mita

My tibetan spaniels loved the greyhounds in the next property. Lined up every morning at the fenceline for a kiss. Such calm, sensible, affectionate dogs .... & the tibbies picked that up. Great to hear about the prison program. Good for both the greys & the prisoners (& I bet the staff, too!).

Our Tibbies have thrived on routine ...as if they've got a timetable & a clock in their heads. Must go back to fact they were monastery dogs for more than a thousand years. And they throw in little variations based on their own comfort. Like they will turn up on the dot for their dinner, just when I'm only thinking it's time to get started. And they will 'Sit' without being told to get their dinner placed in front. But, they insist on first finding a soft floor cushion to rest the bottoms on (no cold floor, thank you). Taking their dinner to them ...seated on a cushion... I say, 'Here comes Meals on Wheels!'.

Loved it, Lhok. And the harder she tries, the higher her pitch goes! :)

.I had ideas that debarking was barbaric & cruel. Until I ran into 2 (show) tibbies that were debarked & I didn't know it. I seriously remarked to the owners ...where did their tibs get those sexy voices. Much laughter, they'd been debarked. They had voices & could express themselves well, but the high pitches had been removed, leaving them with husky but clear voices that couldn't carry far. I think it's better called 'pitch-lowering' .... because that's what it is, not removal of voice. Humans have 'pitch-lowering', too. Except it's done via speech therapy. Some women in the public sphere, like newsreaders etc, have speech therapy to lower the pitch of their voice. Obviously dogs can't have speech therapy... only surgery. A famous example was Margaret Thatcher. When she started to rise in politics, her very high pitched voice was annoying. One of her colleagues remarked that her voice could kill a passing bird. She had speech therapy & her pitch was lowered. She might still have annoyed people for all sorts of things .... but her high pitched voice was gone. And passing birds were safe.

A vet remarked a long time back about Tibetan Spaniels she treats. She said they go into a 'Buddhist zone' to deal with any stress of being treated. I've learned that from our Tibbies. I had open-heart surgery last year & had countless medical procedures. I followed the Tibbies' lead & emptied my mind to make a calm place. It works! Friends & family remarked on it & I said I'd learned it from the dogs!!!!

Spot on. Especially as Kajtek responded positively after Bjelkier suggested, in a courteous way, not to make a judgment of all breeders, based on one event. She said, 'Valid!' and blushed for the desperation ... which some of us could identify with!

Mater Mothers' Maternity Hospital in Brisbane has a great page giving guidelines for bringing home a baby to a household with pet dogs. Good tips to read. They even make a CD available, of a crying baby, for people to put on for the dogs before the baby comes home. Also they give a link to a very good video that was made by Brisbane City Council on You, Your Baby & Your Dog. You can watch it on that link. In fact, the Council used to run sessions on the topic for expectant parents around our local libraries. But that video contains all the sessions covered. http://brochures.mater.org.au/Home/Brochures/Mater-Mothers-Hospital/Dog-baby-and-you-bringing-your-baby-home Big congrats on your twins!

Valid! My desperation must be showing :D ***blush*** It's just... I know what I am willing to offer my next baby. We are both very 'mature', no kids, and the dogs are the centre of our universe. I will keep at it, get another AB or send OH to EU to get us the new child. Many thanks for your advice. Anna Anna, I also agree with Bjelkier. You don't need to blush :) . I've been there, too. Took me ages after my Tibbie died (vet error) too young, to consider another Tibbie. But the surviving Tibbie needed a like-minded 'friend'. It was sheer luck that I hit the jackpot first go .... phoned a breeder who I knew had lovely temperaments in her bloodline & who treated her dogs like family. And she had an adult she was thinking of retiring! Rest is history. I have a darling! I suggest, if a breeder provides their phone number in their public website or any advertisement .... phone them up. You are an experienced, loving, responsible BB owner & you could be a gift for a breeder who's not advertising their dogs .... but just might think about it, when a 'right' person lobbed up. That's how I got my first Tibbie.... cold-called the breeders. That first one I found out later was her best little female ... & she was waiting for a 'right' person to enquire. I also found a couple of the breeders were wonderful at suggesting others I could call as they knew they were thinking of rehoming some adult dogs. All the best. Patience (hard!) will win out for you & a new pet. :)

Yay, you got it!

Whoops! Wrong forum, should've been in Rescue.

The little fella labelled TibbieX has been adopted, too. :) I'd eat my hat if he's not a purebred. I posted on the AWL Facebook page that I hope his new owners know he might be a full Tibetan Spaniel.... with the breed traits. Suggested they might like to look up a reputable source to find out the typical, & unusual, behaviours. So glad the Lab boy is safe now!

Yes, I've found that the best way to manage our tibbie that has a dense coat. (Not that I'm suggesting a tibbie for this situation). It's generally frowned on to clip a tibbie ... but in our humid heat & paralysis tick area, it makes sense to me. She looks cute, too, & it happens to solve any shedding.

Agree. I was thinking the same myself. If someone can't look at what owning a pet means in terms of at least some mess, time & effort, then honestly a pet is not for them. Not that I'm suggesting the OP's friends fit into that category. But it is the bottom line. When a pet is part of the family, we just manage for it.... same as we do for babies & littlies.

Oh, be still my beating heart! I think the Saluki is one of the most beautiful dogs on God's earth! And that from a Tibbie Tragic. :) And I agree with your point about maintenance.

You've made a good point. And then there's what actually is shedding. I've found those tiny, fine, needle-like hairs that come off some truly smooth-coated dogs really stick into fabrics and are hard to get off. They get left in a patch where the dog's been lying. I've found the 'drifts' of hair, from the longer-coated, actually easier to pick up.... but, of course, there's more of that to do.

