looking into adopting
I’m looking into adopting an Old English Sheepdog. I’ve never had one before, but after doing some research, it sounds like one would fit in well. I’m looking to adopt one that is out of the puppy stage, good around children and livestock, plus another dog and cat. question: how are they at barking when someone pulls in the driveway? I’m in no hurry, but would like to find by spring, near Missouri. Any suggestions or help you could offer, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. |
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Protea wrote: question: how are they at barking when someone pulls in the driveway?
In my experience? Excellent! Most of them are naturally talented. The real question is: will they be quiet when you ask them to? 
What about the breed made you think you'd like to live one? What kind of livestock do you have? Are you expecting your future OES to help with the livestock, or simply not eat it? 
How old are the kids? These are the kind of questions rescue will ask you. With all of those considerations (good with kids, other dogs, cats, livestock), I'd want a temperament tested adult dog too. Fewer surprises. And I guess if it was me and I was SURE I wanted a big, hairy beast of the OES variety, I'd contact a few of the closest rescues, tell them what I was looking for and why, and ask them to please be on the look-out for me. Evaluating how a dog gets along with cats and with other dogs and even with kids isn't too hard. But knowing how a dog is around livestock may take a bit more doing (since not too many of us have regular access to livestock), so it's going to take the right situation to figure out if a specific rescue is the one for you. (Dawn - are you planning on doing any fostering for Minnesota this spring? )
Someone, I'm sure, must have the contact info for the closest midwest OES rescues handy - guys? Kristine |
Here's the page with all the rescue links. 
http://www.oes.org/html/oes_rescue.shtml |
| Mine never bark when someone pulls into the driveway - of course the Macaw is more than enough warning for us, and all the neighbors :0 |
I'll second the idea of getting a dog from rescue. We got Ralph 4 months ago from the Minnesota OES Rescue (GO NANCY  ) and she did a great job of getting the dog that was right for us. Because he's 4, we didn't have to go through all of the puppy problems (but did miss all the puppy-cute.) and knew what to expect with his personality.
Do think about a rescue. I've also seen plenty of relatively young dogs here and on the rescue sites, so you would be able to get one at an age you'd like. Ralph barks when the doorbell rings, but that's about it. If you're thinking about farm-dog barking, I'm not sure you'd get that with an OES. Ann |
| I have a 10 month old pup in foster care right now. I live in Elsberry Mo and work out of O'fallon Mo off hyw 70. If you would like more info on her please pm me. |
| I encourage you to fill out some applications with different OES rescues. There are some great dogs that go through rescue... you might just find a rescue sheepie had shared his/her life with kids and is good/calm with them. And if you get a sheepie that's past the puppy stage, you'll have a much better idea of his/her temperament as Ann has said. They seem to be calmer by the time they reach 3 years though they are a goofy and exuberant breed.
We adopted Panda from New England Old English Sheepdog Rescue http://www.neoesr.org/adoptionform/ back in September of 2005. Her previous homes were in New Jersey and she flew to us at 10 1/2 months of age. http://oesusa.com/Panda1126072.jpg All of our sheepies have flown to us and I think the key is to find a direct flight with a good airline that has no stop-overs and someone to stay with the dog until the plane takes off. Good luck to you with your search... try to be patient no matter which route you take. It will be well worth it. |
ralphsmoms wrote: Ralph barks when the doorbell rings, but that's about it. If you're thinking about farm-dog barking, I'm not sure you'd get that with an OES.
Ann Snort! <sorry > Mine bark at corn stalks if the mood strikes them. I have a rescue staying with me for a week or so and I keep telling the "crew" they better not be a bad influence! But if barking *is* desired, the chosen rescue dog can come stay with my heathens for a while first
Kristine |
Mine only bark when the scary mail is coming through the mail slot in the door.  |
Well for pete's sake... I posted under the wrong thread 
Please disregard... what I wrote makes absolutely NO sense here.
Heading back to the puppy section 
PS- Mine are a bunch of barkers IF the rabblerousers get them started. But they quiet down pretty quick. |
6Girls wrote: Well for pete's sake... I posted under the wrong thread
Please disregard... what I wrote makes absolutely NO sense here. Heading back to the puppy section PS- Mine are a bunch of barkers IF the rabblerousers get them started. But they quiet down pretty quick. Got into the eggnog a little early, eh?
I think in terms of barking, they are a "the more, the merrier" kind of breed. One starts...you know the drill. Sybil likes to run to the back door to bark determinedly at nothing if somebody has something she wants. That way, they all drop what they're doing and run to stand there (also barking at nothing), while she runs back to steal the abandoned toy, bone, whatever. But I do notice a difference in level of awareness. Sybil never misses a beat. If I step outside and a new tree branch is down, she must woof at it a few times to let me know something is different. Belle never gave a damn and she never will when it comes to inanimate objects, but always alerts to people. There are different levels of "guarding/protectiveness" instinct within the breed, I think. Of course, age, experience and that all important brain development doesn't hurt either. I like a dog who can distinguish between a "someone just arrived" and a tree stump (!)
And then there is the "tattle tale" OES ("they're having fun, mom. Make them stop!") This one I find outright annoying. Love the Santa Dog. Who is it? Kristine |
| My 6 month old "only dog" puppy barks all of the time. If you won't play with him, or I walk outside without him, at his reflection in shiny surfaces...etc. Plenty of bark here...or and when the doorbell rings. |
wendy58 wrote: My 6 month old "only dog" puppy barks all of the time. If you won't play with him, or I walk outside without him, at his reflection in shiny surfaces...etc. Plenty of bark here...or and when the doorbell rings.
I don't doubt it. But when he does, he doesn't get his 4 relatives and visiting rescue dogs going too...Consider five or six of him (OK, he's a little extreme ), all feeding off of each other.
Kristine  |
No...he lost his big sister std poodle a couple of months ago. So much for the plans of the older dog showing him manners. Someday maybe he will get to be the well behaved adult showing the next puppy how it's done. I tremble at the thought!!!  |
I'm so sorry. 
Belle was particially raised by a standard poodle. I imagine that's where some of her perfection came from. I bet he'll love being a big brother some day. Kristine |
| Obe never barks when someone knocks or rings the doorbell. He looks at me like you better get that. If he wants something he will bark or when we play he barks. |
| derby only barks at nite when he hears a noise and of course the others chim in rescue is the only way to go |
Quote: Got into the eggnog a little early, eh?
I know you won't believe me but honest... there's not a drop of the stuff in the house! I had two windows open, got called away and mistakenly started typing away in the wrong one. 
"Ding-dong" in this cased doesn't mean the doorbell's ringing. |
| I can't even figure out where you got off topic...maybe I am the ding dong. |
wendy58 wrote: I can't even figure out where you got off topic...maybe I am the ding dong.
Actually, I thought Jaci's post fit in just fine too, so maybe it's you and I who have been prematurely in the eggnog? 
There is a somewhat mirrow thread in "Getting A Puppy" where people are suggesting to someone who's having a hard time finding a puppy from a reputable breeder that they should consider rescue. Jaci could have just bluffed her way out of it since her post fit both topics just fine.
Kristine |
| Yup... that's the thread Kristine
Thanks for your understanding everyone! One other thing getting back to the original post...
Quote: question: how are they at barking when someone pulls in the driveway? Do you want the sheepie to bark or do you want the sheepie NOT to bark? They can generally be trained either way unless the dog has a deeply instilled trait to protect his/her property. I think it would be something you could talk over with a rescue.[/quote] |
| First, Thanks to everyone for your replies!
Yes, the dog would live on a farm with cows and occasionally sheep and ducks. I’m not looking for a working dog, just a pet that gets along with other animals. As far as barking goes, my basset hound is a pretty good driveway alarm system. We can tell by her bark if she recognizes the car. It is nice to know when someone is coming up the drive. Yes, rescue is the way to go. That is the only way we’ve ever found a dog. It took the basset about 3 months before she stopped following me around. She decided that I was her person and she wasn’t letting me out of her sight. My Lab, we’ve had for many, many years (rescue too) and he is failing fast. Time is simply catching up with him. When he’s gone, I don’t think I’ll be ready for another lab, so we’re looking into an OES as a new member of the family. I’ve never been around an OES, but after reading about them, we think one would fit in well with our family. But any advice, tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated. First hand knowledge is always better than any internet search. |
| I laughed when I read your post.
