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Beagle / Springer Spaniel puppy
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So you see, my problem has always been that the OP chose not to listen to the advice she was given about how to chose a breeder but instead rushed off and put her money in the hands of a back street breeder. And really at the end of the day insulted us all by asking for advice she was never going to take.
Have to agree...
I'm not saying the OP isn't suitable for having a dog, I'm not saying springers are bad pets! I'm saying that I think this particular poster should NOT buy a working stock puppy Springer at this point in time with a young child.
As for BCs being the highest energy dog I disagree... try a BC/GSD cross... She may look innocent in my avatar but I can assure you that is one EXTREEMLY high energy dog. Thankfully i live in a village right next to a field (5 seconds to scale the fence and we're in...) and public paths that stretch for miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles. In addition to the walks I do I have a dog walker come for an hour at lunch to walk her and 20 minutes after she's back she'd be happy to go again! Love her to bits though
Yes the OP got a lot of negative feedback - because we all took time to give our advice which was blantantly ignored and frankly that comes across as quite rude...
I mean after all it's not like any of us have any dog experience to base our advice onNor that we have better things to do other than post advice which is then ignored because it's not what someone wants to hear
DFW Nerd #025DFW no more! Officially debt free 2017 - now joining the MFW's!
My DFW Diary - blah- mildly funny stuff about my journey0 -
A springer can be a great pet for the right owner, in the right circumstances, asmany people avised right from the beginning, but they are not for everyone.
Sadly, a huge amount end up in rescue because the buyers have not done their research and do not know enough about what the dog needs. This buyer 'not having a clue' one day and having a dog the next may indicate she sadly falls into this latter category.
Also her statement that:
"I am aware the breeder may well have been a careless person but i am pleased this puppy has ended up with me" worries me somewhat... so you give a careless breeder a few hundred quid - well, that gives him a good incentive to do it again.
Lets hope the pups mum and dad have some quality of life and that the pup is not badly bred and likely to suffer health problems in later life.
Any good working dog breeder will have a waiting list, not be selling pups to pet homes.0 -
foreign_correspondent wrote: »Also her statement that:
"I am aware the breeder may well have been a careless person but i am pleased this puppy has ended up with me" worries me somewhat... so you give a careless breeder a few hundred quid - well, that gives him a good incentive to do it again.
Lets hope the pups mum and dad have some quality of life and that the pup is not badly bred and likely to suffer health problems in later life.
I have to say that the state of mind of the pup worries me somewhat. The only pups that I have ever known who are frightened of people/dogs are ones who have been badly socialised or, worse, given reason to be frightened. Ime, puppies normally come from their litter playful, inquisitive and trusting. Their entire life experience should have been playing with siblings, a loving if occasionally stern mother and caring humans. Perhaps I just haven't met enough puppies, but I'd worry about the background of a nervous one.0 -
As for BCs being the highest energy dog I disagree... try a BC/GSD cross... She may look innocent in my avatar but I can assure you that is one EXTREEMLY high energy dog. Thankfully i live in a village right next to a field (5 seconds to scale the fence and we're in...) and public paths that stretch for miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles. In addition to the walks I do I have a dog walker come for an hour at lunch to walk her and 20 minutes after she's back she'd be happy to go again! Love her to bits though
Well she has a BC in her doesn't she?And I often find that crosses can have even more extreme versions of the traits of the dogs that they're made up from. The most hyper dog I've ever met was a springer/lab cross. Even my dogs were left stunned by his energy.
Do you worry about what it will be like having such a high energy dog when your baby comes along?0 -
Just to add my comments here.....
I can see both sides here, I also grew up in a household where I was one of six kids aged 0 -16:eek: , 4 dogs,2 cats , 4 horses and a sheep:D which worked fine but there is also a massive problem these days ( makes me sound really old!) with a general lack of understanding of the suitability and needs of many breeds of dogs....I'm not referring to the OP here just generally. The proof of that is the amount of dogs in rescue and unsuitable homes.
