I want a dog!

Gijora · Sep 30, 2006

Hi. I was wondering if you guys could help me out. I want a dog, but I want to do research and do everything "right" and I'm not sure where to start because I can't decide on a breed. Well, everytime I think I've decided on a breed my sister tells me that they can't be offleash (beagle) or they tend to be domenent (pit bull) and I'm 'only 14'

I have school 7:45am - 2:25pm and I come straigh home. School is about 5mins away from my house... I like to sit in the house and play video games and be on the computer a lot, but I like to ride my bike and be outside to. I was hoping that having a dog would give me a buddy to be outside with and walk or whatever.
I want a dog that is easy to train because I've only helped my sister socialize foster dogs and stuff. I've never really taught a dog myself to sit or anything. Her dogs are really social and I like that, because I could go with her to some of her dog events and hiking and stuff. So I want a dog that I can trust offleash.
I really like the look of boxers, pits, bulls, dobes, wiems, hounds, ect but I've heard that they are domenent, stubborn, or aggressive. My mom won't let me get a dog if she think I cant handle walking it down the sidewalk.
This probably sounds like a really immature requirement, but I love how soft boxers are with their short coats. How come pugs or smaller breeds like that aren't as soft as boxers? It would be cool to have a dog like that.
I think a medium - large dog would fit best.

Oh, and I really wanted a golden, but my mom says that's her dream 'retirement' dog and she's not ready to retire for quite a while. And I wanted to say that my dad is making my sister get rid of Charlie, but he'd let me keep my own dog. As long as I do things "right"

dogsarebetter · Sep 30, 2006

I am sure in time you will get some good replies. I cannot help you much. are sure you want a dog, and can you or your parents afford vet bills, spay/ neuter, food, etc.

I think its great to have a dog! Just do your research and maybe look up all the breeds you can. there are some dog quizzes too that tell you the best breed for you from a questionnaire you might want to try.

and its taking a leap of faith to let ANY dog off leash. Its not EVER recommended unless the dog is in a fenced in area.

Instead of searching for a certain breed why don't you go to the humane society or pound to rescue a dog?

stevinski · Sep 30, 2006

if you pick a responsible breeder, you will find they will only breed dogs of sound temperament, so basically you should have too much problems, ofcourse you would need to provide adequate training,
have you thought about a smaller dog, i'm 14 and i have a border terrier, or since you like the smooth coat maybe a smooth haired fox terrier not to be confused with the toy fox terrier

dogsarebetter · Sep 30, 2006

but even if you get one from the shelter they can tell you all about the dogs personallity, so they can match one up to be the best for you

Gijora · Sep 30, 2006

Hey, thanks for the quick replies! This forum is so awesome!

Yea, I'm sure I want a dog. My parents can afford to pay vet bills, we wouldn't have a dog not altered so we would pay to get them fixed and food and stuff. My dad had a sheltie that passed away the year before last and they're ready to get another dog. They told themselves that they'd get used to having no dog, but its been years and the house still seems empty. Well, not now that my sisters dogs are here... but they're not mine and theyre totally devoted to her. They don't even listen to me!

The quizes sound cool. Do you have any links?

Oh, yea I deffinetly know about the off leash thing. You should hear my sister preach about it. She hikes offleash with her cocker and gsd... but she won't let them off until she's sure things are safe and she can see, and the dogs are listening well. Which they always do. Now that I think about it being offleash isn't that big of a deal to me, becuase I can use those retractable leashes and stuff.

I think maybe once I pick a breed I probably will adopt as apposed to going to a breeder. Dana dogsat a lab puppy last week, and that was too much work for me! Puppies are hard! Plus, she's fostered some sweet dogs. I've seen them come to her in pretty bad condition - it makes me so mad. It would be awesome to help a dog out!

Hey, its cool that your 14 too! What grade are you in? You dog looks cool - I'm not sure about the terrier thing though. They're pretty spunky. My friend has a toy fox terrier and it drives me nuts :lol-sign:

dogsarebetter · Sep 30, 2006

you seem resoponsible and ready to have a dog! Sure its a great idea to adopt an older dog! Then you dont have to worry about the puppy stage, and you will be doing a great deed!
i will go look for those quizzies for you!

dogsarebetter · Sep 30, 2006

http://www2.dogbreedinfo.com/search.htm
http://www.petnet.com.au/dogselectapet.html
http://animal.discovery.com/breedselector/dogselectorindex.do
http://www.iams.com/en_BI/jhtmls/br...page.jhtml?li=en_BI&bc=I&pti=BS&sc=&lsc=&bsc=

now of course every dog is diffrent even if its the same breed. for example, Ruckus my sheltie is lazy, he doesnt bark, he is not hyper at all, and loves strangers.
most places say shelties are high energy dogs that constanly bark, and are weary of strangers.

