Rottweiler/German Shepherd cross
I couldn't ask for a better dog
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using Tapatalk 2
I couldn't ask for a better dog
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using Tapatalk 2
What is the best bushcrafting dog?
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Lock them both in the shed for a day and see which one is pleased to see you when you let them out!
Rottweiler/German Shepherd cross
I couldn't ask for a better dog
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using Tapatalk 2
And what a stunning dog he/she is! I had a german shep cross rott a while back - he was a great dog - clumsy but great!
Tough call on what is the best bushcraft dog, i've had big dogs all my life, some would be better than others.
My Rottweiler was a great outdoors and bushcraft dog, only bad thing about her was that she was a bit clumsy, so she'd tend to knock stuff over, not good when it's your only meal of the day and it's soup.
My Doberman's were terrible bushcraft dogs, they hated getting dirty and hated the cold.
We had a mongrel when i was growing up, she was fantastic but would find a dead rabbit, sheep or something even more smelly and roll around it it.
I recon the best outdoors dog i've had so far is Bella our 1 year old Jack Russell Terrier.
Generally i much prefer larger dogs, but i recon Bella is the best dog i've ever had or even come across.
She's mega intelligent, she's really well behaved (couple of times we've had to leave her along in the house for 5 hours i was expecting devastation on return, but she hadn't done anything at all.
She comes to heel on call so no worry off lead, she's small so if the path gets mega rocky i can easily pick her up and put her in my bag.
Not sure i'd have another small dog again, but there is no doubt a smaller dog is more practical.
So i recon the best i've come across so far is a well trained Jack Russell Terrier.
My Rottweiler was a great outdoors and bushcraft dog, only bad thing about her was that she was a bit clumsy, so she'd tend to knock stuff over, not good when it's your only meal of the day and it's soup.
My Doberman's were terrible bushcraft dogs, they hated getting dirty and hated the cold.
We had a mongrel when i was growing up, she was fantastic but would find a dead rabbit, sheep or something even more smelly and roll around it it.
I recon the best outdoors dog i've had so far is Bella our 1 year old Jack Russell Terrier.
Generally i much prefer larger dogs, but i recon Bella is the best dog i've ever had or even come across.
She's mega intelligent, she's really well behaved (couple of times we've had to leave her along in the house for 5 hours i was expecting devastation on return, but she hadn't done anything at all.
She comes to heel on call so no worry off lead, she's small so if the path gets mega rocky i can easily pick her up and put her in my bag.
Not sure i'd have another small dog again, but there is no doubt a smaller dog is more practical.
So i recon the best i've come across so far is a well trained Jack Russell Terrier.
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So i recon the best i've come across so far is a well trained Jack Russell Terrier.[/QUOTE]
Well trained... terrier? Actually believe you. I know 3 jack russels andd two are nutters but one comes to stay quite a bit (owner works down south) and shes good as gold. Calm, comes when shes called, gets on fine with my labs too.
Well trained... terrier? Actually believe you. I know 3 jack russels andd two are nutters but one comes to stay quite a bit (owner works down south) and shes good as gold. Calm, comes when shes called, gets on fine with my labs too.
Pretty sure she has some other bread in her lineage somewhere as she's right at the size limit of what the KC consider a JRT plus her ears are usually up rather than flopped over.
None of that matters to us and we don't really care what bread she's called, but i'm pretty sure that lineage has calmed her temperament down a fair bit.
She is more nervous than aggressive, although like all terriers she growls if she doesn't approve.
Oddly enough she's also very very quiet as well though and only yaps if there is something worth yapping for.
I have made a few mistakes when first training her as my only experience previously was with big dogs i had gotten into the habit of training with a firm dominant method, because she's a noggin nervous this was not successful at all.
Now i tend to praise her when she does right and don't praise her when she does wrong rather than scold her, and it works fantastic.
To the point where i'm running out of stuff to train her.
Was proud as punch today as i nipped into the shop while walking her, i told her to sit and tied her up outside just in case.
When i came out she hadn't moved a mm and i must have been in the shop for a good 10 mins.
We have worked on that though, i'll have her sit and stay and walk out of sight for increasing lengths of time.
At home she will sit pretty much indefinitely or until she's forgot she was supposed to sit, outside has new smells and distractions though so i was mega impressed with her.
She seems to really enjoy pleasing you and as soon as you smile or say good girl her little tail wags away
I will have to look back through this thread, and read it in its entirety, but for now, suffice to say were thinking of getting another dog.
We had an absolutely fantastic boxer for 12.5 years, who passed about 2.5 years ago now. Really miss him.
But I can look back now and be consoled with the fact that he led an absolutely brilliant life.
