Dog for two wheelchair users

Mental Mickey

Hi

Myself and my wife are looking at buying a dog. It must be small, easy to look after, a short coat, and not too frisky.

We were thinking of a Miniature Pinscher.

What are the pros and cons of this dog?

Cherry Blossom

Retired greyhound, once it gets a daily run will be reserved in the house. They fold up small, they are just long legged.

All puppies are boisterous and will wreck the house if let. They also need house training as in toilet training and training not to chew things. A pup will learn pretty quickly how to stay just out of your reach if you are wheelchair bound. An older already house trained dog from a reputable rescue is your best bet. A good rescue will match you with the right dog.

There is no breed that is 'easy' to look after.

Mental Mickey

Cherry Blossom wrote: »

Retired greyhound, once it gets a daily run will be reserved in the house. They fold up small, they are just long legged.

All puppies are boisterous and will wreck the house if let. They also need house training as in toilet training and training not to chew things. A pup will learn pretty quickly how to stay just out of your reach if you are wheelchair bound. An older already house trained dog from a reputable rescue is your best bet. A good rescue will match you with the right dog.

There is no breed that is 'easy' to look after.

Wouldn't rescue dogs come with a loads of problems?

Cherry Blossom

Rescue dogs go into rescues for many different reasons ranging from siezed from a home they were being cruelly treated in to much loved pet whos previous owner died. Racing greyhounds generally spend much of their life kennelled so they learn not to soil where they sleep and are easy to housetrain as a result. They are also generallywell socialised with people and other dogs and can cope with being left alone for a short time as they have become used to it. By going to a rescue that uses foster homes they will have learned a great deal about the dogs personality and quirks. They will not home a problematic dog to someone with little prior experience of such dogs. They best thing in your circumstances about using a reputable rescue is that they will always take a dog back if an unforseen problem crops up or for some reason the dog is not suitable for the home it has been placed in.

I must stress that not all rescues are equal the same way that good and bad breeders exist. If you let us know the area you live in people can pm you with recommendations of rescues. They cant do so on thread.

zoe 3619

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Wouldn't rescue dogs come with a loads of problems?

Not always.
An adult greyhound sounds perfect.
Gentle,affectionate and lazy.Very easy to excercise and smooth coated.
Would prefer to live indoors and have access to the sofa.

Sheepdish1

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Hi

Myself and my wife are looking at buying a dog. It must be small, easy to look after, a short coat, and not too frisky.

We were thinking of a Miniature Pinscher.

What are the pros and cons of this dog?

Hi OP, out of curiosity are there a reason you want a Miniature Pinschers?

I would also echo what others have said in terms of going to a reputable rescue. Some dogs are born and reared with fosterers and don’t necessarily have problems. Others are surrendered due to people becoming unwell or circumstances changing.

Greyhounds are lovely and are couch potatoes......a whippet would be smaller if size is important. A rescue will pair you with suitable dog. You could always foster for a few weeks too!

mymo

A good rescue will find suitable dog and let you Foster to start off, all going well you can adopt.
My friend has the most gorgeous springer that was dumped as he's no good for hunting, too lazy and affectionate, another friend has a now very elderly llewellyn setters who was also dumped as no good for hunting.
Plenty of hounds that won't chase, are dumped too, or older retired racing dogs.
Some wonderful dogs. Good luck

JustAThought

Greyhounds can have a strong prey drive and this can be an issue walking them -particularly with small dogs about in public parks. Some parks -such as malahide castle 10p actes -even before the extremely dibious public consultation refusing off lead access in almost 100 of its acres, stopped letting them be allowed off lead or unmuzzled. It would be an idea to check the rules in your local park or where you will be planning to e xercise the dog to see what might or might no be a problem.

Regarding minature pinchers are these minature Doberman Pinchers? In which case tbis wuld be a variation of another restricted dog that (deslite their cute size & appearance) have restrictions around where and how you can walk them. ( muzzled, on leash only, with responsible adult and on a short leash only made mostly of chain). Again,I' d be checking my local area as leople can be extremely abusive and agressive towards people walking restricted dogs in non compliant ways even if they are the nicrst dogs in the world.

