Breed Suggestions Please :)

[parrotpea]

Not a Springer :) The show lines require a fair amount of grooming and the field bred dogs are high drive and need serious work - otherwise they will hunt all day.

Thanks TSD. The reason Springer was an option is that my neighbours have one, from show lines, he is just clipped all over every few months and given the odd bath - he doesn't look fantastic lol, but he is not at all matted, just a bit muddy. He is absolutely gorgeous, and definitely a fairly low drive dog - hangs out with their free range chickens all day. He did go through a phase of wandering - but they sorted that out by giving him some exercise and shutting the gate.

[Greytmate]

She is most definitely not dog aggressive and I resent the inference that I would bring a new dog into my home if it was going to be attacked by my existing dog

She has been shown, and has regular contact with doggy friends, both at my house and at other peoples houses. Has never shown more than a growl in defence of food, she won't share, but she doesn't fight over food that I have ever seen. She normally eats her rabbits within about 3.2 seconds lol so there is no time for sharing.

She does not just have free reign to roam around. She is supervised whilst outside.

As I have already said, whilst supervised, I am happy for her to kill rabbits. They are a pest and an environmental nuisance.

I would appreciate constructive suggestions about how to train her re: rabbit hunting :)

If she growls in defence of food, rather than walk away from it, then she has shown that in certain circumstances she would be food aggressive. That's completely normal, but it does mean that you would need to keep her separated while eating from any other dog you bring home., in case the new dog didn't back down after being growled at, or in case she growled at another dog in order to eat its food.

Nobody brings home a new dog to be attacked by an existing dog, but that doesn't mean that a new dog will never have a fight with an older dog over food. Sometimes a prey animal caught in the yard can lead to problems between dogs.

The most constructive suggestion I could give if you are serious about teaching your dog the difference between rabbits and other prey is not to bother trying. If you were trying to train your dog not to chase any prey, there is help available, and management is the best and easiest way to stop this. Keeping the dog confined to a yard and exercised on lead. But to teach a dog to distinguish between different animals would require you to have close access to a range of animals for training. And that would not be ethical.

There are much better ways to eradicate rabbits from a property than to allow a dog to catch them.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Greytmate

[parrotpea]

She is most definitely not dog aggressive and I resent the inference that I would bring a new dog into my home if it was going to be attacked by my existing dog

She has been shown, and has regular contact with doggy friends, both at my house and at other peoples houses. Has never shown more than a growl in defence of food, she won't share, but she doesn't fight over food that I have ever seen. She normally eats her rabbits within about 3.2 seconds lol so there is no time for sharing.

She does not just have free reign to roam around. She is supervised whilst outside.

As I have already said, whilst supervised, I am happy for her to kill rabbits. They are a pest and an environmental nuisance.

I would appreciate constructive suggestions about how to train her re: rabbit hunting :)

If she growls in defence of food, rather than walk away from it, then she has shown that in certain circumstances she would be food aggressive. That's completely normal, but it does mean that you would need to keep her separated while eating from any other dog you bring home., in case the new dog didn't back down after being growled at, or in case she growled at another dog in order to eat its food.

Nobody brings home a new dog to be attacked by an existing dog, but that doesn't mean that a new dog will never have a fight with an older dog over food. Sometimes a prey animal caught in the yard can lead to problems between dogs.

The most constructive suggestion I could give if you are serious about teaching your dog the difference between rabbits and other prey is not to bother trying. If you were trying to train your dog not to chase any prey, there is help available, and management is the best and easiest way to stop this. Keeping the dog confined to a yard and exercised on lead. But to teach a dog to distinguish between different animals would require you to have close access to a range of animals for training. And that would not be ethical.

There are much better ways to eradicate rabbits from a property than to allow a dog to catch them.

Thanks for the clarification GM. Every time I have seen another dog growl, she does back away, and shows her belly. It is just that her two closest doggy friends submit to her that she tells them what the deal is and knows she can get away with it. And she is completely responsive to me around food, I can take anything from her, get her to leave it - unless she is in full prey drive, then it is about 50/50.

I am not trying to have her eradicate rabbits from my property, I have a range of rabbit control methods in use.

So in regards to your management strategy, in order to 'exercise' her prey drive, I need to work on getting her to chase a ball - which she is completely hopeless at!

[Alyosha]

Would a Tibetan Spaniel be a possibility? Would be happy and playful but pretty low drive so not too likely to join in any chasey games. Or an American Cocker? Would need regular clipping, but I think they're lower drive than some other spaniels?

[parrotpea]

great suggestion - tibetan spaniels look gorgeous :) Not a fan of cocker spaniels, but tibetan spaniel is definitely going on the list :)

[helen]

Hi If you are considering a Brittany the dog would need to be fenced in or it will go hunting/wondering.

[Jetpoint GSP]

Springers and Brittany's are gundogs, they need lots of training, 'jobs' to do and definitely have prey drive. That's what they're meant to do. If you don't then they will take themselves hunting if not fenced in properly and like most gundogs, if not trained and given daily attention they get destructive fairly quickly...

[Tibbie_tabbie]

Tibetan Spaniel wise - grooming is needed often, no cutting but brushing. Tibs in multi dog households get knots and matts behind their ears from playing which have to be dealt with ASAP or you end up with a clump.

Also they do lose their undercoat so expect tibbie tumbleweed!

My tib plays and keeps up with my JRT :)

[mita]

great suggestion - tibetan spaniels look gorgeous :) Not a fan of cocker spaniels, but tibetan spaniel is definitely going on the list :)

There's good information on Tibbies on Tibbie Net, which is maintained and contributed to by registered breeders in America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. General info about tibbies as pets here:

http://www.tibbies.net/faq.html

On the same site, there's a page setting out why the tibbie might not be a match for someone.

Tibs have a very unusual nature, very unlike the border collies & shelties we've owned previously. Imagine a dog that's 1/3 like a cat, 1/3 like a dog and 1/3 like a monkey...& you have it! I've had to deal with our tibbie pets in a totally different way.

There's a Tibetan Spaniel Association of Victoria where they're very happy to provide more information.

http://www.tsavaustralia.com/

Best wishes finding whatever breed suits you and your situation.

Edited October 2, 2012 by mita