Dog People

[llpoolej]

OK< here is more....

Huskies/sled dogs are TERRIBLE runners. They MUST do it and if they see an open door, they WILL bolt. I have a 10 year old husky cross and he has no recall at all. He is great when fenced in, he is sweet, he is great with the kids and other dogs. He WILL run. He was hit by a car a year ago because one of my kids opened the door to the yard and then the front door. He saw his chance, took it, and bolted in front of a car. He was fine, but it was luck. He will come home when he is ready. Not before. They also shed on command. It literrally floats off of him. Drives me nuts. I love him, but those two things will make me never consider a husky again

If I was looking for a new dog in your situation, I would be contacting rescue groups in your area. Tell them of your needs, tell them about your family life and what you want in a dog. They can then help match you up with a dog that will meet your needs

Puppies are adorable. I loooooove puppies. I despise raising them. You WILL have things chewed, housetraining isn't hard, but it is time consuming. If you do not housetrain properly, you could end up with a dog that takes forever to get truly trained. Crate training mixed with the umbilical cord method(keeping them leashed to you) probably is the easiest and most effective way. Still alot of work.

My husband only wants to adopt older dogs anymore. He only went through one puppy with me(my 14 year old labX I trained before we met) and that was enough for him. I never say never though

Dog people love their dogs no matter what a pain they can be. I think they help teach empathy, respect and responsibility to children. My kids sleep with our whippet(they take turns) and at 5(even when they were 4) they know to immediately let the dog out when they get up. Pretty good lesson in resposibility.

Anyhow, there are alot of people that can add on to what I have said

[Fat Man]

Thanks for all your replies, especially Pete and Der Wille. You folks, are Folks, and are not in the business of selling fences or managing some electronic questionnaire, so your opinions are relatively unbiased, you each love your breed, and not motivated by monetary gain. I didn’t want to focus this discussion on breeds but rather the effectiveness of e-fences (cool I learned new jargon) and training resources.

But since we went that direction I’ll have to fess up. I myself have thought of getting a dog for some time. I have researched the breeds for a while now. I haven’t pursued it as the kids were too small and I didn’t think it would be fair to the cats (now cat). I’ve eliminated the herders because of their intelligence and need to work. I’ve eliminated the northern breeds for the reason stated. Smaller and toy breeds have been eliminated because we are stuck up and want a dog looking dog (in our own opinion ). Given our life style and our expectations of what we want a dog to be I have narrowed the possibilities to….. A little drum roll please, either a Golden or a Labrador Retriever. Surprise, surprise, surprise, the stereotypical family dogs. Our other option is a trip to the pound or Animal Outreach and see what’s in need of rescue.

From the responses here I think the e-fence may be out, the dog would be unsupervised two days a week. It’s time to dig postholes (or buy the post hole digger for my tractor ). I have an acre of pines, deer brush and bear clover to fence.

[llpoolej]

I love labs. They are really good dogs. You might want to check out http://www.lrr.org/ the benefits are a dog already housebroken and out of the nightmarish puppy stage. There are TONS of labs in rescue. The bane of a popular breed.

I am sure this national link would be able to get you in touch with a local rescue group.

You can always rent a posthole digger for your tractor. Might as well buy one though, you can always use it later

[dc]

My dogs have always been something somebody didn't want. Always turned into great dogs also.

[beerguy]

Actually FM, what you really need is a Jack Russell Terrier. PM me your address and I'll FedEx mine to you. He could be terrorizing your house, err I mean sitting calmly in your lap, by noon.

[Fat Man]

No Doug, I have a bad history with things named Jack. Pehaps Brian will take it as a companion for his new puppy.

[dc]

So what kind are you going to get?

[emilye2]

During those unsupervised days I would look into Doggy daycare facilities in your area or finding a teenager you trust to come during the day and work the dog out for you.
I know, doggy daycare sounds like the most rediculous thing in the world. But if you have a young dog with the zoomies (a sudden uncontrollable burst of energy that takes the dogs to a whole new level of crazy. Including but not limited to using the furniture as launch pads to try to reach mach 10 around the perimeter of your living room) or a dog with separation anxiety it can be priceless. When our Aussie was younger and we lived in colorado there was a great one that I used to take her too (okay, i worked there and she would come with me! ) Just a half day there once or twice a week made her a different dog to live with. And it really helps to socialize them around other dogs and people. Both good things.

[crzy4reefs]

i would opt for going to the pound.....labs and goldens are to over bred and you run into stupid dogs and dogs with lots of health problems. it's tough to find a good responsible breeder.

[pnosko]

Originally posted by crzy4reefs
stupid dogs

Pete the cat lover asks: Oxymoron?

[crzy4reefs]

lol pete....i love all types of dogs. but working as a groomer and in a boarding/daycare/grooming place i ran into a lot of not so smart goldens and labs and someother breeds. it's not their fault that they are over bred poor things. if you can find a good breeder then they do make great family pets and are very loyal animals.......

[Nina51]

i've had siberians. they run. plain and simple, as somebody said up there ^, they will not stay home and as for coming home...well they might and they might not. my two were superb sled dogs. there's nothing more fun than fresh wet snow, a lightweight racing sled and a couple of sibes raring to go. had tons of fun with them and loved them dearly but i would NEVER have another one!

herding dogs are great. i have 2 pembroke welsh corgis, both adopted as adult dogs. they are wonderful companions for us and for each other. you can set your watch by them. they frap (frequent random acts of play) all the time. like when one of us picks up a stray tennis ball. i swear by all that's holy, they can be sound asleep but if somebody picks up a tennis ball, they are wide awake in a hearbeat. big dogs in little dogs' bodies, that's what corgis are!

