Dog stalking, where can I do this in Canberra?

MERC600 said :

Regret am unable to help you where dogs and their mistress / masters hang out. But may I mention you should have a look at the Jack Russells. My neighbour had a Russell and she was one of the biggest characters ever.
There are some wonderful quotes around about pet dogs;

“If there is no heaven for dogs, then I want to go where they go when I die.”
-Anonymous

“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.”
– Unknown

PUHLEESE don”t get a gorgeous Jack Russell if you go to work all day. Our next door JR barks all day, poor little thing. Bored spitless!
My partner and I have petsit all around Australia for many years and have fallen in love with many breeds. As an earlier post said, one needs to consider one’s lifestyle.
We have owned 8 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels if you want a cuddly lapdog. Content to sleep quietly all day!
Smartest dogs we ever met, but very, very active : Aussie Cattle Dog, Kelpie or Border Collie.
Adorable big dogs (would have one if we were younger) and very smart : either a Golden Retriever or a Labrador.
Good luck finding a fur friend. Would be wonderful if you could find a home for a rescue doggie waiting patiently to be loved!

http://www.petrescue.com.au

That’s were I got my current dog from. The beauty about getting a dog that’s in foster care is that they are “road tested”. I got mine from Sydney because I didn’t find what I wanted closer to home and she sounded prefect for us. She wasn’t exactly blessed in the looks department and did have one annoying trait that has been way more difficult to train her out off than expected but we are still very happy we picked her and think she is an awesome dog.

If you’re after a purebred,, going to dog shows may be a good move too.

Otherwise, ‘Lumla dog park on a Sunday arvo.

Belconnen Dog Obedience Club has classes at 9am on Sundays and 7pm on Thursday starting in early Feb and it’s a great way to see different breeds.

You could also go to an agility trial or a flyball trial to see lots of beautiful dogs in action. Calendar here: http://www.dogsact.org.au/Calendar1.htm

We take our three doggies to the dog park every Sunday and there’s always a nice mix of different dogs with owners who are very happy for you to pat their dogs.

Here’s some video of two of our dogs plus our previous foster dog Ollie at Casey dog park: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVSfVqLDbVg

Here’s a video at Yarralumla dog park: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqCr2mXDkTg

Regret am unable to help you where dogs and their mistress / masters hang out. But may I mention you should have a look at the Jack Russells. My neighbour had a Russell and she was one of the biggest characters ever.
There are some wonderful quotes around about pet dogs;

“If there is no heaven for dogs, then I want to go where they go when I die.”
-Anonymous

“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.”
– Unknown

Thanks again for the suggestions. I’m interested in seeing grownup dogs because that’s the ultimate choice you’re making. ALL puppies are cute and no decision should be based on that. I’m a responsible pet owner – healthcare, obedience training, socialising them etc – would NEVER buy from a pet shop, abhor backyard breeding bogans (checkout how many staffy-xs end up in the classifieds…) and like I said have had purebreds and rescue pets. What I want to do is literally browse – I feel terrible doing that at an adoption centre/the RSPCA etc.

Whatever you do, please source your new best friend from a reputable establishment. ie not a pet shop, market stall, or dodgy 2 line classified ad in some rag.

Do yourself a favour, and lots of dog owners, by promoting responsible dog/pet ownership. These things have ongoing costs (checkups, vaccination, etc) that seem to be optional to too many people.

I’m not making any personal judgement on the OP, but just a general statement.

Saturday mornings in the off lead area between old and new Watson (Knox St?) is pumping with dogs on and off lead early-ish. (lots of people go there before or after the farmers markets)

I tend to see good and badly behaved dogs of every breed.

Our labradoodle puppy picks up things very quickly, and doesn’t slobber or shed hair. But there is still poo to pick up and he’s a puppy so bites and jumps a lot.

ACT Companion Dog club in Narrabundah, on evenings just before/after their classes are on – hundreds of dogs there then. Although if you are looking at adult dogs rather than puppies, you will mostly only see bigger dogs – it seems owners of small dogs don’t often attend obedience training past the basic puppy school level. I guess an unruly small dog is more tolerable than an unruly large dog.

The other place you see a lot of dogs out and about is at the Hall Markets.

http://www.fosterdogs.org/available-dogs-gallery/

I’m sure the carers would let you stalk the dogs at your leisure, if you really want one.

Thanks for the comments so far. No naivete here in regards to pure-breds and the part individual personality plays. I find visiting the RSPCA a little too heartbreaking when I’m ‘just browsing’ if that makes sense. I’ve had pets from breeders as well as rescue pets.

I’ll look into visiting the dog parks. Just keen to see different breeds in action I guess.