Dog recommendation URGENT please

AnnaT its a generalised statement, but as I posted about its wrong. 1/3 of all labradors behaviour is going to be the same. I have a pure-bred labrador. I was there when she was born, I know both parents, I've been a part of their vet checks prior to pregnancy etc etc... My dog is 5 years 2 months, acts like she is around... um .... 6 months when she is excited. Yes she is extremely well trained, especially around toddlers or children. She does bark. But she is goofy personified. As many labradors I know are.

Exuberance is not a bad trait in a dog, its something you can guard against with small children ;) but its definately not a bad trait in a dog.

I agree it isnt a bad trait, my boys seemed to love it! They were about the only ones who could tire Sabre and Colt out :lol:

I just hate that people think they are this never ending destructive ball of energy, they do have quiet periods of being lazy but we got them for the fact that we felt kids would want a dog who was going to actively participate and at the start we had tons of time to put into them. Thats the other thing I forgot to mention about owning Labs MB, they are full on! If they arent walked and interacted with regularly they can be very destructive and misbehave. Which is why, when we moved here we found new homes for ours. I just didnt have the time every day to give them the time they deserved with 2, soon to be 3 small kids and DH doesnt get home til late etc. They were becoming a handful. We'd definately consider getting another one when the boys are old enough to help out, like I said in my previous post.

Sorry about the lack of update.... the doggy plan got put to the side while i was in hospital.

We've decided to go with the Sheltie, think the characteristics suit what we'd like perfectly.

We are going to a dog show on saturday and viewing a male puppy 12 weeks old, he's the only one available at the moment as the other 2 breeders aren't doing them until later in the year. So hopefully he is *right* for us.

I have a question though, do ALL male dogs wee on everything outside or is it something you can train them out of? if not what do you do about your kids outdoor toys, bikes etc?

MummaB, we have an undesexed male dog and in his yard he doesn't pee on everything..he has only just learnt to lift his leg, so outside the yard when I take him for walks he loves trying out his new skill! Lol. Inside the yard though, because it is already "his" territory, he probably doesn't feel the need to mark it by peeing on everything.
Once they are desexed the drive to mark everything should also decrease a bit as they don't have all those male hormones racing around!

Good luck on the weekend, hope the puppy is right for you. Shelties are so cute :)

Generally once the puppies get older and the hormones start to kick in and lift the leg, its time to get him desexed.. or just about time ;)

we have had pups lift their legs at "6 weeks of age" BUT that definatly is NOT an age to de-sex... i personally would have a male pup de-sexed before the age of 5 months old (your vet would be best to speak to about de-sexing) as some verts won't de-sex before a certain age.

christy ~ you have your views and i have mine all is good :)

Lulu ~ as i said to Christy... personal views... I have been breeding boxers for well over 10 years now and my eldest child is turning 10 this year NOT once has she been 'hurt' by being 'knocked' over by an over-exicited/bouncy boxer. And yep i have had both my eldest children out playing in the yard whilst my male stud dogs (both over 60 kgs :D ) out playing.. and not once did they come to harm :D Just my 2 cents worth.

MummaB good luck with the Sheltie :D they are lovely little guys.

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we have had pups lift their legs at "6 weeks of age" BUT that definatly is NOT an age to de-sex... i personally would have a male pup de-sexed before the age of 5 months old (your vet would be best to speak to about de-sexing) as some verts won't de-sex before a certain age.

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Actually, Victoria's Department of Primary Industries has a very good publication dedicated to explaining 'early' desexing, and this state is quite the pioneer in advocating early desexing and doing it well. I don't know what happens in other states exactly, except that all animal shelters in Vic now comply with early desexing and the vet clinics I know and trust, as well. As far as I've been educated by vets and the DPI, there are more pros to early desexing than later desexing and less cons than later, too.
The good doctor Hugh Wirth has also been a proponent of it. There is nothing to fear from early desexing, and that's not just my opinion, that's backed up by experience in Vic and study by the DPI.
Just to allay any fears about the practice :)
ETA:
We got our big dog (dane x alsatian)from the shelter - met him when he was 7.5 weeks old, was desexed at 8 weeks, brought him home soon after. For a large breed, I think we did well to completely house train him by 12-13 weeks. I guess it's like EC, you need to be aware and available to help with eliminations, and I was home full time with a uni thesis and got it sorted really quickly.

Thanks for that, i think because he is already 12 weeks and from a show dog family, already toilet trained. But i wasn't sure about the territory marking.

I really hope his temperament is good and we like him, because looking at the pics of mum and dad, he must be a very handsome dog. I will update tomorrow.

oooh,
am so excited for you!!

Our 11month old sheltie is still an absolute delight, (and came to us in a very similar way, 14 wks from show breeder).

All the best.

Is your little guy sable,tri or blue?

Actually the early desexing has good points, but bad ones as well. The reason most vets have chosen to wait until 6 months has a lot to do with physical development and the metabolisation of the anaesthetics used. Its also better to wait before using pain relief for the puppies development. Most RSPCA's will desex prior to rehoming, and in that instance... if its death or desex... sure in a heartbeat I would encourage early desexing.

If its a male pup though, and his testicles haven't descended, the RSPCA will often take one out and not the other which can cause issues. Or they go ahead and do abdominal surgery which increases the risk.

Male cats, sure! but that is because they can be desexed under sedation safely.