I live on a farm, have assorted livestock, including sheep (we raise them) and ducks. We have labs and a basset hound and of course Chewie the OES too. They all get along great.
Several have been rescues over the years, including the current basset, hubby's coonhound, a min pin, 2 horses, a pony, a ewe and the ducks. Plus more in the past - this is just the current bunch of rescues. Where are you located? Lots of us would be happy to let you experience our OES first-hand. |
| Yes, I had to laugh too. One of my basset's favorite things is to play with my friend's coonhound. I was considering getting a red bone, but we decided that 2 hound noses could cause a problem.
When we got the basset, she was a city dog before. We were a little nervous how she'd adapt to farm life. She's fascinated with the cattle. She'll spend hours watching them, never chasing them, just sneaking up and watching. She's our little cow stalker.
We hope that a basset and an OES would be good friends. |
| Hi and welcome. Chauncey is 2 and is not a " compulsive barker ", he does bark when someone is in the yard. The real problem here is Sunday and Monday night football. We have a large screen and Chaunce barks at all the guys running in the windows. Bob hates spectator sports and Chauncey will usually go into the other room to watch something else with him. If so we're okay....if not those guys running in the windows create quite a fuss
Prior to getting Chauncey we had a lab that was loved beyond words. When Jake passed we decided to wait a year or so before getting a dog. I have had to retire early and after a few months needed a companion. I'd always wanted an OES and we got Chaunce as a puppy. We were not ready for another lab, we saw it as a replacement for Jake. There is little similarity in the breeds. Chauncey is more strong willed, a real clown, goofy, fun, Mr. bad behavior...equally loved, BUT definitely different a different breed. The puppy stage ( we're still in it ) is definitely more challenging than we have experience with labs, not to mention longer. These guys are puppies until about 3. All in all I've loved every ( well most ) minute. It's great you are considering a rescue. I'm sure our next will be as well. Good luck on your search.....OES are great dogs. Kathy |
| Walter is a wonderful watchdog, he lets us know when anyone/thing passes by the house. He thinks its his job, and is never far from the door or window.
It sounds like your farm would be a great place for a rescue dog- good luck! |
Protea wrote: Yes, I had to laugh too. One of my basset's favorite things is to play with my friend's coonhound. I was considering getting a red bone, but we decided that 2 hound noses could cause a problem.
When we got the basset, she was a city dog before. We were a little nervous how she'd adapt to farm life. She's fascinated with the cattle. She'll spend hours watching them, never chasing them, just sneaking up and watching. She's our little cow stalker. We hope that a basset and an OES would be good friends. Our coonhound is a bluetick, but 3 of Todd's brothers have redbones. Simon the basset was a city dog - from the Chicago area. When we got him he took 1 step off the sidewalk, and took a poop!! He wasn't used to acres and acres to potty on. We fixed that habit right away! Here's a picture of 4 of them. Missing are the 2 labs and min pin -  |
| I’m confused.
I thought we had found the perfect OES for us at a rescue about a 5 hour drive away. I called about him and filled out all of the paperwork over the phone. I was told ‘you are approved, pending you bringing in your dog so the two can meet at neutral territory, and we’re sure they are ok together’. I told them I’d call back and let them know when I could be there. Less than 10 minutes later I received an e-mail saying that they had adopted the dog to someone else. I’m confused. Is that normal? Needless to say I’m a little disheartened. Any suggestions to keep this from happening again? I’m not sure what I did wrong.  |
| Did you call them back? Maybe they sent the "sorry he's adopted note" to you instead of someone else. Especially if they just had your info in front of them. This does not sound like typical behavior, more like an accident.
Good luck. |
| I've had similar things happen to me with rescue. These people are exceedingly busy and very stressed and can be burned out at times. It may very well have been a clerical error. I was strung along on several dogs only to get told we weren't good enough. Turns out, they were just trying to match the exact right dog to us and for us to get a fence finished; didn't find that out until after I got completely frustrated with the process and bought a sheepdog.
Email or call them to see what happened and keep a level head. Keep plugging away and the right dog will find you. |
| Yes I did call them back, I was hoping that they had me confused with me. But we were not that lucky. He had been adopted by someone else. |
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