[topjimmy]

What ? No Beagle lovers? I never wanted a small dog, had mostly Labs. We took in a Beagle pup and she is a great dog. She is however ruled by her nose..it completly bypasses her brain and sends signals directly to her feet.

Later
JimC.

[Fat Man]

That's why I excluded scent hounds.

[emilye2]

I have two beagles myself. One has issues (adopted late in life from a pet store) and the other is stellar. Wouldn't trade him for the world, personality of a hound, focus of a border collie when we train. (which is sooooooo unlike a beagle.) Mine have both gotten loose here, thankfully the only thing it took was rattling the nearest treat box to bring them flying back. However, this is rare. Great dogs but they would follow their noses straight onto the fourlane given half a chance. They are hilarious though!

[llpoolej]

Biggest problem with lab and golden puppies, is they are SPASTIC. It seems to take goldens even longer to settle down. Add in alot of them are poorly bred(inbred) and you have more problems

You can't beat a good one. I am partial to Labs over goldens as they shed alot less. That long hair floats.

Can you tell dog hair makes me nuts???

[kmw]

My husband and I have a Golden and a Lab. If complete chaos is your idea of a good time, get one of each Our Golden came from my SIL who had to re-home him. The Lab came from a rescue.

They're goofy as heck, and provide no protection at all. They bark because we have neighbors. They bark at the Kamikaze Sqwerls, and at leaves falling. They bark because they had a bad dream, woke up barking, so figured it was something important. They, however, do NOT bark when somebody drives up our 400' long driveway at 4 am.

Our Golden is a velcro dog. He won't stray farther than about 30' from us. The Lab is a moron. He's really focused if he's playing fetch. Otherwise, he sees something shiny and he's off running. We considered an electric fence for him, but we're pretty certain he'd blow through it, then be too scared to come back in.

Our dogs are crated (in front of our lower sliders) all day when we're not home. When we're home, they run free in the house, sleep on the couch and our bed when we're not looking. They're 100% inside dogs.

And, fwiw, our Lab sheds like a FIEND! With the golden a close runner up, and me a distant third

[dinoman]

This thread makes me want a dog soooo bad. Too bad dad has something against them, plus there's not a lot of space in our house. I've always wanted a working dog, something to take on hikes but also will help bring in and work the cows. Always loved working with them, have a friend that has a border collie that he uses to hunt with. He says the dog sleeps so good after I've been with it (I run this poor dog 'till its so tired it can't hardly get up anymore , and it enjoys every minute of it).

[Hoggn]

If a lab is what you want I would shop around on some hunting sites... Normally they have great litters to pick the pup you want and I would trust them more then a pup from the papers.... The key is to spend time everyday with the pup and train him... 2 to 3 - 10 minute lessons a day is the way to go. If you don't have the time then I would invest in a trainer to do the work for you... I love Labs, they are big and happy kids that will tolerate a bunch of abuse from your kids.... Very trainable if you spend the time...

[Fat Man]

Here a list of dogs I’ve had in my family over the years there breeds and an opinion of them.

Cinnamon- little terrier sized mutt, lovable dog, and fearless, very protective.

Runt- ½ Tri-color Collie ½ fence jumpers, lovable dog, complete chowder head.

Gretchen- Dachshund again lovable, liked to play and kill things, only dog we paid for.

Shazadi- Afghan (my sister brought home as a stray) sweet dog, protective and not so much a runner with us.

Ute- ½ Doberman, ½ Rhodesian Ridgeback (we got her from an uncle who I think abused her), loved kids but could knock them down, very protective.

Goldie- rescued Cocker Spaniel, hung with mom.

None of these animals had the training of a rock, at least a rock will sit and stay.

[pnosko]

Beagles? Yikes, that could very well be why I'm not a dog person. I grew up with a neighbor that kept a kennel of 3-4 beagles for hunting, and seeing their own shadow was enough to make then yap endlessly into the night. There are few things more unpleasant to me than having to listen to neighborhood dogs barking. I'd almost rather be forced to listen to BrianD and beerguy yapping at each other.

[mike4271]

Hi Every human
My name is Dax, I am mike4271s German Short Haired Pointer, and am quite upset that no-one is giving my ancestory a mention here, I am so loveable, but after being ignored in this thread, if you visit me, your *** is mine. That is assuming Rex my German Shepherd buddy will help out.

[Tahoe Ocean]

I was going to mention Germ.Sht.Hairs and also Portuguese Water Dogs. if you're determined to go purebred, if you're open to the mixes, you can always go with the standard Sierra Shepard. They are all over in El Dorado County, and they are great with kids.

[clavery]

One other thing, Fat Man, I assume none of your kids have allergies, since you've had cats and haven't mentioned any problems. That being said, they are cross-breeding poodles with other breeds to create allergy/shed-free dogs. While the names sound really silly, I know a few folks who have them and are quite happy with their choices.

OK, now don't laugh...Labradoodles and Goldendoodles - poor dogs!!!!!!

[emilye2]

dont' forget the schnoodles and the cockapoo's!!