Well he was a very sweet puppy so we decided to get him!

We pick him up on monday, very exciting :)

Jackrose, he is sable, i will post pics on monday, he's a gorgeous looking dog. Thanks again for the recommendation, i never would have come accross this breed if you hadn't mentioned it. Once we researched it a bit we found it was perfect for us too.

Oooh I cant wait to see a pic! I bet you feel like Christmas as a child... only two more sleeps :D.

We have a tri-colour. Apparently he was left with the breeder for so long because nobody wants tri-colours at the moment. The breeder said she could have sold him 5 times over if he was a sable, so sounds like you might be lucky to have your boy! I can't really believe it, I was more interested in the temperament of the dog than the colour/coat of him.

You will get heaps of people stop you to pat/comment on your puppy. Get ready for heaps of "a mini lassie!!" from the public. Everyone stops to comment on ours but they are not always sure what dog he is! My poor DD went from being the subject of a stranger's attention in the street to being completely looked over in favour of the dog when we got him.

I hope you little guy is as easy to train as ours was. Ask the breeder what they recommend to use as training treats as it is really good to get started straight away. If you get them used to getting a treat for correctly doing something as simple as sitting, Shelties work out training really quickly and get a real repertoire of tricks really quickly. Once you have them under good control you can really work the 'watch dog' angle. They should naturally bark or growl a warning if they hear/sense an intruder and then you can train them to stop barking on command. My little guy just gave me a little growl a few minutes ago. Love him!

Hope Monday comes quickly! So glad to spread the sheltie love!

He has some black through the top of his coat, so i asked about it, and his grandfather is a tri-colour, but the rest sable, but she said he will be sable with the bit of black through the top. When we had the tour of the kennels we saw all the rest of the family, there were at least 10 other dogs, all really friendly. He's been a bit quiet since we got home but has already learnt to come to his name being called, can't believe how smart he is!

Here is Angus:

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...hp?photo=12692
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...hp?photo=12693

and another one:

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...94&ppuser=1739

Awww how cuuute is he!!! How could you not fall in love with such a gorgeous little face! Hope you and your family enjoy him, I'm sure you will!

Awww he`s just beautiful, have fun :D

Awww, he is just so beautiful.

Your DS looks about the same age as my DD when we got our puppy, it was such a perfect age to grow up together.

...and I know what you mean by smart, it just blows you away doesn't it, they are so easy to handle!

Congrats again, he is gorgeous!

You'll be VERY happy for some years, if my little crossbreed was anything to go by :) Everything good I read about Shelties was very well reflected in my sheltie x pom - of pom, he got the fan tail and a petite face, of Sheltie everything else, including personality and high intelligence! When we have a farm, I'm gunning for a Dane and Sheltie, both from a breed rescuer for each :)

Angus is gorgeous! We had a few shelties at the agility club I used to be a member of, they did very very well.

One lady was unable to walk without assistance of crutches, and she had trained them so well that she'd walk into the centre of the ring and just use word commands & point - she often won the comp! Enjoy Angus, and the training of him & your family :)

We have had several dogs over the years.

As a kid we had a Newfoundland. He was beautiful. a gorgeous nature a big gentle giant and a terrific guard dog - one bark had most people running :lol: BUT he was boystrous for the first few years and at 120kg in size (I did mention he was big) wouldn't reccommend having around toddlers.

Mum got a Bishon x Maltese a lovely little dog, no shedding great at barking at everyone but she was not fond of kids never bit anyone but wouldn't tolerate being poked and pulled.

I had a Jack Russel x (?) he is great with kids of all ages and an awesome barker :lol:

DH and I have a Border Collie and a Stumpy Red Heeler. The BC is still quite puppy at 2yrs so is very active and quite boystrous she is actually very good with kids and strangers and just wants someone to throw a stick or ball for her. The Heeler is a gorgeous quiet dog and a real smoocher she just wants cuddles and seems very patient with children.
My BUT with both of these breeds is that they are working dogs and are bred to round up and snap at heals. I would have no problem having kids around these two in particular however would never leave little kids with them unattended.

I think one of the more important things to think about is the breeding of the dog i.e what the dog was bred for originally, hunting, herding etc. when you're making a selection.

I remember taking my little dog to the Great Ocean Rd for a holiday and my sister and I went to a 'secret' lagoon (you can't get the location from me, to many people will know!!) with him. He was barking at us as we jumped into the water off a ledge and swam out into the middle of the lagoon. He thought we were in trouble and hated getting into water if he didn't have to (delicate feet!), but we called out to him repeatedly and he was so worried about us that you could really see him making a decision, backing up, then leaping in to come and see how we were...seeing us ok, then about-facing to head straight back after he was satisfied we were fine! It was the bravest thing anyone had ever done for us, adn bravest thing anyone has done for me to date :) He was so intuitive about people and situations. Another time I had an MRI done on my shoulder and the stuff they injected was extremely painful in my arm. I got home and as the pain got worse I started to cry and lay down to have a rest. My bestest friend came up to me and looked into my face, and instead of asking for a walk or car trip, he jumped on my chest (the beauty of the pom in him, light as a feather), lay down with his chin centimetres from mine, infusing me with lots of love and understanding. We lay there for hours, not moving a muscle. From what I understand, this is a very sheltie trait. He was unfailing. He should still be here, but he was hit by a car and I cry about him still - that was 4 years ago. I bet yours will be too.