The Pet Thread

piker2

Wheelspinner said:

@Pross Aren’t the Malinois the ones that jump very high fences? Hassle to keep if so. I have a friend who’s a full time dog trainer, and she’s not that keen on the “shepherd/herder” type dogs as pets either as they are too much work and can be nippy.

Around here, there’s lots of Border Collies, and Westie terriers, and they’re all barking (literally).

If you want a dog to go walking/running, get a greyhound. 😀

https://youtube.com/watch?v=D7omYcdE7xI&feature=share

When I saw this post I thought your elephant had a thin leg.

DeVlaeminck

Pross said:

DeVlaeminck said:

Nice, that's a Groenendael isn't it? I do like those too but the wife doesn't want a long haired breed. From what I've read the 4 Belgians are basically the same dog beneath the coat. I'm tempted by the Dutch Shepherd as it is a touch smaller and supposedly slightly calmer but there aren't as many around. I've seen a few Mali Dutch crosses though.

Yes they are supposed to be the same under the coat but Malinois are often bred more for police/army/dog sport so many lines are higher drive and a bit bigger - not all though.

It depends what you want. A Malinois bred for show/pet is still going to be an extremely active dog that needs mental stimulation it's just a question of degree - and plenty of people breed for both looks and working drive in the same dogs.

And of course like us they are individuals so you'll get working line dogs that make great family pets and a good breeder of working dogs might be able to point you to a lower drive puppy.

My Groenendael is 13 now but she's still an active dog - never got tired of doing obedience or playing - I've run up to 13 miles with her (in cool weather) when she was younger.

They are quite a sensitive breed - they do need socialisation and positive training methods. I did a lot of obedience with mine for the first 3-4 years.

They can have a herding instinct so discourage that as they herd by nipping !

They tend to be standoffish with strangers - they aren't Labradors rolling over for a stranger to tickle their tummy. Mine is fine with people - in our house she will normally bark loudly at them once, sniff them then lie down across the room for 5 minutes after which she'll come over and try and get them to stroke her.

They mostly have an instinct to guard their home. On the park though mine and the others I know locally (not many admittedly) are all fine off the lead all the time.

I haven't met many Dutch herders but yes I've read they can have more of an off switch than a working Mali which is what they'll be comparing them to.

ugo.santalucia

We had a border collie pup for 3 days in early December, then she got sick with parvo virus and had to be put down... heart breaking, I don't normally cry... I did.

Basically we were scammed by irresponsible breeders, who told us the dog had the first vaccine and was due the second a few weeks later, whereas clearly that was a lie.

I hate the all dog breeding industry, pretty much all cash in hand dodgy deals, made worse by Covid, as you can't go into people houses and check conditions and such.

My wife is now keen to spend more to get more guarantees (we are now talking proper bike money for a dog!!), whereas I am resisting, as I just don't want to have anything to do with breeders as a matter of principle... happy to take a rescue from a reputable place, but she wants the puppy, you know women... so fxxx it, daily arguments about it, as you can imagine, I am about a grand worse off than I was in November and I will not open the wallet, come what may

I'd be happy with a skinny rescue greyhound... she wants a designer puppy

davep1

We have two cats, sisters from the same litter, from a rescue place. There were 3, I sometimes think I should have taken all 3 and I know the Mrs would have forgiven me.

They are chalk and cheese. Turri is skinny and moves like a panther, and sometimes she'll give you a look that makes you think you must have been very bad in a previous life. She very much thinks she is in charge of everything. Ari is a bit podgy, still walks around the house discovering things that have been there all her life, and jumping back from them. Named after villages in Italy, they are very much part of the family.

Prior to them, we had two cats from a rescue, sisters also, named after places in Malaysia we had been on our travels. One of them moved to a house down the road when the kids got to toddler age, with a little old lady, I think she decided it had got a bit too noisy and hectic at home. It's really hard when they go, you don't realise how much of the time you subconsciously look out for them.