Some parks have rules and some even have pictures up inside their gate to alert the public and the rules also specify mixes of these dogs ( ie mixed/half breeds). Might be a problem for you, sadly, as they are beautiful dogs.ditto greyhounds/lurchers.

Mental Mickey

JustAThought wrote: »

Greyhounds can have a strong prey drive and this can be an issue walking them -particularly with small dogs about in public parks. Some parks -such as malahide castle 10p actes -even before the extremely dibious public consultation refusing off lead access in almost 100 of its acres, stopped letting them be allowed off lead or unmuzzled. It would be an idea to check the rules in your local park or where you will be planning to e xercise the dog to see what might or might no be a problem.

Regarding minature pinchers are these minature Doberman Pinchers? In which case tbis wuld be a variation of another restricted dog that (deslite their cute size & appearance) have restrictions around where and how you can walk them. ( muzzled, on leash only, with responsible adult and on a short leash only made mostly of chain). Again,I' d be checking my local area as leople can be extremely abusive and agressive towards people walking restricted dogs in non compliant ways even if they are the nicrst dogs in the world.

Some parks have rules and some even have pictures up inside their gate to alert the public and the rules also specify mixes of these dogs ( ie mixed/half breeds). Might be a problem for you, sadly, as they are beautiful dogs.ditto greyhounds/lurchers.

Some of your post is difficult to understand. Don't know if we'd be able to bring it for a walk?

Hoboo

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Hi

Myself and my wife are looking at buying a dog. It must be small, easy to look after, a short coat, and not too frisky.

We were thinking of a Miniature Pinscher.

What are the pros and cons of this dog?

Miniature Pinschers are energy balls, doesn't sound like a good choice for you.

I'd second a rescue, you don't need to go buying dogs.........and I wouldn't get a puppy, from what you've said you need a chilled out couch potato. That'll take 4 or 5 years minimum. Even then its 2 walks a day.

Go to the rescue, loads of gorgeous dogs and you'll get an idea of temperament and personality when you meet them, and get some advice from the people there.

Knine

I'm not going to suggest a rescue as you asked about a particular pedigree breed. The Min Pin is not a small Doberman, it is a completely different breed. It is not a restricted breed. As I live with someone with a complex disability & am very familiar with this breed, I don't think they would be suitable. They are very lively & not the most robust if they collide with a wheelchair.

Contrary to popular opinion many small breeds need more exercise then their bigger cousins.

I would suggest you go to one of the IKC shows & have a look at the many different breeds & talk to their owners. Sometimes they will have retired show dogs who are bombproof, house trained & out of the young puppy stage or older dogs that may suit. I feel in your situation an older dog who does not need a lot of exercise may suit you.

I would also suggest contacting Irish dogs for the Disabled. They may be able to help.

Mental Mickey

Knine wrote: »

I'm not going to suggest a rescue as you asked about a particular pedigree breed. The Min Pin is not a small Doberman, it is a completely different breed. It is not a restricted breed. As I live with someone with a complex disability & am very familiar with this breed, I don't think they would be suitable. They are very lively & not the most robust if they collide with a wheelchair.

Contrary to popular opinion many small breeds need more exercise then their bigger cousins.

I would suggest you go to one of the IKC shows & have a look at the many different breeds & talk to their owners. Sometimes they will have retired show dogs who are bombproof, house trained & out of the young puppy stage or older dogs that may suit. I feel in your situation an older dog who does not need a lot of exercise may suit you.

I would also suggest contacting Irish dogs for the Disabled. They may be able to help.

I'm going to the <snip> show in finglas today

Why not go for a dog that could be trained to co-operate with and actually assist you, fetching things etc. One of the world’s most intelligent breeds is the little Papillon, I have seen these in action. They are generally very healthy & long lived, and far more than the picture of the lap dog beloved of Marie Antoinette. In spite of their size they are robust and would have the cop-on to stay clear of wheelchair wheels. Their coats are not difficult to care for.

DBB

Knine wrote: »

I would suggest you go to one of the IKC shows & have a look at the many different breeds & talk to their owners. Sometimes they will have retired show dogs who are bombproof, house trained & out of the young puppy stage or older dogs that may suit. I feel in your situation an older dog who does not need a lot of exercise may suit you.

I had been going to suggest this too... It's a great way of getting a "ready made" dog of a particular breed.
You can get purebred dogs via specific breed rescues too, and I can hopefully assure you from first hand experience that it's not that hard to get a really lovely rescue dog We always get to hear the horror stories, but there are plenty of happy stories too... And if you go to a good rescue, they'll have no interest in trying to shoe-horn an unsuitable dog in with you. Nobody wants the hassle or upheaval of having to take back a dog that was not suited in the first place!
I wouldn't be too sure that a MinPin would be a great choice op... They're right little live wires and a tendency to be kinda yappy. But... Maybe this is what you'd really like! But maybe consider a more laid-back breed, or an individual of whatever shape or make who's known to be a chilled out kinda guy/gal
Also to reiterate that the MinPin is not a restricted breed, and I'm not sure where the assertion came from that restricted breeds have to be on a lead that has any part of it made up of chain?! The law says that the dog must be on a chain OR leash, either must be sufficiently strong, but there is no compulsion for an owner to have their RB on a chain.

em_cat

OP, I’m a prosthetic user & sometimes need a wheelchair, I approached dogs for the disabled and couldn’t get anywhere with them as I’m not a child and apparently not disabled enough.

I wouldn’t rule out a rescue dog as such, but Knine & DBB have very good points, you will need a dog that isn’t fearful of wheelchairs or people falling or mobility devices. I know it sounds odd but to a small or toy dog this can be terrifying. You’ll need to still be able to or have someone walk them everyday.

We’ve a 4kg rescue Pom x that was young enough to be trained with my wheelchair, arm crutch and my wobbly walking pace, but I’ve been trick training my dogs for years so it was relatively easy for me. One thing though she isn’t a registered task or assistance dog, however, I’ve never been refused entry with her only because the places I go I’m known to the owners or managers.

An example of a useful dog!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY4-J-5C-3E

Mental Mickey

Drove to that show in Finglas, but it was sold out.

Mental Mickey

We're not looking for an assistance dog, more of a pet/companion

Choc Chip

Mental Mickey wrote: »

We're not looking for an assistance dog, more of a pet/companion

What are you looking to do with your dog? Are you looking for a pet that will deal with minimal training and exercise (all dogs will need some amount of stimulation/exercise), or are you looking for a dog that will enjoy learning new things and the occasional game of fetch? I'm assuming from your op that you're looking for a dog with minimal exercise requirements?

As some other people have said, I'd suggest an older dog (either a rescue or retired show dog) if you're looking for minimal effort. Puppies need to learn EVERYTHING, from not chewing random cables to housetraining to being polite on-lead. Most retired showdogs will be bombproof, and a good rescue will be able to match you with a dog that suits your circumstances.

Seriously, not all rescues have problems. I randomly picked up a greyhound on the road this week. He's on his way into rescue but he's amazing on-lead, housetrained (not a single accident in the house over the past few days), good with small and big dogs, and a lazy fecker to boot. He does have a ridiculous love of couches and stealing food (he's an absolute monkey who likes to tease me and try and make me chase him).

em_cat

Mental Mickey wrote: »

We're not looking for an assistance dog, more of a pet/companion

I thought so but just wanted to say that any little dog would need to be trained around the wheelchairs & mobility aids as they often are terrified of them. To most people they wouldn’t think of that.

tk123

My friend got a retired 4 year old setter from the same breeder after their 10 year old setter died. As Knine has said he’s bomb proof, great with dogs, great with people or in crowds, fine in the car as they had done a lot of travelling for showing in and out of Ireland, fine with being on his own when they go out for a few hours etc etc. They were at the stage where they were desperate for another setter but the idea of a puppy was a bit much and by chance the dog was available so worked out perfect for everyone - dog included lol!

Mental Mickey

Just to add, we live in a dormer bungalow and our back garden is medium sized

Choc Chip

Off topic: I know someone who got a retired gun dog as a pet. He was sterling... with the exception of his tendency to wake up every morning at 5am for work.

He got out of it eventually, and his new owners adore him, but they were really struggling the first few weeks trying to re-set his routine. :pac:

Mental Mickey

Choc Chip wrote: »

What are you looking to do with your dog? Are you looking for a pet that will deal with minimal training and exercise (all dogs will need some amount of stimulation/exercise), or are you looking for a dog that will enjoy learning new things and the occasional game of fetch? I'm assuming from your op that you're looking for a dog with minimal exercise requirements?

