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.