Ari disguising her bulk

Turri

elbowloh

Whereabouts in Malaysia (if you don't mind me asking)?

wilberforce

This is Huckleberry, or simply Baz to his friends.
I am not actually sure what happened to the fish. The photo was taken a couple of years ago and all I know is that Baz is still with us, but the fish is MIA.

pangolin

This is Ralph, had to have him put down just over a year ago.



And this is Frank

Pross

ugo.santalucia said:

We had a border collie pup for 3 days in early December, then she got sick with parvo virus and had to be put down... heart breaking, I don't normally cry... I did.

Basically we were scammed by irresponsible breeders, who told us the dog had the first vaccine and was due the second a few weeks later, whereas clearly that was a lie.

I hate the all dog breeding industry, pretty much all cash in hand dodgy deals, made worse by Covid, as you can't go into people houses and check conditions and such.

My wife is now keen to spend more to get more guarantees (we are now talking proper bike money for a dog!!), whereas I am resisting, as I just don't want to have anything to do with breeders as a matter of principle... happy to take a rescue from a reputable place, but she wants the puppy, you know women... so fxxx it, daily arguments about it, as you can imagine, I am about a grand worse off than I was in November and I will not open the wallet, come what may

I'd be happy with a skinny rescue greyhound... she wants a designer puppy

Weren't you provided with the vaccination book or had they gone the whole scam and faked the information? There should be information giving details of the vaccinations and batch number and you need to provide it if you put the dog in a boarding kennel.

It really pisses me off people using animals purely for their financial gain though along with people who buy a puppy and then no longer like it when it becomes a dog. I can understand wanting a dog as a pup, especially if you are keen to train it properly.

thistle_

ugo.santalucia said:

happy to take a rescue from a reputable place, but she wants the puppy, you know women... so fxxx it,

Rescue centres sometimes get puppies, but I think they get rescued quite quickly.

Pross

...

Stevo_666

mercia_man said:

I love this thread. Aren’t dogs great! Since moving down from the hills into a village two years ago, we’ve got to know so many people simply through walking dogs. Aimlessly trudging round the block on your own for lockdown exercise is deadly boring. A dog makes all the difference. Two big things I’ve noticed since covid struck are the number of cyclists on the road and the number of dogs being walked.

True, it definitely is a social thing as well. And is a great reason to get out of the house during lockdown. My OH appreciates it even more as she doesn't do paid work and doesn't ride a bike.

mercia_man

ugo.santalucia said:

We had a border collie pup for 3 days in early December, then she got sick with parvo virus and had to be put down... heart breaking, I don't normally cry... I did.

Basically we were scammed by irresponsible breeders, who told us the dog had the first vaccine and was due the second a few weeks later, whereas clearly that was a lie.

I hate the all dog breeding industry, pretty much all cash in hand dodgy deals, made worse by Covid, as you can't go into people houses and check conditions and such.

My wife is now keen to spend more to get more guarantees (we are now talking proper bike money for a dog!!), whereas I am resisting, as I just don't want to have anything to do with breeders as a matter of principle... happy to take a rescue from a reputable place, but she wants the puppy, you know women... so fxxx it, daily arguments about it, as you can imagine, I am about a grand worse off than I was in November and I will not open the wallet, come what may

I'd be happy with a skinny rescue greyhound... she wants a designer puppy

So sorry to hear this, ugo. It’s heartbreaking to lose a pet. I have to confess I suffered worse grief when my bull lurcher Dora died recently than when my parents died years ago.

We got Dora from a rescue centre after being tipped off by a veterinary nurse friend who said this lovely dog had won the hearts of everyone at the practice when a bunch of rescues came in for their jabs.

We got our new pup Bonnie through www.pets4homes.co.uk which gives useful advice about ensuring everything is above board. I was happy about it because the breeders were genuine and local to us - Mid Wales sheep farmers who had bred from two nice natured family pets - and we had mutual farmer friends. We did break lockdown rules by driving five miles on tiny lanes across the Welsh border to see the pups on the farm. Thankfully, the cross-border rules had lifted by the time we collected. Sheep farmers are suffering financially after Brexit so six pups sold for £1,800 each is a useful income boost. There’s very few genuine puppies for sale for less than this apart from collies and lurchers since lockdown demand put up prices - from memory, a134% increase in the past year.

seanoconn

ugo.santalucia said:

We had a border collie pup for 3 days in early December, then she got sick with parvo virus and had to be put down... heart breaking, I don't normally cry... I did.

