gandalf 0 Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 hi all and a happy new year never owned a dog before and as i shoot rabbit and woodies with an air rifle i am hoping to get a dog for retrieval and companionship however i work 2 weeks of every month on an offshore platform my wife works at school and the 2 boys are at school so the dog would be on his own from 8am till 4 pm he would be walked in the morning and at night when the boys come home from school and morning afternoon and night when im home its just the week days thats the problem when im away what i have is a large garage with a cat flap at the back door (from the prieviouse owners)that leads into the back garden hence a small terrier would it be possible to train him to use this cat flap so he can have the run of the garden and garage all day or is my cicumstances not suitable for dog ownership at all i would dearly like to own a dog as would my 2 boys who are 9 and 11 any feed back would be brill or if possible another breed that would fair better on his own through the day thanks for your help Quote Link to post
diggermad 154 Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 cant see there being a problem as long as hes got shelter and a bed in the garage when it starts to rain or gets too cold just keep trying him going through the cat flap with a bit of food in your hands will soon get the idea cheers DM Quote Link to post
BEARINATOR 2,867 Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 A patterdale would be a good for you to use with the airgun and it should be ok by itself during the day, just give it plenty of toys to keep it happy. I used to have a russel x lakeland and it worked as a normal terrier, then when i was out with the gun it was excellent for picking up and finding wounded game. Get a pup and bring it on yourself mate, good luck with whatever breed you decide to get. Quote Link to post
j davies 8 Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 hi all and a happy new year never owned a dog before and as i shoot rabbit and woodies with an air rifle i am hoping to get a dog for retrieval and companionship however i work 2 weeks of every month on an offshore platform my wife works at school and the 2 boys are at school so the dog would be on his own from 8am till 4 pm he would be walked in the morning and at night when the boys come home from school and morning afternoon and night when im home its just the week days thats the problem when im away what i have is a large garage with a cat flap at the back door (from the prieviouse owners)that leads into the back garden hence a small terrier would it be possible to train him to use this cat flap so he can have the run of the garden and garage all day or is my cicumstances not suitable for dog ownership at all i would dearly like to own a dog as would my 2 boys who are 9 and 11 any feed back would be brill or if possible another breed that would fair better on his own through the day thanks for your help get your self a cocker spainel mate very good at what your looking for i got 2 one 3 year old trained him my self for everything with the air gun he is wow. i work from 7 30am till 5pm 5days a week he is home all day out in the garden these dogs are very good for both air gun and retreiving. he is at the stage now were when i shot my air gun he looks and if i shot some thing he gets it if i miss he looks at me to say give it here lol Quote Link to post
gandalf 0 Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 hi all and a happy new year never owned a dog before and as i shoot rabbit and woodies with an air rifle i am hoping to get a dog for retrieval and companionship however i work 2 weeks of every month on an offshore platform my wife works at school and the 2 boys are at school so the dog would be on his own from 8am till 4 pm he would be walked in the morning and at night when the boys come home from school and morning afternoon and night when im home its just the week days thats the problem when im away what i have is a large garage with a cat flap at the back door (from the prieviouse owners)that leads into the back garden hence a small terrier would it be possible to train him to use this cat flap so he can have the run of the garden and garage all day or is my cicumstances not suitable for dog ownership at all i would dearly like to own a dog as would my 2 boys who are 9 and 11 any feed back would be brill or if possible another breed that would fair better on his own through the day thanks for your help get your self a cocker spainel mate very good at what your looking for i got 2 one 3 year old trained him my self for everything with the air gun he is wow. i work from 7 30am till 5pm 5days a week he is home all day out in the garden these dogs are very good for both air gun and retreiving. he is at the stage now were when i shot my air gun he looks and if i shot some thing he gets it if i miss he looks at me to say give it here lol how old is too old for training a cocker then ie is it best to get them from puppies and would one on his own be ok all day on his own Quote Link to post