Gijora · Sep 30, 2006

The first one gave me: Black Mouth Cur, Weimaraner. The rest were doodle mixes

the second one gave me rott, GSD, Collie (SMOOTH) , Boston terrier
the third one said boxer, dalmatian, german pinscher, plott hound and pointer

the final one (I liked that one the best)
Score (out of 100)
Miniature Poodle 64
Labrador Retriever 57
Boxer 57
Shetland Sheepdog 55
German Pinscher 55
Toy Fox Terrier 55
Black Russian Terrier 55
Beagle 54
Miniature Pinscher 54

Though I don't have personal experiance with most of those breeds (my sister probably does, I'll as her to read this thread) I'm just a little worried about dominence and stuborness. I can be dedicated, but I don't want a dog that my mom has to be afraid if I can control or not like a rott for example. I've heard blame the deed and not the breed, but aren't some breeds more likely than others??

Anyone have experiance with some of these breeds? Input / comments / suggestions would be GREATLY appriciated!

Boemy · Sep 30, 2006

Another good page with breed profiles is www.yourpurebredpuppy.com .

I noticed you go miniature poodle as one of your results, but how about a standard poodle? It might be better suited to keep up with you if you went on long hikes. On the other hand, it would need more daily exercise too.

Some dogs are definitely harder to train than others and I would recommend an easy to train dog for your first dog. It's really a learning experience.

BTW, I was about thirteen or fourteen when I got my first dog too!

stevinski · Sep 30, 2006

toy fox terrier isnt a terrier its a toy breed, fox terriers are different lol

i'm in year 11

terriers are spunky but are extremely loving and they are a nice size lol, harley was pretty easy to train, and he is pretty relaxed

stevinski · Sep 30, 2006

out of your list i would go for the sheltie but with that being sed i'm kinda obsessed with them, i already have a kennel picked lol

but if i didnt go fot the sheltie i would go for the poodle

MK&C · Sep 30, 2006

Gijora, look into a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel! Yes, they are on the smaller side (but they definitely aren't tiny dogs), but they are athletic and love hiking, biking, swimming etc however don't DEMAND all the excercise that a regular spaniel may need. They are easy to train and aren't known to be dominant, although it depends on the dog, of course.

Also, look into the Standard Poodle, from what you've said it would suit you well, and it's a large breed. My friend owns one and he is a doll.

EDIT: I'm surprised no one has recommended the K9Country quiz yet! It is by far the best breed selector I've come across (and they don't include doodles).

http://k9country.com/perl/dogBreed.pl

Gijora · Sep 30, 2006

yea... I love shelties, I really do, but there's no way we can get a sheltie! My Dad pretends like Nikki's passing didn't effect him, but it really really effects all of this, to this day. Dana locked her keys in the car at this doggie doo parade thing, so me and Mom had to go unlock it for her. We saw some shelties, they were rescues, and my mom and sister started getting pretty teary eyed and weird.

And as for the poodle... I'm trying really hard to surive high school. I think getting a poodle will make that 10x harder than it already is... Okay, I could get over that, and I've heard that poodles aren't foo-foo dogs like everyone thinks, but too much hair for me. The curliness, taking it to the groomers and least once a month... count me out lol

I look into some of the terrier breeds. Do they generally bark a lot?

I like this patterdale terrier.

I guess ultimatly I'm just worried I'll end up with 'too much dog' for me to handle but I really like molosser and bull type dogs

poodlesmom · Sep 30, 2006

I can give you some input about poodles.

I have 2 standard poodles. Farley, the black one in my avatar, is now 7 yo and Chloe, the cream one, is 5 yo. Standard poodles look big because of their long legs. Farley is 65 lbs and Chloe is 48 lbs.

Out of all the dogs I have had over the years these 2 have been by far the easiest to train. They love people & other dogs. My 2 also lived with cats until I lost my last cat to old age a yr. ago. This breed is very smart and love to please their people. They are goofy, affectionate, ready to go & do whatever you want and are just as happy to cuddle up and be snugglebugs. Another plus is that they don't shed. But they do need regular grooming - mine go to the groomer and get clipped every 8 wks. As you can see from my avatar they are in a short clip but not in a "foo-foo" one and maintenance between clips is very easy. This breed is actually a water retriever. They love to swim when given the chance, love to play fetch. They excel at obedience and agility. My 2 have grown up with my 2 young grandsons & are great with children.

