Discussion
I have been wanting to get a dog for a long time. Ever since I moved out of the family home.
That was almost 8 years ago.
I have grown up around lots of dogs and miss them.
We currently have a 5 year old cat.
We both work in the same town we live, so never far away and the house isn't often empty for long, have a 2 bed house and live by good countryside.
We go on long walks often and one of our holidays each year is always a walking holiday in the lakes.
Every time I go for a walk I feel like a dog is missing out.
I would rescue a dog in a heartbeat, but the OH wants to start with a puppy so that it's easier to introduce it to the cat.
Has anyone decided to get a dog and been in a similar position?
I am trying to be level headed and make sure that we don't make a mistake by getting a dog, however, OH is still more cautious than me.
Worries being:
What to do when you go out for the night or away for weekend?
Will 2 people working (albeit locally and not long hours) be suitable company for a dog?
Will a 2 bed house be big enough for a typical doggy dog (labrador maybe)? ( I would love a Great Dane, but I'm sure that's pushing it!)
Will the dog kill the cat?
Will the cat run away?
Will a dog pick up bad habits from older less trained dogs that it would meet regularly within the family?
Ideally:
We give a dog a loving home.
The cat loves the dog and they enjoy eachothers company.
We train the dog well and it is well behaved.
The dog loves long walks and won't sit down half way around a 8 mile walk and refuse to go further.
We don't feel that our life is hindered by having a dog, but that it is enriched.
Edited to add:
Breed descriptions give a lot of limitations.
How far are we to go into reading about breed type, as most breeds have something majorly wrong, either health wise or personality wise.
Is this not more dependant on nurture?
Breeds we have looked into that seem to fit the bill on most points are:
Cocker spaniel
Patterdale terrier (might not get on with cat though)
Labrador
Viszla
Weimerana
Out of those the labrador still comes out tops
That was almost 8 years ago.
I have grown up around lots of dogs and miss them.
We currently have a 5 year old cat.
We both work in the same town we live, so never far away and the house isn't often empty for long, have a 2 bed house and live by good countryside.
We go on long walks often and one of our holidays each year is always a walking holiday in the lakes.
Every time I go for a walk I feel like a dog is missing out.
I would rescue a dog in a heartbeat, but the OH wants to start with a puppy so that it's easier to introduce it to the cat.
Has anyone decided to get a dog and been in a similar position?
I am trying to be level headed and make sure that we don't make a mistake by getting a dog, however, OH is still more cautious than me.
Worries being:
What to do when you go out for the night or away for weekend?
Will 2 people working (albeit locally and not long hours) be suitable company for a dog?
Will a 2 bed house be big enough for a typical doggy dog (labrador maybe)? ( I would love a Great Dane, but I'm sure that's pushing it!)
Will the dog kill the cat?
Will the cat run away?
Will a dog pick up bad habits from older less trained dogs that it would meet regularly within the family?
Ideally:
We give a dog a loving home.
The cat loves the dog and they enjoy eachothers company.
We train the dog well and it is well behaved.
The dog loves long walks and won't sit down half way around a 8 mile walk and refuse to go further.
We don't feel that our life is hindered by having a dog, but that it is enriched.
Edited to add:
Breed descriptions give a lot of limitations.
How far are we to go into reading about breed type, as most breeds have something majorly wrong, either health wise or personality wise.
Is this not more dependant on nurture?
Breeds we have looked into that seem to fit the bill on most points are:
Cocker spaniel
Patterdale terrier (might not get on with cat though)
Labrador
Viszla
Weimerana
Out of those the labrador still comes out tops
Edited by Ilikebeaver on Monday 23 September 20:52
Ilikebeaver said:
I have been wanting to get a dog for a long time. Ever since I moved out of the family home.
That was almost 8 years ago.
I have grown up around lots of dogs and miss them.
We currently have a 5 year old cat.
We both work in the same town we live, so never far away and the house isn't often empty for long, have a 2 bed house and live by good countryside.
We go on long walks often and one of our holidays each year is always a walking holiday in the lakes.
Every time I go for a walk I feel like a dog is missing out.
I would rescue a dog in a heartbeat, but the OH wants to start with a puppy so that it's easier to introduce it to the cat.
Has anyone decided to get a dog and been in a similar position?
not sure about similar but we had cats then got dogs
I am trying to be level headed and make sure that we don't make a mistake by getting a dog, however, OH is still more cautious than me.
Worries being:
What to do when you go out for the night or away for weekend?
Go out. No problem. Away for the weekend? A friend will stay at our place or we get a pet sitter, though frankly we simply don't do the going away for weekends now we have the pets, we spend hours with them
Will 2 people working (albeit locally and not long hours) be suitable company for a dog?
depends on the dog breed but plenty of people do work and have dogs
Will a 2 bed house be big enough for a typical doggy dog (labrador maybe)? ( I would love a Great Dane, but I'm sure that's pushing it!)
sure, our friends have two labs in a two bed terraced house
Will the dog kill the cat?
Why would it? A cat will soon teach a dog who is boss. If it helps you, my dogs are at least 8 stone (the smallest one is 8 the males slightly more) and are more than capable of killing people. But the cats rule. A lab is not a hunting type dog that should not chase cats
Will the cat run away?
Why would it? We have three cats and three dogs, ok our house is slightly larger than a two bed terrace however as long as the cats get attention and food etc they are fine. More likely to leave when lots of cats arrive IMHO
Will a dog pick up bad habits from older less trained dogs that it would meet regularly within the family?
Depends what habits and what you allow
Ideally:
We give a dog a loving home.
The cat loves the dog and they enjoy eachothers company.
We train the dog well and it is well behaved.
The dog loves long walks and won't sit down half way around a 8 mile walk and refuse to go further.
