I've been doing some research into what breed of dog our family would suit. We live in the countryside, have an enclosed garden and plenty of time and love to give. We also have a 2 yr old(well behaved!) little boy and a v. lazy cat. Anyway, I've reduced the the shortlist to gordon setters, curly coat retrievers, basset hounds and, my personal favourite, Old English Sheepdogs. I understand their coats require a lot of care(understandable!), but would this breed fit in2 our family? I'd want a dog that's pretty laid back, good with children and other animals and doesn't need to go on a 10 mile hike every day! Does anybody out there have any litters of o.e.s's at the mo? Cheers. Eleanor.

Hi,

Old English are very bouncy and lively dogs and I wouldn't recomend one with a small child, your little boy would probably be knocked over many time just by the dog playing around. They also need quite a lot of exercise and plenty of space to run and lots of training.

The Basset would be a good choice, but they do love hunting and you may have problems with letting it off the lead and getting it to come back.

Gordon Setters are lovely and gentle, this would also be a good choice, but again they need quite a bit of exercise.

Curly Coat retrievers can be difficult and are very clever, they also need lots of exercise and definately training.

The best dogs you could get would be French Bulldog, Cavalier, Poodle (mini or toy), Mini Schnauzer, Bulldog, Cairn Terrier, Bichon Frise or Lowchen.

Good luck in your search, remember don't go for what you like the look of only, go for the most suitable breed for your circumstances.

manda
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Hi guest

We were thinking of having a dog for several years & always talked of an OES...when the time was right we looked into breeds more & more and rang breeders to ask questions etc but always came back to an OES which we eventually bought some 9 months ago.

We have 3 children and they all have a different relationship with him, my oldest is 12 and plays roughly with him, my middle is a girl of 9 who molly coddles him ( and he is best behaved for her ! ) and my youngest now 5 who likes to be in charge but also likes to wind the dog up ! He has never got over rough with any of them albeit we are now entering the "teenage" years and hs is noticeably trying to assert himself a little more! He did of course do puppy teething with his sharp first teeth but all puppies do this until they drop out which was a few months after we got him.

Yes they can knock a kidddie off their feet ( and you too when they bound up country paths behind you !) but I have also had my legs nearly taken out by labradors as well! Ours is 32 KG and 26 inches to shoulder at the moment at 10 mths of age.I have friends with babies/toddlers and the 12 mths old girls just sit on the floor , and he walks round them! I think if the children get used to the pup at its small size then they grow with them and the pup also grows to acknowledge them and their size too. Accidents do happen and you do get nudged now and then but so far none of mine or my friends have been knowked over...

This is our first dog and we did puppy training initially but have since done our own from advice on this website and books and he is keen to learn, house trained in 8 days would you believe !
We have just had 2 weeks camping with him and he was very well behaved....and as good as gold in our new tent.

I would say he can be noisterous and has to be put down at times especially when he gets excited (visitors, kids in garden etc) but I would expect this from any 9 mth old.

His coat as a pup took 10mins a day to comb and when lonher 20 mins a day but usually as part of an evening rub in front of the TV ! They say they dont shed and so far ours has not.

Exercise for first 6 mths is 2 20min walks a day and 6 - 12 mths 2 30 mins walk a day to protect their hips, thereafter it is similar or more if you like,

they do have a nickname of Velcro dog...........and I do have a constant rug on my feet in the kitchen, not sure if it is affection or he is waiting for me to drop food as I am a messy cook!

They do most of their growing int he first 9months , reaching adult height by 12 mths and as such after 6 mths their appetite decreases and ours eats far less than people I know with similar sized dogs.

We are biased but are pleased with our choice !! we did look at Spinones (think I spelt it correctly!) they have a lovely temperament and oddily enough there are nopw 3 of those in our area, all boys and all wonderful temperament, a little quieter than an OES ! but having 3 kids we descided we needed a dog for them to play with who would love it as much and OES purportedly stay young for some years !!

I spent several months ringing breeders to locate a litter and eventually I contacted Petplan on their website who have breeders registered with them and by return they sent me a list of breeders with litters expected / or with pups and we managed to acquire Monty within 6 weeks of that.

hope this info helps!

Jude

Forgot to say our daughter was scared of dogs when we bought Monty, she would cross a road rather than gonear one no matter what size! when he came home as a budnle of fluff she sat on the top of the sofa and ran to the stairs when she had to go up and tried to avoid him at al costs......then all of a sudden there she is cuddled up to him on the floor watching TV every evening, feeding him, walking him on the lead and grooming him! I think that says something for the breed that they can be comforting to a nervous child!

Jude