Dog Advice

[Feline]

I think this short (very poor quality) video sums up how bananas he is. He does this kind of thing in the house all the time too:

[Auntie Helen]

Really interesting because Poppy is really calm and has been since about six months old, as is her cockapoo friend Lola. She doesn't eat anything in the house (except for used tissues) or destroy anything so we can leave things lying around without problems. If we are having a TV dinner she sits between us on the sofa whilst we eat our meals and doesn't make a grab for them.

[TimO]

... He can run with the bike for over 10 miles and doesn't get tired. He is totally inexhaustible (hmm that might be a negative point come to think of it). ...

My eighty year old parents looked after my brothers Cavalier King Charles Spaniel for a few days, and my Mum almost put herself in hospital trying to wear him out.  He's clearly got a copper coloured top, because you can't wear him out, he'll just keep on going and going.  My parents didn't realise that at the time, which was probably a mistake on my brothers part to not tell them this!

To be fair, whilst my Mum was brought up with a dog, and has had a few dogs, that was all many years ago, and for almost all of the later years of her life she'd only had cats, so maybe she'd got out of practice, or had forgotten that she wasn't still in her thirties, as she was the previous time she'd had a dog!

It sounds like Google is a bit of an exception amongst Cockapoos, although the Wikipedia article on them does suggest that their traits are quite variable, so I guess given that they are a relatively recent breed (and not really recognised as such by any organisations), there's going to be a lot of variety to what is called a Cockapoo, and what sort of behavioural characteristics it'll have.

[Feline]

... He can run with the bike for over 10 miles and doesn't get tired. He is totally inexhaustible (hmm that might be a negative point come to think of it). ...

My eighty year old parents looked after my brothers Cavalier King Charles Spaniel for a few days, and my Mum almost put herself in hospital trying to wear him out.  He's clearly got a copper coloured top, because you can't wear him out, he'll just keep on going and going.  My parents didn't realise that at the time, which was probably a mistake on my brothers part to not tell them this!

To be fair, whilst my Mum was brought up with a dog, and has had a few dogs, that was all many years ago, and for almost all of the later years of her life she'd only had cats, so maybe she'd got out of practice, or had forgotten that she wasn't still in her thirties, as she was the previous time she'd had a dog!

It sounds like Google is a bit of an exception amongst Cockapoos, although the Wikipedia article on them does suggest that their traits are quite variable, so I guess given that they are a relatively recent breed (and not really recognised as such by any organisations), there's going to be a lot of variety to what is called a Cockapoo, and what sort of behavioural characteristics it'll have.

I'll have to be honest with you here, Cockapoos are definitely not a breed, they are a cross, and the result of the cross is always unpredictable. That said, a friend of mine who is a relatively famous canine behaviourist did predict he would be a mad thing based on her experience (this was when I had just got him so it was too late to change my mind!).

She sees referrals of dogs with problems and tells me she believes the reason certain crosses all too often end up requiring her services are that some crosses are actually not that good an idea. It's about the purpose these dogs were originally bred for and the way their brains are 'wired'. You can cross 2 'retriever' breeds together and get dogs who know what they want from life and are similar behaviourally to both parents. But if you cross a retrieving breed with a breed with a function of fetching birds out of bushes on a shoot just as an example, you can get some very confused 'special' puppies (as well as a few who are like one parent or another but not both). She sees loads of Labradoodles. She also sees loads of other crosses that were not done on purpose but some of the dogs issues stem from being half terrier, half spaniel etc. etc. What I have seen with my own clients rather bears this out, and a lot of the doodles seem a bit bonkers. They are loveable bonkers rather than the 'rip another dogs throat out' bonkers you can get with some crosses though.

With any cross bred dog you don't entirely know what you are getting until you get it. Actual pure breeds are more predictable both in appearance and temperament, which I think is probably why breeds ever became popular as pets in the first place.

I often feel torn when choosing a breed or advising people, because some breeds of dog would make ideal pets except for the health problems that have been caused by breeding for a certain appearance. One example of this I could give is I would really like to own a Pug because I really like their temperaments, but all of the 'brachycephalic' breeds with deformed short noses like them have problems with upper airway obstruction and vulnerability of the eye surfaces which can make them suffer unnecessarily during their life times. For this reason I will never ever own a Pug

[pcolbeck]

Next door has a Scottypoo. She's absolutely barmy and hurtles around. Very lovely nature though and lovely with kids and people in general just very bouncy.

[mrcharly-YHT]

My mum had (now inherited by her granddaughter) a maltese terrier/miniature poodle cross.

Absolutely wonderful temperament. Attractive, small dog, with the sole disadvantage that her coat was very prone to collecting burrs.

A decent pure-bred equivalent would be a border terrier.

[urban_biker]

My sister has just bought a Labradoodle is is a great dog

Although larger, the lab as opposed to loony thing possesed*spaniel would help the calm and intelligent criteria


*I love Spaniels and my Springer's in front of the log burner looking at me as only a Spaniel can.  Go for a Springer Spaniel you'll regret at times, but nothing beats 'em IMHO

That's what we did and flipping heck our first year as Springer owners was tough. The number of times I wished we'd got a lab. Couldn't do without him now though and my boys love him to bits.

He's crazy - likes to charge around the garden - just like Feline's video above. Although now he is 14 months he's calmed down a lot and now sleeps all morning normally and is only crazy when I take him for a walk at lunch. He still: chases blowing leaves, eats tissues and steals them from your pockets if he can, grabs dirty socks to chew while I'm filling the washing machine. And the Mud - well he likes it, he likes it a lot!

