i have finally found my perect four legged friened

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master2

i have finally found my perect four legged friened

Post by master2 »

Hello

as some of you will know I have been waiting for the right breed and dog for me and have been volunteering at a Labrador rescue, Gsd rescue, RSPCA and other rescues. I have fostered a few GSD and decided they were not right for me and have fostered a Dobe and they were not right for me.

in Jan this year a 1yr old male came into the Rescue (Rspca) AND he has been here ever since about 8 months and not one single person has ever been interested in him his owners could not keep him as they were moving into rented accommodation and were not allowed to take him with them. his breed is somewhat rare as no one ever know what breed he is or ever heard of his breed. I have been very taken by him and seems to like being with me more than the other walkers (but I think that's because I spend more time with him than the others) so as I really have fallen for him and I wanted him with in the first week but had to wait as I was fostering a GSD at the time so was really happy that he was still there now I can rehome him as the Dobe I fostered went to his new home on Monday.

this is the breed he is http://totallygundogs.com/the-italian-spinone/

I wanted to ask if anyone or if Nettle knows anything about them as I have researched them but not much come up I found the link but not that much else?

I put a reserve on him yesterday and had a home check today and passed :D so will be bringing him home tomorrow :D
JudyN
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Re: i have finally found my perect four legged friened

Post by JudyN »

Oh I love spinones - pleeease can we have pictures? :D

Having said that, I don't really know anything about them, apart from the slobber, which led to us crossing them off our shortlist. One shake of their head, apparently, and you have stalagtites of drool hanging off the ceiling :lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
master2

Re: i have finally found my perect four legged friened

Post by master2 »

Hi JudyN

:lol: :lol: :lol: I don't mind drooling my brothers Lab drools a lot so am used to it. I shall be posting photos once he has settled in I have also renamed him from Fluffy :wink: to Sherlock (LOVE Benedict cumberbatch) :D
emmabeth
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Re: i have finally found my perect four legged friened

Post by emmabeth »

Ooooh.. a good friend of mine had a Spinone, another friend of mine, her sister just got a Spinone puppy (who is a DELIGHTFUL lolloping floppy giant pawed bundle of fuzz)...

Firstly try searching for Spinone Italiano as well as Italian Spinone, as they are known by their original name in a lot of places.

You probably know all this already but, they are a member of the Gundog group and are often referred to as an HPR breed, Hunt Point Retrieve, which basically means they are an all-rounder as a gundog, they will do the job of a spaniel, a pointer or setter, and a retriever, all rolled into one.

If you have heard the saying 'jack of all trades, master of none', this is KIND of true of the HPR breeds, and that sounds bad but.. it is what it is.

The other breeds that are generally considered to be HPRs are:

German Pointers (wire, long and smooth coated), Large Munsterlanders, Brittany's, Bracco Italiano, Weimeraners and the Hungarian Viszla (wire and smooth). Theres a couple of others that you really won't see in the UK

If you take a look at those breeds you will see that some of them are more spaniel like (the Munsterlander, particularly the Small Munsterlander, the Brittany which was for a while classified as a spaniel but now isn't), some of them are very pointery (obviously the german pointers and also the Weim and the Viszla) and some are more houndy, with the Bracco Italiano having VERY obvious hound origins.

The Spinone in my opinion has its ancestry back with the hounds AND the pointers, if you look at the dogs the french have used for a long time, they have a lot of similarities with the Grand Blue de Gascoigne and the Griffon Bleu de Gascoigne, but opinions differ and the Spinone is a very old breed!

The benefit of the HPR type over the pure retriever/spaniel/setter/pointer is that they tend to be less fixated on doing just ONE job.

Trying to work around a spaniels determination to quarter every inch of ground lest theres something to flush, or a retrievers desire to always be carrying something around can be a bit tiring. Because of the 'all rounder' nature of the HPR breeds they are more likely to be open to other ideas and more easily occupied with a wider range of jobs.

Some of the HPR breeds are very fast and whizzy, particularly the Weimeraner and the Vislas, the Spinone is more laid back and really should be a fair more popular dog as a general pet than he is (certainly hes far better suited to pet life than most Weims or Viszlas and indeed many spaniels).

Expect him to be interested in following his nose, in retrieving things and I would also expect him to be generally laid back and tolerant, if kept amused.

He is likely to be fairly easily trained and easily motivated with both food and toys, which is handy as he is a big hairy slobbery type of dog and could easily upset people just by his size and the amount of filth he can track around in his coat (which btw, should be stripped, not clipped out or you will end up with a fuzzy absorbent sponge for a Spinone that is even harder to keep clean!).

Hope that helps!
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
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Nettle
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Re: i have finally found my perect four legged friened

Post by Nettle »

I know quite a few. Apart from the slobber, they are delightful. Good choice!
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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master2

Re: i have finally found my perect four legged friened

Post by master2 »

Hi

thank you so much EmmaBeth some of the info I already had read but some I did not so was very interesting to read.

I Brought him home about an hour ago and he went outside to do his business and then was sniffing and he has had some water and is now just snoozing on the sofa. once he has settled I will put some photos up in the photos section.
delladooo
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Re: i have finally found my perect four legged friened

Post by delladooo »

I know nothing about spinones beyond them being gorgeous, I would also love to see pics when he's settled in. Good luck with him :mrgreen:
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