Advice on First Dog
Discussion
So the wife has been desperate for us to get a dog and we've been talking about it for a while. She's got her heart set on a Labradoodle or a Jack Russell. Now is the right time really for the commitment.
She's never had dogs but I grew up with them, we always had King Charles Spaniels and my grandparents at one point had 5 Springer Spaniels and had 14 in total until my grandfather wasn't fit enough to keep any dogs after the last one.
She's just started studying part time for a masters and works part time and my job consist of 80% outside work so the dog would hardly ever be alone.
I'm not keen on these fashion micro breeds or anything that's going to keel over and die from breathing difficulty after a bit of excercise. There are also no children as of yet but could be down the line if the wife behaves herself :P
So PHer's what sort of pooches should we be looking at as our first?
She's never had dogs but I grew up with them, we always had King Charles Spaniels and my grandparents at one point had 5 Springer Spaniels and had 14 in total until my grandfather wasn't fit enough to keep any dogs after the last one.
She's just started studying part time for a masters and works part time and my job consist of 80% outside work so the dog would hardly ever be alone.
I'm not keen on these fashion micro breeds or anything that's going to keel over and die from breathing difficulty after a bit of excercise. There are also no children as of yet but could be down the line if the wife behaves herself :P
So PHer's what sort of pooches should we be looking at as our first?
Quite a bit of scare mongering in here, trust me I'm under no illusions what it takes to bring a dog to the family, it's a big commitment and as near as you could get to having a child in the house. As I've said in my opening post I've grown up around dogs with my parents and my grandparents so again I am under no illusions on how big a commitment it is.
The cavalier King Charles that we had all had their own health issues, one had the dreaded luxating patella, one ended up diabetic and the last one we had ended up diabetic and had cancer.
Buster, the last one we had, we adopted him when he was 5/6 years old from and old man that was in and out of hospital with his own health issues and was going to have him put in a dog home as none of his family would take him and to this day I have no idea why!! When we took him he was really fat and so relaxed, he just used to sleep all the time and would never get excited. but after a few weeks we managed to get his weigh down by regular walking and a good diet and he just completely transformed into the most wonderful thing with such a fantastic personality, we had him for 5 years when he was eventually diagnosed with Diabetes, no problem we gave him insulin jabs every day and paid for whatever care he needed as he eventually went blind. Then a year after that he was diagnosed with cancer and after consulting a lot with the vet, he clearly was in no visible pain and his personality not once subsided. He was an absolute fighter until the very end and I loved that dog so much and I hate to say this as the other 2 were great but Buster was just amazing and to this day absolutely miss him as he was such a great dog!
The reason I'm happy on the idea of getting a dog is because I loved the bond I had with all three of ours and it's such a rewarding experience. Had a s
t day at work? Then your pal at home is always happy to see you no matter what. I love that.
The cavalier King Charles that we had all had their own health issues, one had the dreaded luxating patella, one ended up diabetic and the last one we had ended up diabetic and had cancer.
Buster, the last one we had, we adopted him when he was 5/6 years old from and old man that was in and out of hospital with his own health issues and was going to have him put in a dog home as none of his family would take him and to this day I have no idea why!! When we took him he was really fat and so relaxed, he just used to sleep all the time and would never get excited. but after a few weeks we managed to get his weigh down by regular walking and a good diet and he just completely transformed into the most wonderful thing with such a fantastic personality, we had him for 5 years when he was eventually diagnosed with Diabetes, no problem we gave him insulin jabs every day and paid for whatever care he needed as he eventually went blind. Then a year after that he was diagnosed with cancer and after consulting a lot with the vet, he clearly was in no visible pain and his personality not once subsided. He was an absolute fighter until the very end and I loved that dog so much and I hate to say this as the other 2 were great but Buster was just amazing and to this day absolutely miss him as he was such a great dog!
The reason I'm happy on the idea of getting a dog is because I loved the bond I had with all three of ours and it's such a rewarding experience. Had a s
t day at work? Then your pal at home is always happy to see you no matter what. I love that.Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff