Advice On A Breed For Our Lifestlye (found)

[LisaCC]

Alpha bet that is very kind of you!

[JackC]

Jack, sent a private message with my phone number - we are not far from Bulla Showgrounds. You may find many of the show people are very busy with their dogs and may find it difficult to chat. However and if you wanted to meet some Aussie Shepherds in the flesh I am around on the weekend and you would be welcome to come and see my dudes - give you a good idea as to the energy level and see if that suits you. Plus mine are running around the farm and you might get a good idea of the difference grooming for a show as to grooming for lifestyle is.

Aussies also make good teddy bears.

That is extremely kind of you Alpha bet, thanks you

[Cleo's Corgwyn]

Lots of good suggestions. Lappies are lovely, and were on my short list too. On the small gundog side of things, as well as the Tollers, maybe check out the Brittany, and some of the spaniel breeds.

If you like working dogs, one of the Corgis might be an option; cute, but don't forget that they have all the drive and dominant personality needed to move hundreds of kilos of cattle around. I have Cardigan Corgis, and they are definitely a lot more laid back than the Pembrokes, but still very smart and capable of a lot of independent thinking!

[juice]

Cleo i love the Cardigans

We had 2 a few doors up ,one died last year the other is ancient and still going for her evening walk for an hour, she is such a character, i would never have realised what great dogs they were before.

I saw a neighbours brittany last night and thought that might be a good choice too.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

Sorry, I haven't read all of the replies... Has anyone recommended a Schipperke?

[Pjrt]

Aussie Shepherd would certainly spring to mind. My suggestion for a smallish all rounder would be the Border Terrier. Such great dogs all too often overlooked.

[persephone]

a breed of dog that will be happy and not destructive if left alone at home while we work during the day on weekdays

AFAIK, there is NO such breed. ;)

Whether a dog can relax at home , and not upset owners by property damage is almost entirely due to how the dog is trained and managed .. how the house/yard is designed/managed ,and how well its needs are being met :)

'training' a dog is not just sit & stay .... training is a lifelong process , and it can happen on a level which humans don't notice ... bad habits often 'train' easier than good ones !

Training is filling a dog's life with tasks, with new things, with a method of relaxing , with learning all about the world, and with practising behaviours with which humans are happy .

Training is also humans learning what makes a dog do what it does ...it is learning to 'read' the dog's bodylanguage, learning what makes your dog earger to perform certain things ..and what stresses it ... then managing life accordingly.

[JackC]

a breed of dog that will be happy and not destructive if left alone at home while we work during the day on weekdays

AFAIK, there is NO such breed. ;)

Whether a dog can relax at home , and not upset owners by property damage is almost entirely due to how the dog is trained and managed .. how the house/yard is designed/managed ,and how well its needs are being met :)

'training' a dog is not just sit & stay .... training is a lifelong process , and it can happen on a level which humans don't notice ... bad habits often 'train' easier than good ones !

Training is filling a dog's life with tasks, with new things, with a method of relaxing , with learning all about the world, and with practising behaviours with which humans are happy .

Training is also humans learning what makes a dog do what it does ...it is learning to 'read' the dog's bodylanguage, learning what makes your dog earger to perform certain things ..and what stresses it ... then managing life accordingly.

Thanks for the advice :), I was more worried about anxiety issues that some breeds have when being alone for extended periods, I will certainly be willing to put in the effort to ensure we accommodate for our dogs needs so that there is less risk of destructive behaviour when alone.

Just finished at the show, was great, got to see every breed we were interested in and fell in love with the aussie shepherd, the lappy also came a very close second with the Shetland not far behind.

Those are our top 3 so far.

[persephone]

J

ust finished at the show, was great, got to see every breed we were interested in and fell in love with the aussie shepherd, the lappy also came a very close second with the Shetland not far behind.

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[JackC]

Looks like we may have found our dog. Was given a great opportunity to see some Aussie Sheps up close in a home environment today and I adore them all, such character, great temperament, nice balance of energy and rest and perfect size for us, Just waiting on the miss's to come back from overseas and have an hour with some full size ones to see if she is really happy with the breed as a whole.

Its been a year in the making, finally we are getting closer to our dream of bringing up a dog.

[goldenluv]

The gun dogs will probably cope with the flying machines. They're supposed to sit with the shooter until told to go get the shot bird, or go when sent to flush birds off the ground for shooting and then fetch them - without damaging or chewing the bird on retrieve.

And most of which requires considerable training and proofing.

Most gundogs I know, if left alone up to 10 hours a day as youngsters, will make what a Jap Spitz can do to a backyard look lke gardening.

lol was thinking the same thing!!!

[Simply Grand]

Yay, an Aussie is a good choice :D I think one would be good in your situation. They do vary quite alot in temperent and energy levels so, as has been mentioned before, have a good think about what will be best for you (I'd suggest a lower energy and more easy going one for your situation personally) and work with a good breeder who can match you to a particular puppy.