j davies 8 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 hi all and a happy new year never owned a dog before and as i shoot rabbit and woodies with an air rifle i am hoping to get a dog for retrieval and companionship however i work 2 weeks of every month on an offshore platform my wife works at school and the 2 boys are at school so the dog would be on his own from 8am till 4 pm he would be walked in the morning and at night when the boys come home from school and morning afternoon and night when im home its just the week days thats the problem when im away what i have is a large garage with a cat flap at the back door (from the prieviouse owners)that leads into the back garden hence a small terrier would it be possible to train him to use this cat flap so he can have the run of the garden and garage all day or is my cicumstances not suitable for dog ownership at all i would dearly like to own a dog as would my 2 boys who are 9 and 11 any feed back would be brill or if possible another breed that would fair better on his own through the day thanks for your help get your self a cocker spainel mate very good at what your looking for i got 2 one 3 year old trained him my self for everything with the air gun he is wow. i work from 7 30am till 5pm 5days a week he is home all day out in the garden these dogs are very good for both air gun and retreiving. he is at the stage now were when i shot my air gun he looks and if i shot some thing he gets it if i miss he looks at me to say give it here lol how old is too old for training a cocker then ie is it best to get them from puppies and would one on his own be ok all day on his own one on his own is ok but you need a pup mate that way he or she grows up to your life not what they alredy had Quote Link to post
gandalf 0 Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 hi all and a happy new year never owned a dog before and as i shoot rabbit and woodies with an air rifle i am hoping to get a dog for retrieval and companionship however i work 2 weeks of every month on an offshore platform my wife works at school and the 2 boys are at school so the dog would be on his own from 8am till 4 pm he would be walked in the morning and at night when the boys come home from school and morning afternoon and night when im home its just the week days thats the problem when im away what i have is a large garage with a cat flap at the back door (from the prieviouse owners)that leads into the back garden hence a small terrier would it be possible to train him to use this cat flap so he can have the run of the garden and garage all day or is my cicumstances not suitable for dog ownership at all i would dearly like to own a dog as would my 2 boys who are 9 and 11 any feed back would be brill or if possible another breed that would fair better on his own through the day thanks for your help get your self a cocker spainel mate very good at what your looking for i got 2 one 3 year old trained him my self for everything with the air gun he is wow. i work from 7 30am till 5pm 5days a week he is home all day out in the garden these dogs are very good for both air gun and retreiving. he is at the stage now were when i shot my air gun he looks and if i shot some thing he gets it if i miss he looks at me to say give it here lol how old is too old for training a cocker then ie is it best to get them from puppies and would one on his own be ok all day on his own one on his own is ok but you need a pup mate that way he or she grows up to your life not what they alredy had can you tell me what kind of cocker you have ie is it a field bred,or working, etc i take it is an english cocker yes?sorry to trouble you again,some people are telling me springers would be better but there bigger i think and i only want a small dog Quote Link to post
j davies 8 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 hi all and a happy new year never owned a dog before and as i shoot rabbit and woodies with an air rifle i am hoping to get a dog for retrieval and companionship however i work 2 weeks of every month on an offshore platform my wife works at school and the 2 boys are at school so the dog would be on his own from 8am till 4 pm he would be walked in the morning and at night when the boys come home from school and morning afternoon and night when im home its just the week days thats the problem when im away what i have is a large garage with a cat flap at the back door (from the prieviouse owners)that leads into the back garden hence a small terrier would it be possible to train him to use this cat flap so he can have the run of the garden and garage all day or is my cicumstances not suitable for dog ownership at all i would dearly like to own a dog as would my 2 boys who are 9 and 11 any feed back would be brill or if possible another breed that would fair better on his own through the day thanks for your help get your self a cocker spainel mate very good at what your looking for i got 2 one 3 year old trained him my self for everything with the air gun he is wow. i work from 7 30am till 5pm 5days a week he is home all day out in the garden these dogs are very good for both air gun and retreiving. he is at the stage now were when i shot my air gun he looks and if i shot some thing he gets it if i miss he looks at me to say give it here lol how old is too old for training a cocker then ie is it best to get them from puppies and would one on his own be ok all day on his own one on his own is ok but you need a pup mate that way he or she grows up to your life not what they alredy had can you tell me what kind of cocker you have ie is it a field bred,or working, etc i take it is an english cocker yes?sorry to trouble you again,some people are telling me springers would be better but there bigger i think and i only want a small dog ask what you like mate thats what this is for mine are feild trial working ones smaller than the springer and very very good at what they do they learn fast will post pics on here next week of mine. one thing i like about them is you only have to tell them ones they are not hard work its bread into them Quote Link to post
