The dog is man's best friend. So what is your favourite?

border collie for me also.

loved walking mine hills over yonder.

Springer spaniels. The best dogs in the world.

Boxer  no question , the best

I hate how Boxer's slaver all over the place, plus they don't seem the brightest of dogs?

Parents had a Collie, was a wonderful dog. When younger we had a Labrador/Collie/Mongrel Heinz 57 thing, was a nice dog until went a bit feral in later life and turned nasty, shame really.

I have a Cairmal....a cross between a Cairn terrier and maltese terrier.
Id never even heard of them,my mum fosters for a dogs trust and i called up for tea 6 months ago and she latched onto me.
I took her and havnt regretted it once,makes me laugh every day....great personality,great with kids and boundless energy....loves walking.

If anyone is looking for a little lapdog i would recommend one,they really are superb dogs.....google Cairmal terrier and there's quite a few pages on them.

my dog.

I've kept all sorts of dogs, but have a special place in my heart for the lurchers. None of the silly temperament and health issues you get with certain pedigree dogs, and handy for coursing hares and rabbits.

Hot

Regards cairmal, genuine question...

To get a next generation of cairmal do you have to make it breed with another cairmal?  If they are quite a rare breed then this must be difficult.  In fact it is why I wonder about a lot of this pure breed stuff, i mean dogs have been round for yonks how can anything be pure breed?  Do you know the blood line back to great grandparents and much further beyond?

I have had two Lhasa Apso's

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Sorry Rob,i wouldnt have a clue about breeding or any bloodlines of the one i have. She was rescued from the dogpound by the trust,went to my mums for fostering and ended up with me.....thats all i know mate.

Siberian Husky.

Like Springer Spaniels too.

Do not like any of the 'fighting' dogs.

Ok scaredmonkey.  For the record I have always liked mongrels anyway, generally good natured aimals from my experience.

I'm surprised that I seem to be the first to vote for the German Shepherd Dog. Alsatian to our older inmates.

Just ticks all the boxes.

Golden Retriever, or, as ours was known, just a 'Golden'. Wouldn't retrieve a damn thing.

Naydam, the single most impressive dog I have ever encountered was an Alsatian, belonged to my old landlady. Sadly, the more highly-bred examples are often plagued by hip dysplasia, again caused by Kennel Club strictures impacting on breeding programmes.

Quite so, Jed. To be honest, I would have no time for a pup from parents that were bred for that silly gait that used to be considered desirable in show dogs. I believe the Kennel Club are getting their act together and stopping it.

Hip dysplasia actually affects most breeds of large dog, some more so than the GSD. I guess it's just one of the hazards of dog ownership.

I hope to get a dog one day, and despite my love of labs, reckon I will go for an ex greyhound.  Or at worst a rescue dog.  Apparently greyhounds are quite easy dogs to cope with, but they seem quite lacking in personality.

I know a couple of owners of former racing greyhounds. Great dogs, generally quite docile, until they see a cat or a rabbit - For obvious reasons, letting them off the lead is a no go.

Not a fan of small dogs, bar perhaps West Highland Terriers. Only dog to ever bite me was a bastard Jack Russell, it was my then landlady's dog, so I couldn't even punt the little fecker in the nads.

Only dogs I've had are an Alsatian and a Border Collie, both cracking pets and much missed.

rob_dylan 19 Sep 13 20:38 
Interesting Programme on BBC2 now.  Labrador for me, but I love all of them.  i've a soft spot for the English bulldog but hear rumours that breeding is harmful to their health.  never trust a man that doesn't like dogs imo.

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ehmm, not overly fond of dogs....don't mind them really I suppose (from a distance), but not too fussed about having them around me. Certainly wouldn't have one in the house as a pet - a f*ckin' nuisance and hairs / smell everywhere - hate being in a house with dogs jumping up on me. At Mrs Wallflower's house their dog used to bark at me - and no-one else before or after. Used to be embarrassed by it.

However, I am completely trustworthy, without a malicious bone in my body.

My parents took in a stray mongrel when I was quite young.She was a pleasant creature but I think that my parents must have miscalculated her age because at the supposed age of 8 she would no longer go out for a walk.

I have an 11 year old Parsons Russell.She remains a puppy and will chase a ball all day,though has given up on squirrels.They are considered to be a highly intelligent breed.Once she has met someone then she will remember them forever and at the age of 6 months probably understood more words than your average Sun reader.Highly inquisitive,whenever she sees an open door,be it someone's car or house,she always have to have a look in.Somewhat yappy,of course,but no one can come remotely near our house without us knowing about it and that could be considered as a good thing.

House dogs, Basset Hounds.

Yard dogs, American Bulldogs (standard/Scott type)

I love dogs. In fact, I prefer them to yoomans!

Glad to see Lurchers get a mention.

My family has had plenty of different breeds,from the first (that i knew) farm dog - a Bouvier des Flanders called Himself , to me currently housing a rascal Shar pei who has kept me sane (barely) the last 12 months..

Cocker Spaniel

Rob, greyhounds are basically 40 mph couch potatoes. Whether that ticks the right boxes for you is up to you. If not, try an animal sanctuary. Oddly enough, the best ones are the ones with which you have to go through annoying palaver with interviews, form-filling and home visits. By and large they do tend then to match you with something suitable to you and your life.

Re breeding pure-bred dogs (or anything), how many generations do you want to go back? Ultimately we, chimps and dogs all share a common ancestor. A fair benchmark is the thoroughbred racehorse. Every single one descends to one of three imported, early-18th-century Middle Eastern stallions in the top (male) line of the pedigree. That's where they get their stamina. But the bottom (female) line goes back to any number of unclassified, unnamed native English mares of the same period, from whom they got their speed.

As early as 1791 the General Stud book was established and the breed was effectively closed. So in a very few generations, with a wide variety of inputs, you can establish a distinct, new breed.

In the case of the terrier cross mentioned above you'd presumably try the same cross many times, sometimes with 3/4, 7/8 or 15/16 of one side over the other, until the best examples became established as foundations to start a distinctly new breed.

But I've never tried it, so stand to be corrected.

boxers are the best my a mile great dogs

I was from a cat family growing up Wallflower.* I think it's not until you get a dog as a puppy and raise it yourself that it you realise how great they are; before I got my first I was rather indifferent.


*We did have a dog when i was very young, which i don't remember: he was a chocolate labrador. He was poorly trained and apparently a royal pain in arse, and I had assumed he died because he was old. It was only a couple of years ago that I discovered that my parents had him put down because they couldn't tolerate him anymore. I don't know if it's a generational thing, but I consider that facking unforgivable.

We've had lots of dogs, the best was no doubt our black Labrador bitch, such a clever, devoted animal.
I've had quite a few greyhounds over the years and obviously love them and a great Border Collie but the Labrador would be my #1.

I agree with sfbtw, once greyhounds get in from the field they just want to fall asleep in front of the fire!

My mate who trains greyhounds always says they are lazy sods and will quite happily sit on their @rse most of the day.  But you still need to walk any dog and though I could do that morning and evening I dont think it is fair to leave a dog in a flat all day.  Irritates me that the useless unemployable tw@t living opposite me does have a dog.  One of the advantages of being a useless unemployable tw@t is you can keep a dog cos you have fk all else to do.

I love most dogs, but when I had to live with a boxer for a week, I thought I was in for a week of slobber and high maintenance, it turned out all my fears were miles off - absolutely brilliant dogs, and soft as anything

Has anybody here heard of Mick the Miller or Ballyregan Bob?

always thought poodles were pampered sissy  dogs


however, after 5 mins of research (google) i find they are hardy little shytes who can more than hold there own in the doggie world.


much respect

A badger will cut up any dog, and leave it a quivering wreck.  So I am told.

alsation / doberman / rotty / doberman / chihuahua cross ......would be favourite

A badger will cut up any dog, and leave it a quivering wreck.  So I am told.

badger is borderline dog. so your point is valid.

cheetah is the same size as a large dog so cheetah is my favourite dog

Emden... I am told that a badger will beat any dog, rotty, alsatian, pitbull, anything.  The dog wont get hold of it and a few swipes of their earth digging claw will make them give up if it doesnt kill them.

Rob .  I think you are mixing up badgers (mammals living quietly for centuries, currently under attack) with poodles (hardy little shytes, see Emden post) and dogs

so badgers are our favoutite dogs??

why not? they are cute and cuddly

If you have a dog you are lucky. If we have animals living freely safely in this country we are all lucky. Live and let live.

there's a specific type of terrier bred for killing badgers isn't there?

sure there is, met one once on a walk.

