shamrockmommy
Posted : 10/6/2010 12:19:47 PM
Some lines of standards are a mess right now. SA, thyroid disease, temperament issues, ear infections... I am familiar with one line that although has been carefully bred, these issues keep popping up.
I love my PWD. I do have the improper coat; Echo's is like a flat coat retriever. She does shed but it's for a period of about 3 weeks, she sheds like mad, there is hair everywhere and then- no shedding for several more months.
Her temperament is awesome. She's still in the crazy 9mo old puppy stage, so she can be wild and have poor judgement sometime LOL but she is a solid, wonderful family dog. She's great around other dogs, cats, kids (all ages) and adults. She has a very soft mouth and has excellent judgement for barking- she'll bark only when needed and then it's a deep sounding voice. I like having her, she's an excellent watch dog.
She's very versitile. She can go from house dog- laying around and hanging out to walking buddy, to hiking buddy, to swimming buddy, to kids' playmate to doggy playmate to agility girl to obedience girl. She's always with me although she loves her entire family as well. She gets very concerned if her human kids get out of her sight and I love that she keeps watch over them, very awesome.
She is a great dog so far, very easy to train, remembers most of what she is taught. She's a star in her agility and obedience classes.
She's had some puppy head moments but in the 4 months we've had her, I've come to really adore her and would happily get another in the future. I fancy the wavy as it is less work to groom. I would probably do the shaved face and then a teddy trim over the rest of the body. The non-shedding factor is a big BIG plus! But like I said, even with her flat coat, it's a matter of just a few weeks of heavy shedding and then no shedding for several more months. The curly coat is much like a poodle and I've read that pwd coats grow more slowly than a poodle, so that would cut your grooming frequency also.
Highly recommend a PWD.