Basically we were scammed by irresponsible breeders, who told us the dog had the first vaccine and was due the second a few weeks later, whereas clearly that was a lie.

I hate the all dog breeding industry, pretty much all cash in hand dodgy deals, made worse by Covid, as you can't go into people houses and check conditions and such.

My wife is now keen to spend more to get more guarantees (we are now talking proper bike money for a dog!!), whereas I am resisting, as I just don't want to have anything to do with breeders as a matter of principle... happy to take a rescue from a reputable place, but she wants the puppy, you know women... so fxxx it, daily arguments about it, as you can imagine, I am about a grand worse off than I was in November and I will not open the wallet, come what may

I'd be happy with a skinny rescue greyhound... she wants a designer puppy

Her second Deliveroo job should cover the cost of a new puppy 👍

davep1

elbowloh said:

Whereabouts in Malaysia (if you don't mind me asking)?

Actually that's my memory playing tricks on me, they were words in Malay from our travels. Batu and Bala were the cat names, I was born in a British mini hospital in Taiwan, in the middle of the country roughly.

elbowloh

davep1 said:

elbowloh said:

Whereabouts in Malaysia (if you don't mind me asking)?

Actually that's my memory playing tricks on me, they were words in Malay from our travels. Batu and Bala were the cat names, I was born in a British mini hospital in Taiwan, in the middle of the country roughly.

Just interested as my dad is from Malaysia (from Malacca, but lives in KL). One of our little boy's middle names is Gili (small island), as my wife and i got engaged on Gili Trawangan in Indonesia.

Batu - from the Batu caves?

elbowloh

elbowloh said:

This is the sick one:

So looks like this one is going to have to be put down also. Trouble briefing, growth in the liver, growth in the abdomen.. on top of the diabetes .

that will be 3 of the 4 cats gone the space of about 18 months. They were all getting on, but still.

MattFalle

Long nose is a rescue from Ireland. Couldn’t wish for a nicer temperament dog.

#woof

pangolin

elbowloh said:

elbowloh said:

This is the sick one:

So looks like this one is going to have to be put down also. Trouble briefing, growth in the liver, growth in the abdomen.. on top of the diabetes .

that will be 3 of the 4 cats gone the space of about 18 months. They were all getting on, but still.

That's rough, especially so close together. Sorry.

ugo.santalucia

mercia_man said:

We got our new pup Bonnie through www.pets4homes.co.uk which gives useful advice about ensuring everything is above board.

That's the website my wife used... they banned the breeder a couple of days after we got the puppy, probably someone else got scammed.
There is obviously no compensation from the website or from the bank, for those stupid enough to pay cash.
I wanted to do things differently, but my wife was getting increasingly annoying about the puppy, so, knowing nothing about dogs, I just thought... "fxxx it, worst case scenario we end up with a mix breed dog sold as a pure breed... I don't care" turns out the worst case scenario wasn't as bad as the reality.
On top of the scam, I had to pay £ 250 of vet bill... which was fair enough...

Hence, it won't happen again, not under my watch... I'm sorry to put all the blame on the OH, but really, this is exactly how I see it...

ugo.santalucia

seanoconn said:

Her second Deliveroo job should cover the cost of a new puppy 👍

I wish there was some accountability in the female world...*

*This might be seen as controversial

DeVlaeminck

If you want a pedigree dog you might be better looking at hobbyists who show/do agility etc and then breed the occasional litter usually when they want to keep a puppy themselves.

Pedigree dogs are still going to be subject to a higher risk of genetically carried conditions than a Heinz 57 (not many of them about now ) but with the right health checks on the parents and a carefully chosen stud dog you have the best chance of a healthy puppy with no inherited temperament problems so long as the breed itself isn't one of those that is inherently unhealthy.

