jesse_083

It has been one of the first questions we have asked all the gun dog people. They have all said that its about good training and socialisation and is easy enough to make work. The groups of people we spoke to at the vizsla and retrieval displays assured me they have a 'soft' mouth, so catch but not harm or kill. Buffy will be in a large cage on a stand, so the base of her cage would be at a grown dogs eye level. Adult dog will be outside while we are not home, so they will be fully supervised when inside together. We definitely do not want vet bills for an injured bird or dog!!! Buffy is like a 2yr old - into everything and must be constantly supervised. She is not free range unless we are home and able to supervise fully. She even had a go at the gyprock once! My brother has perviously had puppies through the guide dog association so she has had exposure and been fine - no flapping about or panicking. They were also easy enough to train, she was over there a number of times too. ( we lived in country nsw for a while, she had a travel cage to come with us to syd. She was fantastic in the car too). Sorry for the chunkiness/poorly written reply, buffy is 'helping' me type :)

Thanks guys. Funnily enough we were wandering the dogs on show isles and saw and chatted to a guy with a beautiful rottie. I think they are an awesome sounding dog, ian is after a dog that is a bit leaner. They are a lot bigger in real life than i thought!! The one we saw was only 6 months old and apparently still had lots of growing/filling out to do. He was beautiful though! We also spent a fair bit of time talking to the people at the vizsla tent and the retrieving display (plus many others). Chatting to owners and gun dog enthusiasts. Ian is definitly sold on a vizsla or GSP. Espicially after talking to the vizsla people. He loved the size/coat type/exercise levels ect. We def know we can make it work so now just researching breeders..... Big thanks to monELite and haredown whippets. It was great to meet you (and your beautiful dogs) at dogs on show!!!

Thanks everyone! Ian read the review on the yourpurebredpuppy.com site. Between that and the advice here we're going to go back to the drawing board. He's currently looking through that site for a different possible breed to join our family! Lots of the advice you have all provided will also be taken into consideration as we research too. We've waited for over 8yrs to decide we're 'ready' for a dog, so more time researching will definitely be worth it! Monelite - thanks for the offer! I am very keen to go on sat, just need to see how my day goes..... Thanks again everyone, we appreciate you taking the time to answer!!

WeimMe I have shared this thread with my husband so he knows what we are in for. There are a few places near us that will offer obedience classes (obviously training is not a once a week activity!) so we can all learn correctly from the start. We discussed checking out agility too.I've read the info on exercise before 12-18months, but figure we need to plan for the 90% of a dogs life when it will have high exercise needs. TBH I have not even looked into kennels for when we go away, we have enough family nearby (who already look after my bird when needed) who will also look after a dog for us too. We live in the midish mountains so it tends to be warmer here than Richmond and katoomba. We are only planning on leaving our dog outside while we are at work, otherwise it's inside with us (including sleeping). Plus if I'd buy a coat for myself because it's cold, why not our pets too! Buffy has never slept outside since I've had her (over 10yrs) if I leave her out after dark she certainly lets us know about it!! The only thing that concerns us (after reading all the feedback) is the bark/howling factor but now that we know, it's something we'd def discuss with any breeders we chat to. Weimaraners (and heaps of other breeds we have looked at) need the mental and physical exercise, if we are willing to provide that then hopefully the potential for noise will be lessened. Dave73 I've read up on ridgebacks and I know this will sound silly (esp as I am asking about weims) but they sound like too much dog for us. I've trawled the breed101 forums and other sites and there are some dogs that I've thought yep they sound awesome and will fit in well into our family and others where I've gone oh they sound lovely but just don't seem like what we are looking for. If that makes sense?

Weibritty he is beautiful! The more I see of them the more I think I'm definitely more partial to the long hairs! Unfortunately Ian sees the longer hair and thinks there's just too much fur. I'll convert him hopefully. :)

Thanks everyone! Haredown whippets, that link was excellent! I'd read through the 101 and parts of the breed sub forum thread but that link really laid it all out for me. Scottsmum, we both think they are just beautiful dogs and seemed on paper to be a possible good fit for us. What I really needed was just some reassurance we can meet a puppy/dogs needs. Not just friends/family saying yeah get one and who are mostly just wanting to live vicariously through us as they don't have a doggy companion :) To those that asked (sorry I find it hard to quote on the iPad) the list for what we can offer/have time for was sort of a bare minimum list of what we can offer. On weekends there is a lovely spot on the water 15min from my place, our dog would come to family dinners, camping, plus more. so our dog would be out and about with us where possible. We are very committed to ongoing training as I can't think of anything worst than a med/large dog with poor manners! We are looking at more a med to large dog. My biggest concern was that we would be getting in over our heads just getting a dog. None of the responses here were 'nope don't even look at getting any sort of dog, your current lifestyle doesn't seem to suit'. We are also looking at going to the show on sat14th too. I'll try to chat to some competitors and go from there. I'm glad I asked here, thanks everyone for taking the time to provide us with plenty of food for thought! Edit to add: I didn't include info on kennel/bedding, coats in winter, toys ect as I figured they were a given. Buffy (bird) has toys on a rotating basis, outdoor cage, indoor cage, indoor stand with food bowls, my shoulder.... So getting all the associated 'stuff' for a dog is a given for us!

Hi, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. My husband and I have decided we are ready to expand our family. He thinks a Weimaraner will suit us. I'm not so sure, hence the post. I don't really want to waste a breeders time if they aren't going to be the correct fit for us of that makes sense. Getting a dog is something we have been talking about for years so while I've done a lot of research, I still don't really feel confident choosing a breed. we are only just now deciding we are ready for the life time commitment of dog ownership. So this isn't a rash decision, we've literally been talking about adding a dog to our family for years! A bit about us: We own our home, it's on a large block We already have a bird, a galah. She is primarily an inside bird (is put in her outside cage on weekends when we are home only). Live in the blue mountains, west of Sydney Are fairly active - I alternate between walking and riding my mountain bike, my husband rides his bike about 5 days a week Are away for work between 7 and 4 usually, 5 days a week. We don't have a lot of recent dog experience. We had a guide dog puppy about 13 yrs ago when I was a teenager and my husband had a German Shepard cross (family dog). What we can offer Daily exercise either a brisk walk for an hour or out with the bikes Regular grooming - we'd prefer short hair though Inside while we are home, outside while we are at work (with access to large covered deck and enclosed under house area) Weekly attendance at local obedience club plus training at home After reading about crate training it's def something we'd look at doing too So my question is do you think a Weimaraner is for us? If not, can you suggest a suitable breed for us please. Thanks!