I lost my Girl...:(

MentalMinnie

Had my precious baby PTS recently. It's been hard without her. The quietness is overwhelming in the house. I can't bare to be in the house on my own, as I still cry over her

We've decided we will be getting a new pooch in the next few months, most likely a poodle, possibly a standard. I want to spend the next few months doing some research. However, my concern is that as a large dog, it could have hip problems. Can anyone explain what the hip scoring thing is, and what 'score' is good? What other test etc do I need to check for?

BECKIN1507

Sorry to hear about your loss. For hipscores you would need to look up the average hip score for a Poodle as all breeds have a different average. To put in simple terms the lower the score the better they are, and you want to be getting a simular score for each hip. For example the average for a ridgeback is 12, so a hipscore of 6/6 is better than a hipscore of 8/4. I'm not great at explaining things but if you go on kennel club website you'll be able to get some better information. It will also tell you if any other health tests are advised for this breed.

BECKIN1507

here's a link http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/services/public/breed/health.aspx?id=4097

MentalMinnie

It seems quite complicated. Using your example of the Ridgeback, would a 12/12 be bad, but anything below your stated average be good?

quietheart

Sorry to hear about your dog. I still get choked up thinking about having my last dog PTS and that was 8 years ago.....
It was only 2 years ago that I felt able to get another one, wish I done it sooner!
Best of luck

MentalMinnie

Thanks Quietheart. I've never been without a dog, ever. So this is extremely hard for me, hence why i'm already looking into a new pup, although it'll be a few months before we'll be in a position to buy. She really was the most amazing dog

BECKIN1507

MentalMinnie wrote: »

It seems quite complicated. Using your example of the Ridgeback, would a 12/12 be bad, but anything below your stated average be good?

Yes 12/12 would be bad as the score has to equal 12 or less, so ideally you want a less than 6 score for each hip.

Welshwoofs

So sorry to hear of your loss Minnie.

quietheart

MentalMinnie wrote: »

Thanks Quietheart. I've never been without a dog, ever. So this is extremely hard for me, hence why i'm already looking into a new pup, although it'll be a few months before we'll be in a position to buy. She really was the most amazing dog

It can be really hard if those around you take the attitude that it was 'just' a dog. I was far more upset than when i'd lost relatives, sounds awful but it was true. I also felt massive guilt for making the decision to put her sleep. It will be tough, hope you can spend some time putting some memories together of her, maybe a photo album. Do feel for you.

NeverEnough

So sorry Minnie, been through a similar ordeal over the past few months and miss our old girl so much Sympathies with you.
We bought a new pup 2 weeks ago, different breed to our old lady, a little French Bulldog. We had admired the breed for a long time and read up about it, also checking out the Kennel Club breeders etc and being careful to buy a pup from well bred stock. Standard poodles are lovely lovely dogs, bright as a button and if you take care to discuss and research the breed weaknesses with the breeder you should bejust fine. Always go and visit the pups and ask to see the mum if they are not yet weaned and its possible to do so. Also make sure you get your registration papers when you collect your pup, don't be fobbed off with "I'll post them on ".

We were devastated by losing our precious old lady who had shared nigh on a quarter of our lives with us...far more so than some distant relatives who died, agree with a previous poster on this.

When you feel ready, go for it, spend time researching and talking to good breeders beforehand - check for Kennel Club Assured Breeders.

MentalMinnie

quietheart wrote: »

It can be really hard if those around you take the attitude that it was 'just' a dog. I was far more upset than when i'd lost relatives, sounds awful but it was true. I also felt massive guilt for making the decision to put her sleep. It will be tough, hope you can spend some time putting some memories together of her, maybe a photo album. Do feel for you.

Me too. I've never been so heartbroken. I took some of her long hair which I'm going to seal in behind a photo of her when I feel up to it. I have moments where I'm ok, and the next moment I'm in tears again. X