I was thinking of a chocolate Lab, or an english springer spaniel.
One thing I would ask you dog owners on here, is about the expense of keeping a pet.
Our boxer cost about £60 pcm to feed and insure. We needed the insurance about 3 times through his life. Once for surgery, when he swallowed a large round pebble, and when he got testicular cancer and another time, plus tablets, [which he hated taking toward the end of his life]
We could not really afford or want to pay £35pcm insurance again, which is probably average for pet plan, and it tends to go up, as the dog gets older/ makes more claims.
A dog for us, is part of the family, not to be treated as a working dog.
As human beings, were all living longer now, my grandparents generation probably never heard of dementia in old people. And they kept dogs their entire lives, without insurance.
Part of me thinks its a relatively recent human trait to try and keep us ticking on for as long as possible, and that its not neccesary to apply that to Dogs.
When their time is up, its up, and we should let them go.
[But if surgery could save him, even at a cost of thousands, given the choice, Im sure I'd struggle with it, and want to save him.]
How many of you have insurance for your dogs?
Is insurance be a neccesity for you, if you have a dog?
Or would you never even consider pet plan type insurance?
We had an absolutely fantastic boxer for 12.5 years, who passed about 2.5 years ago now. Really miss him.
But I can look back now and be consoled with the fact that he led an absolutely brilliant life.
I was thinking of a chocolate Lab, or an english springer spaniel.
One thing I would ask you dog owners on here, is about the expense of keeping a pet.
Our boxer cost about £60 pcm to feed and insure. We needed the insurance about 3 times through his life. Once for surgery, when he swallowed a large round pebble, and when he got testicular cancer and another time, plus tablets, [which he hated taking toward the end of his life]
We could not really afford or want to pay £35pcm insurance again, which is probably average for pet plan, and it tends to go up, as the dog gets older/ makes more claims.
A dog for us, is part of the family, not to be treated as a working dog.
As human beings, were all living longer now, my grandparents generation probably never heard of dementia in old people. And they kept dogs their entire lives, without insurance.
Part of me thinks its a relatively recent human trait to try and keep us ticking on for as long as possible, and that its not neccesary to apply that to Dogs.
When their time is up, its up, and we should let them go.
[But if surgery could save him, even at a cost of thousands, given the choice, Im sure I'd struggle with it, and want to save him.]
How many of you have insurance for your dogs?
Is insurance be a neccesity for you, if you have a dog?
Or would you never even consider pet plan type insurance?
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My dogs and the next generation. The border is the one i take out with me the most. I haven't taken him out all night yet, that could be fun. The mother is 1/4 jack russell 3/4 border terrier and the dog a pure k.c. registered border. Three of the puppies have now been sold and all thats left is the black dog. If he doesn't sell i don't care, he has a home here for life.
http://imageshack.us/a/img528/3859/puppies005.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img528/3859/puppies005.jpg
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I've never had dog insurance to cover any potential vet bills though they have always been insured for any damage or accidents they may cause which is included in the house insurance.
I guess I've been lucky as in the last 20 years & 3 dogs, only two major operations have been needed, one to spay a bitch & another to remove a suspect lump, & the costs of which were very little compared to the vast sums I would have paid out in pet insurance. If you get a cross breed or mongrel your vet bills are likely to be lighter too.
As for the cost of feeding the brutes which you asked earlier in your post, my two (one of 18kg & the other 30kg) cost around 12 -15 Euros (£10 -£12 ) a week to feed. (meat prices vary from one week to the next) I make their chow myself (meat, veg, rice , eggs etc.) but when I used to feed them the industrial crap, it was pretty much the same at around 12 Euros a week.
Hope this helps
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the long dog v lurcher debate is subjective. i spent over 50 nights a winter accompanying coursers,i have seen all manner of crosses work as god intended,greyhounds are fast as hell and if the quarry makes the mistake of not turning every 5 seconds its dead, i have never seen any quarry out run a greyhound in a straight line ,but as said their stamina is low only managing 2-3 hundred yards,stick some deer hound in there and its a different matter,lots more stamina but still best on big quarry due to their size they just cant cope with the tight turns as well as a smaller dog. Generally a lurcher is smaller and if the right mix of breeds is a better allrounder ,the definition of a lurcher has become less well defined over the years at one time according to Jack Hargreaves it only applied to first sight hound crossed with a boarder collie,anything else in the mix made a 'running dog' .from experience i find grey x collie to be too intelligent, grey / collie x grey is a good mix if the dog isnt too big,too much brains makes them not want to run,its like they say 'if you want it get a gun!' a trend of late is to get a small percentage of bull breed in the mix ,often a bit of staffy makes for a stronger jawed dog and less likely to lose prey though personally the other staffy traits dont make it one i would chose. so if i wanted an ideal bushcrafting dog that could get a big or small meal it would be a lurcher about 24inch to the shoulders.
