Hiya! First of all, Percy is so cute, pls give her a cuddle for me. Second, I was actually wondering if you could maybe tell me a bit about what it’s like to have a dog of Percy’s breed (and also wanted to ask if she’s a springer spaniel-english setter mix)? I’ve been thinking about getting a dog for a good while now and am trying my best to do my research. I’ve considered a dog like Percy, because I like their look and I think temperament wise it might be a good match? If you can and want to, could you share what she’s like, what her grooming needs look like, what her energy levels are, if she barks a lot, etc? Also why did you decide to name her Percy? (That last one is purely curiosity, lol!)
If not that’s fine too! Good luck on your writing and exploration endeavors!
Hi!!! You don't know how excited I was to receive this ask haha I love talking about my dog. So she IS an English springer spaniel + English setter mix (45% and 23% respectively) plus a lil bit of labrador retriever and dalmatian, according to an Embark DNA test. She came from a shelter in Alabama and I've had her since she was 3 months old.
Now, for reference, I did adopt her during the pandemic and I lived in the middle of the woods at the time, so she grew up as a countryside dog without the noise of traffic, other people, etc. Just deer, squirrels, and coyotes. Now we live in an apartment in a small city, so just keep in mind that her background VERY much shaped her current behaviors in addition to her breeds. I often apologize to her because I’m forcing a country girl to be a city girl.
So, honestly, she can be very much a couch/lap dog. She will nap with me until noon if I let her, and let’s be honest, she was basically genetically designed to hunt ducks all day, but instead she was adopted by someone who types words on a screen for a living, and I would still say she’s pretty darn happy. Most days are spent chilling out together while I work and she's super happy about it. She's DEFINITELY not as unhappy being a lazy apartment dog as an Australian shepherd or husky might be, for example (a couple breeds I grew up around and would 1000% rank higher in terms of energy levels). However, she does love when we hike a couple miles, especially when she’s able to track something and go romping through as many briars and mud puddles as possible. She could 100% happily do a few hikes a day.
If I could magically transform myself into someone with the perfect lifestyle for her, based on her breeds and not just her own personality, I would definitely say: good yard space, but more importantly somewhere close by to walk for a quiet hike outside of any city noise (there is a green space with hiking trails a 10 minute walk from us, and the positive change in her demeanor once we leave the neighborhood sidewalks and get into the woods is dramatic—I think if her only option for walks was sidewalk or even a rail trail, she would hate it), not an apartment complex because she does spend a lot of time barking at people unless we’re at my parents house in the middle of nowhere, whether she’s barking at people she can see in the parking lot outside, someone talking outside, someone closing their car door, another dog, someone walking by on the porch, etc. she barks at every typical city noise possible, I would work remotely like I do now (minus one or two days a week) because she has some separation anxiety but does good in her crate for a few hours, and I would probably not have any other pets unless it was one that I knew would do well with her. I say the last one because she does have some prey drive issues, and I imagine that’s because she’s a bunch of hunting breeds mashed together. We used to live with a handful of cats, and although she never attacked one and actually often got along with them, I think she would sometimes try to “flush” them in the following sequence of events: she’s on one side of the room, cat is on the other, she stops, stares, and runs at the cat but stops before actually getting to them. Like she’s flushing a bird lol. But again, no one ever got hurt! But I wouldn't voluntarily bring a cat into that scenario. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her chill out in the presence of other dogs, even one she lived with long-term—it’s just constant playtime roughhousing until they’re separated.
Also, in terms of her energy levels, she has a hard time regulating herself—if someone comes over, it’s jumping on them and excitement, and then barking in frustration because she’s overwhelmed with excitement. HOWEVER, these people in mention are people like my grandparents who won’t listen when I tell them to just turn away and ignore her, and instead they encourage her to keep jumping. So, make sure you’ve got everyone on board in terms of training. But, I do think this overwhelming energy improves when I have the time to give her outlets like hiking, enrichment toys, etc. Speaking of toys, she has never met a toy she cannot destroy. Or a paper she can’t shred. Or a sock she can’t ruin. She doesn’t consume things, she just loves ripping them up. She does not do fetch in the slightest, I have tried many times to teach her—yes, you’d think a dog composed of several retrieving breeds would be amenable to retrieving. And yet…
In terms of grooming, I get her a professional haircut a few times a year, and give her baths + brush her fur probably like, every other month? Not as often as I should, probably. I do wipe her ears out more regularly, but it hasn’t been as much of an issue as I expected with a long-eared dog.
Miscellaneous things: She’s super food motivated; her mom (who now lives with one of the shelter employees) apparently has a habit of digging holes and killing squirrels; she’s a hefty 45 pounds; she actually has two different fur textures, the brown is very soft while the white fur is very wiry which is interesting; her ear fur gets gross with water and food crumbs (so if you get a long-eared dog, maybe train them to deal with a dinnertime scrunchie from an early age…); I love insects but unfortunately she has brutally murdered maybe seven house centipedes at this point plus every spider, stink bug, etc. she spots in my apartment; despite her setter genes, I have never seen her point; and my former roommate agrees that she has the goofy personality and stubborn attitude of a human toddler. Also, perhaps the funnest fact about her, she was born on Valentine’s Day!
And, her name! Technically her name is Persephone because as a literature nerd I am automatically also a Greek mythology nerd, but the plan was always to shorten it to Percy. My mom wasn’t a fan because "it’s a boy’s name” but she’s very much a tomboy, so I think it fits perfectly. The runner-up name was Penelope/Penny, and that definitely doesn’t suit her personality.
That was a LOT of words but if you have any follow-up questions PLEASE feel free to message me or send another ask!! I quite literally could talk about her for hours, I would be happy to chat about what specifically about the English setter/springer spaniel temperament you’re interested in, etc.
Thank you SO much for the ask!! I enjoyed writing this haha
Also, here are some videos of her that maybe show her personality a bit more than the photos of her looking cute on my couch :)