We don't feel that our life is hindered by having a dog, but that it is enriched.
the above seem about right to me, BUT you WILL be hindered, you can't just come home Friday night and think sod it, pack everything into the car and go away for the weekend. You can't just go on holiday either, you have to find a sitter etc.. We use a sitter not kennels etc
That was almost 8 years ago.
I have grown up around lots of dogs and miss them.
We currently have a 5 year old cat.
We both work in the same town we live, so never far away and the house isn't often empty for long, have a 2 bed house and live by good countryside.
We go on long walks often and one of our holidays each year is always a walking holiday in the lakes.
Every time I go for a walk I feel like a dog is missing out.
I would rescue a dog in a heartbeat, but the OH wants to start with a puppy so that it's easier to introduce it to the cat.
Has anyone decided to get a dog and been in a similar position?
not sure about similar but we had cats then got dogs
I am trying to be level headed and make sure that we don't make a mistake by getting a dog, however, OH is still more cautious than me.
Worries being:
What to do when you go out for the night or away for weekend?
Go out. No problem. Away for the weekend? A friend will stay at our place or we get a pet sitter, though frankly we simply don't do the going away for weekends now we have the pets, we spend hours with them
Will 2 people working (albeit locally and not long hours) be suitable company for a dog?
depends on the dog breed but plenty of people do work and have dogs
Will a 2 bed house be big enough for a typical doggy dog (labrador maybe)? ( I would love a Great Dane, but I'm sure that's pushing it!)
sure, our friends have two labs in a two bed terraced house
Will the dog kill the cat?
Why would it? A cat will soon teach a dog who is boss. If it helps you, my dogs are at least 8 stone (the smallest one is 8 the males slightly more) and are more than capable of killing people. But the cats rule. A lab is not a hunting type dog that should not chase cats
Will the cat run away?
Why would it? We have three cats and three dogs, ok our house is slightly larger than a two bed terrace however as long as the cats get attention and food etc they are fine. More likely to leave when lots of cats arrive IMHO
Will a dog pick up bad habits from older less trained dogs that it would meet regularly within the family?
Depends what habits and what you allow
Ideally:
We give a dog a loving home.
The cat loves the dog and they enjoy eachothers company.
We train the dog well and it is well behaved.
The dog loves long walks and won't sit down half way around a 8 mile walk and refuse to go further.
We don't feel that our life is hindered by having a dog, but that it is enriched.
the above seem about right to me, BUT you WILL be hindered, you can't just come home Friday night and think sod it, pack everything into the car and go away for the weekend. You can't just go on holiday either, you have to find a sitter etc.. We use a sitter not kennels etc
Edited by Ilikebeaver on Monday 23 September 20:46
We have a working cocker....
Would fit the bill as you described.
We both work, but come home for lunch, and she is fine; it's routine now, and dogs like routine.
We took the conscious decision to incorporate her into our lives, so we take her pretty much everywhere.
If we need a night away, we are lucky enough to have a house/dog sitter who comes over.
We've just had a week in Devon with her which was great.
You won't regret it.
Would fit the bill as you described.
We both work, but come home for lunch, and she is fine; it's routine now, and dogs like routine.
We took the conscious decision to incorporate her into our lives, so we take her pretty much everywhere.
If we need a night away, we are lucky enough to have a house/dog sitter who comes over.
We've just had a week in Devon with her which was great.
You won't regret it.
We have a German Shepherd puppy who is now about 19 weeks old. We had two cats before we got him. We applied similar reasoning about a puppy being safer to introduce to the cats.
Things went OK at first. He shoved his face in Ella's personal space, she thwacked him across the chops. She walked up to him, he backed off. Job jobbed. Unfortunately, Lou remained scared of him, and he discovered that if he barks at cats, they run away. And running away is an invitation to be chased.
Current situation - cats have not left home. They organise their day to not be where he is, and they spend a lot of time in high places. They will tolerate him being in the same room, and will ignore him unless he gets too close. He is becoming less interested in them, usually ignores them if they are sitting quietly, though if he sees them on the ground he will bark and then chase. It is gradually working itself out, and I'm confident that over time things will settle, but I do feel that we've put the cats through an unpleasant experience they would rather not have had.
Things went OK at first. He shoved his face in Ella's personal space, she thwacked him across the chops. She walked up to him, he backed off. Job jobbed. Unfortunately, Lou remained scared of him, and he discovered that if he barks at cats, they run away. And running away is an invitation to be chased.
Current situation - cats have not left home. They organise their day to not be where he is, and they spend a lot of time in high places. They will tolerate him being in the same room, and will ignore him unless he gets too close. He is becoming less interested in them, usually ignores them if they are sitting quietly, though if he sees them on the ground he will bark and then chase. It is gradually working itself out, and I'm confident that over time things will settle, but I do feel that we've put the cats through an unpleasant experience they would rather not have had.
otolith said:
He is becoming less interested in them, usually ignores them if they are sitting quietly, though if he sees them on the ground he will bark and then chase.
No offence but you need to stamp on this behaviour. If he knows it is not acceptable he will cease. If you let him get away with it then he will see it as a game and stress the cats.Jasandjules said:
otolith said:
He is becoming less interested in them, usually ignores them if they are sitting quietly, though if he sees them on the ground he will bark and then chase.
No offence but you need to stamp on this behaviour. If he knows it is not acceptable he will cease. If you let him get away with it then he will see it as a game and stress the cats.Ilikebeaver said:
Thank you for the replies.
Your cocker looks so handsome.
breed has very little to do with behaviour.Your cocker looks so handsome.
IMO the only difference it makes is in the activity level they require, and how you and other people perceive them.
Any dog will act as you treat/train it.
Just bear this in mind for your choice. as in don't go for one breed because you think it is better with cats/kids/budgies/naked ramblers.
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