A friend turned up yesterday with the cutest 7 week old puppy that he'd "rescued" and despite all commonsense I fell in love with it. We'd have to get some rapid fencing in place but I work from home so would be able to look after "Chucky" if he did join our family. A significant problem is Chucky's parentage. Daddy was a fox terrier and Mummy was a "Dago Pitbull". Pitbulls get a very bad press here and my understanding was that all were meant to be desexed to prevent breeding. Makes me wonder if Mummy was tarred with the brush out of ignorance rather than knowledge - her ownership history had been volatile at best. Chucky didn't seem to have that "big paw" thing that big breeds tend to get but at 7 weeks he'd already be starting to measure up as a foxy teenager. If we did get a dog I wouldn't want anything bigger than a Labrador and am used to CKCS so know that I'd need the puppy classes just as much as Chucky. How do I estimate how big this puppy is likely to get?
The best way to find out is , look up the breed standard of both breeds, and see what height each of them can reach.............. then estimate he/she wont be bigger then the tallest of the 2 breeds................ i,e if the pit Bull can reach 20 ins, and the Fox Terrier 15 in, then your dog should be no more than 20 ins .........give or take?
Jackbox is correct if both sire and dam are purebred. If there is anything else that you don't know of in their backgrounds then it is anyone's guess as to how large the pup will grow
Hmmm, it would have been nice to have access to the mother. It was always one of our rules when breeding the spaniels and giving advice to people who were interested in buying. Especially as she's the bigger dog and the dodgier breed.
tell tale signs tend to be in the paws, head, legs and ears. Not always but are a good sign. Puppies with large ears tend to grow into them (like a gsd, but then weimys always have huge lugs). Big feet usually indicate a big dog, and long legs, the *lanky* looking pup will usually grow up to be pretty big. At a guess though, he shouldn't really be any bigger than the biggest of his parents, if they are purebred themselves, which would be the pit. But he's probably going to be a powerful boy.
I wonder if he's still too young to tell. I saw a cav puppy for the first time in ages the other day and at 8 weeks he hadn't got leggy yet (gosh, they're cute then). I might let fate run it's course for a couple of weeks and see how he his then. If he has a new home then c'est la vie, if not then I'll take another look. They know I'm interested so he won't end up at the SPCA without checking in first.
Our cross breeds were about 4 month old before they got 'leggy'. Would it bother you if he were quite tall?
A friend had a dog that was enormous - he was so lazy she'd take him for "drags" rather than walks and he wouldn't hurt a fly but people (including her own children) were terrified of him. I knew the dog but even I would be cautious entering their backyard unannounced. I'd be 99% confident but the consequences of the 1% weren't worth thinking about. In reality he was incredibly lonely and would have loved to be more central in their lives. Occassionally we look after Howard, an elderly Cav who comes with two different types of medicine and a stethoscope, yet when we walk to school you see mothers hauling their children out of his path. In all the years (when I was a child) of breeding, showing, "rescuing" and rehoming I never heard of a Cav biting anyone. Locally there have been some nasty incidents of dogs mauling children and for a while it looked like all city "off leash" areas were going to be closed. That's settled down and we have quite good access round here - which is partly why I'm interested, now, in having a dog. Also my kids are old enough to be sensible with a dog, and young enough to grow up with one. So, after all the rambling, the reasons for having a mid sized dog include: Not terrifying people Not having a dog you have to "drag" I don't like large dogs inside the house and I'd like an inside/outside dog Mid sized dogs are easier to include in a broader range of family activities, take out in the car etc.
Think I would be more concerned with the temperament than the size, FT's can be very feisty and if it is on the large size you could finish up with 2 foot, 80 lb well muscled feisty dog who had designs on clearing the neighbourhood of dogs and children, on the other hand a delightful FT look alike with muscle. Even with first crosses unless you know the parents and the parent’s background it is difficult to tell what you may get and only if you could cope with both extremes, would it, IMO, be sensible to take it on.
surely if the dog was trained it wouldnt terrify people and you wouldnt have to "drag" it round.... and so what if people are scared, you know the dog and its only other peoples ignorance that led to them being scared.... unless you could cope with the size it could potentially be than dont take him on... Alex xx ps...welcome by the way!!!!!
I'm pretty torn. Thordell makes good points about the temperament but I balance that with "there are no bad dogs, just bad owners" - but then there's also bad breed decisions. I invited Chucky over, and the older dog he's living with, yesterday and a ton of neighbours kids - including one of the kids from post #9 who was scared of the families big dog. No cute puppy was going to win him round! The wee fella in yellow had no problems! I think I'll sit tight on this for a while
In a way I agree there are very few bad dogs but there are some, not their fault but the fault of breeders. Then there are dogs that are not bad but extremely difficult, and if this very difficult dog is living in the wrong surroundings and the wrong circumstances there may be problems that will lead to difficulties and stress all round from neighbours and family to the owner and their dogs. Only you can assess the true situation but it is easy to get carried away with wanting the dog and not think of the down side, this does not apply to you or you would not have asked the question. If you feel confident and have the sort of home that can deal with any problems that may happen then you should go with your heart.
Lucky little Chucky has been adopted by an older couple who live on a farm (probably a lifestyle block or "farmlet"). He'll be replacing an old Rottweiler that died recently. While I'm sure we could have given him a good home I think he's probably gone to a great home! thanks for your advice everyone!
Thanks for the update, I am sure you came to the best decision for you and for the dog, a difficult one I am sure but well thought through and IMO you have acted with care and responsibility.