Dachshund.

Ein Dachs is a badger and ein Hund is a dog.

Though the annoying little mutts we call dachshunds in this country are the miniature variety. The standard variety, originally bred to go after badgers, is known as  ein Tekel in Germany (and by a lady I know around here who owns one). It has to be permanently on a lead or else it just dives down every possible burrow.

Breeding is evil. So many beautiful mixed breeds looking for a loving home.

The Girls and the Dogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1PYT2h7QpY

1 Greyhound
2Puggle

Badgers are killers if provoked. They are common in these parts, and woe betide any dog that comes across one and goes in for a closer look. That is why most coursing is done at night, by lamp. You don't want your lurcher bumping into a badger.

I'm watching the second part of the series about dogs on BBC2 at the moment.

It's been about working dogs so far. Very good.

6 dogs abandoned every day I was reading in the local paper, and 70,000 strays on the loose. Shameful.

About 10pm one evening in the middle of last summer I was walking the bitch pictured on page 1 along a lane when a row of three badger cubs came trotting towards us out of the twilight. One saw the dog off the lead and fled, one stood still, but the other carried on trotting towards us.

The dog must have been thrown by this behaviour, because instead of charging in as he she normally does with badgers, she just stood there, tail wagging uncertainly. Finally the badger cub came up to her and the pair sniffed noses for a short while, before the badger realized it was alone and scampered off to join the other pair. The dog just stood there, tail wagging.

It was like something out of a Disney cartoon, a beautiful moment in the twilight.

That was a terrific programme. The dogs driving the cars in New Zealand were brilliant!

Dogs are fantastic creatures. How anyone could prefer a cat to a dog just astounds me.

that's the way it is. but I love dogs too.

screaming from beneaththewaves 26 Sep 13 20:54 
About 10pm one evening in the middle of last summer I was walking the bitch pictured on page 1 along a lane when a row of three badger cubs came trotting towards us out of the twilight. One saw the dog off the lead and fled, one stood still, but the other carried on trotting towards us.

The dog must have been thrown by this behaviour, because instead of charging in as he she normally does with badgers, she just stood there, tail wagging uncertainly. Finally the badger cub came up to her and the pair sniffed noses for a short while, before the badger realized it was alone and scampered off to join the other pair. The dog just stood there, tail wagging.

It was like something out of a Disney cartoon, a beautiful moment in the twilight.

says cat owner Tommy who doesn't have a dog.

ok ok it's not your cat, but you look after it.

Indeed, kenny.
That's cats all over for you though - they see someone who's a bigger mug than who they live with and jump ship!

Dogs are loyal.
You wouldn't get a well cared for dog moving home - like you do with cats.

Nice story Screaming.

My cats are pampered like prize bulls, Tommy as you can imagine. They'd never leave me. The ones that leave usually can't get any peace due to young children running around.

kenny, don't you be so sure. If one of them goes out one day and takes a fancy to living somewhere else, it will.

One of the ones who came to me about 13-14 years ago (Panther) was spoiled rotten and obviously very well looked after.
He trotted across the fences and turned up at the back door here one day and all I did was say "hello" to him.
He took one look at me and ran into the house and wouldn't leave.

My mother carried him back to where he came from later that night (as her brother, who also lived close by at the time, had told her where he was from).
She was invited in and it was obvious the people cared for the cat very much - and he appeared to do so for them.

The next day he was straight back across the fences and in my house. He just wouldn't leave after that, no matter what.

Border collies look pretty intelligent until you see one carrying a 3-foot stick trying to negotiate a 2'6" gateway.

How sttange Tommy, I've never heard of a well cared for cat who has good food, peace and tranquility leaving for no good reason but it obviously does happen. I'll have to follow them when they wander out lol, not that they travel far, and I keep them in at night.

This was also at the time that next door's cat (Thomas) had also decided to move in (as good as).
Thomas didn't like any other cats, ever, and chased Panther all round the house as soon as he saw him, trying to punch his lights out.
Panther didn't retaliate but just kept running until Thomas had had enough.
This went on for months until Thomas gave up and accepted him.

Panther would have had a much quieter life going back to where he lived - but would he? Oh no.

Very funny, Screaming!

I was sharing a terraced house in Brighton years ago where we had a very thin black cat called The Ferret. The back yard was separated from next door by a high wall, but we knew the lady there also had a cat, as we used to hear her each evening calling out "Blackie! Blackie! Come and get your dinner!"