I'm not sure why this is, maybe because many more people get a puppy without any real research above what they look like?
I have a lovely, cuddly, friendly rott who is typical of the breed but also very well trained so he gets (not always but often) two very different reactions- "Oh they're killers" or "he's lovely", closely followed by "where do I get one?" which terrifies me TBH.
When someone says to me they want a rott, I have to admit that I'm also very negative as if they are really keen or done their research they will admit that no breed is perfect and some breeds especially "working" breeds may be very hard work on top of the usual work involved in having any puppy.
At the moment none of the well known national rescues would allow me to rehome one of their dogs as I work full time but for all of us who don't fit criteria that is decided at a level that doesn't take individuals into account there are many small rescues that will look at different circumstances and work with you to find a dog that will fit in with your family and life so even if you don't qualify for the stateded ehoming rules IYSWIM but it isn't a fast process.
In saying that my dog isn't a rescue as despite spending a year looking for a suitable young dog through breed rescues I wasn't able to find one so I then took the rescues advice on reputable breeders and was able to find my dog through a breeder who only bred a litter when she wanted a puppy. I have to say that compared to her, the questions and homecheck I received from the rescues was a walk in the park, she even rang my vet, spoke to the rescue I was most involved in a couple of years before as she didn't normally allow her dogs to go to first time rottie owners ( I used to foster and assess rotts some years before but never had my own), visited my house and met my other dogs. When I went to pick him up I had to bring ID ( passport, driving licence type of thing) which she copied plus his pedigree is endorsed to prevent breeding or export and I had to sign a contract to say that he must return to her if I couldn't keep him. She actually had a couple of dogs at the time that had been returned, one of them that had been handed over to the Dogs Trust who had then contacted her and she collected him so she could rehome him because as far as she was concerned he was still her dog, a life long commitment. IMHO if you don't get that kind of hassle and checking from a breeder then you should start to check carefully as to their motives.
That's not to say that breeders are all bad unless they take these precautions but that maybe they are "careless" and do you really want a 10 -16 year commitment to any animal who may have been bred with a possible lack of care? and that's the best case scenario!
I'm also another person who if I was looking for a dog with a child under 8 would much prefer not to have a puppy but an older dog who (hopefully) ishouse trained, lead trained and past the bouncy *pyscho* young dog stage0 -
Ironically I think one of the best family dogs IF brought up properly is actually a rottie
They are fiercely loyal, very family friendly and have immense patience with kids - but... i understand they are not for everyone
Totally agree with you there! Especially about how they are around kids.0 -
I have to say that the state of mind of the pup worries me somewhat. The only pups that I have ever known who are frightened of people/dogs are ones who have been badly socialised or, worse, given reason to be frightened. Ime, puppies normally come from their litter playful, inquisitive and trusting. Their entire life experience should have been playing with siblings, a loving if occasionally stern mother and caring humans. Perhaps I just haven't met enough puppies, but I'd worry about the background of a nervous one.
Couldn't agree more;)
I would urge you to try and socialise your pup ASAP.
There's an excellent book. The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey - there's lots of useful advice in there.
We carried our dog everywhere with us before we could walk him, he's a Cocker, he was a gorgeous pup and there was never a shortage of people wanting to fuss him. I carried around him towns, shops etc. to get him used to all the sights, sounds and people, we also took him to a busy road to get used to traffic noises as we live in small cul de sac. If you are walking your pup lots in the rain, I'd get him a coat. His coat isn't fully grown yeat and he'llfind it hard to keep warm.
Luckily the breeder had done lots with him before we got him so he was a happy and well rounded little chap anyway.0 -
Well she has a BC in her doesn't she?
And I often find that crosses can have even more extreme versions of the traits of the dogs that they're made up from. The most hyper dog I've ever met was a springer/lab cross. Even my dogs were left stunned by his energy.
