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Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:33 pm
by Aya Adam
Is there such a thing ? We are looking for a dog as a pet but I would also like it to be a working dog at the same time I was looking at Labradors as they are both working dogs and good pets what are your thoughts my father in law has a jack Russell x and she's a fantastic dog so may be a jack Russell ?

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:11 pm
by Beer Hunter
When you say working dog, what do you want it to do?

Kev.

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:19 pm
by Aya Adam
Bring back the odd rabbit and birds that kind of thing and stand by my side while on shoots and fishing

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:40 pm
by Beer Hunter
A labrador would seem to fit the bill perfectly.

Kev.

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:07 pm
by 247sniper
Yep, lab would be perfect :thup:


Steve.

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:07 am
by Aya Adam
Cheers guys that's that then all eyes on deck for a lab

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:16 am
by hungryrob
Lab again from me :)

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:45 am
by Keef
Springer Spaniel provided it came from working stock and not from show breeders.

Very good with kids, will work and doesn't have the weight problems that Labs can have. Also if you get a bitch they're not too large for house and car.

The only problems you might have are that they can be daft as a brush and don't ever really grow up.

Other dogs from the parents of the one I had did such things as:

Walk up and down a piano keyboard at 2 o'clock in the morning.

Chase rabbits by jumping out of a Land Rover window when the car was doing 30mph.

Mine chewed and dug through a plaster board wall to get to me when she was shut in the kitchen but she was only a pup then.

If she got fed up with kids she'd lick their faces as she knew they didn't like it!

She also liked wade or jump in water. Not clean water it had to be muddy or stagnant.

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 7:02 am
by Sidebyside
Labrador without any hesitation :thup:

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:53 am
by Keef
Far too much bias on this thread! :)

Tommo's going to have a problem, he's had a Spaniel and a Lab! :razz: :)

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:59 am
by Buffy Vampire Slayer
black lab for me :thup: :thup:

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:19 pm
by Shaun A.
Lab here too
Taken with phone :(
IMAG0341.jpg

Teal also does a bit of pointing(roe this time)
IMAG0342.jpg


Shaun.

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:57 pm
by Tommo
Keef wrote:.....Tommo's going to have a problem, he's had a Spaniel and a Lab! :razz: :)



And managed to survive both..!!

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:26 pm
by Bushdog
Another vote for a lab.
Not because I have one, though.
More because I wouldn't wish the carnage that my dogs can create on anyone else (1 English pointer, 1 Wire-haired visla cross GWP).

Re: Good working/family dog

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:04 am
by SteveM47
We have a black lab and a liver and white working cocker. They are both pets first, working second, have the run of the house, sleep on the bed with the wife when I'm away, and are both good as gold. They are both very affectionate, but the cocker in particular, and also both are very easy to train (to work, or simply obededience training). They are perfect companions for each other since the cocker runs and hunts when she's out and the lab follows behind so gets more exercise than when she's pottering around on her own, and they both seem very settled (steady weight, good temperaments) on about the same amount of exercise (60-90 mins each day, split between morning and evening, and then a lot more at weekends, especially if they are working).

This season I've been shooting driven pheasants; the lab sits on the peg with me and then picks up when I direct her, while my wife takes the cocker beating. The cocker would pick up too, given a bit more training, and she would probably be the better rough shooting option. The lab is really mine, and I wouldn't be without a lab now, but the cocker has a bit more spirit and is generally all round more entertaining.

So I would recommend you get one of each!! If it is to be just one, and you are serious about rough shooting (flushing and picking up), then I would say cocker. But if your heart says lab then go for it - with the right training and exercise you will have a very devoted and happy family pet as well as a wonderful working companion. Either way, make sure they are from working stock - there are lots of show dogs out there of both varieties, and there really is a difference between them when it comes to getting them to perform in the field.

I love my dogs!