Dog Talk

So how did this start? I started seeing Jack Russell Terriers everywhere and I liked them so much. I liked them so much, that I started thinking about having one myself. Now, Reto (hubby) had said that he didn't want any pets, so I didn't really think it would ever be possible. After a couple of weeks of thinking about dogs, I casually mentioned it to Reto. No reaction. A couple of days later I tried again... asking him if it wouldn't be nice to have a Jack Russell Terrier. So small, easy to take anywhere. He only "oompfed" and said that it is nice to have a dog (his parents always had a dog when he grew up), but that it is also a big responsibility and sometimes also restriction.

I drew hope from his admittance that it is nice to have a dog. When I started talking about dogs again the next time, he said that he wouldn't want such a small dog. By then I had started researching a bit and I had read that the "Jackies" are pretty head strong and are even sometimes advised against to buy if you never had a dog before.

And before he knew it, I had books at home with all the dog breeds in it, I was reading a lot on the internet too. And we had more talks about having a dog. I became more and more convinced that I could persuade Reto.

And last Monday, it finally happened. I had found a breed that I really, really liked a lot, the Flat Coated Retriever. Beautiful, black dog with wonderful characteristics. The kids were also very enthusiastic about it. So when Reto came home, I showed him the dog and he liked it too. And that evening, I asked him if we were going to get a dog for real. And he said yes. We looked at the Flat Coated Retriever description in the book together and then we realised that it is a pretty big dog. Bigger than a Golden Retriever (and those are already big in my eyes)... So I had to find another breed. I was disappointed, because I thought we really had found the breed that we wanted.

I wanted a Retriever, because they are so friendly, they learn so quickly, they love water and swimming (so do I) and ... because I have very very good memories of a Golden Retriever that I knew when I was a teenager. (I will tell you about him in my next post)

And then I saw the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever... smaller, but with the same characteristics as the Flat Coated. I searched for breeders online, read their pages and saw many pictures of the "Toller" as they call it. I was not so convinced by its looks, but the characteristics made up for that. The Toller is not an ugly dog by any means. I just had to get used to the colour(s) of the coat. The Toller is a "red head". Just like Tina, my daughter. They will fit so well together, optically, LOL! The Toller is sometimes almost completely red (orange), with little white. Sometimes they have more white, but the red is always the main colour. Reto liked it too and on Tuesday (8 Jan 2008) we informed Tina and Lorenzo (kiddies) that we are going to buy a Toller!
Tina liked it a lot straight away (might be because of the colour of the coat), Lorenzo was a bit harder to convince, because he really liked the Flat Coated Retriever a lot better. But that was of course only based on its looks.

I wrote various breeders, to ask if we could visit them. And next Sunday (13 Jan 2008), we are going to visit two of them! I am very very excited! AND... we are going to meet a Toller for the first time during our drive to the first breeder!!

Michaela lives in Zurich and she has a Toller called "Stukki". Stukki is in heat right now and she was planning to go to the breeder by train on Sunday, to get the dog "covered" by one of the male dogs there. When Stukki is about to give birth, she will bring her back to the breeders, and they will take care of Stukki and the pups until the pups are all sold.
Since we are driving down there this Sunday, we are picking up Michaela and Stukki in Winterthur. It is then about a 2.5 hour drive to the Breeder. So... that will be our first meeting with a Toller. And there is a very small chance that we will get one of her pups! Exciting, exciting! I will soon post a pic of Stukki.

The second breeder that we are going to visit is almost 2 hours away from the first. They have a nest at the moment with pups that were born on 27 Dec 2007. The female pups have all been sold already and the breeder said that there was only a small chance that they still had a male one available.

I am very impatient and I would rather have the pup today than tomorrow.. but I have to realise that it might be autumn or even winter before we have a pup. Especially if we only want a female one. (Reto prefers a female because she is slightly smaller and because they are less prone to running off. I have no real preference yet.) I also have to let my "belly" decide when choosing a pup.

I am also in touch (email) with a third breeder. That one asked for some information about us before they want to make an appointment for a visit. I wrote them a long email about us and I hope to hear from them soon.

In choosing a breeder, I will just go with my belly. Do I like the people? Do they give lots of information about the dogs and how they raise them and feed them etc? Do I like their surroundings (clean, nice for the dogs)? Do I like their dogs? Do I like the way they treat their dogs? Those will be the deciding factors.

Oh, this post is becoming longer than I had thought. Can you imagine that I am driving the people around me crazy with my incessant talking about dogs? Even Lorenzo said: "You are only talking about dogs lately, can't you talk about something else now?!" LOL!