Some people simply shouldn’t be allowed to have pets.

[Lullabelle]

One of my colleagues has 3 little dogs, shitzu/yorkie terrier cross things, she thinks it is funny to tell us about all the thousands of pounds worth of damage they have caused by their chewing, shoes, furniture etc... I can't help thinking that maybe if they weren't left in the house all day on their own no stimulation or walks then maybe they wouldn't be so destructive but apparently it is 'the breed'

 

[Slick]

One of my colleagues has 3 little dogs, shitzu/yorkie terrier cross things, she thinks it is funny to tell us about all the thousands of pounds worth of damage they have caused by their chewing, shoes, furniture etc... I can't help thinking that maybe if they weren't left in the house all day on their own no stimulation or walks then maybe they wouldn't be so destructive but apparently it is 'the breed'

No it's not the breed, in fact it rarely ever is despite being trotted out whenever a poorly trained pooch does something it's not supposed to.

 

[Reynard]

One of my colleagues has 3 little dogs, shitzu/yorkie terrier cross things, she thinks it is funny to tell us about all the thousands of pounds worth of damage they have caused by their chewing, shoes, furniture etc... I can't help thinking that maybe if they weren't left in the house all day on their own no stimulation or walks then maybe they wouldn't be so destructive but apparently it is 'the breed'

Breed? They're mutts...

+1 to what @Slick said.

On the flip side, a neighbour used to have a border collie from working lines. He was a retired farmer and he'd had collies all his life. When he retired, he bought said border collie. The dog got walked twice a day, but other than that, it spent the rest of the time chained up in the garden. The dog was provided with a kennel, but he was not allowed in the house, nor did he have any toys. In the end, the dog had to be put to sleep because it had just become aggressive (was biting people including the owner) and destructive.

Bottom line, the poor dog was badly socialised and bored out of its skull. That dog should have been herding cows or doing obedience or flyball or agility or something along those lines, not spending its time chained up in the garden with virtually no human contact. At the end of the day, the dog paid the ultimate price for the owner's mistakes.

 

[Lullabelle]

No it's not the breed, in fact it rarely ever is despite being trotted out whenever a poorly trained pooch does something it's not supposed to.

I am aware of this. Thing is my other colleague and her partner bought their 2 kids a jack russell puppy as a Christmas present. Non of them have a clue about dogs so she is being 'advised' about puppy habits by 2 people, the 1 have mentioned and another who has a jack russell puppy and family issues. I have refrained from mentioning the fact that when I was a kid we had a labrador who caused no trouble what so ever but he was trained and there was always someone around to keep him company but I don't know what I am talking about so I say nothing.

 

[Mr Celine]

I had to help the knacker get my wife's horse into his van after the vet had shot her.

Why did the vet shoot your wife?

 

[Mr Celine]

Accidentally.

You mean 'Accidentally, your honour'.

 

[furball]

I was channel hopping yesterday and ended up watching 2 episodes of It's Me or the Dog.
The thing that came across in both programmes was that that the problems with aggression were associated with male dogs but the male of the family was stubbornly against having the dog castrated. They seemed to take it very personally even although the dogs were attacking and humping everything in sight including children.

 

[cosmicbike]

I was channel hopping yesterday and ended up watching 2 episodes of It's Me or the Dog.
The thing that came across in both programmes was that that the problems with aggression was associated with male dogs but the male of the family was stubbornly against having the dog castrated. They seemed to take it very personally even although the dogs were attacking and humping everything in sight including children.

We didn't get the choice with our 2. Battersea castrate as matter of course, and when we took Ridley we had toreturn with him after 2 months so he could be 'done' as he was too young when we re-homed him. It seemed to settle him a bit, after he'd finished licking his wounds...
Scruffy was done by the RSPCA before we could take her home.

 

[Bazzer]

We didn't get the choice with our 2. Battersea castrate as matter of course, and when we took Ridley we had toreturn with him after 2 months so he could be 'done' as he was too young when we re-homed him. It seemed to settle him a bit, after he'd finished licking his wounds...
Scruffy was done by the RSPCA before we could take her home.

We had the same with my daughter's rescue rabbits. Both "sorted" before the RSPCA would release them to our care.

 

[Piemaster]

There probably are no* foxhounds that are socialised to live with people as pets, and they all live in kennels with their pack following a more natural pack existence. If you were to devote some years to making them increasingly domesticated over a succession of generations, I would expect that they would be as good a pet as any other breed.

*Perhaps very few would have been a better choice

Think there was a Russian experiment with foxes along those lines, only allowing increasingly tame ones to breed in successive generations. Supposedly by generation 7-8 they were on a domestic pet level.

 

[Reynard]

Both my girls are spayed.

Lexi came that way - think one of her previous owners got her done on one of our branch's "neuter your cat for a fiver" deal. Poppy, as my vet didn't do early neuter at the time, was done by the vet that does all the stuff for our branch; I arranged for her spay to be carried out before I homed her, then squared up with our co-ordinator when we did the paperwork.

P.S. I bought the girls a pack of prawns today.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Foxhounds look like beagles but are rather larger aren't they. They are also said to be unsuitable as pets, but that may have been foxhunting propaganda - as in "let us hunt or we'll have to massacre all these cute dogs".

There probably are no* foxhounds that are socialised to live with people as pets, and they all live in kennels with their pack following a more natural pack existence. If you were to devote some years to making them increasingly domesticated over a succession of generations, I would expect that they would be as good a pet as any other breed.


*Perhaps very few would have been a better choice

Most, if not all, foxhounds spend some time when puppies with "puppy walkers" (usually members of the hunt) until such time as they are old enough to be introduced to the pack. And I have it on good authority that they are not the easiest puppies, and can create havoc. Their favourite thing to do is escape.

And once they have been in the pack it is almost impossible to "home" them. I am aware of one person who took an ageing foxhound into her house and it spent most of the day howling (or whatever it is they do), and trying to climb the curtains. One one occasion when she was watching a TV programme and a trumpet sounded, the dog bolted for the door and tried to get out through the catflap as he thought it was the hunting horn.

 

[furball]

We used to have to shut our Border Terrier in when the local hunt was in the area. He got out once and was away all day running with the pack. He came back at night filthy and exhausted and slept for the next week.

 

[Time Waster]

We used to have to shut our Border Terrier in when the local hunt was in the area. He got out once and was away all day running with the pack. He came back at night filthy and exhausted and slept for the next week.

On an individual dog level, good for him.

We're looking at getting a border terrier. Looking for a dog for an active family. We're into walking and cycling. Plus just being outdoors. Want a dog to match. Sounds like a BT suits. However that story seems like we might not be right for a BT.

I do wonder whether a BT could be trained to run alongside a cyclist. I mean it's bred to run with a pack of hounds so it's running with a family of cyclists much different with sufficient training? It's this too optimistic?

 

[Slick]

We're looking at getting a border terrier. Looking for a dog for an active family. We're into walking and cycling. Plus just being outdoors. Want a dog to match. Sounds like a BT suits. However that story seems like we might not be right for a BT.

I do wonder whether a BT could be trained to run alongside a cyclist. I mean it's bred to run with a pack of hounds so it's running with a family of cyclists much different with sufficient training? It's this too optimistic?

No, Lots of breeds will do what you want, it all depends on the level of training. Spaniels are very active.