hi everyone,

as some of you may remember, i was looking for a welsh terrier a
couple months ago, and after many of your comments i decided to re-
evaluate what i was looking for. For those of you who didn't read my
welshie thread, i'm looking for a medium sized hypo-allergenic dog
(between 10-25 lbs). I live out in the country with an acre and half
as well as a 40 acre lake right in my backyard and we are a family of
4 (kids are 15 and 17, with the dog primarily being the 17 year olds
who is VERY responsible and will be taking the dog when he moves out
2-4 years time), so there's plenty of room for a dog. The breeds i
seem to have settled on are the miniature schnauzer, the miniature
poodle (although they seem to be extremely rare in my area, all i've
seen are toy poodles and standards), or the cairn terrier. i would
appreciate any comments or information on any of these breeds, or any
suggestion on any other breeds we should consider.

thank you very much!

Dave

In article
,
Fish wrote:

The breeds i
seem to have settled on are the miniature schnauzer, the miniature
poodle (although they seem to be extremely rare in my area, all i've
seen are toy poodles and standards), or the cairn terrier. i would
appreciate any comments or information on any of these breeds, or any
suggestion on any other breeds we should consider.

I like all 3 breeds. I'm a bit more partial to Poodles, but you're
right, mini's aren't as common as toy and standard. They may be worth
the wait and work though. If you're looking for a dog that swims,
this may also be the best choice, although the Schnauzer may be (someone
will weigh in on this), where I think the Cairn is not built well for
buoyancy.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

On Apr 23, 6:41 pm, Janet Boss
wrote:
In article
,

Fish wrote:
The breeds i
seem to have settled on are the miniature schnauzer, the miniature
poodle (although they seem to be extremely rare in my area, all i've
seen are toy poodles and standards), or the cairn terrier. i would
appreciate any comments or information on any of these breeds, or any
suggestion on any other breeds we should consider.

I like all 3 breeds. I'm a bit more partial to Poodles, but you're
right, mini's aren't as common as toy and standard. They may be worth
the wait and work though. If you're looking for a dog that swims,
this may also be the best choice, although the Schnauzer may be (someone
will weigh in on this), where I think the Cairn is not built well for
buoyancy.

--
Janet Bosswww.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

swimming really isn't that big a deal, the water in front of our place
is shallow anyways (about 2 feet deep). a dog that swims would just be
a bonus, it doesn't really matter if they are water-lovers.

"Fish" wrote in message
...
I like all 3 breeds. I'm a bit more partial to Poodles, but you're
right, mini's aren't as common as toy and standard. They may be worth
the wait and work though. If you're looking for a dog that swims,
this may also be the best choice, although the Schnauzer may be (someone
will weigh in on this), where I think the Cairn is not built well for
buoyancy.

Miniature poodles are fairly common around here. Must be an area thing.
WAY more common than Cairns certainly.

swimming really isn't that big a deal, the water in front of our place
is shallow anyways (about 2 feet deep). a dog that swims would just be
a bonus, it doesn't really matter if they are water-lovers

If you were to want a water dog, that would almost certainly eliminate the
miniature schnauzer. There are exceptions but as a rule, they absolutely
HATE water. Some of that may be countered by the way they are raised
because I know of a miniature schnauzer raised in a household that also
handled Golden Rescue. THAT schnauzer loved to race the Goldens to water
retrieve.

All three breeds you have mentioned do have high grooming requirements.

In addition, while they all would be game to rough-house outside but all
will require some effort afterwards to remove the outside from their coats.

Judy

Miniature poodles are fairly common around here. Must be an area thing.
WAY more common than Cairns certainly.


Cairns are fairly rare around here too, although i have seen 2 litters
for sale in the past month, but those are the only ones i've seen.


All three breeds you have mentioned do have high grooming requirements.

In addition, while they all would be game to rough-house outside but all
will require some effort afterwards to remove the outside from their coats.


From what i've read the poodle would have the highest grooming
requirements, but we do know a groomer, so i'm sure it wouldn't be
that big of a problem.


Again with the water issue, water isn't a huge issue, as my son will
be moving out and he surely won't be able to afford a place on the
water while going to school haha :-P

Fish said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:

From what i've read the poodle would have the highest
grooming requirements, but we do know a groomer, so i'm
sure it wouldn't be that big of a problem.

Again with the water issue, water isn't a huge issue, as my
son will be moving out and he surely won't be able to
afford a place on the water while going to school haha :-P

He also may not be able to afford the time or money for the
upkeep of a breed which often requires regular professional
grooming. Me, I prefer to vacuum.

And, frankly, sending a kid off to school with a dog sucks for
the dog, generally. I'm not saying that your son can't handle
it, but the odds are against it.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

"Fish" wrote in message
...
Cairns are fairly rare around here too, although i have seen 2 litters
for sale in the past month, but those are the only ones i've seen.


