Performance dogs

[ShrekDawg]

And friendly with other dogs and other animals (have another dog, a cat, and 7 chickens) and preferably strangers and kids or at least non aggressive and backs off when told/doesn't react at all if told

 

[townchicks]

I really think a golden is your dog! They can have hip dysplasia, and they are really prone to allergies, and, unfortunately, cancer. They shed insanely.They are worth it, IMO. There are bad temperaments, just like with every breed, but the vast majority are wonderful and soooo trainable. They won't be super fast on the agility course, but fast enough to stay under time. Obedience and rally are no brainers for them. Nosework is something any dog can do, as is barn hunt. You are right, rally is primarily variations of heeling, from both sides, with sits and downs thrown in. I like it better than regular obedience because you can talk to the dog and give him verbal feedback. I did rally classes with my old McNab after he had to retire from agility, just to keep him busy.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I really think a golden is your dog! They can have hip dysplasia, and they are really prone to allergies, and, unfortunately, cancer. They shed insanely.They are worth it, IMO. There are bad temperaments, just like with every breed, but the vast majority are wonderful and soooo trainable. They won't be super fast on the agility course, but fast enough to stay under time. Obedience and rally are no brainers for them. Nosework is something any dog can do, as is barn hunt. You are right, rally is primarily variations of heeling, from both sides, with sits and downs thrown in. I like it better than regular obedience because you can talk to the dog and give him verbal feedback. I did rally classes with my old McNab after he had to retire from agility, just to keep him busy.

Yeah, they really are just such sweet dogs! And the nice thing is my parents would be really on board with it too, which they aren't really as much with other breeds. Although my dad is really concerned about ear infections. He kind of doesn't want one for that reason. The cancer thing is sad and hip dysplasia too but hopefully by looking for a breeder with longevity in the lines and one that health tests, it can help reduce those risks. I'm glad they should be able to do all that stuff though. I don't mind if they're not the fastest dog on the course Rally does seem less stuffy lol

 

[ShrekDawg]

Might start nosework with Libby soon, FSIL thinks it sounds like a great idea for her, especially since it said it was a good sport for high energy, highly intelligent dogs that need an outlet which she is, and was going to look into classes but idk if she has yet. Might try agility too. And I am thinking when the dogs are older I might ask her if I can try skijoring with one or both of them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I want to try to bring back this thread. I just went to an agility trial last weekend and loved it. Actually went two days in a row haha went Friday with my friend and her mom and then went again Saturday with my own mom. My friends want to start doing agility with their dogs. They have two Goldens, one of whom is really calm and sweet and typical Golden temperament, and one of whom, although very sweet and loving, is a bit hyper and crazy and super super smart so they think agility would be a good outlet for her haha so they are going to get one of the cheap starter kit things for the backyard, just like some jumps, a weave, a tunnel, and possibly take a class or two just to learn how to train it and stuff. And I am thinking I may take one of my brother’s dogs over to practice or ask them if I can take a class with them. One of them is super super fast and I think would excel at it. I never updated here but they adopted a second dog in September and he is awesome. So sweet and gentle and obedient. But he is also super fast and tears around the yard. Libby can’t keep up haha I think he would be amazing at it. Libby has really mellowed out a lot now that she is older. I still think she might enjoy it and she is super smart and would probably learn it faster as well as focus better, the other pup is a bit ADD sometimes lol, but I think the other one would be great at it. He is Pyrenees/Lab/Chow/herding breed according to the DNA test, Pyrenees/Collie according to the rescue, but we kind of think he’s Pyrenees/Golden/Aussie rather than chow or even Lab ha he has that super sweet Golden temperament. But who knows lol all I know is when he gets the zoomies, he is like LIGHTNING lol he would probably excel.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh and also most of you probably saw but we also unfortunately had to put Gator down in December so there’s really no breed limits now since I am not worried about a little dog getting crushed or needing to get along with/live with other dogs now. Although that said, we do have a lot of dog friends I’d want it to play with and hike with but if it didn’t get along with them or want to that’s fine. I’m actually considering a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel now too since I’ve heard they have a very Golden like temperament but they’re a lot smaller and could go with me if I ever moved. Considering Papillon or Havanese too. And of course still strongly thinking about a Golden. I actually found this one today. Do you think she’d be a good option?? She sounds like a great dog.

https://erie.craigslist.org/pet/d/north-east-rehoming-golden-retriever/6915718966.html

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thoughts on this little guy for agility?

https://erie.craigslist.org/pet/d/erie-rat-terrier/6914318781.html

 

[townchicks]

If you seriously want to compete in agility, you need to know, you can't just "take a few classes" and then practice on the cheap "agility kits" . it can take a year or more to get a dog competition ready, and you need to practice a lot, on good equipment. It is a very fun and rewarding (and addictive) sport, and I encourage you to try it, but it ain't cheap.You will need multiple sessions (5 to 6 weeks) at $150 to 200 per session. You can make some equipment from PVC/wood, but some folks are not handy and good stuff isn't cheap. Any breed can do agility, get a dog you want as a pet and then train it. High drive dogs like border collies are not necessarily good pets, and are not needed to succeed and have fun. Sorry to hear about Gator.

 

[townchicks]

Thoughts on this little guy for agility?

https://erie.craigslist.org/pet/d/erie-rat-terrier/6914318781.html

I have a friend that does agility with rat terriers and they are awesome. They are active dogs, and need training and exercise.

 

[ShrekDawg]

If you seriously want to compete in agility, you need to know, you can't just "take a few classes" and then practice on the cheap "agility kits" . it can take a year or more to get a dog competition ready, and you need to practice a lot, on good equipment. It is a very fun and rewarding (and addictive) sport, and I encourage you to try it, but it ain't cheap.You will need multiple sessions (5 to 6 weeks) at $150 to 200 per session. You can make some equipment from PVC/wood, but some folks are not handy and good stuff isn't cheap. Any breed can do agility, get a dog you want as a pet and then train it. High drive dogs like border collies are not necessarily good pets, and are not needed to succeed and have fun. Sorry to hear about Gator.

Sorry I never responded, took a bit of a break haha anyway, thanks for all the info. It’s helpful. Although I should mention I’ve done some research and looked it into a bit so I do know that if I was to ever compete, that that equipment and one or two classes wouldn’t be enough, but I’m not sure if I want to compete yet, at least not with those dogs, and my friends with the Goldens definitely don’t. They were just looking to teach them how to just for fun and mostly as an outlet for the younger one because she has so much energy and is always very active so they thought it might be good for her. So it’s just for fun for them. And I’m sure if they ever decide to compete they would take more classes. Same here. I’m definitely not expecting to just be able to just walk into a competition and do it right away haha thank you though, I do appreciate it. Mostly just for fun currently and if they like it then we’ll go from there. The expense is another big reason I haven’t done it yet though and why I’m not sure on competing, that and time, but I still might eventually. Idk. Might at least practice with them first before getting my own dog.

And thank you!! That makes sense!! That’s good to know any breed can do it. I’ve seen some Border Collies at the Westminster ones or whatever (on YouTube, I wasn’t actually there haha) and at the agility trial I went to and they were kind of intimidating. Soo much energy and drive and a bit crazy haha so I’m definitely steering away from them. I think even an Aussie might be too much for me. I think I need a little bit mellower dog.

And thank you! I appreciate it. I miss him but it was definitely time for him to go. He was starting to suffer. I won’t go into too much detail as I’m sure you don’t want to hear it plus I detailed some of it in his thread (think it’s called A Tribute to Gator or something like that if you’re interested, lots of pictures of him in it) but basically he had MMM (at least that’s what the vet thought) and was slowly declining for like a year, year and a half, but especially the last couple months, so it was definitely time. The last like 2 weeks he basically stopped eating and lost tons of weight and more lethargic than usual (he was always pretty lazy cause of his breed but you could tell he was different and got winded easier too) and then on the last day he was just.... different. And looked done. So it was definitely time. Sad but selfish to let him keep on like that. He had a good last day though. Got a nice walk through the woods, a McDonald’s trip, and got to sniff the sea air ha

I have a friend that does agility with rat terriers and they are awesome. They are active dogs, and need training and exercise.