I've been looking for another Belgian shepherd puppy and have been quoted a range of £850-1200 which all things considered - vets fees, stud fee, KC reg fee, cost of raising puppies, chance no puppies will be born, etc - seems a fair price. For hobbyists "in the breed" if you churned out pups just for the money you'd soon get a very bad reputation.

ugo.santalucia

DeVlaeminck said:

I've been looking for another Belgian shepherd puppy and have been quoted a range of £850-1200 which all things considered - vets fees, stud fee, KC reg fee, cost of raising puppies, chance no puppies will be born, etc - seems a fair price. For hobbyists "in the breed" if you churned out pups just for the money you'd soon get a very bad reputation.

It is a fair price. We have been quoted anything between 2.5 and 3.5 K from the "reputable breeders" for the designer pups my wife likes. Bear in mind that even the reputable breeders are a bunch of cash in hand folks, but with a bit more credibility and who provide real certificates, as opposed to fake.

My gripe is that I do not want to support this industry... I think it is wrong and immoral to breed life for cash... I would understand covering the expenses of a litter and making a nominal profit to make it worth your time looking after pups for a few weeks, but we have been clearly told that they keep the price up to avoid people buying the puppies to re-sell them... this is the state of affairs!

3.5K times 8 = 28 grand, this is above the average gross salary... that's disgraceful

diamonddog

Our last one who died last year on the wife’s birthday.
She now volunteers at the local Galgo/Podenco rescue kennels to appease herself.
We kept Afghan Hounds for about 30 years but decided to have a change with the one above, lovely dog.

mercia_man

We were like you, ugo, objecting in principle to paying an inflated price because breeders are cashing in on lockdown demand. Our two previous dogs (bull lurcher and mongrel) were rescues and the other was given to us by farmer friends who had an unexpected sheepdog/springer spaniel litter. But having experienced difficulty in rescuing during lockdown, we ended up buying a pup after careful research to ensure everything was genuine. After all, spending £1,800 on our puppy (or even £3,000 for a pedigree or designer dog) is comparatively small when you consider the huge lifelong cost. Insurance, vets’ bills, food, kennel costs for holidays on your own, dog-proofing your garden and replacing items destroyed by a chewing puppy add up to many Colnagos. And the commitment in time and stress in bringing a puppy into your home cannot be overstated. If you are getting a dog as a couple, it’s best for you both to be completely sold on the idea to avoid future conflict.

elbowloh

This thread kind of echoes what i said which prompted the creation of this thread! People are paying loads of money out to breeders for dogs. I wish people would get rescues.

ugo.santalucia

mercia_man said:

And the commitment in time and stress in bringing a puppy into your home cannot be overstated. If you are getting a dog as a couple, it’s best for you both to be completely sold on the idea to avoid future conflict.

I'm totally with you on this, and not 100% sold on the dog idea... I love dogs, do I love the 24/7 commitment? I'm not sure...

ugo.santalucia

elbowloh said:

This thread kind of echoes what i said which prompted the creation of this thread! People are paying loads of money out to breeders for dogs. I wish people would get rescues.

That's not simple either... it's less money and you are not subsidising this horrible trade, but these days you have to go through a third degree and a long process which resembles the adoption of a baby...

kingstongraham

elbowloh said:

This thread kind of echoes what i said which prompted the creation of this thread! People are paying loads of money out to breeders for dogs. I wish people would get rescues.

Rescues aren't for every home. You really don't know what its history is, but there's enough history there for it to need rescuing.

ugo.santalucia

kingstongraham said:

elbowloh said:

This thread kind of echoes what i said which prompted the creation of this thread! People are paying loads of money out to breeders for dogs. I wish people would get rescues.

Rescues aren't for every home. You really don't know what its history is, but there's enough history there for it to need rescuing.

We applied for a young female German shepherd, only to be told that she would benefit from a household that already had a dog... can't win...

MattFalle

ugo.santalucia said:

elbowloh said:

This thread kind of echoes what i said which prompted the creation of this thread! People are paying loads of money out to breeders for dogs. I wish people would get rescues.

That's not simple either... it's less money and you are not subsidising this horrible trade, but these days you have to go through a third degree and a long process which resembles the adoption of a baby...

Which is right and proper if you ask me.

Why shouldn’t you get the 3rd degree?