For sale where? Or rather, how have you known about the litters?

I almost never see a Cairn litter in my newspaper but the responsible
breeders in my area do have litters regularly.

From what i've read the poodle would have the highest grooming
requirements, but we do know a groomer, so i'm sure it wouldn't be
that big of a problem.

I have two miniature schnauzers. Their grooming requirements are at least
equal to the poodle's. And knowledgeable poodle groomers are much more
common. Not that groomers are willing to do schnauzers but very few do a
good (and that's my opinion, not my dogs') job at it. Cairns also require
grooming - much of it done by hand - which it will be more difficult to get
a hired groomer to do.

Most schnauzer and poodle people I know eventually get their own clippers
and do at least alternate groomings themselves. Grooming is not only
expensive, but it requires driving the dog there and leaving them for the
day (or half-day) and then going back to pick them up.

Grooming is extremely important for these dogs. It's not just a matter of
having them look good. If they are not groomed (read as: clipped or
hand-stripped/rolled) regularly, it becomes almost impossible to keep the
mats out of their coats. During the winter, we let our dogs go unclipped
for just over eight weeks. By ten weeks, even daily combing probably
wouldn't be enough. The rest of the year, we work of a six to eight week
clipping schedule. The poodle would be similar.

Again with the water issue, water isn't a huge issue, as my son will
be moving out and he surely won't be able to afford a place on the
water while going to school haha :-P

Another consideration for the years when your son will have the dog and be
living elsewhere - all of these breeds will get bored if he is gone for
eight to ten hours a day to go to work. I'm not saying it can't be managed,
but bored, smart dogs can create their own entertainment. He will need a
good plan.

Judy

On Apr 23, 6:41*pm, Janet Boss
wrote:
In article
,

*Fish wrote:
The breeds i
seem to have settled on are the miniature schnauzer, the miniature
poodle (although they seem to be extremely rare in my area, all i've
seen are toy poodles and standards), or the cairn terrier. i would
appreciate any comments or information on any of these breeds, or any
suggestion on any other breeds we should consider.

I like all 3 breeds. *I'm a bit more partial to Poodles, but you're
right, mini's aren't as common as toy and standard. *They may be worth
the wait and work though. * *If you're looking for a dog that swims,
this may also be the best choice, although the Schnauzer may be (someone
will weigh in on this), where I think the Cairn is not built well for
buoyancy.

--
Janet Bosswww.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Not built well for it, but I have found that the cairn terrier's heart
makes up for the fact. In my experience they really enjoy swimming
and although not a lab, they still stay afloat.

Nick

wrote:
On Apr 23, 6:41 pm, Janet Boss
wrote:
In article
,

Fish wrote:
The breeds i
seem to have settled on are the miniature schnauzer, the miniature
poodle (although they seem to be extremely rare in my area, all i've
seen are toy poodles and standards), or the cairn terrier. i would
appreciate any comments or information on any of these breeds, or any
suggestion on any other breeds we should consider.
I like all 3 breeds. I'm a bit more partial to Poodles, but you're
right, mini's aren't as common as toy and standard. They may be worth
the wait and work though. If you're looking for a dog that swims,
this may also be the best choice, although the Schnauzer may be (someone
will weigh in on this), where I think the Cairn is not built well for
buoyancy.

--
Janet Bosswww.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Not built well for it, but I have found that the cairn terrier's heart
makes up for the fact. In my experience they really enjoy swimming
and although not a lab, they still stay afloat.

Nick

I was told eons ago and had taken it as gospel that short legged dogs
couldn't displace enough water to stay afloat.

Recently I learned that was totally bogus when I met up with a lady &
her water-loving Dachshunds (long & short haired). They swam like otters
and two of them were intense water retrievers. I don't know of any breed
with shorter leg to body size than a Dachie so if a Dachie can swim,
then leg length isn't a factor after all on swimming ability.

Chris and her smoothies,
Lucy & Fawkes

One bright night in the middle of the day on Thu, 24 Apr
2008 11:03:10 -0400, in rec.pets.dogs.breeds ChrisJ
wrote:

Recently I learned that was totally bogus when I met up with a lady &
her water-loving Dachshunds (long & short haired). They swam like otters
and two of them were intense water retrievers.

Well, I dunno about otters, but... Growing up, our
family's mini dachshund *loved* to swim. He particularly
liked going to the beach with us all summer and going
clamming in fall/winter. You really had to watch him
closely as he would leap in and swim until he nearly
drowned because he'd just get too tired to stay afloat.
Many's a time someone would have to wade in and fish the
dog out as he was going under for the second time.

I miss that old dog and think of him often. He lived to be
nearly 18 years old!!
*~ *~ *~
Karen C.
Spammers be damned! I can't be emailed from this account! So there...

"You have no power here!
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