which dog for me?

moneylover

I continue to thank you all so much, the posts have all been so honest and heartfelt and have often made me laugh!
I shall look at other breeds suggested and I shall go to the dog show in London in November as we can wait till then, we will hopefully have the dog for a long time!
re food and 'smell' and washing - interested in how you feed your dogs and views on bathing them - I think a healthy coat and not too much doggy smell are largely a reflection of diet?
I think I have decided not the KCS
I think I have the labs characteristics and needs pretty firmly in my head but I still want to know more about cocker spaniels especially from owners who have them well trained and exercised- are they still mega needy? I have never really 'known' a spaniel except for one that was totally mad and ruled the household in every way. If anyone has a lab and a spaniel I would like to hear from you even more! I will get those too breeds straight in my head and then look at some of the others mentioned.

suki1964

moneylover wrote: »

I continue to thank you all so much, the posts have all been so honest and heartfelt and have often made me laugh!
I shall look at other breeds suggested and I shall go to the dog show in London in November as we can wait till then, we will hopefully have the dog for a long time!
re food and 'smell' and washing - interested in how you feed your dogs and views on bathing them - I think a healthy coat and not too much doggy smell are largely a reflection of diet?
I think I have decided not the KCS
I think I have the labs characteristics and needs pretty firmly in my head but I still want to know more about cocker spaniels especially from owners who have them well trained and exercised- are they still mega needy? I have never really 'known' a spaniel except for one that was totally mad and ruled the household in every way. If anyone has a lab and a spaniel I would like to hear from you even more! I will get those too breeds straight in my head and then look at some of the others mentioned.

Oi - mine is well trained and exercised - twice Ive been out today already and we have had a game of "find dinner" in the garden :rotfl:

And I can tell you that today hes not been near me really - other then when we have been out - hes been pottering about the house and sleeping under his favourite table

Go to https://www.cockersonline.co.uk There you will come across all sorts of owners - from breeders, to those that show, to those that work their dogs and to those who just have adorable pets

Theres loads of annedotal stories about them on there. All the dogs are bought up differently yet show the same traits. I wouldnt say they are "needy" as in they pine, just they love human company and Im sure they think they are human.

Alfie really does do his own thing. When he wants attention he comes find it. Hes just as happy to sit on the back door step and watch the going ons on the farm as he is to be sat at my feet. He has his routines and if things arent done on time he comes finds you. Like he knows dinner is 6pm and 6pm will find him in the kitchen. If Im not up by 9 he will come wake me up.He knows if hes wet he comes to the garage to get dried off before coming in the house. He sits patently whilst being groomed ( after tearing about the house a zillion miles an hour after the bath):D

And hes happy enough if walks arent as long as they were because Im not well and hes happy as larry if we get a good long walk that ends with a swim and chase of pheasent ( hes hopeless though)

I think the word "needy" paints a real bad picture

moneylover

suki1964 wrote: »

I think the word "needy" paints a real bad picture

Yes, it probably does, its a word that comes from the dog owners quite often though.
I will be on the next train to bring Alfie back with me!
Thank you for shariing your dogs day with me - it does help!

pinetree

Hi the website that i was thinking of is www.thecavalierclub.co.uk hope this helps

meritaten

I have known King Charles Spaniels - a friend of mine bred them. Gorgeous little dogs with a lovely temperament - but you say you have ruled them out.
I only ever knew one Cocker Spaniel owned by an elderly neighbour and couldnt stand it - nasty tempered beast! though that may have been because of its circumstances tbf (his owner was a nasty beast too).
I had a Springer Spaniel and although she was a lovely sweet tempered dog, she wasnt the sharpest knife in the drawer! useless as a watch dog - we got burgled and the neighbours all said that the dog never barked because they would have noticed (she wasnt a very noisy dog)! I suspect the burglers just made a fuss of her and they became her new best friends!
my staffie could have been called Mary Poppins! she was Perfect in Every Way!
I think its a good idea to go and find out all you can about the breeds you are interested in and some you may never have considered.

My apologies if I offended everyone - I totally missed the sentence at the bottom of the post - I really thought the OP had shortlisted three breeds! That will teach me to read EVERY line!

moneylover

thanks meritaten, I will put KC spaniels back on list, I took them off because in the wiki article that was posted for me on intelligence they were way, way down the list. But, like anything its going to depend on the individual dog. Shame about the neighbours dog!

moneylover

jacko91 wrote: »

My nan and grandad are 75 and have a lab, and it really suits them, very easy to train, she is very obedient and such a beautiful dog. From my experience of the other two they need far more exercise. Hope you get a lovely dog.

Do they manage to walk her okay, still? There has been some indication that labs are not so good for older people (I am 65) becuase of amount of exercise. I am fit though

Cullumpster

how about a border terrier? we have one and he is amazing loves everyone including my little boy and my cat. great natured and good with other animals, has a wirey coat, does malt but you get them stripped once a year and he looks like a puppy again.

Cullumpster

[IMG][/img] my Clive

Clive and Margaret [IMG][/img]

Welshdebtor

Moneylover - Are you considering just KCS or CKCS as well? Off the top of my head can not think of any differences in temperament, health etc. However the CKCS is bigger than the KCS.