should we get a dog

beanielou

ixwood wrote: »

Cats being "Easy care" bugs me. Some people like them cos they involve little effort/responibility. Just let them out to slay wildlife for miles around. There's just too many of them IMO. Most towns these days have thousands of the pests running around. The poor birds don't stand much chance.

Take it you are not a cat lover then?:p
I love cats.They are natural hunters by way of their genetic makeup.
Lovable to a lot of people just the same though!

rayday2

Cats are not easy care at all, they take as much care as a dog just minus the walking.

What I love about cats is you see little Tigers or Lions in them the traits are the same. Our dog is useless you know the saying have a dog and bark yourself we have too!

We get nothing out of her at all she is a financial drain, dopey, stupid, smelly animal. We don't get along well actually saying that I am the only one she will listen too. She was a rescue dog and I can see why she was a stray there is a switch in her head and she just runs I am petrifield one day she will get run over.

The children like her but even they are despairing, we take her for walks she slips leads, harnesses the works bloody houdini in wolf clothing!

pania

Hiya rayday, sorry to hear you are having so many problems with her, if i can help in any way PM me.
Look on website for a tracking harness, with these the lead actually connects part of the way along her back so very very hard for her to get out of.
Also give her some work to do when on walks, initially on a long line, like hiding her favourite toy, or a favourite tit bit if not troubled with toys, after teasing her with it for a few minutes, command "find it!" and she will, make it easy to start with and make it harder so she has to work. It is amazing how quickly she'll catch on.
Make it more fun to be with you than running off, and if she does run off, turn and run the other way. don't say a word to her if she is being bad but go totally OTT when she is good and reward her. You may find she is less reluctant to escape and the family get a whole lot more joy from her then at present.
Big hugs to you though, sounds like a pain bless her!
P
xx

rayday2

We have tried that honestly its madness shes walking she ignores you we have tried her favourite soft toy, really smelly dog treats, tennis balls which she will chase for hours in the garden.

It is like there is a switch in her head, we even took her on holiday on the beach and there again, we have tried boring walks, country walks, wood walks, we got national trust membership to get free palking in Clumber Park and take a neighbours dog she just does not want to know us when shes on a lead!

I wonder if she experienced something bad with a previous owner. I also wonder if she is double jointed how she slips harnesses I will never know we have had them professionally fitted as well as us buying them and she does a weird movement with her shoulders voila shes loose!

Bunnylady

Hi

I agree that dogs are expensive and a lot of work. Please read some good books on dog behaviour before you get a dog - Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson is brilliant - very easy to read and explains the world from a dog's perspective and gives lots of information on training.

All dogs are capable of biting - they all have sharp teeth and can do a lot of damage. It is the training and socialisation that produces a good dog. Children need to be taught how to interpret dog's body language and should not be left unsupervised with dogs as it just takes one incident where they decide to see what happens when they poke the dog when he is sleeping or they try to remove him from the furniture and he doesn't want to get off.

If you get a puppy it needs to be fully socialised by 12 weeks and have met all situations it will encounter through life and need to be OK with. If you get an older dog then it really depends what socialisation it had as a puppy as to how it behaves and it may need a lot of work. We adopted 2 dogs at age 6 months and 10 months and they have needed a lot of work. They are lovely dogs but still have a lot of issues that we are working on.

All dogs need consistency and boundaries and training throughout their lives. It is important that you learn about positive reward based training, not punishment and training classes are a really good idea but be aware that there are still a lot of really bad trainers out there who use punishment to train dogs and this can make a bad situation worse.

Someone mentioned a rabbit as an alternative pet. I don't know if you know already but these are complex animals with many needs and are not cheap either. They are best kept with another rabbit as they are social animals. They need plenty of space to exercise and they need a good quality food, veg and unlimited hay. They need to be vaccinated yearly for VHD and twice yearly for myxamitosis (sp?) and if they get sick they can cost a lot of money so insurance is a good idea. They also do not make particularly good pets for children as they usually do not like to be picked up, can give a powerful kick and can scratch and bite. They can have behaviour problems too. neutering is usually advised.

So basically unless you are prepared to spend a lot of time reading up and working with a pet it is best not to take one on. They are a huge commitment.

Good luck with your decision. I have a degree in animal behaviour and training so am happy to give some pointers if anyone does get stuck with a problem with their pets - I don't know everything but I can have a thing and make some suggestions.

Bunnylady xx

smudgemanc26

I agree with the others a dog is a huge commitment. I would love a dog myself but am put off with the cost, the commitment of care etc I wouldnt want to leave it whilst I'm at work its not fair, you just wouldnt be able to nip here and pop there without going back to check on it feed it and walk it and as for the holidays forget it you would either need to find someone to look after it or put it in kennels whilst you went which is also very expensive. I also would be reluctant to leave it in kennels too just incase it wasnt treated well enough. Like someone has said a dog is like having a child you would need to put it needs before your own.

How about getting a gold fish or a hamster something small which the children can responsibility looking after and see how that goes, if they can take a long term responsibility looking after either of those you will see if they can be committed to looking after a larger pet. I think some children just think about the fun they can have with pets like playing with them and walking them not the other things that go with it such as bathing and cleaning them, picking up the dog doo when you walk it etc.

rayday2

I remember years ago we got a book called "so your children want a dog" that had excellent training and family preparation I don't remember the author you may need to ebay it, could be out of print now.

rog2

rayday2 wrote: »

Our dog is useless you know the saying have a dog and bark yourself we have too!

We get nothing out of her at all she is a financial drain, dopey, stupid, smelly animal. We don't get along well actually saying that I am the only one she will listen too.

Carefull, rd - you might put earwig off of your earlier offer to take your dog. :rotfl: :rotfl:

rayday2

rog2 wrote: »

Carefull, rd - you might put earwig off of your earlier offer to take your dog. :rotfl: :rotfl:

Hell someone offered to take her - missed that!

She is so adorable, in fact unique, people from miles around tell us how very lucky we to have such a dog. :A

rog2

rayday2 wrote: »

Hell someone offered to take her - missed that!

She is so adorable, in fact unique, people from miles around tell us how very lucky we to have such a dog. :A

Have a look at post 19 in this thread, rd. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: