Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Anyone on SN got any knowledge experience on the above breed? It would appear to be the breed of choice in 2/3 of my household at the moment but I don't really know much about them.

Which sex is better to have? It will be a familly pet, not a working dog, but we live on a farm so the ability to take out rabbits/rats is prized ( ) - which sex is better at that? Any other information perculiar to that breed? Temperament? Longevity? Any likely illnesses/disabilities? Anything else about looking after these animals I should know?

Thanks!

53

iTrader: (41)

Nice dogs from experience, but not from owning one.

Patterdale would be my small terrier of choice, good ratters

My brother in law used to breed them and had a border terrier line in the mix which I believe gave the nice colouration to one of our first Pats.

All three of my dogs have the same pure pat mum so you can get some great pint sized terrier lurchers which are even better again as they are fast and generally more placid.

FWIW terriers can be more more than a larger dog, although they do make fantastic companions

Paul3446

My sister has 2 border terriers, a male and female. They will chase anything and quite possibly kill it, which may be what you are after. Several times the male has caught a rabbit while out walking, which he then won't give up, causing gasps of horror from other dog walkers as he trots along with a dead rabbit hanging out of his mouth. He also dug out a burrow in the garden and killed 6 baby rabbits, which was sad, but it's what they are bred to do. They are very much lap dogs indoors though, always trying to get on to your lap and are very cute to look at of course.

On the down side, the female cannot really be let off the lead on walks if there is any undergrowth around and will quite possibly disappear for hours on end. The male used to be the same, but having his ***** off and getting a bit older seems to have cured this. This trait can be particularly annoying as you end up hanging around a car park for several hours waiting for a dog to appear, quite often in the rain. Once they are on the scent of something, they will completely ignore you, to the point that my sister has thought they have been dog-napped, they were gone so long. (they are well trained dogs, so I think this is a breed thing that will be difficult to change).

Temperament wise the female is a lovely dog who cannot be faulted, the male however is fine 99% of the time, but if he has something and you try to take it off him, he may well snap and bite you. He actually bit my mum on the face when she bent down to try to retrieve a sock that he'd nicked, this was a reflex thing, not a sustained attack, but it required stitches. He has also bitten my sister a few times on the hand in similar circumstances. He will also steal food, jump and pull things off worktops etc. and chew anything like socks, childrens toys etc.

So all in all, they're nice little dogs, but with their drawbacks. Definitely think twice if you have kids I would say, although if you want something to chase rabbits round the farmyard you won't go far wrong. Also make sure you go to a proper breeder, there are some really bad examples of the breed out there, if you want I could find out where my sister got hers from.

Hope this helps,

Paul.

GC8WRX

so the dog gave your mum facial stitches and it wasnt put down?

r32

Beautiful small dogs with a real personality. Very courageous frightened of nothing, make outstanding family pets, easily trained and a lovely temperament

edited to say make sure you buy from a good breeder.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

So, nice dog, but eats your face !

All Terriers can be a bit snappy, A Jack Russell would be a good alternative.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Unfortunately that won't be an alternative in our household - too many memories of my mother's dog which was a right little sod!!


We will get from a breeder - any recommendations?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We are kind of in the same boat at the moment after having our old girl put down a few weeks back.

My wife's stipulations,

Nothing too big
Notthing too Small
Not another Cocker
Nothing that needs a 10 mile walk every day (Border Collies in other words)
Nothing that chews everything (i.e. any puppy)
Not a Jack Russell (her brother has one and she doesnt want the same)
Not a Pug
Nothing too Macho
Nothing too Effete
Absolutely nothing with "Bull" in the name
Must be scruffy 'n' cute
Must be cheap/free
Must be female (she has never had a male Dog)


See what I have to work with, its a bit like that bloke out of Little Britain that goes into the shop for a Pirate Memory game thats a bit too "Piratey" when they find him one.

I just see it as, get dog thats withing reasonable criteria and get on with it.

boxst

Why? Cocker Spaniels are brilliant all round dogs (in my experience anyway!).

Mine just before it died:



Steve

MattW

Would love a dog myself, had a Cairn and then a Westie when i was younger, and now my children are 4 and 7 it would teach them responsibility. However although I'm at home most of the time I could be on client site at irregular intervals...shame really.

My westie used to chase and kill anything that moved in the countryside. The cairn was especially adept at birds!!