I feel a bit stupid now that it took us several weeks to work out who Blackie was. In the end we discovered he also had a woman a mile away on the Whitehawk estate who he used to pop in to occasionally for lunch.

I was sharing a terraced house in Brighton years ago where we had a very thin black cat called The Ferret. The back yard was separated from next door by a high wall, but we knew the lady there also had a cat, as we used to hear her each evening calling out "Blackie! Blackie! Come and get your dinner!"

I feel a bit stupid now that it took us several weeks to work out who Blackie was. In the end we discovered he also had a woman a mile away on the Whitehawk estate who he used to pop in to occasionally for lunch.

Screaming. You're quite right there!   To be honest, that's the kind of mental exercise that I would recommend any dog owner should do deliberately. If he clatters the gate twice, but then works out to hold one only, you've got a good dog.
If  he's still ramming the gateposts after twenty tries...you've got a bull terrier.

The one who is currently in situ is 15 years old, for goodness sake, and decided to 'leave home' at about 13 and a half!

When he was ill with the trapped fur ball in January and I spoke to various members of the family from where he came about him, they were all extremely nice people.
They still are - but as one of them said: "Cats know where they want to live and there's nothing you can do about it".
Aye, it's muggings here who just happens to fall for it every time though.

I don't think Leo would move home. He's so frightened of other people if they come too close that I'm sure he'll stay put. Susie however would let anyone pick her up.

well I'm sure they're grateful to you Tommy, in their own way.Cleo showed her gratitude in so many ways, She was a wonderful cat, About 3 years now since I lost her.Bless her.

That's nice Tommy. I've never chosen to have a cat. I live too near heavy traffic and I can't relax when they go out. Cleo belonged to a woman whose daughter had moved into the area. The mother had moved into the daughter's house for a week to help her settle in and brought Cleo with her. Cleo appeared on my doorstep one day. I made a bit of a fuss of her and she stayed the night. I thought she was a stray but she had got lost in the area and was re-united with her owner the next day. She had to move into a flat some time later and couldn't take a pet so she asked me to have her. My current two were not looked after by neighbours so I took them in, although not at the same time.

I remember, kenny.
I'm glad they've given you so much pleasure since you've taken them all on.
You're definitely a 'cat person' - so well done to you.

Naydam, I used to have a border collie who would still be ramming that gate to this day if I hadn't taken the stick off her.

Poor old Brandy. Her previous owner used to leave her alone in the house all day, the only entertainment being when someone had to pop in at lunchtime and would switch on the TV for the afternoon to entertain her. As a consequence, by the time I got her, aged 10, she viewed the screen as closely as any telly addict, forever on the lookout for any non-human animal to appear. Horse racing and Roadrunner cartoons were great favourites, but greyhound racing was best of all. The moment the lids opened she'd be off, racing anti-clockwise around the living room until the moment the lure was thrown to the dogs, when she'd hurl herself at the screen.

That's really made me laugh Screaming!

I wish I could post a picture of her, Tommy, but she preceded digital photography (or at least digital photography for my pocket).

Of all the dogs I've had, Brandy was the only one who left me in tears when the time came to put her down, which is odd, as I only had her about 18 months, the last 6 of which she couldn't walk more than a couple of hundred yards before having to lie down. It just felt such a wasted life she'd led.

That's a shame, Screaming. At least you gave her some enjoyment in her life, which she no doubt appreciated - so well done to you.

How can you not be in tears when your dog is put down, with respect?

I know I'm a big softy but even so.

I loved the driving dogs from New Zealand on BBC tonight.

(Wonder if they could sail a boat?)

Kenny, there's nothing I can do about it. I never cried when either of my parents died. I can't force it.

The odd thing is it seems to affect other people more. Because I've never learnt to drive, my dogs tend to accompany me everywhere on foot. Living in small towns or villages as I have done for the last 25 or so years, I suppose I've become a sort of permanent feature of the landscape - the peculiar deaf bloke with the dog(s). So when one gets put down, it results in a small bit of the community life disappearing too.

