muttlycrew

Maja, For the record, I went ahead and moved my own post.

Post moved.

Mine is not very imaginative. My pack has always consisted of mostly mutts and I always refer to them as my crew. It has nothing to do with Mötley Crüe (people always assume I'm a big fan)

Gorgeous boy!! All of my dogs are crated until they can prove they are 100% trustworthy. It depends entirely on each individual dog. Even then, the dogs are limited to certain areas of the house that I know is completely dog proof. My oldest who is 11 is never crated unless I have to leave the house and it is going to storm. My next girl is 2.5 and I have been leaving her out of her crate for short times only once she turned 2. So far she hasn't gotten into anything since she has matured a bit. My youngest, and newest addition, is crated and will be crated for awhile. She makes up too many "games" that even when I leave her alone for 5 minutes, she's created a mess or knocked something over. I have my brothers dachshund while he is in the USAF. He is 6 and is crated. Period. I would go back to either crating Rievaulx or not giving him as much freedom. You said he doesn't show as much interest in chew toys -- what about elk/deer antlers, stuffed kongs, etc?

I will add in my .02 and say an adult rescue. I knew I wanted to add another BC to my crew but I had a whole laundry list of things I needed and/or wanted. It took me almost 2 years of fostering to find the right one and I couldn't be happier with my decision. She excels naturally at any sports I throw at her, has an amazing off switch, loves every person/kid, and is just perfect. Of course I am super picky, which is most likely why it took so long. A small BC or smaller herding breed mix may do well. My girl is 28lbs. Not sure what her height is as I haven't gotten an accurate measurement, but she's very petite.

I almost see Aussie/English Shepherd.

I have a 2 year minimum rule for myself. A few months ago, the ages went 11.5, 9, 7, 5, 2. If I still had those same numbers and you added in my newest dog, she's 1.5. Kind of throws off that nice little list above, but in my defense the youngest had just turned 2 before the new one was added. I just feel like it is easier to bring in a new dog (regardless of age) once the current dogs are trained, under control, and know the rules. I couldn't imagine getting through house-training, chewing, basic manners/training, etc and then turning around and doing it all over again a few months later. But that's just me. As I said before, I fostered a lot for BCR. This allowed me to see what their temperament, personality, etc was like before I committed. I wanted to know 150% what I was getting into. First and foremost the dog had to get along with all members of the pack, human/canine/feline. Second, I had to be able to tolerate the dog. As many people know, sometimes your personality and the dogs personality just don't mesh.

I will also chime in and say well-bred or a rescue where you already know the temperment. I foster a lot for BCR and it took me about a year and I finally found one that totally fit with my pack (both females, one who is an old crabby bitch). Well worth the wait! It depends on the day for my girl(s). Usually in the mornings after they eat and go potty they come in and sleep for a good few hours. Occasionally Stella will lay in her bed with a toy and play quietly. Around lunch we head outside (1.5 acres acres fenced in) where they all run, chase, swim and hunt. Usually I break out the Frisbee and we play a few sessions with that. We are outside for a good hour. We come back in and we do a few 5-10 minute training sessions, then it's back to napping. Late afternoon they eat and we are outside for another hour. I teach most evenings, so they are in their crates for ~ 4 hours with a frozen kong, deer antler, or chewy. We go (sheep) herding 2x a week, dock diving 2x a week, and an agility class 1x a week. My girls are happy to settle in the house (Stella is still learning) but are ready to go when I am. We don't have many trials around here and we have too many unsupervised, unleashed, and rude dogs in our neighborhoods to walk often. Twice a month we load up the car and head to the lake or to a nice mountain trail, but not as often as we'd like.

Paula -- I'm not familiar with Alex...only Will...

This thread is too funny...I'm sorta new and thought I'd play along. A few weeks ago at the park I was playing Chuck-It with my girls when someone approached me. Person: Man that dog is fast....that's a Jack Russel, right? Here's my "JRT".