As some other people have said, I'd suggest an older dog (either a rescue or retired show dog) if you're looking for minimal effort. Puppies need to learn EVERYTHING, from not chewing random cables to housetraining to being polite on-lead. Most retired showdogs will be bombproof, and a good rescue will be able to match you with a dog that suits your circumstances.

Seriously, not all rescues have problems. I randomly picked up a greyhound on the road this week. He's on his way into rescue but he's amazing on-lead, housetrained (not a single accident in the house over the past few days), good with small and big dogs, and a lazy fecker to boot. He does have a ridiculous love of couches and stealing food (he's an absolute monkey who likes to tease me and try and make me chase him).

Yes, minimal exercise

Choc Chip

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Yes, minimal exercise

Cool. Can I ask what you mean by that?

Are you thinking 30mins walk a day or 30mins fetch or no walking at all or much more or less?

I've got working breeds and enjoy mad dogs so my version of minimal exercise will likely be different to someone with toy breeds. I'm not trying to be patronising, just trying to figure out what you're looking for.

em_cat

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Yes, minimal exercise

Please don’t misunderstand me, there are loads of ways to exercise a dog in addition to than their daily walk. My only concern is that just letting the dog do it’s own thing in the back garden would not be good for the dog. Like Choc Chip I’m not trying to be patronising, but most dogs even greyhounds, lurchers, whippets & toy / terrier will need at minimum a 30 minute walk & mental enrichment.

If our Pom x didn’t get her daily mental & physical exercise she’d take it out on our Yorkie. Both help me with tasks as they enjoy the training & practice but not only that it’s super great & enjoyable for me.

Knine

em_cat wrote: »

Please don’t misunderstand me, there are loads of ways to exercise a dog in addition to than their daily walk. My only concern is that just letting the dog do it’s own thing in the back garden would not be good for the dog. Like Choc Chip I’m not trying to be patronising, but most dogs even greyhounds, lurchers, whippets & toy / terrier will need at minimum a 30 minute walk & mental enrichment.

If our Pom x didn’t get her daily mental & physical exercise she’d take it out on our Yorkie. Both help me with tasks as they enjoy the training & practice but not only that it’s super great & enjoyable for me.

Actually the majority of terriers will need as much or more exercise then the working breeds, they are not in the same category as greyhounds etc. I can do 10k & mine are still bouncing around.

em_cat

Knine wrote: »

Actually the majority of terriers will need as much or more exercise then the working breeds, they are not in the same category as greyhounds etc. I can do 10k & mine are still bouncing around.

Ohhhh don’t I know it, Esmae is wired to the moon and back. Although to look at her you’d think she’s nothing but a lap dog but nope. Mr C has joint issues but still is pretty active as in he loves a good sniffathon & nose work. Esmae isn’t particularly good at nose work but she loves working it. She’s addicted to tennis balls, but we don’t do a lot of fetch as she can be a bit OCD about it so sometimes I hid them all over & get her to search for them. She doesn’t fully put them all in the basket but is getting better.

I can’t go 10km so wouldn’t expect them too

My point was simply a run around a garden daily wouldn’t be enough for any dog even the toy breeds. But I wouldn’t let my disability stop me providing my dogs with the correct outlets for their energy.

Mental Mickey

Not sure how much exercise we'd be able to give it being wheelchair users?? We wouldn't be able to walk it on a leash for example.

em_cat

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Not sure how much exercise we'd be able to give it being wheelchair users?? We wouldn't be able to walk it on a leash for example.

I’ve seen several people walk their dogs on a lead while using a wheelchair, tbh I don’t understand how they do it but I’m sure it is doable. You’d could also find that by adopting an ex show dog, they may not need to be on a lead.

That’s understandable, it would be important to let the rescue or breeder know that.

There is a fantastic group on Facebook for canine enrichment or if your not one for fb just ask here as some of us are pretty passionate about providing our pets with proper enrichment. We’ve one dog that spends time on crate rest because of joint issues do it’s essential that he is mentally exercised or he’d be a nuisance barker and would drive us & our neighbours insane.

I’m pretty sure there would be plenty of older dogs that would be suitable for your situation; it may just take time to find one. As Knine pointed out be wary of terriers as they typically can resort to unwanted or destructive behaviours if not exercised also don’t assume that small dogs will be happy out just hanging out in a garden day in & day out though.

Manach

Jack Russells, small and loyal and with a personaliy to provide company to the person all day.

Mental Mickey

Manach wrote: »

Jack Russells, small and loyal and with a personaliy to provide company to the person all day.

I think someone else here said that they'd be a handful?

JustAThought

JustAThought wrote: »

Greyhounds can have a strong prey drive and this can be an issue walking them -particularly with small dogs about in public parks. Some parks -such as malahide castle 100 acres -even before the extremely dubious public consultation refusing off lead access in almost 100 of its acres, stopped letting them be allowed off lead or unmuzzled. It would be an idea to check the rules in your local park or where you will be planning to e xercise the dog to see what might or might not be a problem and what the off leash rules are.

Regarding minature pinchers are these minature Doberman Pinchers? In which case this would be a variation of another restricted dog that (despite their cute size & appearance) have restrictions around where and how you can walk them. ( muzzled, on leash only, with responsible adult and on a short leash only made mostly of chain). Again,I' d be checking my local area as people can be extremely abusive and agressive towards people walking restricted dogs in non compliant ways even if they are the nicest dogs in the world.

Some parks have rules and some even have pictures up inside their gate to alert the public and the rules also specify mixes of these dogs ( ie mixed/half breeds). Might be a problem for you, sadly, as they are beautiful dogs.ditto greyhounds/lurchers which are in some parks not allowed off lead..

Also if you are in Dublin half of south county Dublin has extremely punitive rules towards all dogowners not allowing dogs off leash on beaches or piers & extremely restricted off leash rules in parks such as Marley Park where humans are caged in small exercise pens with everyones dogs and that is expected to be sufficient for their running exercise. Pet owners must have been asleep at the wheel to let those new by-laws slip through.

So - my suggestion repeated and clarified at your request - do not get a restricted dog as walking it off leash could be an issue -particularly if you already have personal physical restrictions on whete you can access to exercise it freely. Most kennels and rescues are stuffed to the roof with testricted dogs or mix breed restricted dogs which are also included in the park and beach rules.

+1 for a larger and more mature dog. You might find on facebook some specific breed rescues such as labrador where tjey might have rescue have a nice, mostly trained family dog ready to go to a good home : it may just take some familiarisation training to get them used to tje wheelchairs.

+1 for the comment on small dogs being less robust and fragile if knocked. Then again they are lighter to handle and manage - but may need lifting into a car when a bigger dog might be able to jump in and out independently. Not sure how high your csr is! I was minding a neighbours elderly lab recently & ot could only clamber into the footwell of the car & cluldnt manage the jump from the booth -nof a problem I had anticipayed having!

Plus -as someone with one hand out of use for over 6 months & in a cage I really see the pressure doing everything with only 1 useable hand has -including being dragged by a dog on leash walks. The weight of ghe dog and its energy level epuld be very important imo especially if you are a wheelchair user - yoh dont want it damagi g your back or dragging you along under busses and into pedestrians. My last dog was 40kg and although well trained but very high energy- Id hate to think what might have happened if I'd walked her on a lead from a wheelchair or on rollerskates!


Regarding Jack Russels these are the most frequent agresdive and problematic dogs that I meet when walking thou like any dog there can be good & bad but these mostly from my experience seem to be high energy and often problematic.

Best of luck with it.

Knine

Not all small dogs are less robust. It is some of the light boned toy breeds that are a bit too dainty.

An older show line Jack Russell that is retired might also suit. Compared to my terriers they are calm!

Graces7

Mental Mickey wrote: »

I think someone else here said that they'd be a handful?

I had a Jack Russell/basset cross who was a live wire, but she would race ahead of me and back and forth so even with my limited mobility she did well. Utterly devoted she was.

JustAThought

Regarding dogs and limited walking & the possibility of their exercise being restricted to the garden of a large bungalow -not sure how big the garden is - it would be really important not to mistake size for less exercise needed!Some of the popular small size dogs such as cocker spaniels and poodles or poodle mixes (cockapoo, doodles etc) are high energy hunting dogs and have huge exercise requirements. Ditto terriers.

OP would getting someone to run the dog daily for.you he in the budget or would.you have a neighbour or local who would be prepared to.do this for you? I did it for a simeone who was sick and un and out of a hospital for a few years.and couldnt mind their dog properly (foc of course). You might have someone handy who mught be interested in the health benefits or there are local dogwalkers you could pay. It might not be in the budget but it could affect the range of dogs available to you dramatically.

Dial Hard

All dogs need to be walked, not just let run around a medium garden. So definitely, if you're not in a position to do this yourselves you need to be willing to ask/pay someone to do it for you. Likewise, will you be able to clean up after your dog? Obviously if you're out in public this has to be done but even at home you will need to keep the garden clean for a myriad of reasons.

Have you family/friends/home support that can help you with any and all aspects of the dog's care and wellbeing that you may not be able to provide? I'm trying to be as sensitive and understanding as possible here and obviously we don't know (nor do we need to) the extent of your mobility issues, but you do need to be 100% honest with yourselves about whether you can genuinely give a dog what it needs. If you feel you can then I would absolutely recommend reaching out to a rescue as they will work with you to match a dog to you, your partner's and the dog's needs if they can.

Best of luck.

Mental Mickey

I'm wondering myself.......

sillysmiles

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Not sure how much exercise we'd be able to give it being wheelchair users?? We wouldn't be able to walk it on a leash for example.

In my experience/opinion all dogs need some amount of walking both to exercise and to sniff and explore and scent mark.

Others maybe able to advise on breeds that never need walking but none that I can think of.



As wheelchairs users, have you a strategy for poop collecting and the practicalities of caring for a dog.

Dubl07

If you are wheelchair users out of doors but able to walk inside, a dog of at least knee-height might be better than a shin-height trip hazard.
If you have a health-care package, ask if a carer will go out with you and the dog. You and your partner need fresh air and sunlight, and any dog needs a sniffy walk, speed isn't that important.
You can get long-handled poop-scoops to clean up your garden or from your walks and if you can afford a trainer that would be a good idea. You can also get an attachment (usually marketed for cyclists) that will distance the dog from the chair by a little bit if you want to take the dog out without a helper.

That said, if what you both would like is an animal companion, have you considered a cat? An indoor litter tray would be easier to clean up than a garden.

kylith

Something like a lurcher sounds perfect for you. Big enough to not be a tripping/wheelchair hazard, generally short-coated, and not being full sight hounds often easier to train to recall so walking would be easier.

Mental Mickey

Dubl07 wrote: »

If you are wheelchair users out of doors but able to walk inside, a dog of at least knee-height might be better than a shin-height trip hazard.
If you have a health-care package, ask if a carer will go out with you and the dog. You and your partner need fresh air and sunlight, and any dog needs a sniffy walk, speed isn't that important.
You can get long-handled poop-scoops to clean up your garden or from your walks and if you can afford a trainer that would be a good idea. You can also get an attachment (usually marketed for cyclists) that will distance the dog from the chair by a little bit if you want to take the dog out without a helper.

That said, if what you both would like is an animal companion, have you considered a cat? An indoor litter tray would be easier to clean up than a garden.

Neither of us like cats

Mental Mickey

Manach wrote: »

Jack Russells, small and loyal and with a personaliy to provide company to the person all day.

Maybe a miniature Jack Russell??

charlietheminxx

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Maybe a miniature Jack Russell??

They still need to get out walking. Jack Russells are usually very clever and need lots of stimulation. Nearly all dogs will need 30+ minutes a day outside. I know some wheelchair users who manage this no problem, once a dog is lead trained they're happy to stick with you, but of course only you know what will work for you.

I would beg you to consider this fully before getting a dog, because you have to commit to it for a long time. Getting out and about isn't just about the exercise for them, it's their form of entertainment and interaction with the world, they love smelling and seeing different things. It's cruel to get a dog if you won't be able to take them out or to arrange for someone else to take them out daily.

Knine

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Maybe a miniature Jack Russell??

No such breed. But an older show standard type who is retired might suit

Mental Mickey

Knine wrote: »

No such breed. But an older show standard type who is retired might suit

Really? I googled it and it came up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Russell_Terrier

Choc Chip

Hey Mickey, I'm sure Knine will come back to you, but in the meantime, I think the questions I'd be asking myself would be:

(1) can I get the dog out for a walk/some kind of exercise every day or arrange someone to do that for me. Also remember that you'll need to get the dog out to toilet, or litter-train it and arrange to have that emptied.

(2) are you married to the idea of a pup? You've asked about a few breeds and there are older retired show dogs out there if you're set on a pure-bred dog. Remember that puppies come un-housetrained, they chew EVERYTHING (investigating the world with their mouth), they need to learn everything and they likely need management till they do. They also need to get out and experience the world or they're far more likely to find it scarier later on. If you cant do that for the majority of the time, I think you'd be better with an older dog.

(3) if you do decide on an older dog, I'd worry less about breed than the dog in front of you. At that stage it will have a fairly solid personality and you'll know pretty much what you're getting. I'm sure knine or someone could advise on retired show dogs and there are loads of golden oldies who end up in rescue and really just want a lap to cuddle on and a toddle round the block.

(4) I like to call jack russels, cracker jackers. Make of that what you will.

Hopefully that's not in any way offensive - I've no way of knowing how able you are to put up with any of those things, I'm just trying to put out ideas that struck me as you mentioned things about your situation. Also, I've not looked back as I'm on my phone so these might have been mentioned already.

Hope you find something suitable!

em_cat

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Maybe a miniature Jack Russell??

Have to say i’m with Knine, please don’t look for miniature anything, it only encourages dodgy greeder breeders.

Graces7

charlietheminxx wrote: »

They still need to get out walking. Jack Russells are usually very clever and need lots of stimulation. Nearly all dogs will need 30+ minutes a day outside. I know some wheelchair users who manage this no problem, once a dog is lead trained they're happy to stick with you, but of course only you know what will work for you.

I would beg you to consider this fully before getting a dog, because you have to commit to it for a long time. Getting out and about isn't just about the exercise for them, it's their form of entertainment and interaction with the world, they love smelling and seeing different things. It's cruel to get a dog if you won't be able to take them out or to arrange for someone else to take them out daily.

May I add to this please? Thank you! I had a Jack Russell/basset cross who was a live wire. My mobility has become erratic and limited but I learned that as long as I was around, she would race and play etc and get all the exercise she needed. She was happiest out here where the lanes are traffic free and she would race on ahead of me, then come back when I called. As long as you have outdoor space eg a garden, and can throw a ball, long formal walks are not essential. She found her own stimulation; into everything. A very happy wee dog she was.

Mental Mickey

Graces7 wrote: »

May I add to this please? Thank you! I had a Jack Russell/basset cross who was a live wire. My mobility has become erratic and limited but I learned that as long as I was around, she would race and play etc and get all the exercise she needed. She was happiest out here where the lanes are traffic free and she would race on ahead of me, then come back when I called. As long as you have outdoor space eg a garden, and can throw a ball, long formal walks are not essential. She found her own stimulation; into everything. A very happy wee dog she was.

Our back garden is an ok size. And yes, we can both throw a ball/toy around.

Sheepdish1

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Not sure how much exercise we'd be able to give it being wheelchair users?? We wouldn't be able to walk it on a leash for example.

Hi. I know you’re not looking for an assistance dog but it would be good to contact an organisation that provides these to wheelchairs users as they may be able to help you understand some practical things that you need to consider that may not be obvious to others.

For example size could be a consideration...my relative who is a wheelchair users can easily interact with taller dogs as they are arm height. But smaller dogs she can’t unless someone picks it up as she can’t bend down to floor level.....this will differ from person to person.

Another relative uses a walker. Smaller dogs seem to be more likely to trip people up in walkers from what I’ve seen as they tend to zip under and around people’s feet in my opinion. A larger dog (that is trained properly) is more visible to the person using walker.

It would be great to get info from the assistance dog organisation and then go to a reputable rescue. If you have clear needs they will help match a suitable dog for you.
Any dog will need to be brought on walk, I’m sure the dog could be trained to walk with you. Maybe foster for a few weeks and figure out if it is for you.

Financial should be considered..... vet check I, yearly vacations, worm fleas every few months. Non routine vets. Dentals. Food. Kennels when away.