Do you worry about what it will be like having such a high energy dog when your baby comes along?
LOL I have to agree - crosses CAN sometimes be more intense than purebred dogs, but not alwaysIn this case though I think yes she's higher energy than your average BC or GSD - and I live next door to a working GSD (police) and even he looks at her like she's lost the plot!
Am I worried about a high energy dog when baby comes along? There will always be worries. Mainly will I have enough energy to walk as much especially at the start!
Am I worried about my baby? No... I've spent the last 2 1/2 years training Kira and we have just the one issue still to overcome - dog aggression. And we're making great progress on this at the moment thanks to spending a lot of money with a good trainer (Lynne Davies) and listening to her advice. I know my limitations and whilst I have dealt with people aggressive dogs several times dog aggression was a new one on me and so after doing classes for a couple of years and doing our good citizen gold etc I decided that I wasn't making fast enough progress and went to a trainer who has a reputation for being good with aggression cases and decided that fixing this problem that she's had since we adopted her was worth any amount of money (even if the MSE side of me took some convincing).
As for the baby - the dog doesn't go upstairs so there will always be an area to get away from her - especially in the beginning whilst she acclimatises to the new baby in the house. I don't doubt it will be hard work but she'll be fine as will the babyInterestingly she adores kids, the younger the better and the younger they are the gentler she is. We have 2 god daughters and many of my friends have young kids so she's used to kids around the place and other than wanting to wriggle her way as close as possible she's lovely and calm. Don't get me wrong I couldn't do this the other way round... I couldn't have done it whilst having a small child - it would simply not have been possible to mind a child AND Kira.
I know some rescues WILL rehome to people with young children, these are rescues who usually mainly use foster homes where the dog has been assessed in a normal home environment. So long as you know what you are doing and you exibit comtrol of your children you shouldn't be absolutely ruled out...DFW Nerd #025DFW no more! Officially debt free 2017 - now joining the MFW's!
My DFW Diary - blah- mildly funny stuff about my journey0 -
I have to say that the state of mind of the pup worries me somewhat. The only pups that I have ever known who are frightened of people/dogs are ones who have been badly socialised or, worse, given reason to be frightened. Ime, puppies normally come from their litter playful, inquisitive and trusting. Their entire life experience should have been playing with siblings, a loving if occasionally stern mother and caring humans. Perhaps I just haven't met enough puppies, but I'd worry about the background of a nervous one.
Not only am I concerned about the pup already being nervous, Im also concerned that Nikki has chosen to ignore any advice regarding this.
She has been back to the thread, but her silence and pointed lack of thanks to any post that offers advice regarding these issues speaks volumes IMO
And then people who dont spend so much time on this board or helping out in animal rescue wonder why we can be perceived as being harsh
I was just looking at dog pages and the Many Tears rescue site. If the stories there dont convince people not to buy from puppy farmers or from buying a pup with no understanding of what mayhem a pup can bring to a home - nothing will0 -
Couldn't agree more;)
I would urge you to try and socialise your pup ASAP.
There's an excellent book. The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey - there's lots of useful advice in there.
We carried our dog everywhere with us before we could walk him, he's a Cocker, he was a gorgeous pup and there was never a shortage of people wanting to fuss him. I carried around him towns, shops etc. to get him used to all the sights, sounds and people, we also took him to a busy road to get used to traffic noises as we live in small cul de sac. If you are walking your pup lots in the rain, I'd get him a coat. His coat isn't fully grown yeat and he'llfind it hard to keep warm.
Luckily the breeder had done lots with him before we got him so he was a happy and well rounded little chap anyway.
Great advice.
Not only taking pup wherever you go (carrying at this early stage) but vary the times as well. That main road is completely different at night.
Dogs are like that. You can train the to go toilet in the garden, then you have to retrain them to go in the park. So the main road during the day may be a doddle but they can be totally freaked in the dark0
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