Patterdale Terriers *UPDATE*

foreign_correspondent

they are not normally aggressive, but they are not the most tolerant dogs either (not the sort of breed to happily sit there whilst a kid pokes them in the eye repeatedly!) - they can be very determined, lively, and strong willed though - my old little terrier x was a little love, but she had selective hearing at times! Also, they do tend to want to eat small furries, chickens etc!

orlao

EmptyPockets wrote: »

I think that might be one of my concerns: when you say strongwilled, do you really mean strongwilled, or do you mean 'can be aggressive'..? I understand that each dog is different but I think that is the thing concerning me the most. The lady says that he is good with children, and other dogs, but I guess we wouldn't really know that until we got him home.

No, not aggressive but they are bred to work and have active "busy" brains - so if you don't amuse them sufficiently you may not like how they amuse themselves:eek:

In saying that, I have 2 JRTs with completely different characters, both bred to work and both obedient (by terror standards anyway!) Both are stock trained - chickens, ducks, cattle, horses are out of bounds - but the older one has always hunted rodents, rabbits and of course squirrels:rotfl:and when she has fixed on something it is difficult to get her attention back. The other one couldn't catch a cold in winter tbh but was much harder to train (house, recall you name it) as she isn't a clever dog! I've always found that to train a terrier successfully you have to get them to work WITH you rather than FOR you, if that makes sense?

PS How did it go tonight?

skipsmum

Ive got a patterdale!

Shes a rescue, found in a skip (hence me being skipsmum). We'd always had bigger dogs and found a working terrier a bit of a change!

Skip is great with the kids (all ages) and very protective of us. She needs to be kept busy - she is a b*gg*r for digging out of the garden. I take her to agility, and while she is not the brightest dog there she is definitely the fastest.
She is fine with our cats but will chase other peoples and is obsessed with trying to catch birds. She is stock trained and shows no interest in sheep/cows, and is happy to come out with the horses.
She is fairly good on recall unless there is, for example, a bird to chase when she gets distracted. She has bags of character, everyone loves her except the postman...she has a wierd phobia of people knocking on the door.

I could go on all day...I absolutely love my dog, I love her terrier traits and habits and her affectionate and happy nature competely outweigh the problems of constant fencing and rescuing her from swans! I know a couple of other patterdale owners whos dogs are quite similar, very happy dogs but quite strongwilled.

Best wishes,
Skipsmum

skipsmum

hethmar wrote: »

Patterdales are probably the most energetic of the terriers. You will need to constantly keep him active, he will be able to run all day or fetch a ball all day.

:rotfl::rotfl:at the idea of a patterdale fetching something!
Chasing, yes, but fetching, no!

hethmar

Well, I must have met the exception There is always an exception.

EmptyPockets

orlao wrote: »

PS How did it go tonight?

... it didn't. :mad:

Hubby and I had just left the house. We told her we'd be there between 7-7.30pm. At 7.05 just as we were turning into her street she rang my mobile to say she couldn't make it. She was stuck at a friend's house babysitting, and could we rearrange for tomorrow night same time.

We were rather disappointed as you can imagine, but agreed to go round tomorrow night instead.

EmptyPockets

skipsmum wrote: »

Ive got a patterdale!
She is fine with our cats but will chase other peoples

Skipsmum, such a helpful post, thank you. I'd be interested to know... did you already have your cats when you rescued Skip, and if so, how did you go about introducing them? How did you approach bringing her into the home re the cats?

sarabe

I've met a fair few and agree they are the busiest of all the terriers. There are a couple of Patterdales that do agility with us. They are both very fast, high energy dogs.

Oh and they both fetch their toy as we use toys as rewards in training.

Sagaris

Good luck EmptyPockets - I know how you feel, we were offered a lovely rescue but it didn't feel 'right' - we had the dog on two weeks trial, and it wasn't until we were approved to keep her that she finally felt that she belonged. I think foreign correspondent on here said that I wasn't allowing myself to get used to the idea, in case it didn't come off - which was true.

We are now 'owned' by the lovliest dog ever - so if your Patterdale is for you, he will come to you eventually!

My sister had a Patterdale years ago, he was stubborn and liked his own way - but was a lovely friendly dog, good with children and a good house dog too - you will love him!

cherub1965

:cool:

EmptyPockets wrote: »

I'm already rather dubious as it was me who had to ask to arrange tonight's meeting: she did not offer this herself. Also, in my initial email I said she would be welcome to visit us at our home to see where her pup would live, but she did not take me up on this offer..? If I were giving away my dog I would want to know everything possible about the people and where they live.

i would be very careful,if she isnt interested in where the dog is going it sounds like it hasnt been loved or looked after.my brother had a patterdale,he was 3 and still not trained despite all efforts.we have a jack russell who is 7 and he still has the odd squirt in the kitchen and isnt trusted in living room on his own or he will scent mark.he also HATES cats.male terriers are sooo hard to train,worth it tho as theyare so funny and loveable.mines a basket case,dont think he knows hes 'the dog'.lol.:D