." But don't expect to hand off the dog to be trained and then get him/her back expecting you will be able to interact with the dog the same way the trainer did.

Bottom line, start early and be involved. Just like a child... uh, there's my son breaking something. Gotta go.

[Lavabe]

... we have decided to see an Australian Shepherd dog breeder outside of Louisville. Will let you know what's up as things progress.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[billybreen]

So we're finally in a position to break down and get a dog. We're looking to get a specific breed... which has led to a series of arguments that that have left ILJ and me at an impasse. She wants a smallish cocker spaniel type dog; I'm leaning towards a Samoyed. Legacy Lady (12 yr old) will go with anything that's a puppy. And of course she said that she would feed it and walk it.

How does one go about getting a specific breed of dog? Are there specific web sites we should go to?

Many thanks,
Lavabe

Ahh, man, I missed a chance to comment on cockers.

[devildeac]

Ahh, man, I missed a chance to comment on cockers.

I believe that has been discussed earlier.

[Lavabe]

Ahh, man, I missed a chance to comment on cockers.

Keep in mind that a very notable political figure who just got elected also promised his daughter a puppy. Perhaps as result of billybreen, the first pooch will be a cocker.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[billybreen]

Keep in mind that a very notable political figure who just got elected also promised his daughter a puppy. Perhaps as result of billybreen, the first pooch will be a cocker.

Cheers,
Lavabe

No way. He needs to get a dog that looks at least somewhat manly. Getting a cocker is only a small step above getting a french poodle.

[2535Miles]

... we have decided to see an Australian Shepherd dog breeder outside of Louisville. Will let you know what's up as things progress.
Cheers,
Lavabe

That's great news Lavabe. I'd just like to add that my neighbor had an Australian Cattle Dog and that he was truly a wonderful member of her family. He also has a place in my heart for finding my lost cat and rescuing her after she was lost for two weeks. Good luck and can't wait to hear about the new member of the family.

[littlejohn]

Ahhh...Spreading the gospel of Spenser !

Lav, we expect pictures once your new baby arrives !!!


warm regards,


littlejohn

[Lavabe]

Are a breeder's prices on puppies negotiable? I mean, I saw the prices that littlejohn mentioned in his post about aussies, and it just seems that breeders' prices are much higher than those quoted. I understand that breeders have to cover expenses and all, but just how much wiggle room is there on cost?
Thanks,
Lavabe