Puppy thoughts (Page 2)

Tracey makes a great point about getting an older resuce dog as a first dog for the kids. An older dog will be mellower, usually potty trained, and oh-so-grateful to find a loving home. I imagine you have your hands full already with kids, home, training...getting an older dog will be less work for you.

I used to work at a shelter, and believe me when I say - ask the staff about thier favorite dogs. When you work in those places you really get an insiders look at the character of the individual dogs. They will know things about the dogs that you can't see from just looking at them in the kennel, or read on a chart. Kennel staff will probably show you a dog you'd have never looked at b/c it will probably not be the cutest, or the smallest, or the least likely to shed on your sofa. But keep an open mind. The single most important thing is tempermant, tempermant, tempermant. Good on a leash, calm, good with kids & other animals. All of these things can be had in a snap if you are willing to take in an older dog that maybe isn't the ideal in the looks department, but is already trained, and well behaved/socialized.

Even if you get a puppy, since you have kids, I think you should steer away from terriers: they can be high-stung and nippy. Think about shepards and retrievers.

Also, if you do go to the shelter, go more than once, and talk to different staff when you do. Don't take the kids.

Best of luck!

The story of Murphy, the adopted dog:

He was turned in to the Humane Society as a stray, don't know how long he was there before he was adopted.  Also, don't know how long he lasted in adoption before being returned.  The reasons given were that he was too destructive, energetic and rambunctious.  (That means they didn't want to take the time to train for one and they never realized that a Pointer/Beagle mix is going to be a lot of energy as both breeds are hunters and love to run.)

Anyway, after being returned he was passed by for 5 months before we got him. (Just look at that face in my avatar).  We were watching my in-laws Boston Terrier for the winter ('03-04) when I asked my wife "So when are we getting Sophie a playmate?"  Reply, "We can start looking."   So after about a month of looking...to make sure we wanted a dog and got one that worked for us (live in a condo and no fenced yard), we were taking the Boston Terrier to meet all the dogs we thought were potential and she helped us pick Murphy as they got along great at the Humane Society run yard.

He was a small handful when he came home.  After being cooped up for 5 months he was always trying to get out any open door.  We started him on obiedience training and is a total sucker for treat training.  He's a much improved dog in the last year and a half.

A rescue dog can be a bit more work to train that a puppy, yet they can be trained.  And a lot of shelters work with dogs on obedience before letting them get adopted.

Make sure you take your son with you when you look at dogs (if you go to a rescue) as it's higly recommended that all family members meet the animal to make sure there are no issues.

Happy Looking 

I saw in the news the other day that somebody was breading Beagles with Pugs..(i kid you not)   and it was becoming the new fad,  calling them Puggles.

And somewhere else, Crossing Labradors with Poodles.  Laboodles.

I don't think I could ever bring myself to pay the money for a pure bred after the experience I have had with my current dog.  My wife and I got her just after getting married from the shelter.  She was about 3 months old.  As near as we(and the shelter) could tell she was some sort of retriever mix(lab or golden).  Thought she would be about 40-50 lbs etc.  It is now about 7 years later and she is truly a part of the family.  She grew to about 80 lbs of pure muscle.  As she grew into adulthood, it appeared she was a retriever(golden or yellow lab) mixed with either a Rotty, Pittbull, or Chow(she has that cement block head).  We nor our vet can really tell.  We have since had children and we were a little worried about her with our first daughter.  But they are the best of friends and Maggie(the dog) is so gentle and protective of Macie(the daughter), yet she loves to rough house with me.  And she is an incredible watch/guard dog.  Someone would have to be crazy to walk into my backyard uninvited.  Just the best puppy dog I have ever owned.

Whatever route you take, I would strongly encourage some sort of structured training.  We just went to some dog training classes at the nearby PetSmart when our dog was a puppy.  It is good idea for just the basic obedience stuff.  If it's in your budget, I would actually have the dog professionally trained.