register for free
View our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
CrazyDogLady
Dogsey Junior
CrazyDogLady is offline  
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 105
Female 
 
05-09-2016, 01:48 PM

Loki the GSD will hopefully be getting a friend - personal experience appreciated :)

I currently have a 2.5 year old german shepherd bitch called Loki, she's my best chum and side kick that a girl could ask for. She's fantastic with my 1 year old son and we've got to that point in her over all training and being where I believe we could have a second dog. After researching breeds we narrowed it down to the standard poodle or border collie.
A little bit about us might help people suggest pro's and con's between these breeds

I'm a dog walker and Loki comes with me on the majority of my walks as well as getting out all the time as we are a very active family. We attend various training classes - Obedience, Gun Dog, Fly Ball and Agility - and are always working together. I think a lot of this is why I've been so lucky to end up with such a wonderful companion. I'm studying canine care and behavior as well as hoping to study dog grooming very soon.
Loki in herself is a very happy dog, very sociable and extremely obedient. She's fantastic with people and kids though prefers with adults to watch from a distance but never aggressive or unsure. She's just not a very 'in your face kind of girl' and she is very much 'My dog' out of our family.
Her only minor downside can occur when there's a tennis ball or if she feels my little boy is in trouble. She wont share a tennis ball and no dog really tries to take it - she'll give it to any person who tells her to drop and leave but not dogs. And if she thinks for any reason my son is in trouble she wouldn't think twice about giving the warning growl and putting herself between him and what she thinks is the problem. We have worked on this and she will cease mid action but there is that look as she watches things and works it all out in her head - typical GSD!

But in saying all that we've had dogs in our vehicles (obviously for work) in the garden, in the house and over night staying and she seems to enjoy the company and she LOVES having someone to play with whilst she's walking.

I'm looking for an intelligent, athletic but most importantly generally friendly breed (I know a lot of it is early socialization and training which we are 100% committed to) so we can have a second dog to compete at showing, field trials, obedience, agility and flyball.

If anyone has personal experience with these breeds I would be so grateful








Reply With Quote
CaroleC
Dogsey Senior
CaroleC is offline  
Location: Stoke on Trent, UK
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 939
Female 
 
05-09-2016, 03:21 PM
Loki is gorgeous!
If you wanted to do Field Trials, wouldn't it have to be a Gundog breed?
Reply With Quote
CrazyDogLady
Dogsey Junior
CrazyDogLady is offline  
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 105
Female 
 
05-09-2016, 04:08 PM
Hiya ☺️ Thankyou for the kind compliment.
If I were to do seriously then probably - we compete at open fun trials for everyone even big girl Loki is welcome with open arms and saggy tails.
Though one of the reasons that pulled me to the poodle was that they were originally water retrieval dogs... I think that's what I read.

We do everything just now for fun though very very well and the dream is to one day pluck up the confidence to go serious as I already know Loki could do almost anything put to her 😁
Reply With Quote
Dibbythedog
Dogsey Senior
Dibbythedog is offline  
Location: Middlesex
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 834
Female 
 
05-09-2016, 10:15 PM
Loki really is a beautiful dog and a lovely temperament.

You have such a perfect set up at the moment, and you do an amazing amount, studying , a baby , dog walking , I don't know how you do it ! I think if this were me, Id be tempted not to upset the apple cart
Reply With Quote
CrazyDogLady
Dogsey Junior
CrazyDogLady is offline  
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 105
Female 
 
06-09-2016, 05:05 AM
Originally Posted by Dibbythedog View Post
Loki really is a beautiful dog and a lovely temperament.

You have such a perfect set up at the moment, and you do an amazing amount, studying , a baby , dog walking , I don't know how you do it ! I think if this were me, Id be tempted not to upset the apple cart
Dogs really are my therapy and I didn't want to lose my passion when I had my little boy I wanted to share it with him as much as I could.
I've always had it in my head that after Loki turned two we'd start looking into a second dog but I wanted to wait till I felt like Loki would be a good example for a pup. I really want to do all the training again ☺️ I feel like I know so much more even now than I did when Loki was little and two dogs in the family is my comfy zone so I want to make sure I do this right.
We've also talk about expanding our family child wise in 3-4 years and I'd ideally like to have 2 adult well trained pooches to work with then. I'm a super organised freak when it comes to life!

