!!!!! or Dog?

virgin_moneysaver

after having 2 boys (real boys as in my sons!) I found Nell on my way to work, after a week in the dog pound we took her in, & at last I had my little girl!! - & she was my girl, followed me everywhere, was devastated when I had to have her PTS - she was the sweetest thing you'd ever seen, proper advertising gold.A black & white ESS, who was my shadow for nearly 4 years. My sister has a Dog who is mental, but he was better once neutered.

I'm going with an open mind, I know what breeds,size I don't want & I'll see if I have a bond with any of them - I'm fortunate in that the Dogs Trust Home & the Council Kennels are in close proximity so I'm going to visit both - our council kennels are great in that there is no time limit on the dogs they have, they will not PTS healthy dogs.

I'm going to check out the boy Beagle thats at the home & go from there - thanx to all for your replies

moomin5

In greyhounds anyway, there's not much difference between the sexes and as rescues they come neutered anyway so i didn't mind which gender we ended up with when we adopted, i think finding the right personality and suitable match was more important. We took home 2 male siblings and think i have a soft spot for males more now but will still consider a girl in future if she fits the bill.

hethmar

Hmm - beagles are a handful ......

virgin_moneysaver

hethmar wrote: »

Hmm - beagles are a handful ......

please elaborate

hethmar

They do tend to need a lot of exercise and someone with them all day - they can howl a lot - have a google to see what comes up. Will you be home all day?


http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/1163436-Beagles-exactly-how-hard-are-they-to-train/AllOnOnePage


http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/beagles.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/beagle-facts-owner-dog-breed.html


For all that, if you meet the dog and love him and feel you have the time and patience and are home a lot

flower24

I had no preference, I knew there was a boy and a girl when we went to get Oscar but didn't decide until I had met them.

virgin_moneysaver

hethmar wrote: »

They do tend to need a lot of exercise and someone with them all day - they can howl a lot - have a google to see what comes up. Will you be home all day?


http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/1163436-Beagles-exactly-how-hard-are-they-to-train/AllOnOnePage


http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/beagles.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/beagle-facts-owner-dog-breed.html


For all that, if you meet the dog and love him and feel you have the time and patience and are home a lot

OMG! - thank you for the links

I work part-time & DH shift worker so there would be occasions that the dog would be alone for a few hours, but nothing more than 3 tops - but never had a dog from the 'hound' group before

going to check out all the dogs available then narrow down after some research into breeds etc

will keep you all updated

ali-t

TBH I don't find a huge amount of difference in the sexes and find that breed characteristics far outweigh any sex differences.

I have one of each at the moment, an entire male and a spayed girl and they are both great and a nightmare in fairly equal measures. For me, the decision about what to get is dependent on what other dog is currently in the house e.g. I could not have brought another !!!!! into the house with my current !!!!! so opted for a boy. If she dies first it will be another !!!!! as my male would be less suited to living with other males and vice versa.

So the question for me is - what breed to you have in mind and what dog(s) are already in the house?

zaksmum

I've always had boy dogs. I took on my daughter's female dog when she couldn't cope with dog ownership after her marriage broke down, and the poor dog was about to be shunted back to Dog's Trust where she came from.

She's adorable and very easygoing unless another dog tries to pinch any of her food! BUT...my garden has been reduced to a bombsite with her. Wherever she wees dies instantly, never to be revived. And she's got massive paws, so the after-ablutions dance with the back legs doesn't help matters.

None of my boy dogs ever had that effect on the garden and it does seem to be a problem specific to girl dogs.

virgin_moneysaver

no suitable dogs at the local Dogs Trust today but we've registered our details & will call in on a weekly - fortnightly basis to check out new arrivals - there was a 3yr old choc lab, but a bit big for our requirements & her history would not suggest mixing with our 2 yr old nephew who calls on a daily basis

then called at the local council Dogs Home & the only possibility at the moment was a Red Setter. We took him out for a walk on the hills, he was very good on the lead, he also didn't join in the barking when all the others were, he's shared his kennel with 3 different dogs quite happily & when we put him back in, the puppy he sharing with was bouncing all over him but he was very chilled out. But he still could be a bit big for what we need. Will start a new thread on the Setter as I've no experience with the breed