West Highland Terriors

[Jacque]

Hi Boo

I can't believe no one has mentioned the cutest, most loyal and kid friendly dogs of all- miniature daschunds! We have had one of these little fellows (long haired red) for almost 3 yrs now, after a couple of other breeds (border collie and a half kelpie half lab) and we couldn't wish for a better dog!

Max is absolutely beautiful, with long auburn fur, big brown eyes and a real royal looking snout. He's terrific with all people (kids especially) and endures being dressed up by my daughters (and photographed) on a regular basis. He is a great guard dog, and ferociously barks when anyone approaches the house but would really prefer to lick them instead. He's happy, fun loving and enjoys nothing more than a romp around the yard with the kids and a cuddle on your lap. We are ecstatic with this breed and couldn't think of ever trading for another. Our extended families have always had dakkies (two of them were actually breeders) and we have always been attracted to their loving and loyal natures.

The miniature long haired reds are not easy to find (even rarer are the beautiful creams but the black and brindle are more common) but are worth the wait, in my opinion!

Good luck with whatever dog you decide on and enjoy!

 

[BOO]

Hi Jacque
sounds like a lovely breed. How does it fair when taking it for walks, is this a problem.

 

[Jacque]

Hi again Boo

Max gets walked usually once a week by the kids
It's all he needs as we have a yard for him to play and, being a small breed, doesn't need the physical exercise that larger dogs do.

Yesterday I actually got him clipped and all professionally groomed- a bit of an indulgence but he looks so cute now just with a long tail and ears and smells soooo nice!!

 

[BOO]

Jacque
can you post a photo, I am doggy mad at the moment.

 

[RichardC]

My Tenterfield Terrier is the soundest dog I've had. May be because the breed hasn't been fixed for long and still has hybrid vigour. Being a foxie derivative it is a born hunter and no small life was safe around it till she put on weight. She still terrorises the geckos. Her doggie heaven would be hunting rats with a council rat-catcher. (They existed once!)

The dumbest dog I've ever had, by a country mile, is a "designer" cross. Shitzu X maltese, I think. We all love dogs so I won't go into it's many failings. If the rest of the family go on holidays some time, it might have an accident while they're away.

 

[Jacque]

Jacque
can you post a photo, I am doggy mad at the moment.

Just have put one in the Gallery under my member pics. Naturally, he was smaller as a pup but is fully grown now. The only black fur is on the ends of his ears, as you can see. Otherwise he's completely red.

 

[luce.rocks]

I had a golden cockerspanial called Gypsy growing up. We got her when I was in year 2. She was the most placid, loving dog we've had. A bit on the slow side ('all breeding and no brains' my mum used to say), but really knew how to pick your mood within 2 seconds of you coming home - whether you wanted to be licked and jumped on or have just have her rest her head rest in your lap. Never once snapped at anyone. Only once growled at a kid who tried to go up to her while she was feeding a litter. Just to let the kid know that she was busy... She lived to the ripe old age of 16 or so. Health wise, she had to have a minor eye-lift to stop the eyelashes on her droopy lids from irritating her eyes (apparently common for cockers), otherwise was fine until much and later in her life she needed HRT for hair loss and got arthritis, went blind, etc, but that's just old dogs in general.

Also had a sydney silky terrior. He was absolutely crazy, but then he was also epilepic (yes, that's right, an epileptic dog!), so we never knew if it was a breed thing, or just a Gus-thing. He came to a sticky end when the stupid 'guard dog' down the road got out one day...

At the moment we have a miniture fox terrier, Milly (3yo), who's a bit neurotic ('do you still love me? do you? can i sit right here on your chest? can i? are you sure that you love me? are you?) and once my uncle yelled at her when he was visiting and she wet herself, the poor thing. and she can't stand to get in the slightest bit of trouble for anything. like this morning, she was getting her daily doggie treats and i said 'up' and she did 'how do you do' and i said 'no. up' and she tucked her little stumpy tail under and half-cowered to the ground and said 'i'm so embarassed that i did the wrong trick - do you still love me?'. god knows what happened to her as a pup, cos dogs in our house are only ever loved and spoiled rotten.

we also have a mutt, max, who we bought from a kid walking up the street who had two puppies, cos we thought Milly needed somene to hang out with during the day when mum and i were working. And max (half jack russel, half who knows what) has the biggest character of any of the dogs we've had. He's has the most naturally doggy personality. He's not a dog who thinks its a human, hes not quiet, he's not loud. he's curious and boisterous, he chews things (only things he's allowed to, loves it when we give him old socks, or empty toilet rolls, or cheap stuffed toys), he chases things ('max! get those birds out of the garden') he cocks his head to the side when you talk to him in an effort to understand you. he's definitely the smartest dog we've had, learns new words very quickly, eg 'where's the tugger?', 'where's mum?', 'where's your mat?', 'where's milly?', and learns new tricks quickly too. i wish we had more time to teach him really, he deserves to be a bit more challenged. he'd do realy well in some of those doggy races and obstacle courses and stuff i reckon...

both max and milly get along with visitors, though they're much more 'jump all over them' dogs than 'sniff them quietly' dogs. a friend in high school had a cavalier king charles spaniel. super quiet and calm. probably good for kids?

anyways. i love my dogs my dogs are the best

*edit: oooh, and something that's really cute is that milly and ma both bring us stuff. stuff that we don't ask for. like if i get changed and leave clothes on the floor, milly will bring out a sock and wag her tail and go 'look, i found your sock for you!' and i'll go 'thank you! show it to mum!' and she'll take it to mum and mum will go 'aren't you clever! where's the other sock? can we have the other sock?' and she'll go and find the other sock and come trotting back wagging her stumpy little tail! lol! so cute! so simple! max, on the other hand, finds stuff and brings it up to you and says 'can i have this?' and if you say 'ok, you can have that.' he gets so excited and starts to bite and chew and try to rip it up. not surprisingly, most of the time we say 'no, you can't have that, give that to me.' and he begrudgingly relinquishes it man, my dogs are the cutest in the whole world. i mean seriously, who can beat that??!

** edit: have posted a pic each of Milly and Max in my photos section (first tme i've posted a pic of anything on here!)