All size varieties of poodles are great and the only difference should be size. I'll never be without at least one poodle by my side.

MK&C · Sep 30, 2006

My friend keeps Max (standard poodle) in a puppy cut, the ears just have some fur that need a quick brush every other day or so. They only need to get him clipped every 2 months

Check out the K9 Country quiz I mentioned above, it's very accurate.

cindr · Sep 30, 2006

doggie wanted

Gijora said:

Hi. I was wondering if you guys could help me out. I want a dog, but I want to do research and do everything "right" and I'm not sure where to start because I can't decide on a breed. Well, everytime I think I've decided on a breed my sister tells me that they can't be offleash (beagle) or they tend to be domenent (pit bull) and I'm 'only 14'

I have school 7:45am - 2:25pm and I come straigh home. School is about 5mins away from my house... I like to sit in the house and play video games and be on the computer a lot, but I like to ride my bike and be outside to. I was hoping that having a dog would give me a buddy to be outside with and walk or whatever.
I want a dog that is easy to train because I've only helped my sister socialize foster dogs and stuff. I've never really taught a dog myself to sit or anything. Her dogs are really social and I like that, because I could go with her to some of her dog events and hiking and stuff. So I want a dog that I can trust offleash.
I really like the look of boxers, pits, bulls, dobes, wiems, hounds, ect but I've heard that they are domenent, stubborn, or aggressive. My mom won't let me get a dog if she think I cant handle walking it down the sidewalk.
This probably sounds like a really immature requirement, but I love how soft boxers are with their short coats. How come pugs or smaller breeds like that aren't as soft as boxers? It would be cool to have a dog like that.
I think a medium - large dog would fit best.

Oh, and I really wanted a golden, but my mom says that's her dream 'retirement' dog and she's not ready to retire for quite a while. And I wanted to say that my dad is making my sister get rid of Charlie, but he'd let me keep my own dog. As long as I do things "right"

Since your mom wants to retire owning a Golden have you considered a Lab? That is a wonderful sociable breed to own they love to play. Go for bike rides and just have a load of fun

rij73 · Sep 30, 2006

If you are up for rescuing a dog anyway, I really recommend a mixed breed! I contacted rescue organizations in my area, told them the size and temperament of dog I would need, and within a month I had my Hudson! No one knows how many different breeds might be in him, but he is an all-around perfect dog. A good exercise buddy, a good tv watching buddy, fun to train, easy to take places. When you're willing to get a full-grown dog, I really think focusing on the breed isn't as important as focusing on the personality...

Let me know what you do!

Also... be realistic about the fact that you may be going away to college in a few years. Sounds like your family are all dog-lovers, so that's good, but when I left for college, it was REALLY HARD for my dog. I went to college close to home, but then my parents moved 1000 miles away and of course took the dog. She didn't get along well with my parents, and my mom really didn't like her. It made the last 5 years of my dog's life very miserable. So, even though you want this dog to be "yours", make sure you give it the opportunity to get close to your parents so that the transition will be easier down the road. Let them work on training it with you, and let them bond with it. Hope you don't mind that advice... It comes from the heart!

Gijora · Sep 30, 2006

hey - sorry I missed the K9 breed selector! I like this one! it actually listened to my preferences lol

it gave me:
100%
Doberman Pinschers
Pugs
Italian greyhounds
Standard Manchester terrier
Bulldog
Boston Terrier
Beagles (of all sizes apparently lol)
and Whippets

and also 90%
Boxers - Trouble with Training
Fox Terriers (Smooth) - Trouble with Training
Dachshunds (Smooth) - Trouble with Size
Dachshunds (Smooth) - Trouble with Size
------------------
edit:
Thanks rij!! If I narrow it down two a breed or two I might get a mix anyway. I was wanting a younger dog, but I've been reading some and it sounds like maybe I should just get an adult...

And thanks about the reminder of college... I don't mind the advice at all, I appriciate it! If I keep my grades up I'll get a scholarship to the local community college which isn't far too away. At this point I'm glad that I have my sister (though we fight sometimes) because if my parents want to move or something I can always fall back on her support for the dog at least too.

I'm excited to get a dog, and trying to remind myself to be realistic. Its too easy to just run out and get on on impulse!!

rij73 · Sep 30, 2006

k9 breed selector sems to be the best when I've tried it...

rij73 · Sep 30, 2006

I think you're being really smart and responsible. My Hudson is only 1 year old. It's the best of both worlds... he's still really young, but he's over *most of* the crazy puppy antics!

I want a dog!

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