gandalf 0 Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 hi all and a happy new year never owned a dog before and as i shoot rabbit and woodies with an air rifle i am hoping to get a dog for retrieval and companionship however i work 2 weeks of every month on an offshore platform my wife works at school and the 2 boys are at school so the dog would be on his own from 8am till 4 pm he would be walked in the morning and at night when the boys come home from school and morning afternoon and night when im home its just the week days thats the problem when im away what i have is a large garage with a cat flap at the back door (from the prieviouse owners)that leads into the back garden hence a small terrier would it be possible to train him to use this cat flap so he can have the run of the garden and garage all day or is my cicumstances not suitable for dog ownership at all i would dearly like to own a dog as would my 2 boys who are 9 and 11 any feed back would be brill or if possible another breed that would fair better on his own through the day thanks for your help get your self a cocker spainel mate very good at what your looking for i got 2 one 3 year old trained him my self for everything with the air gun he is wow. i work from 7 30am till 5pm 5days a week he is home all day out in the garden these dogs are very good for both air gun and retreiving. he is at the stage now were when i shot my air gun he looks and if i shot some thing he gets it if i miss he looks at me to say give it here lol how old is too old for training a cocker then ie is it best to get them from puppies and would one on his own be ok all day on his own looking forward to seeing them bud hurry up and get them on lol cheers for your help one on his own is ok but you need a pup mate that way he or she grows up to your life not what they alredy had can you tell me what kind of cocker you have ie is it a field bred,or working, etc i take it is an english cocker yes?sorry to trouble you again,some people are telling me springers would be better but there bigger i think and i only want a small dog ask what you like mate thats what this is for mine are feild trial working ones smaller than the springer and very very good at what they do they learn fast will post pics on here next week of mine. one thing i like about them is you only have to tell them ones they are not hard work its bread into them Quote Link to post
Tallyho 181 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 I dont think your in a bad situation to have a dog, but if you want one for retreiving i wouldnt go for a patt go for a springer or a lab . Quote Link to post
gavman 0 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 paterdales are ok . however my 2 are gobby and bark at a mouse farting ! not good with fussy neighbours and they can be arses with other dogs one of mine hates one of my spaniels dunno why except any chance she gets she has a go at her . however my patts retrieve . the choice is urs . however to get the pup to bond to u id get it when u can be home for awhile . before u go away to work . Quote Link to post
Guest davieboy Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 if you are only using the dog every few weeks be careful of buying field trial cockers as they will be bred for working...alot, not every now and again, if it is getting left on its own and not worked it may become destructive or noisy due to boredom, just have a think about the breading before you buy as the best pedigree in the world may not be the best dog for what you want! good luck what ever you get Quote Link to post
gandalf 0 Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 thanks all for the help wish it did help now im more uncertain my biggest worrie is leaving the dog on his own and need one small enough to fit through the cat flap no way would i leave him in the garage all day he needs to be able to get out into the garden so a lab is out of the question so is a springer would love to get a cocker as ive read they dont mind the lonliness but is a cocker to big?i dont know lol but hey thanks to all of you realy apprieciate it cheers Quote Link to post
Guest davieboy Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 mate, a med size dog flap will cost you about 30 quid, why not buy one and make the hole for the cat flap bigger, easy enough to do?? Quote Link to post
gandalf 0 Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 mate, a med size dog flap will cost you about 30 quid, why not buy one and make the hole for the cat flap bigger, easy enough to do?? didnt know you could get dog flaps davie nice one sorted now for picking the breed of dog cheers Quote Link to post
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