Smooth Collie? Maybe an adult one that's already shown it's personality patterns .... adopted from a registered breeder. This is an example only, which is currently on the Dogzonine breeders' pages: http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/mature/collie-smooth.asp Tho', of course, some people prefer to start with a puppy so they can form it into their lives. If so, I'd go to a registered breeder who socializes their puppies & dogs well ... & gives them access as part of their family. So a good base is set. I can understand the recommendation of a greyhound. I've seen the GAP assessed greys & lived next door to good greys .... & these dogs are fantastic in being sensible, easy to care for, happy couch potatoes .... just liking one walk a day .... & very affectionate.

I used to pass a house on morning walks where an elderly gentleman had an 18 yr old yellow lab .... that I've have guessed to be 14 or 15 years. They lived across from a walking path & each morning, he'd let the lab decide how far to walk & then turn around to come home. Which suited them both admirably. I know the feeling seeing a dog marked as an X, when it has signs of p/b. Presently, there's a gorgeous tibbie marked as tibbiex with AWL Qld. He's got the features of a very fine tibbie. At 18 months, he hasn't his full coat yet. There may be some reason behind that labelling so I won't criticize the AWL (who are great). But I've let them know I'll be passing his details on as sure looking like a p/b. Love to know if he has papers!

Glad to see someone recommended a Cardigan Corgi ... can be a real gem as a family dog. We grew up with one who was all-round brilliant. More recently , we had 2 Shelties as pets. Their natures were like chalk & cheese. The boy was small, dainty, pretty, biddable & quiet. The girl was above the standard size which is why she she was sold as a pet. She was gorgeous (like Lassie), bigger, impulsive & had something to say about everything. We adored them both. But, honestly, I had to give a fair whack of time to coat maintenance. Since then we've had Tibetan Spaniels. Have always got them (as retired showdogs) from breeders who've socialized them well. So they were good with people. I haven't found their coats difficult to maintain. Our Australian-bred Tibbie (ex Aus Ch) doesn't have a very dense coat at all (almost like a border collie with a light coat). Our girl who originally came from Sweden, has a dense coat. Even tho' some people object to getting Tibbies clipped.... I get her clipped & she looks gorgeous. like a cross between a little lamb & a bear. (Brisbane heat & we're in a paralysis tick area). There's a solid, well-shaped body under the Tibbie coat. Our first Tibbie was selected to be a therapy dog at the Mater Children's Hospital. Well bred, well socialised Tibbies tend to be good with children. We've always looked for the breeders who do that with their puppies & dogs. Mothers often post photos of their children with their Tibbies on our international Tibbie page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152808355587187&set=gm.994130597272088&type=1&theater Best wishes searching for the breed that fits your family. I'd back all the suggestions you've been given in this thread.

So my recommendation about both the breeders associated with the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Qld & the Poodle Club of Qld would not be relevant. Yes Mita I said so in post 6. Thank you for trying to help though :) QLD is the forum default. Ah! I was happy there for a while, sars, thinking you'd have good people to advise you. :) But I'm sure others can point you to similar good folk in your own state (tho' you can duck into the ACT, too, it seems).

So my recommendation about both the breeders associated with the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Qld & the Poodle Club of Qld would not be relevant.

We had 2 Shetland Sheepdogs. Shelley lived up to the breed's reputation for barking. Her nickname was the Mouth from the South. But we adored her mad self. Danny, a rescue, thro' the Sheltie Club, never made a peep. Not a barker at all. He was so all round gorgeous & good, his nickname was Saint Danny. They also differed in size. Sable Shelley grew too big for standard, so her registered breeder sold her to a pet home (us!). Strangers used to think she was an adolescent Collie. Danny, a tri-colour, was on the bottom end of the size standard. Pretty, as well as smaller .... strangers always thought he was a girl! So, like anything, it comes down to individuals within the breed. Why not check with the good Sheltie breeders to see if they have an adult for placing in a good pet home? By that stage, it will be known if it's a Shelley or a Danny. :) Are you Qld? If so, the registered breeders who run the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Qld are amongst the most professional & helpful people I've come across in the dog world. Ditto for the Poodle Club of Qld.

Glad you brought up this issue. There's loads of research which shows even the best of pound/shelter environments are stressful for dogs (not least of which they've often just been snatched away from the security of a home & their 'people'). In other words, it's within the normal range of expected consequences for some dogs to feel very stressed in that particular environment. And that's what a so-called 'temperament' test will be recording .... the consequences of stress. But at least that shelter seems to give the labs a second chance to move into a more home-like & less stressful environment so they can be tested again. Not surprised that the majority then came thro' fine. Sadly there must be other pounds/shelters who don't allow for that.

Agree. As Sandra's said, many of those breeds are hardwired as close companion dogs. A bit of an out of your question box. but why not talk with reputable, reliable rescues that assess their dogs well in foster-care. And see if they think any available dogs already fit in with the lifestyle factors you've listed. They also assess home provisions like fences appropriate for specific dogs.

Winky is gorgeous. Good on you deciding to adopt a GAP-assessed greyhound. I used to see, up close, the small dog testing of GAP greyhounds & I could cheerfully have taken home each grey. Beautiful, sensible, calm dogs, who were so gently affectionate.

Yes, LG, something related to survival in different settings, for the various breeds. That seems to me the kind of trait that RuralPug was talking about. We had working dog breeds for many years, before having tibbies .... & the difference was striking. The top US breeders maintain this information site ...& you can see why I found that. http://www.tibbies.net/learn/right-breed-for-you/