Decisions, decisions (dogs)...

JustAThought

Here's a bit of a new throught to the thread ; I love both Irish Wolfhounds and Great Danes but didn't do my research as properlY as i had thought when I was choosing a dog. I assumed they both needed lots if exercise and so bypassed them both ; whereas in face neither require more than about 20 mins of exercise at a time.
If when you progress from being a student you will be out working all day this factor might become important !!!! Both beautiful breeds; there is an Irish Wolfhound rescue society out there who could probably advise & guide you ; or you could go the IKC breeders route for either breed. I now know 4 people with Great Danes & they all say the same thing about them being big snooze head loungers & big diffuse with great personalities. And they (GD) are short haired!!!( bonus!!) Irish Wolfhounds are lovely natured, very trainable & also a geougous dog.
Worth a thought!!

TehDagsBass

I'd absolutely love a great Dane but to be honest, I think my 3bed semi with a regular back garden might be too small for it. It would certainly gets its exercise, but in terms of hanging around and when it's by itself, I think it would be cramped in the space I have.

SillyMangoX

I hear danes are fantastic at making themselves small
Found this image online - how cute

TehDagsBass

The "if it fits, I sits" meme comes to mind

JustAThought

!! She's right!! Once they have a small walk ( 20 or 30 mins a day) you're free and with regards the house all they need is a couch or dog bed to lounge on and you're good !!! If you get a Lab or GR it's a LOT of extra walking.if you already love the breed give it some thought!!! When you re working & maybe having to do a long commute & arnt available as much it might be the better decision for you ( & the dog!!) and, of course, they're fabulous : )
Sure: best of luck with it!!!
I met a lady in the park one day who when she saw my dog started shouting at
Me " that's my dog" ; "no it's not" I replied; "it is " she said " I wanted one of them
And everyone told me not to get one and now I have this stupid pommeranian"
( sorry pom owners!)
Moral of the story ; get the dog you want; not the dog others think you should have!!

TehDagsBass

I'm definitely not concerned about the exercise requirements of a dog, I'm quite prepared to give it 45mins-1 hour in the morning and another 45mins - 1hour15mins in the evening, if that's what it requires.

I do really like great danes for a number of reasons, I just read a lot of very conflicting information regarding them. About 50% of the information I read about them says they're grand to have in an apartment, just make sure it gets its exercise in the morning and evening. Others say they need a good yard to run around in.

Thankfully I've the benefit of a decent sized house and a normal Dublin garden (600sq foot) which should be ideal for a dog of the size of a lab/golden.

I'm going to email some the dane club and see what their thoughts are. I'm 100% open to the breed and it was one of the first I had shortlisted to be honest, if someone in the know confirmed that I've adequate space for it then I'd certainly seek a pup if there was one available when I'll be looking to get one in about 6 weeks time.

Whispered

TehDagsBass wrote: »

if there was one available when I'll be looking to get one in about 6 weeks time.

OP, sounds like you can offer a great home.

I just wanted to comment on the above - if you're going to a breeder to buy a dog you'll find it difficult to get a good breeder with pups on 6 weeks notice as most (all?) good breeders have potential owners picked before the bitch and dog ever get together.

TehDagsBass

Whispered wrote: »

OP, sounds like you can offer a great home.

I just wanted to comment on the above - if you're going to a breeder to buy a dog you'll find it difficult to get a good breeder with pups on 6 weeks notice as most (all?) good breeders have potential owners picked before the bitch and dog ever get together.

Cheers

Well, I'll drop them an email in the morning so and see what's happening I've been in contact with a few breed breeder through the IKC and for labs/goldens, availability from good breeders certainly isn't a problem. In fact, most of the socs will just tell you who has a litter available, as opposed to who has one upcoming, or so has been the trend anyway.

