Well...it has happened...

Cole just came to me, climbed into my lap, and asked for his very own puppy. It's kind of bittersweet, since he actually had his own puppy, Ripken (APBT), but he an autoimmune masticatory myositis, as well as testing + on an ANA test for Lupus (run at LSU), and he had to be euthanized weeks before his first birthday.

So now I have a sad Cole, and I'm not sure what to do.

I know I've asked for Fila breed recommendations on here a while back, but I'd like to get some current ones. I'd like to start communicating with them, and see about getting on a list for a puppy some time late this year or early next year. So please share!

Hubby is adamant about not getting a dog at the moment, and honestly, we still have a lot going on. So we're going to make some travel plans for the next few months, and see if we can get in our visits to family members now, and open the door for acquiring a puppy in the future.

And the other point of contention: Hubby wants an English Bulldog or English Mastiff. While I like both breeds ok, I have yet to find a responsible breeder of either breed (as in actually health tests, especially those walking disasters of Bulldogs). If y'all have any recommendations for either or those, I'll gladly take them as well. It may just be that we have to get two puppies. opcorn:

Eva Dengler. Look her up on my FB page

Lazy D is a mastiff breeder. Nancy Walker, met her and her dogs a few times. Not sure if she still breeds, however. They also bred Bulldogs. They health tested out of the wazoo, and plenty of GCH sires and bitches, including the top winning mastiff bitch of all time. Even if they don't breed anymore, they'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Iron Hills is another good one. They also breed Dogo's. Ironway, Ironclad, Thundersky. St. Patricks used to be nice, but I can't find anything on their site about testing. Ditto with Isengard. I can't reach a lot of these websites due to my browser being a PITA lately. It's been a few years, but I know a lot of those names still breed top-quality dogs.

There are a LOT of nice English Mastiff breeders out there, though. And generally speaking most are quite friendly and love talking about their dogs. It's a small community.

When I looked into English mastiffs I was surprised that I was able to find quite a few health tested, athletic dogs out there. They seem to be centered CA and Canada IIRC.

Thanks for the leads!

Maybe a good compromise on the second one could be found checking with Alyssa about an Alapaha?

I wouldn't mind another OEB, provided we could get one from working parents (like Chipper).

Alas, Basset Hound just made an appearance on hubby's "possible" list. This could get interesting! Lol

Don't bassets count as furniture? That means you'd still have two open dog slots.

I vote for a Basset!!! A boy and a Basset are just too cute together. And he'd look hilarious with all of your dogs.

Shame he didn't come up with the Basset a couple of months ago. Remember the Basset puppy pics I posted?