BuRR

We have a female border and a male Cairn

Got them both from the same breeder in Derbyshire (I can forward details if you like), and neither have the faults common in both breeds (misaligned jaws, bad hips, etc)

Daisy (7 years, female)


Angus (3 years, male)

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Cute

I've been told we're going to look at a couple of puppys tonight, so may have a dog sooner than I thought

al4x1

Borders are great dogs but with terriers how good they are to live with depends how much they have the hunting instinct. A lot as said just want to hunt all day and will go underground as soon as they find something down a hole. Results in being stressful to walk and not much fun having them on the lead all the time.
I had 2 Jack Russels which were great and they did hunt but actually came back as it wasn't an absolute desire to hunt and kill. As for the Patterdale suggestion thats the worst suggestion of a pet they only make good working dogs mostly as they were bred to go down fox holes for ratting. Be very careful which terrier you choose and take a good look at the parents and see what they are like as all the traits are definitely passed on

Spoon

My GSD breeder friend also breeds and shows Border Terriers. They are Midlands based if its of any help. She's available via email and could answer anything you need to know.

53

iTrader: (41)

Bit of a contradiction ? works the same for Patterdales, mine made great house dogs.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Nowt wrong with Cockers, just thats what we had for 15 years and perhaps its time for a change, I suspect we may get one again, I quite like the daftness and general air of cluelesness, our wasn't that bright, even by Cocker standards !

fatherpierre

I think my terrier's a Patterdale - no proper definition of them so hard to tell.

Beautifully natured, if a little head strong and cheeky. But once he gets the 'smell' of a kill he's off.

Hard as **** though. I've never known a thing with as much courage as him.

little-ginge

Get yourselves up to Battersea Dogs Home - plenty of scruffy n cute dogs up there...not free but nowhere near as much as a pedigree

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Battersea is a little far but I agree, trouble is about 75% of the rescue dogs are Staffs, again, nothing wrong with Staff, lovely Dogs but the do attract a certain demographic, we are waiting till after out holiday as it seems a shame to get a Dog and then leave it for a week, thats just confusing and mean,.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

The candidate...



Lively pup of about 8 weeks, loving (birth) home, both parents mild natured and friendly

fatherpierre

Aww.

What is it? I know it's a canine, by the way

lil_kimmy

Me and my hubby have owned Lola (a Patterdale x with Cairn Terrier) for about a year and a half and she is a nutter. She started to calm down as she got slightly older.

We wanted some company for her so we got a Border Terrier dog (Harvey!) and he is now 5 months old. He is so cheeky but is well behaved already when it comes to going to the toilet and coming back when called. He is better behaved than Lola!!

The only advice I would give is that they love company and you need to spend quite alot of time with them. Also they are very energetic and need a decent amount of exercise.

Either way I love them both and they are great fun to have around.

gingerboy

never mind all that nonsense about it mustn't be to big, to macho, blah, blah get yourself a proper dog ;-)





They are bigger than you specify I admit but by the same token they are the only medium / large dog breed that believe they can fit on a yorkshire terrier sized place on a sofa.

They don't just do loyal - they wrote the book on family loyalty.

They are superb with children.

Contrary to popular belief they are extremely intelligent.

They are more than capable of being trained to a very high standard given the time.

They do like to be walked but don't need Border Collie levels of exercise.

They are a superb deterant when unwanted salespeople / crazies call at the door.

They are the clown of the dog world.

They will repay the devotion and love of a caring owner ten times over and then some

Once you have had a boxer you will struggle to even think of owning another breed.

Their are loads in rescue because they are "fashionable" because they look "hard" when infact they are big softies! Don't get me wrong they can hold their own if required but generally they are soft as muck.

Do you get the impression I like boxers...........

Good luck whatever you decide on.

GB

lil_kimmy

GB they are gorgeous. We would have loved a Boxer but not enough room here unfortunately. I would have a 100 dogs if I had the money and the room!!

fatherpierre

They are great dogs but have an average lifespan of about 8.5 years and are old @7 normally.

I had one as a kid and she broke my heart when she went at 10 - and she was classed as old by the vet.

That was 20 years ago and maybe breading has improved but I couldn' have a boxer again as that dog was my life when I was a boy.

Paul3446

Quote:
"so the dog gave your mum facial stitches and it wasnt put down? "

Hmmm, tricky one, it's my sister's dog, but my mum looks after it most days when my sister's at work, so my mum loves the dog as well. It was an awkward situation, but I don't think it crossed my mum's mind to have him put down, as she would have felt terrible, both about the dog and for my sister.

As I said, 99% of the time he'll be sitting on my mum's lap being the cute adorable little chap that he is, but try and get a sock from him and........

Paul3446

Apparently this site is full of useful info

~Border Terrier World~

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

OK - this is the "One"

Her name is Lily and she arrives in the family 19th July...



Someone in the pic is counting down the days

BuRR

excellent!