The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: escapedtothecountry on November 02, 2012, 12:30:29 am
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Any thoughts? We are seriously considering getting a puppy at some point? I wondered if anyone had experience of them?
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i have one, she is a delight!
she is very cheeky, and strong willed, i knew this of the breed before i got her, and was prepared for it. she needed consistant training as a pup, would look like she had the gist of what i was after, then go do her own thing anyway. she is 18 months now, and great.
just remember that terriers are natural hunters. twice she has had one of my hens, not injured, but carried.
for a lot of her puppy period i dint let her outside unsupervised until i was sure i had impressed upon her that my hens were not her toys! now she goes out with the other dogs and behaves herself fine.
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They are proper terriers, never give up and never give in!
Ours is an excellent ratter but is selectively deaf - good recall within sight but will wander - slowly, not running away, just wander and has got lost as a result.
NB dont believe those who say that small dogs cant have hip dysplasia - ours did and badly! Thankfully with hydrotherapy and MSM/gluc she recovered and has been sound ever since initial diagnosis at 6 months (it was that bad it came up that early) and she is 9 now,
She is very good natured and tolerates our Doberman but not the vacuum :-DDDD
She has once or twice nipped, but only when wound up to a state of utter overload of excitement.
Basically I would say they are an ideal family dog for older children and adults but they are very greedy so I wouldnt automatically trust them with tinies who might be trailing cake or sandwiches in their fingers (Taggie has been known to go through rucksacks on football touchlines - very embarrassing).
I love them because they are small but 'proper' dogs (and the ratting obsession can be useful!)
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Out vet has one - he says lots of vets have them because they never see them in the surgery.
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I've got one - he is great.
I've never liked little dogs, but somehow he doesn't feel like one - must be all that personality! Caught his first rat at under 12 months, but he is just as happy catching a shrew or butterfly!
He needs lots of exercise & would consume his own weight in food if allowed!
Got him at 8 weeks, he's about 18 months now. Get's one very well with all other dogs, but is definitely the boss over the lab. Never had a problem with our chickens, ducks, sheep etc, but I spent a lot of time with him from day 1, loose with all the animals showing him what was expected.
Loves to hunt so you need to get a good recall instilled. Tecwyn will come running at my whistle even from 2 fields away & I can call him off mid chase, but it has taken time & effort to get there. I haven't taught him anything else apart from leave it, but he is very trainable.
After talking to the breeder at length we purposely picked a more submissive pup as this is my first terrier. It has worked for us, so far.
He is the most loyal little chap & wants to stick by my side, even more so that the lab. Highly recommend, for the right home.
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i have 2 mother & son being terriers they need training from the onset i can tell them to stay leave a door open and they will be waiting just as i left them on my return, they have a good recall but do love me time wondering off doing their own thing until we call them back. as for livestock they have to be trained whats what we put both in with a vicious cock bird as pups he soon saw them off and thats what they now preffer a void between them and the chickens. they come everywhere with us inc all the shows we do throughout the year they dont like the crowds so they stay at camp during the day and have athe empty showground to walk around at night.
the most loyal dogs we have ever had
they are ok with some other dogs but not all after a border collie had a go at them flipping the bitch in the air so we do have to watch out for the signs they are not happy with oncoming dogs.
the best baby sitters too
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I've had terriers all my life (JRT, patterdales, borders, lakelands....) and have had 5 borders, currently i've got two. i agree with everything thats been said by others, they are a very tenacious breed, great little hunters.
They do have a tendency to go "deaf" especially when on a scent so recall can be an issue. its taken an awful lot of training to overcome this one. Training is key with a border
Weight can be an issue, seen far too many fat borders in my life, they do need a lot of exercise.
One major word of caution - borders seem to be overly popular at the moment so there are an awful lot of unscrupulous breeder cashing in :rant: :rant: its leading to issues such as hip dysplasia (I share your pain laclanandmarcus)and there are an increasing number in rescue homes. find the right breeder if you do want a puppy :)
i'm definitely a terrier man and I wouldn't be without one.
Jon
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I have one and I love her to bits, she is as the above posts say and more. Her name is ruby, the only problem she has is she buggers off on walks and I don't see her for ages, off chasing rabbits, all you can hear is her yapping.
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Great little characters :thumbsup:
Get two though, you'll have far more than twice the fun with them :)
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Get two though, you'll have far more than twice the fun with them :)
Two is definitely double trouble :excited: - but don't have siblings...great advice from Mr Border Terrier himself.
Most reputable breeders wouldn't sell to you two puppies because of the problems of 2 the same age, most knowing you intended getting another so close in age would advise against it or not sell you any. a month apart in puppies is a huge difference but as they grow it becomes almost like siblings and brings all the same problems. One will dominate and if the other does not bow to it then they will begin fighting, once they do one will have to be rehomed. The fights can be very violent .Training two is also very hard .they bond to each other and ignore the owner because all they do is play and rough house together all the time.
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Years ago I used to work in boarding kennels (prior to my life as a nurse and smallholder and mum!!)
I fell totally in love with Border Terriers there. I don't 'do' small dogs but those little characters found their way into my heart big time - if we didn't have huge great fox dens/badger setts here, I'd be opting for a border terrier in the years to come!!
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Lovely dogs, can be hard work so not for the beginner dog keeper. Hmmm. Watch your garden, they are little hunters and will be into everything ( all those lovely flower beds :o ). Generally nice natured with people and get very few inherited health problems.
Not advisable to get two pups together. They need individual human attention to learn important people socialising skills . Very difficult to achieve when they have each others attention.
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Ok, seems it's different with terriers, perhaps because of their stubbornness?