[Feline]

My sister has just bought a Labradoodle is is a great dog

Although larger, the lab as opposed to loony thing possesed*spaniel would help the calm and intelligent criteria


*I love Spaniels and my Springer's in front of the log burner looking at me as only a Spaniel can.  Go for a Springer Spaniel you'll regret at times, but nothing beats 'em IMHO

That's what we did and flipping heck our first year as Springer owners was tough. The number of times I wished we'd got a lab. Couldn't do without him now though and my boys love him to bits.

He's crazy - likes to charge around the garden - just like Feline's video above. Although now he is 14 months he's calmed down a lot and now sleeps all morning normally and is only crazy when I take him for a walk at lunch. He still: chases blowing leaves, eats tissues and steals them from your pockets if he can, grabs dirty socks to chew while I'm filling the washing machine. And the Mud - well he likes it, he likes it a lot!

This is familiar ... Google loves nothing better than to wallow in and drink mud!

[rogerzilla]

Depends how you measure intelligence. Some dogs are smarter than others relatively speaking, A border collie can understand about 250 words, still isn't going to build a nuclear reactor or write poetry though.

OT, but cats vary just as much.  Our old male cat was amazingly self-aware for a cat, to the extent that he knew when he was dying and was very obviously doing a "final tour" in his last week.

The two current cats appear to be sharing a brain cell between them, sadly.

[Notsototalnewbie]

It’s infinitely better than wallowing in liquid cow pats. Or eating sheep poo. And Cam hates baths. If only she was smart enough to make the connection…

(mind you, at the weekend she decided that Wowbagger was a bit dodgy and was only won over after he made a great fuss of her. I am now wondering if she is secretly a Thatcherite…)

[innesh]

Re unusual crosses, we have a Jack Russell x Border Collie cross. 

We have been very, very lucky with her. She has more brains than she knows what to do with (both parents were working dogs) so she needs a firm hand and constant amusement but she is a great wee dog. 

She was a happy, friendly puppy from when her eyes first opened and she hasn't changed.

[Arch]

Re unusual crosses, we have a Jack Russell x Border Collie cross. 

We have been very, very lucky with her. She has more brains than she knows what to do with (both parents were working dogs) so she needs a firm hand and constant amusement but she is a great wee dog. 

She was a happy, friendly puppy from when her eyes first opened and she hasn't changed.

Was that a Jack Russell with a ladder, or a collie with a stoop?

[Feline]

Re unusual crosses, we have a Jack Russell x Border Collie cross. 

We have been very, very lucky with her. She has more brains than she knows what to do with (both parents were working dogs) so she needs a firm hand and constant amusement but she is a great wee dog. 

She was a happy, friendly puppy from when her eyes first opened and she hasn't changed.

Was that a Jack Russell with a ladder, or a collie with a stoop?

I've seen some shocking crosses in my career that really beg the question how on earth they managed it 

[Arch]

Re unusual crosses, we have a Jack Russell x Border Collie cross. 

We have been very, very lucky with her. She has more brains than she knows what to do with (both parents were working dogs) so she needs a firm hand and constant amusement but she is a great wee dog. 

She was a happy, friendly puppy from when her eyes first opened and she hasn't changed.

Was that a Jack Russell with a ladder, or a collie with a stoop?

I've seen some shocking crosses in my career that really beg the question how on earth they managed it 

Favourite Archaeological Story:

The Romans used a lot of mules, and went to a lot of trouble to breed them. Mules have a mummy horse and a daddy donkey.

To get the biggest mules, you need the biggest tallest mares, so that they can develop a big foetus.

They had special breeding stables, with ramps for the donkeys.

[Butterfly]

Re unusual crosses, we have a Jack Russell x Border Collie cross. 

We have been very, very lucky with her. She has more brains than she knows what to do with (both parents were working dogs) so she needs a firm hand and constant amusement but she is a great wee dog. 

She was a happy, friendly puppy from when her eyes first opened and she hasn't changed.

Was that a Jack Russell with a ladder, or a collie with a stoop?

I've seen some shocking crosses in my career that really beg the question how on earth they managed it 

The short, elderly cocker spaniel that I used to look after fell madly in lust with the newfoundland next door, much to the amusement of various walkers on the footpath past the houses . A few of them offered to find him a ladder. I thought he was going to drown when she went for a wander in the river and he followed her .

[artyfaharty]

Unfortunately as a result of generations of breeding for nothing more than money and looks (see European Royal Families of the 18th & 19th C) most pedigree breeds are fecked beyond redemption. The evidence is irrefutable. Bad bone structure, shortened life expectancy, mental defects (affecting behavior).
I have had dogs for 30 years. They have all with one exception been mongrels or lurchers.
I particularly like the latter as they have the ideal combination of a thinking dog and a doing dog, ie a collie's intelligence combined with a running dog's physical ability.
My advice is to avoid spaniels, they often have a screw loose, esp King Charles see http://www.thecavalierclub.co.uk/health/syringo/syringom.html
I would always go for a rescue dog but proceed with thought.
Take it out for a walk a few times, get to know it. Find out about it's history. It may be quiet having been in prison for months. It will blossom with love and thoughtful attention. Consider also an older dog, mongrels live longer than pedigree's in general so a smaller eight year old mongrel will possibly have eight years with you.
The ugliest dogs often turn into the loveliest most characterful dogs.
Did I mention avoid pedigree dogs?

[TimO]

... and with so many dogs freely (or very cheaply) available from the various rescue organisations, I couldn't justify spending a significant amount of money on a pedigree dog.

[innesh]

Was that a Jack Russell with a ladder, or a collie with a stoop?

Mum was a small JR, dad a big farm collie. Where there's a will there's a way. 

Produced three big pups that looked just like collie pups. She managed to birth them and feed them on her own.

I can't see why people spend several hundreds of pounds on a dog either, but each to their own.