Patterdale Terriers *UPDATE*

EmptyPockets

Sagaris wrote: »

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!

Thank you Sagaris. I think my main concern at the moment is not knowing his character and temperement, which is why tonight's cancelled arrangement was so disappointing. That, and worrying about how we would introduce him to the cats if we brought him home... just got to wait another 24 hours now!

EmptyPockets

cherub1965 wrote: »

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.

Well I can't really judge that until I meet her and the dog. It may just be that she will communicate better face-to-face than via email. Or, you may be absolutely right. This is the main reason I've come looking for advice, so that I know some of the things I should be seeing from a Patterdale, and hopefully will notice any warning signs before it's too late.

Many thanks.

Sagaris

Yep - the uncertainty of other people's arrangements - we had all that too! Wouldn't be so bad if you knew for sure that you will be meeting him - I'm certain people just don't think about the adoptive owners sometimes - we were given the run around by ours a bit but it all came good in the end.

Not long till tomorrow though!

skipsmum

regarding cats, we had 3 when we got Skip, they were aged about 1, 9 and 16ish. She would chase them sometimes if she could see a clear run through the cat flap. When the middle one was very poorly she would sit with him quietly. The older one is now 20 and just ignores the dog completely, and the dog pretends not to notice her.
We got kittens just before christmas and I was a bit worried about Skip being too rough, but she became "nanny cat" and washed them, guarded their food for them, and carted them round the house in her mouth. She wouldn't let them do anything she thought was dangerous, including climbing the stairs or sitting on the window sill. They are still very close now.

GonzoAston

Hi

I have a Patterdale. Although most dogs are different, every Patterdale ive come across have been active, intelligent, natural hunters, they are fiesty dogs also (little dog syndrome I think)

Mine wasnt bred from hunters, but still he does it naturally. They need alot of stimulation (mental and physical). They are intelligent dogs and will pick things up quickly. Mine doesnt get along with cats, but my friends have one with cats and they're fine.

Mine is quite happy as long as he gets his walks, sleeps, cuddles and play time. I have a treat ball (which I put his dry food in) which keeps him active and interested when having his meals.

All in all they make great pets. Mines not the best eater in the world, which is why I have a ball for his meals, he eats better this way as he seems to like to work for his food.

Any questions you have regarding the breed, I would be happy to answer. Ive had him for 7 years, and friends also have them, so im around Patterdales alot.

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine

Hellooo! I also have a Patterdale (crossed with another species of terrier), and she's wonderful! She's got shaggy golden fur, and looks a lot like those Steif teddy bears We've had her since she was a pup, and she's always been such a happy little dog, always trotting around and wanting to play, and absolutely LOVES attention / being stroked. When she was little and there were visitors, she would get very over-excited and yowl and jump up lots; it was a bit much for some people, but she would calm right down after 5 minutes or so if allowed to be in the same room. She'd also go from racing crazily around the room during what we called her mad 5 minutes that she sometimes had, to standing stock still if you rubbed behind her ears! I suffered from depression in my teens, which was when my Dad got me our dog, to see if it would bring me out of it. It certainly helped, I can't tell you how much happier a house can seem with a little Patterdale bouncing around! They're very good at inventing new games/ways to play with their toys with you, hours of amusement

I don't know if patterdales are supposed to be easy to train, but mine definitely wasn't! However, I was only 15 when we got her, so probably didn't know much about how to train canines anyway. On walks, she's ever-alert and SUPER energetic (but very small breed, so any excessive pulling WON'T tug your arm off!) I could never teach her not to tug on the lead; it seems her senses were so overwhelmed with the exciting new things of the open fields, that she wasn't interested / or just COULDN'T keep focused enough to learn from me. After she grew out of the pup stage we had to put her on a lead for every walk, as otherwise she would just bound off exploring on her own and not come back/let you catch her until her curiosity and energy had been sated. We found out the hard way that escapes meant devoured rabbits / partridges!

I'd recommend an extendible lead should you decide to keep the little furry chap, to give him extra exploration space when you're out on long walks, he'll be less likely to tug if you find he has a propensity for it.

She's calmed down a lot now she's seven, but she's still a very happy playful character. (Did I mention that Patterdales can also seem to have an incredibly CHEEKY character, when the mood suits them?! Really funny little doglets!)

She loves all people and kids, not so good with other animals; she'd prefer to chew on most of them if she could.
She's ok with some dogs and plays along fine, but much bigger dogs who are pestering her she is completely unphased by and will give them a quick snap to their snout if she wants to be left alone, despite being a 5th of their size!

I've no doubt she would have attacked my cat if she could. However, my cat was an old outdoor cat that hardly ever came into the house, and since he was already afraid of dogs we never introduced the two when we got my dog as a little pup. Had things been different, perhaps they could have been friends..
Since the dog you're perhaps getting is still a pup, and your house is already the cats territory, he should be trainable to leave them alone, even if it does take some time/patience.

So, to summarise: I think the Patterdales are one of the most fun breeds of dog out there, and if you've got a good amount of time to play with them they will reward you with much happiness!


PS, I hope the meeting goes well this evening if you attempt to go again, hopefuly the woman won't mess you around this time. I just keep thinking though, poor little dog, that its owner doesn't care enough about him to even check out where he might be living soon!

EmptyPockets

Thank you for the really helpful advice. Great replies from those with actual experience of Patterdales, thanks so much. Hopefully, tonight's meeting will go ahead as planned and I'll have some sort of update for you when we get home. I can't wait to meet him and neither can DH, he was very disappointed lastnight

Luckily we have just had our cats spayed so they can go outdoors, so if we do have him, and the cats don't take too kindly, well at least they will be able to keep out of his way!

cherub1965

EmptyPockets wrote: »

Well I can't really judge that until I meet her and the dog. It may just be that she will communicate better face-to-face than via email. Or, you may be absolutely right. This is the main reason I've come looking for advice, so that I know some of the things I should be seeing from a Patterdale, and hopefully will notice any warning signs before it's too late.

Many thanks.

my brother took a patterdale off a girl who had broke up with her man and was taking it out on the dog,it was about 5 at the time.it ended up having to be permanantly muzzled as it was unpredictable,i suspect due to being abused.the second one he had from a pup,hard work aswell.i dont think all dogs of same breed are same personality.my jack is 'the baby'.hes 7 and still wants to be on my knee,so gentle,not snappy,fantastic temperament,worse he wd do is pee on your shoes with excitement.lol.
if the dog you are taking on is only 7 mths it shoul forget any previous treatment and be ok with you.i would be wary of the cats though,terriers are instincively hunters of furry things.a cat sits on my fence winding our dog up,watches him frothing at the mouth jumping at the fence trying to get at it then strolls away,sooo funny.love cats.

EmptyPockets

orlao wrote: »

The only thing I would say about any dog of that age is that training may take a little longer (could be the real reason for rehoming?)

Just remembered, in her initial email, she did say that the dog was 'nearly housetrained'... isn't 7-months-old a little late to still having to housetrain..? I know when we got our Suki at eight weeks, we had her fully housetrained by about four months old.

hethmar

May be she is out at work all day