Whispered

Ah no I do understand that there will be pups available, but you'd be lucky to find a really good breeder with readily available pups. The IKC registers breeders, but is not actually an indication that they are a good breeder. I was very surprised at this when I learned it, a friend, one of the very few breeders I'd recommend, actually thinks that at times the IKC encourages badly bred dogs because people see that the pups have papers are registered and assume that they are very well bred dogs. It's a great place to start when looking for a dog, but there are other things to consider.

Here are a couple of posts about breeders from people who would know more than I about breeders.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=71663473&postcount=20

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=72651904&postcount=29

All this talk about a puppy is making me puppy broody - you'll probably have me looking for one myself soon.

JustAThought

Oooh: Let's hope we don't go down the usual suspects well worn road of all the shouting about breeders & " real" breeders. When I was buying mine from an IKC registered breeder he wanted three thousand for the pup; I was put under all kinds of pressure by the breeder to buy ; & the recommendations from the breed club were also very strongly to buy from him; later turned out the breed club was run by his wife under her maiden name!!! Buyer beware!!!
I bought mine from an IKC breeder ( not the 3K one!) & have a fabulous champion winning registered IKC dog ; happy days; just mind; it is a professional selling & breeding club & there are lots of underlying agendas ; thou they do some great work...
You are right; I see from the Tuesday iKC meetings in Cloughran near Dublin airport that lots of breeders have beautiful dogs unsold at far less than normal prices; which if you meet & speak to them directly & discreetly; you can quietly negotiate.
You might find it of use to go up to Cloughran on a Tuesday night & see if you can meet anyone informally who might be able to introduce you. Or suggest someone to talk to.
With regard to your garden my neighbour a few doors up has a GD; their garden is aprox 35 foot wide X 40 foot long & it seems wellhappy there. ( no barking & it trots about every now& then checking out the pigeons!) he's justbought his second GD ; his first lived happily there for over 6 years; again; no barking or neighbour issues.
My dog-minder has a boxer and a georgous GReat Dane; I'm in & out of there a lot : again her private garden is not huge( thou her kennels are extensive ) and she lives in a cottage!!! Her GD lounges in a sunbed all day it seems & is a DOTE!!! You might find it helpful to give her a call & maybe ask her impressions;or ask if you could call out with a btl of wine and ask her a few q's!! She certainly has a lit if different digs staying at her kennels at different times & might be well positioned to give her view on the different energy levels & comparisons she has noticed. She might also be able to give you the contact for her IKC registered GD breeder who you could also adk questions to.
(I'd be nice & call her up after lunchtime /feeding time & explain & ask or better still ting & ask to call out for 10 mins to talk)!
I'll see if I can figure out how to pm her phone details ; I'm not sure I !!!k ow how ; but otherwise you could google Hilton 5 star dog daycare; her name is Jennifer

Either way I'm very excited for you getting a new dog : )
Whatever you decide do let us know & remember to post a pic !!!

JustAThought

PS
Just for the record Im not a GD breeder nor do I have anything to do with them other that loving them & thinking they are just fabulous!!!

TehDagsBass

Whispered wrote: »

Ah no I do understand that there will be pups available, but you'd be lucky to find a really good breeder with readily available pups. The IKC registers breeders, but is not actually an indication that they are a good breeder. I was very surprised at this when I learned it, a friend, one of the very few breeders I'd recommend, actually thinks that at times the IKC encourages badly bred dogs because people see that the pups have papers are registered and assume that they are very well bred dogs. It's a great place to start when looking for a dog, but there are other things to consider.

Here are a couple of posts about breeders from people who would know more than I about breeders.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=71663473&postcount=20

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=72651904&postcount=29

All this talk about a puppy is making me puppy broody - you'll probably have me looking for one myself soon.

Thanks Whispered. Definitely aware of the pitfalls of the IKC, sure almost everything on DD is "IKC registered" these days and I've absolutely no doubt that they are genuinely registered animals also. The complete lack of standards or enforcement from the KC mean that the registration is good for tracing the lineage and not too much else.