I've never had dog insurance to cover any potential vet bills..........
I guess I've been lucky.......... If you get a cross breed or mongrel your vet bills are likely to be lighter too.
Hope this helps
Yes, it does help thanks. It sounds like you have been lucky. I've a couple of mates who have dogs and dont insure them. One of them seems to use homeopathic type remedies....but it would be a bit of a concern for me. Sods law that something would happen, if I didnt have insurance...
We used to feed ours the science plan sacks, along with treats, real meat mixed in. The local farm shop used to make cheap freezer bags of minced offcuts, which looked like Dog Pemmican...
Our boxer was a handsome brute and a pedigree. Why would vet bills be lighter with a cross breed or mongrel?
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Crossing two breeds of dogs results in what is known as hybrid vigour. Depending on the breeds used it could also help to dilute some of the problems man has been stupid enough to breed into any one particular breed. Chows with too much skin on their faces, so they are practically blind, German shepherds and their hip dysplacia problems, bulldogs with heads so big that natural births are impossible, bloodhounds with constant eye problems to name but a few.
On the insurance side of things, my dog is insured because I got a good level of cover for about... um... £8 (?) a month with one of the supermarkets. I forget which, and I shop around every year anyway. If I couldn't get decent cover for whatever reason, I'd stop the insurance and rely on the credit card for any medical care needs. For example, my horse's insurance was approx £400/year but they gradually excluded everything - eventually, the only thing he'd have been covered for was accidental external injury - and the premiums stayed the same. That didn't represent value for money to me, so I stopped the insurance and paid for anything that came up myself.
I think the important thing with insurance is being able to afford to go without. Think of the most expensive surgery you'd be prepared to put your dog through - worst case scenario type stuff. Obviously this varies from person to person as some would go for more major or risky surgery while others might call it a day at something quite minor. If you'd be ok to cover whatever that cost is by yourself, then fine. Maybe put the equivalent amount of insurance money aside each month in a separate account or keep your credit card balance low 'just in case'. If however that cost would be a real struggle without insurance, then paying the premiums might be good value for peace of mind as well as the cover they provide.
This guy has been my constant companion for 5 years, can't really fault him for steadiness , stamina or sense of fun... but best to feed him his basic diet as night time gas can be a problem.
I think he'd take small deer or help me hunt, but rabbit or smaller ...not a hope. but as his main job is rehabing fostered and abused large breeds he's never been encouraged to hunt...
Has a nose though, and comes from Austrian Army and German IPO lines so has plenty of potential , just untapped.
But have to agree with the general consensus, horses for courses. 30+ years of Rottweilers, nothing likely to change me.
An old vet I used to know said that dog insurance in most cases was like throwing money down the drain, most owners would never claim on it. As most vet's bills seem to be around or under the excess, his words of wisdom was to put a an amount every month in an account and don't touch it untill needed.
A lot of household insurance policys do not cover for pet damage
A lot of household insurance policys do not cover for pet damage
Interesting, but are some cross breeds known to possess more 'hybrid vigour' than others? I'll google it and do a bit of research methinks.
Sargey's Spaniador cross looks like a handsome hound. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/sargey/richies woods aug 09/05092009190.jpg
[If it was solely up to me, I'd have a malamute or a husky... etc..
]In the end though I dont spose it matters. I've always gotten along well with every dog Ive known. Any advice on picking one up from the RSPCA etc?
Anzia. £8pcm sounds very very good. As Im sure most operations would cost in the thousands. I'd be naturally dubious TBH, as to wether the supermarket would pay out in the event of needing medical cover. Based on my own experience of the cost of human medical insurance. Probably not a very good 'like for like' comparison but I'd feel a lot safer with BUPA than AXA, after reading many web reviews on both companies..Our own dog was costing me £50 a month in PetPlan insurance for the last few years of his life. i think when you get down to the small print, there is a lot of difference between these insurance providers.
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I suppose first of all you have to decide what type of dog you want and what you are going to want it to do........if you are after a dog that will occasionally provide you with one for the pot then go for a lurcher. There are lots of lurchers looking for good homes.
[If it was solely up to me, I'd have a malamute or a husky... etc..
In the end though I dont spose it matters. I've always gotten along well with every dog Ive known. Any advice on picking one up from the RSPCA etc?
Well it just so happens..... the rescue I work with has 6 huskie pups looking for good outdoor homes !!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.largebreeddogrescue.com/our-dogs.php (subtle hint)
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