But I do see what your saying - Loki is perfect just the way she is and I'm not trying to improve on that 😊 I just want another pooch to love, work with and enjoy this life with us
Reply With Quote
Moyra
Dogsey Veteran
Moyra is offline  
Location: Essex, U.K.
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 10,060
Female 
 
06-09-2016, 08:55 AM
She is truly beautiful, when we had GSDs years ago we found that Labradors and Lurchers were very compatible with the GSD. Wish you luck you are very organized.
Reply With Quote
CrazyDogLady
Dogsey Junior
CrazyDogLady is offline  
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 105
Female 
 
06-09-2016, 02:01 PM
Originally Posted by Moyra View Post
She is truly beautiful, when we had GSDs years ago we found that Labradors and Lurchers were very compatible with the GSD. Wish you luck you are very organized.
Thankyou We'd thought about another GSD but fancied something different with different quirks. My other half in particular does like labradors so I will pass that on to him.

The organization is definitely a blessing and a curse
Reply With Quote
Moobli
Dogsey Veteran
Moobli is offline  
Location: Scotland
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 19,298
Female 
 
09-09-2016, 04:44 PM
Loki is really beautiful and sounds as though she has a wonderful temperament and great life with you.

I can understand the temptation of wanting a second dog, but would also echo Dibby's sentiments - especially as you are a professional dog walker. Will taking two of your own dogs each day mean one less client's dog?

Could it be a possibility to compete with Loki in one of the disciplines you already train in, or try working trials or IPO (some new form of training to challenge you both)?

If you are sure you want a second dog, then border collies do generally get on well with GSDs. I have both breeds and they compliment each other in terms of training needs, activity, intelligence. As in GSDs there are also different types of border collies (ISDS registered, non registered working, KC registered, sports bred etc etc). What you hope to do with your dog will depend on the type that will suit you best.

I only have limited experience of Standard Poodles. A lady who attended the same dog club as I did had three. They used to compete in competitive obedience and were very good. I think they are extremely intelligent dogs, and I would imagine would also need a high level of activity like GSDs and BCs.
Reply With Quote
CrazyDogLady
Dogsey Junior
CrazyDogLady is offline  
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 105
Female 
 
09-09-2016, 10:05 PM
Originally Posted by Moobli View Post
Loki is really beautiful and sounds as though she has a wonderful temperament and great life with you.

I can understand the temptation of wanting a second dog, but would also echo Dibby's sentiments - especially as you are a professional dog walker. Will taking two of your own dogs each day mean one less client's dog?

Could it be a possibility to compete with Loki in one of the disciplines you already train in, or try working trials or IPO (some new form of training to challenge you both)?

If you are sure you want a second dog, then border collies do generally get on well with GSDs. I have both breeds and they compliment each other in terms of training needs, activity, intelligence. As in GSDs there are also different types of border collies (ISDS registered, non registered working, KC registered, sports bred etc etc). What you hope to do with your dog will depend on the type that will suit you best.

I only have limited experience of Standard Poodles. A lady who attended the same dog club as I did had three. They used to compete in competitive obedience and were very good. I think they are extremely intelligent dogs, and I would imagine would also need a high level of activity like GSDs and BCs.
I'm my own worst enemy as I research and I research and then I panic. The last thing I would ever want would be to make Loki feel pushed aside but I really do enjoy having two dogs around... Hmmmmm..... I don't want to be thoughtless about it and of course Loki comes first.

I'd like to find out as much as I can and weigh up my pros and cons

But I 100% take on board concerns
Reply With Quote
CrazyDogLady
Dogsey Junior
CrazyDogLady is offline  
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 105
Female 
 
09-09-2016, 10:20 PM
I guess I forgot to mention Shadow too ���� Shadows my parents dog technically but I bought him when I still lived with them. He comes and stays when I can pry him from my mum - she ADORES him! He's amazing, he's an 8 year old GSD X Husky boy and Loki's Dog Father. We just love having two dogs in the house, feels so complete somehow.
Reply With Quote
Reply
Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 4 > Last »


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Weird unexplained personal experience tumbleweed Off-topic Chat 4 06-09-2014 11:24 PM
Rainbow Bridge RIP my friend's dog Loki lore General Dog Chat 6 13-01-2014 12:55 AM
I need idea's... any help appreciated lisa01uk87 Home & DIY 7 02-09-2011 04:29 PM
any help appreciated gabrielle willi Dog Sports 6 01-07-2008 08:22 PM

© Copyright 2016, Dogsey   Contact Us - Dogsey - Top Contact us | Archive | Privacy | Terms of use | Top