I got two rescue pups together, at 8 weeks, Labrador crosses, and never had a minute's bother either training them, socialising with them or them with each other. They were responsive to me and everything. But they enjoyed each other's company so much and were so funny playing together, I vowed I'd never have one dog on its own again.
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I can cope with one digging away all my flower beds if they also have fun getting the rabbits who do more damage. I loved the - would eat their own body weight in food if allowed.... as it sounds rather like me.
Now to find a puppy in the Lincolnshire area.....
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i can give you details of a breeder in cambridgeshire if thats not too far away
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Our local farrier has a border terrier cross who is a fantastic little dog. I never thought I could be tempted away from JRTs but he has made me think again.
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heres proof that Borders can be sociable - but will always be top dog and hold their own.....Monty and Taggie (shortly before haircut) asleep....
(http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o405/lachlanandmarcus/P1010771.jpg)
and fun in the snow!
(http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o405/lachlanandmarcus/montyandtaggieinthesnow011.jpg)
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I nearly got a border but two things put me off;
Firstly they are no longer really bred to work so, I see a lot about that I would consider too big or a poor shape and you you don't know if they will work if their parents haven't been worked.
Secondly, they are now a kennel club 'breed' so of course pedigree breeders are selling them and therefore want an arm and a leg for them.
I really do like them, but I ended up getting a Patterdale instead, and I am glad of my choice for the following reasons: Working strain of dog, isn't too big and catches rats like nobodys busniness, wide genepool, as they are bred on working merit and it makes little odds to the breeder if he puts a border x pat to a pat or one that clearly has a lot of JRT in it etc. This also means you get lots of interesting coulors etc (mine is almost all black, but had a littermate that was clearly a borderesque throwout, who was also loveley). Final reason was I couldn't find a border for less than £400 and my pat cost me £150. Pattedales aint everyones cup of tea, but I like mine and I'm glad I bought him.
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I know what you mean Steve. Ours is from working lines. He's tiny compared to others I have seen, but don't let that fool you, he's as hard as nails & loves the hunt & kill. He was reasonably priced at £200 & worth every penny.
Couple of points I forgot to mention earlier:
It is almost impossible to contain him. He fit through or under every gate, even between gate & post where the hinges are. He jumps on top of the stone walls & squeezes through the square holes in the stock fencing.
He is very persistent. He will follow orders, but will then try the same thing over & over again.
If he hears something in a wall or under a board for example he will sit there & wait for his prey for hours on end - bless him.
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I used to be up on these things and knew of a few lines of working border, glad you got one.
Patterdales can be mental, but mine isn't (unless you are a small, furry thing), and I know people who wouldnt have one, but mine is great with nippers compared to the JRT I used to have and will put up with any ammount of crap from them...just woe betide you if you happen to be a small mammal, bird etc...
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I nearly got a border but two things put me off;
Firstly they are no longer really bred to work so, I see a lot about that I would consider too big or a poor shape and you you don't know if they will work if their parents haven't been worked.
Secondly, they are now a kennel club 'breed' so of course pedigree breeders are selling them and therefore want an arm and a leg for them.
I really do like them, but I ended up getting a Patterdale instead, and I am glad of my choice for the following reasons: Working strain of dog, isn't too big and catches rats like nobodys busniness, wide genepool, as they are bred on working merit and it makes little odds to the breeder if he puts a border x pat to a pat or one that clearly has a lot of JRT in it etc. This also means you get lots of interesting coulors etc (mine is almost all black, but had a littermate that was clearly a borderesque throwout, who was also loveley). Final reason was I couldn't find a border for less than £400 and my pat cost me £150. Pattedales aint everyones cup of tea, but I like mine and I'm glad I bought him.
our bitch comes from working stock she is very small our dog (her son) is much bigger his sire was a show border out of her litter she had 2 working size and 2 show size they will both hunt we paid £450 for the bitch we had to travel to get her as we wanted a working strain (the breeder had 17 that he worked). i would not be without either of them, they are like shadows.
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Worked below ground or above?
see, I don't know If I could £450 'want' a dog, but thats just me.. ;D
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he works both above and below ground with his terriers (he also breeds JRT's and x's the 2) as well as labs for his shoots and runs/ran courses for terriers & shooting pretty much all country sports with dogs.
:innocent:other than our JRT the border was the cheapest dog i have brought ( isold 3 out of her pups for £400 each )
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Most dogs have gone up in cost, even mongrels that fetch sometimes more than a pedigree, look at labradoodles which cost 8-900 pounds. I paid £350 for my border but that was 6 years ago.
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I admit, my Patt is now 6, but I just bought a perfectly servicable collie dog for £250....
I reckon before I paid that again, Id rescue a dog, the kinds of dogs I like seem to be the kinds that end up in rescue places..I want a lurcher, but we have no room, pref a bedlington x whippet......
So many rabbits on my ground....
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We have one and he's the best dog. I'm interested to read how other people find their borders. Our dog will come when he is called 99% of the time, but he can be selectively deaf if there's something more interesting that's distracting him.
He's also greedy and seemingly will try and eat anything, so he has to be watched on walks. And he'll sit by an outbuilding for hours if he hears a rustle underneath it. He's a true terrier. He wasn't interested in the sheep as a young dog, but one day something clicked in his mind and he realised they were interesting after all. As he's not an aggressive dog he would probably just like to run around with them, but obviously he's no longer let anywhere near them.
But if these are faults, they're nothing to his wonderful qualities. He's great around people, especially children and children he doesn't know who want to pat him in the street, he's no problem with other dogs, and he's an affectionate character. I wouldn't be without him.
Wendy@blueborage
blueborage.blogspot.com