When I lived near Castle Cary I had a pair of, I suppose, setter crosses called Lady and Gent which I'd got from Heaven's Gate Animal Sanctuary at the ages of 9 and 7. When Gent had a stroke at the age of 16 and I called out the vet in the middle of the night to have the dog put to sleep, it was the vet who was in floods of tears and not me. I just felt sorry for Gent that he was a big clumsy mutt right to the end, soiling the vet's table while he was trying to euthanize him. Lady, by contrast, after also suffering a midnight stroke at the age of 17, had gone out the way she'd always lived her life, with a composed dignity. Weeping and sobbing simply weren't part of the moment.

A very good answer screaming as expected. I envy you. I'm just the opposite. When I lost my cat it was as hard as losing my Mum, daft as that sounds.

Not daft at all, kenny. Not at all.

Poor old Brandy. Her previous owner used to leave her alone in the house all day, the only entertainment being when someone had to pop in at lunchtime and would switch on the TV for the afternoon to entertain her. As a consequence, by the time I got her, aged 10, she viewed the screen as closely as any telly addict, forever on the lookout for any non-human animal to appear. Horse racing and Roadrunner cartoons were great favourites, but greyhound racing was best of all. The moment the lids opened she'd be off, racing anti-clockwise around the living room until the moment the lure was thrown to the dogs, when she'd hurl herself at the screen.

Have found a couple of old photos of her and scanned them. Here she is waiting for Teletext to update the horseracing results:


And relaxing in front of a cartoon:
[   This image is no longer available.   ]

nice photos,screaming.

I have great affection for all breeds of dog but my favouritest of all is the Norwich Terrier ... not to be confused with the Norfolk Terrier, which has less erect - ooh matron - ears.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_Terrier

never heard of them before trilby

Jul 26, 2014 -- 10:45AM, Burton-Brewers wrote:

never heard of them before trilby

Really, BB?  I thought they were well known.

Musta been my wee Trilby made us popular with the folk

This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pWIv_z2pxo is a Norfolk - note the ears.

A far inferior breed to the Norwich - much like how Rangers and Septic Tank are from Glasgow ... and you should know by now where my allegiances lie

scooby doo

Great story and photos of Brandy screaming. Identical to my dog btw.

People who don't exercise their dogs make my blood boil.

Kenny my wife takes our dog over the park every morning for about an hour. Later I'll take her or we both take her out again for a walk along the river bank where she has a few swimming spots.
Both her walks are roughly at the same time and if you're 5 minutes late she lets you know and won't get off our case until we take her.

That's wonderful akabula. I'd have been very surprised if you didn't. Dogs are lovely animals, almost as good as cats.

Jul 26, 2014 -- 7:34PM, kenny mann wrote:

That's wonderful akabula. I'd have been very surprised if you didn't. Dogs are lovely animals, almost as good as cats.

WOOF!

snoopy

The odd thing about Brandy was her complete disregard for the cat which shared her home, as you can see in those photos. Yet when a cat appeared on TV, she would bark, run in circles and snap at the screen.

Purdy, the cat in those pics, came from Heaven's Gate animal sanctuary in Somerset. She had some sort of nervous disorder which left her unable to flex her front legs properly, so when she walked or tried to run, the front paws would come pounding down heavily on the ground. The house I lived in at that time still had the old suspended wooden floor in one of the rooms, so when she moved around, you'd hear deep, loud, Hammer Horror-style footsteps approaching the door, which would slowly creak open to reveal ... a tabby cat.

Ah bless, is she still around and getting out a bit?

open dog thread and it's about facking cats. ffs imo.

Afraid not, kenny. Those pictures were taken about a dozen years ago. She simply got very old and and generally deteriorated to the extent she was one of the few animals which I've had put to sleep before anything disastrous happened to their health, so she never suffered a stroke or organ failure or anything like that.

Now let's get this thread back on topic:

People who don't exercise their dogs make my blood boil.

Absolutely Kenny.

Someone I know said they were taking their dog to training classes to stop it from pulling on the lead.
I said well to start with take it out at least twice a day and let it run off the lead to get rid of its energy.
That's the main reason they pull it's because they're not getting enough exercise and want to get on with it.

If the dog still pulls, you need to seriously work on it when you're walking it back from exercise. Not when you leave the house and they're full of energy and want to get on with it.
You'll find dogs are far more obedient after they've let off a bit of steam.

If you can't let the dog off the lead because it won't come back when you call it, you need to start treating it more like a dog than you have been doing.
It's not the dog that is at fault it's you.