Thanks!! That’s good to know!! They seem like neat little dogs! Smart too, right? And I’ve heard slightly less terrier like than other terriers? Training and exercise is no problem. In fact, I love training, want to possibly be a trainer eventually (still not sure on that yet. Right now I’m a dog walker/pet sitter but I read lots of books and articles and watch videos, always learning new stuff) and want a dog that I can do a lot of training with. Basic obedience of course but also tricks and general life skills/random training sessions, or training in public, everything’s a possible learning/training opportunity to me haha and of course training for a sport like agility or nose work and possibly competition obedience or rally. Possibly not those, much more interested in agility or nose work, so I don’t know, but point is, general obedience should be no problem. I actually trained all our previous dogs too. Gator I trained exclusively, our previous dog I was a kid so I didn’t but I did teach him the basics like sit, down, stay and stuff, and Gator knew all sorts of tricks and some body awareness stuff and hide and seek/find it games/nose stuff and everything too. Even dabbled in “agility” lol just some pillows set up in the hall and tiny bit of weaving with some cones outside. And with him he was pretty stubborn so it took me a while to figure out his motivation but once I did, we were able to do all kinds of stuff. He was a great dog. And he wanted to please and learn, from the Lab side, just had to get past the Pyrenees stubbornness haha he was super smart too when you could get him motivated. Heck, I even taught him how to open and close doors haha just bumping it open or shut with his nose (it was an inside door) but still. I’ve also taught Libby tons of tricks lol and most recently I’ve taught a few clients dogs to wave lol anyway, sorry, I know this got kind of rambly and I also didn’t mean to make it sound like a know it all or arrogant or anything at all, I am definitely nowhere near an expert trainer and still have tons to learn, but my point is that I am super into training, much more so than the average person, so the basics would be no problem. And I actually also plan on taking tons of puppy and obedience classes because I know they need that and we didn’t with the other dogs. I know enough to teach all the basics and even sometimes pretty advanced (Gator could do super long stays, that was actually probably his favorite LOL and some other stuff) and get them pretty well trained/behaved by myself but I think they need the socialization and distraction proofing of being and working around other dogs and people which is harder by myself haha plus classes are probably just fun. So anyway, planning on taking tons of classes and doing tons of training anyway with any dog even an “easier” breed and used to stubborn dogs with all the Pyrenees mixes I’ve known so it should be no problem training a dog.


And as for the exercise, we have almost 3 acres so that shouldn’t be a problem either. Most of that is wooded, which also connects to the neighbors woods, but the yard is massive too, so plenty of room for tearing around haha the yard isn’t fenced yet but we plan to fence it or at least part of it and plus my brother’s yard is finally fenced and they only live like two miles away so we can exercise there too or get the dogs together to play or whatever. And our location is also great cause our neighborhood is great to walk in and very safe and there’s even two small ponds to walk around as well as cranberry bogs across the street and the roads surrounding our neighborhood are safe two. There’s actually like a mile and a half, two mile loop I’ve done several times with numerous dogs, both Gator and client’s dogs. And on that loop is also a huge field where tons of people walk with their dogs and at the end of the field is a beach to play on and swim in ha and then within like 5-10 minutes is also the town forest and of course I could always go over and walk in my brothers neighborhood, which is also safe, so there’s tons of walking and exercise areas here, most of which don’t even require driving anywhere, I can just walk out the front door and go, which is awesome. So I think, hopefully it would be enough for any dog, but especially a small dog. I know smaller doesn’t necessarily mean less energy and stamina but still. Oh and our house is big and there’s two flights of stairs so with a little dog I could also always throw a toy or something up and down the stairs a ton or down the hallways if I had to haha not that I would do that regularly or as it’s only exercise but I’m just saying if I had to like on bad weather or in a hurry or something, it’s easier to do that with little dogs. Though I would still try to take the time to do a real walk at least. But yeah.

Sorry for the huge novel