I'd be mainly concerned about the breeder proving that the sire and dam have been screened for the breed's health issues and hip/eye/etc scored before breeding and that the pups have been thoroughly vet checked when they were born, as opposed to merely trusting registration papers. Although, knowing the dog wasn't line bred would certainly be a good start!

The lab/gr clubs seem to have a steady stream of litters available, the health results of which have been sent to and examined by the clubs secretary. Obviously it's not fool proof but not a bad start

With regards to getting a pup for yourself, gooo for it

JustAThought wrote: »

Oooh: Let's hope we don't go down the usual suspects well worn road of all the shouting about breeders & " real" breeders. When I was buying mine from an IKC registered breeder he wanted three thousand for the pup; I was put under all kinds of pressure by the breeder to buy ; & the recommendations from the breed club were also very strongly to buy from him; later turned out the breed club was run by his wife under her maiden name!!! Buyer beware!!!
I bought mine from an IKC breeder ( not the 3K one!) & have a fabulous champion winning registered IKC dog ; happy days; just mind; it is a professional selling & breeding club & there are lots of underlying agendas ; thou they do some great work...
You are right; I see from the Tuesday iKC meetings in Cloughran near Dublin airport that lots of breeders have beautiful dogs unsold at far less than normal prices; which if you meet & speak to them directly & discreetly; you can quietly negotiate.
You might find it of use to go up to Cloughran on a Tuesday night & see if you can meet anyone informally who might be able to introduce you. Or suggest someone to talk to.
With regard to your garden my neighbour a few doors up has a GD; their garden is aprox 35 foot wide X 40 foot long & it seems wellhappy there. ( no barking & it trots about every now& then checking out the pigeons!) he's justbought his second GD ; his first lived happily there for over 6 years; again; no barking or neighbour issues.
My dog-minder has a boxer and a georgous GReat Dane; I'm in & out of there a lot : again her private garden is not huge( thou her kennels are extensive ) and she lives in a cottage!!! Her GD lounges in a sunbed all day it seems & is a DOTE!!! You might find it helpful to give her a call & maybe ask her impressions;or ask if you could call out with a btl of wine and ask her a few q's!! She certainly has a lit if different digs staying at her kennels at different times & might be well positioned to give her view on the different energy levels & comparisons she has noticed. She might also be able to give you the contact for her IKC registered GD breeder who you could also adk questions to.
(I'd be nice & call her up after lunchtime /feeding time & explain & ask or better still ting & ask to call out for 10 mins to talk)!
I'll see if I can figure out how to pm her phone details ; I'm not sure I !!!k ow how ; but otherwise you could google Hilton 5 star dog daycare; her name is Jennifer

Either way I'm very excited for you getting a new dog : )
Whatever you decide do let us know & remember to post a pic !!!

Thanks a lot for all the input JustAThought and particularly for the message, it's very thoughtful of you. One of the things I'm worried about is the cost of a GD pup as I'm kind of on a budget of €600-€800(max) for the dog as I'm budgeting for insurance/bedding/classes/toys/etc to ensure it gets set up for a lovely, high standard of living right from the get go.

Would you have any idea how much a GD pup would cost from your experience?

Cherry Blossom

JustAThought wrote: »

Oooh: Let's hope we don't go down the usual suspects well worn road of all the shouting about breeders & " real" breeders.

You've been warned about this attitude towards members of the forum at large enough times now. You can have a week long ban this time for your trouble.

TehDagsBass

Guys, thanks again for all the information. Unfortunately, it is time for this bird to fly, as a run in with one of the more intellectually challenged moderators here has meant this account shall surely be closed.

Cheers again and best of luck to all.

star-pants

TehDagsBass wrote: »

Guys, thanks again for all the information. Unfortunately, it is time for this bird to fly, as a run in with one of the more intellectually challenged moderators here has meant this account shall surely be closed.

Cheers again and best of luck to all.

Don't know what Mod on Boards you're referring to, but I'd have thought you'd be adult enough to deal with it or go higher if you'd an issue with someone rather than post a dig & hide behind a closed account.

Will close this thread as you've closed your account.