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We’ve been looking at rescue and retired dogs! Thank you for the link, we’ ll look into it!!!
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What is the best dog breed for my mother in law?
- Thread starter Toffeedog
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Among the factors to consider in “which dog for me?” is coats -
Texture
Length
Seasonal shed vs constant shed vs mandatory groom (AKA “non-shed”, which is a total misnomer)
An Afghan Hound is great, if U are a wannabe hairdresser with lots of free time; U will spend it detangling & combing, bathing & blow-drying, & putting snoods over clean ears & sleeves on clean legs.
A hard-textured mandatory groom coat that is hand-stripped is easy to maintain & muck falls out of it, once dry.
A soft-textured mandatory groom coat that has been clipped means daily combing to the skin, rotating areas, to prevent mats, & clipping at least every 6-weeks for the dog’s lifespan.
Airedales, Scotties, & many classic terrierrrists sport wiry coats that can be clipped (which opens & softens them) or stripped - which maintains their crisp texture & makes them dirt-proof.
Curly coats can be “shed always” (50% of all F1 Lab x Poodle mixes) who shed OUT into the environs, or “non-shed” meaning cast dead hair INTO their new coat... & again, to the salon every 6 weeks plus daily homecare, or learn to groom at home & buy clippers.
Smooth coated dogs, such as Labs, Pointers, Danes, Dals, will shed every day of their lives - a lot or a little, but nonstop.
Double-coated dogs, such as Rough-coated & Smooth-coated Collies or Saints, have a short soft crinkly inner coat for insulation, & a coarser outer coat as a barrier to rain.
Double-coated dogs shed heavily at the change of seasons, for about 3 weeks, then have a new coat for summer (lighter) or winter (heavier). It is photoperiod, not temperature, that triggers this biannual shed at Spring & Fall.
The exception to seasonal shedding among double-coated breeds is the GSD, they are notorious for shedding constantly all year round, from about 5 to 7-MO when they drop their puppy fuzz, until the day they die.
For many years, GSDs were my favorite breed - but I finally tired of picking up enuf hair every 3-months to upholster a new puppy from the skin out. My next breed was an Akita, & despite near-weekly baths (she was a therapy pet), Moon rarely cast more than 6 hairs in the tub... unless it was Spring or Fall, when I could fill a paper grocery bag in a single day, by brushing her twice.
Six weeks a year of massive hair loss I could handle, after more than 20-years of “shed every dam*ed day, & double the amount seasonally”.
Some breeds are more problematic than others, when it comes to coat care.
Dals are notorious for stiff pointy guard hairs that will poke upright from upholstery or clothing, & poke skin like tiny pins... a leather sofa is heartily recommended, plus of course U need a wardrobe entirely made of black, white & grey tweed, to hide the shed hairs.
Many scenthounds are quite funky smelling if U do not bathe them regularly- Bassetts are renowned for funk, & Beagles are also aromatic when they aren’t bathed for a couple of weeks.
It’s a good idea to decide beforehand how much time & effort, & how much money, U are willing to spend on coat care. It narrows down the breeds list pretty quickly.
- terry
.
Among the factors to consider in “which dog for me?” is coats -
Texture
Length
Seasonal shed vs constant shed vs mandatory groom (AKA “non-shed”, which is a total misnomer)
An Afghan Hound is great, if U are a wannabe hairdresser with lots of free time; U will spend it detangling & combing, bathing & blow-drying, & putting snoods over clean ears & sleeves on clean legs.
A hard-textured mandatory groom coat that is hand-stripped is easy to maintain & muck falls out of it, once dry.
A soft-textured mandatory groom coat that has been clipped means daily combing to the skin, rotating areas, to prevent mats, & clipping at least every 6-weeks for the dog’s lifespan.
Airedales, Scotties, & many classic terrierrrists sport wiry coats that can be clipped (which opens & softens them) or stripped - which maintains their crisp texture & makes them dirt-proof.
Curly coats can be “shed always” (50% of all F1 Lab x Poodle mixes) who shed OUT into the environs, or “non-shed” meaning cast dead hair INTO their new coat... & again, to the salon every 6 weeks plus daily homecare, or learn to groom at home & buy clippers.
Smooth coated dogs, such as Labs, Pointers, Danes, Dals, will shed every day of their lives - a lot or a little, but nonstop.
Double-coated dogs, such as Rough-coated & Smooth-coated Collies or Saints, have a short soft crinkly inner coat for insulation, & a coarser outer coat as a barrier to rain.
Double-coated dogs shed heavily at the change of seasons, for about 3 weeks, then have a new coat for summer (lighter) or winter (heavier). It is photoperiod, not temperature, that triggers this biannual shed at Spring & Fall.
The exception to seasonal shedding among double-coated breeds is the GSD, they are notorious for shedding constantly all year round, from about 5 to 7-MO when they drop their puppy fuzz, until the day they die.
For many years, GSDs were my favorite breed - but I finally tired of picking up enuf hair every 3-months to upholster a new puppy from the skin out.
My next breed was an Akita, & despite near-weekly baths (she was a therapy pet), Moon rarely cast more than 6 hairs in the tub... unless it was Spring or Fall, when I could fill a paper grocery bag in a single day, by brushing her twice. Six weeks a year of massive hair loss I could handle, after more than 20-years of “shed every dam*ed day, & double the amount seasonally”.
Some breeds are more problematic than others, when it comes to coat care.