My Aussie is pretty destructive, even though she has my two other dogs to play with, she is really curious and interested in everything. You can manage it though ie. I have locks on the bedroom doors as she can open them, child lock on the fridge and dog food cupboard as she can open them, nothing left within her arm's reach on the bench tops book shelves etc. And lots of toys/bottles/boxes around that she can figure out how to open and get food out of and that can be destroyed.

They are such fun and gorgeous dogs!

[JackC]

Yay, an Aussie is a good choice :D I think one would be good in your situation. They do vary quite alot in temperent and energy levels so, as has been mentioned before, have a good think about what will be best for you (I'd suggest a lower energy and more easy going one for your situation personally) and work with a good breeder who can match you to a particular puppy.

My Aussie is pretty destructive, even though she has my two other dogs to play with, she is really curious and interested in everything. You can manage it though ie. I have locks on the bedroom doors as she can open them, child lock on the fridge and dog food cupboard as she can open them, nothing left within her arm's reach on the bench tops book shelves etc. And lots of toys/bottles/boxes around that she can figure out how to open and get food out of and that can be destroyed.

They are such fun and gorgeous dogs!

hehe she sounds like a blast, The breeder we met and spoke with was amazing so I have no worries if i ever need advise training or help :D

[BlackJaq]

This may be a little belated since you seem to have found a breed you really like, but I would also strongly advise against gun dogs.

People sometimes seem to think they are ideal for any situation as they can be very adaptable and most importantly, that they will deal well with waiting and watching exciting stuff happen, because after-all, that is what they're meant to do, right? But realistically, they will really want to have a lot more time spent with them than what you seem to have available at the moment and the amount of destruction some of them can do in a short amount of time beggars belief if you have not seen it in person.

As somebody else said, they will need a lot of training for impulse control and you really need to socialize them very well with small children, cats and things that move fast in general, as they may be prone to chase and bag stuff lol.

My Weimaraner would most definitely not be happy with being left alone and outside for this amount of time and your neighbours and your wallet would soon know about it. I am not that familiar with the "fuzzy" gun dogs so I cannot be sure about Spaniels, Tollers and such but I would definitely advise against Pointers, Weimaraners, Viszlas and such at least

[Daisy.Tea]

When I first read this I was going to suggest an Aussie. I'm not surprised you fell in love. We are about to add a second one into our family, because its hard to stop at one aussie! My girl is pretty relaxed. She knows when it's time to work and play and that inside is a chill out space. We were really clear about that from the moment we bought her home which helped. I found that having any set boundaries with an aussie is important. Mine started to really test these as a teen but she has realised we ain't budging.

We left ours alone in our secure yard while we had work/uni so anywhere from 8/9 - 3/5 a couple of times a week. If I'm going to be out for longer than 3 hours or so I leave a frozen kong or an activity for her as she can sometimes find other jobs to do like redesigning the watering system. They are such lovely company!

[Aetherglow]

Aussie Shepherds are awesome :) I'm glad you've seen something you love, I hope your OH loves them just as much! Good luck with your puppy search, and keep us all up to date!

[JackC]

Thanks :)

will let you know on Wednesday, that's when we are going to see the breeder with my OH to make sure she is comfortable around the dogs there, will take some pics as well of the pup

[juice]

The one i know is left allday while its owners work, but i do see them both walk past my house very early every morning to give him a good offlead run, and they wak him when they get back too.

they got him as a 2 yr old from a breder looking to find a pet home for him, he is a lovely dog, and they 'bounce" when they play like deer :laugh:

[JackC]

The one i know is left allday while its owners work, but i do see them both walk past my house very early every morning to give him a good offlead run, and they wak him when they get back too.

they got him as a 2 yr old from a breder looking to find a pet home for him, he is a lovely dog, and they 'bounce" when they play like deer :laugh:

I'm planning to do something very similar, I have a decent size area outside my house to give the dog a good run early am before I set off for work and at 6am it should be nice and quiet, just need to get up 1/2hr earlier, will be good for me as well as I usually struggle to get up, also plan to take him out after work every day for his arvo exercise, if I can find an off lead park close will use that otherwise we can both go for a nice jog around our neighbourhood (30-60min), also 10-15min of mental exercises every couple of days to keep him stimulated

The breeder is really nice and has helped me allot with understanding the dogs needs and I will most likely be attending her puppy training school each week as well.

Hopefully all that on top of regular interaction with friends, pubic and other dogs will help.

I'm sure we will find a nice balance in time to suit both dog and us

[persephone]

Just be aware ..you may have to turn your plans a bit askew ;)

A dog really shouldn't start jogging /long walking until mature ..so around 12 mths , AFAIK.

BUT they DO need that 10 - 15 mins at least training time EVERY day :)

Trouble is with long runs etc .. the dog just gets fitter and needs MORE..and MORE

Thinking hard , working for reward, learning new things is tiring .....any activity where control and dexterity and precision is needed is tiring ..more so than running in a paddock