Dals are notorious for stiff pointy guard hairs that will poke upright from upholstery or clothing, & poke skin like tiny pins... a leather sofa is heartily recommended, plus of course U need a wardrobe entirely made of black, white & grey tweed, to hide the shed hairs.
Many scenthounds are quite funky smelling if U do not bathe them regularly- Bassetts are renowned for funk, & Beagles are also aromatic when they aren’t bathed for a couple of weeks.
It’s a good idea to decide beforehand how much time & effort, & how much money, U are willing to spend on coat care.
It narrows down the breeds list pretty quickly.- terry
.
- Messages
- 27
- Reaction score
- 35
- Points
- 13
She doesn't really mind a little shedding but not too much heavy grooming! That's really useful! We looked at cavaliers, shi tzu etc, but their coats need a lot of care..
Among the factors to consider in “which dog for me?” is coats -
Texture
Length
Seasonal shed vs constant shed vs mandatory groom (AKA “non-shed”, which is a total misnomer)
An Afghan Hound is great, if U are a wannabe hairdresser with lots of free time; U will spend it detangling & combing, bathing & blow-drying, & putting snoods over clean ears & sleeves on clean legs.
A hard-textured mandatory groom coat that is hand-stripped is easy to maintain & muck falls out of it, once dry.
A soft-textured mandatory groom coat that has been clipped means daily combing to the skin, rotating areas, to prevent mats, & clipping at least every 6-weeks for the dog’s lifespan.
Airedales, Scotties, & many classic terrierrrists sport wiry coats that can be clipped (which opens & softens them) or stripped - which maintains their crisp texture & makes them dirt-proof.
Curly coats can be “shed always” (50% of all F1 Lab x Poodle mixes) who shed OUT into the environs, or “non-shed” meaning cast dead hair INTO their new coat... & again, to the salon every 6 weeks plus daily homecare, or learn to groom at home & buy clippers.
Smooth coated dogs, such as Labs, Pointers, Danes, Dals, will shed every day of their lives - a lot or a little, but nonstop.
Double-coated dogs, such as Rough-coated & Smooth-coated Collies or Saints, have a short soft crinkly inner coat for insulation, & a coarser outer coat as a barrier to rain.
Double-coated dogs shed heavily at the change of seasons, for about 3 weeks, then have a new coat for summer (lighter) or winter (heavier). It is photoperiod, not temperature, that triggers this biannual shed at Spring & Fall.
The exception to seasonal shedding among double-coated breeds is the GSD, they are notorious for shedding constantly all year round, from about 5 to 7-MO when they drop their puppy fuzz, until the day they die.
For many years, GSDs were my favorite breed - but I finally tired of picking up enuf hair every 3-months to upholster a new puppy from the skin out.
Six weeks a year of massive hair loss I could handle, after more than 20-years of “shed every dam*ed day, & double the amount seasonally”.
Some breeds are more problematic than others, when it comes to coat care.
Dals are notorious for stiff pointy guard hairs that will poke upright from upholstery or clothing, & poke skin like tiny pins... a leather sofa is heartily recommended, plus of course U need a wardrobe entirely made of black, white & grey tweed, to hide the shed hairs.
Many scenthounds are quite funky smelling if U do not bathe them regularly- Bassetts are renowned for funk, & Beagles are also aromatic when they aren’t bathed for a couple of weeks.
It’s a good idea to decide beforehand how much time & effort, & how much money, U are willing to spend on coat care.
- terry
.
We liked the idea of a Norfolk terrier (little coat needs, sweet and loving, not too yappy , )
but we don't really know if they are yappy and how much excercise they need.
Definitely considering a retired dog, we have looked at different organisations (dogstrust, blue cross, etc) as they are much less work then puppies!
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I’ve only met a few Norfolks & a couple of Norwichs -
I can say that the Norfolks I met were LESS yappy than the Norwichs, but as we’re talking a grand total of maybe 8 dogs of both breeds, across 50 plus years, that I met up close & personal, LOL, I don’t think my sample is guaranteed to be typical of either breed!
Both can be hand-stripped for a harder coat, which takes a lot less maintenance but usually means the owner does the stripping - a little at a time, while watching the telly in the evening, & moving from area to area, is far kinder to the dog than a painful marathon.
Most groomers will not hand-strip nowadays, it takes too long & is too fiddly - they can clipper 3 or 4 dogs in the time it takes to hand-strip just one.
- terry
.
I’ve only met a few Norfolks & a couple of Norwichs -
I can say that the Norfolks I met were LESS yappy than the Norwichs, but as we’re talking a grand total of maybe 8 dogs of both breeds, across 50 plus years, that I met up close & personal, LOL, I don’t think my sample is guaranteed to be typical of either breed!
Both can be hand-stripped for a harder coat, which takes a lot less maintenance but usually means the owner does the stripping - a little at a time, while watching the telly in the evening, & moving from area to area, is far kinder to the dog than a painful marathon.
Most groomers will not hand-strip nowadays, it takes too long & is too fiddly - they can clipper 3 or 4 dogs in the time it takes to hand-strip just one.
- terry
.
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I only offer this because you have asked for advice but I have a friend with a Norfolk terrier and he is an absolute cutie. He is older and a little bit portly so I can't say what a young dog would be like,but I would have him in a heartbeat.
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What about a terrier, Scotty, acorn, highland, lovely dogs,
Get a mature one, would be a great companion.
Get a mature one, would be a great companion.
