Cute options aren't fair.

[PeaceLoveRescue]

The shelter emailed me some dogs that they thought would mesh well with my two and myself. Making this choice is so not fair I want them all!

Chinook, a female Xlabrador (but she looks like a full breed larbador), aged 5, maybe 25-30 kg. She was in a welcoming family for a while but now she's at the shleter. But we know her since a long time. She's a good dog, very nice gilr, obedient, you don't need the leash to take a walk with her and, she always comes when you call her. I've talked with her welcoming family and they told me they pick her up in the montain, do the walk, let her run and enjoy her freedom, and there's no problem when they want her to come.As I've never personnaly take a walk with her, I'd like to bring her to test, if you choose her. Just for you to be sure about her.An employee took a walk with her last week and said there's no problem.

One of the "problems" with Chinook is that she's trying to escape when she's home... But it's important you know everything about her before taking your decision.

She's nice, very affectionate. She was living with children and everything was all right with them. I'll go to check what level of energy she's; I guess she a middle energy dog. But she's dominant so I think there's no problem with a dominated dog (she was with a dominated lab in her welcoming family and they were good friends) but it may be difficult with dominant dogs.

Pooky (male) is a very calm dog, a low/middle energy one. He's also quite obedient and very enthousiastic. Affectionate. A good puppy. I think he won't be difficut to train.

Kimy (female) is a middle energy dog, very energic and enthousiastic, very obedient but you musn't hesitate to correct her (I mean with the voice saying "no" and if necesary a little touch). But she's a lovely girl, very funny and very affectionate. She's a little clown. An adorable and good puppy.

Loki (male) is a middle energy dog, quite energic, very enthousiastic, obedient and above all very very affectionate. Since he's on my arms, he's giving me affection by licking my face. A very good puppy.

The three puppies are littermates and are labrador x beagles.

 

[lizzybeth727]

That's an oddly wide variety of dogs.

I guess the first question was, were you looking to adopt a puppy or an adult?

 

[PeaceLoveRescue]

Age, gender, breed isn't a big deal with me. Personality however is. I want the dog to mesh well with my boys and myself. I went in great detail about each of the boys, what they are like, what scares them, about their issues, their energy levels etc and these are the dogs she thought would work well. However I might cross out Chinook. While neither of the boys are dominate, Woof tends to annoy dominate dogs very fast. She did say they have some other dogs but they haven't been trained where as these ones have.

 

[lizzybeth727]

IME, you can't get a real idea of what the dog is like until you meet him in person. And you'll never really know if they'll get along with your dogs until THEY meet in person (dogson? Face-to-face.).

 

[PeaceLoveRescue]

Unfortunately I can't meet these dogs face to face. They're on a little french island and ship or fly the dogs onto this island once adopted. I've been told from people who have adopted from them that the dogs were everything they said they were and they are very good at matching dogs to adopters.

 

[k9krazee]

Lab/Beagle! Lab/Beagle! Lab/Beagle!

They really are the best dogs - but I may be biased

 

[Pasomystic]

Lab/Beagle! Lab/Beagle! Lab/Beagle!

They really are the best dogs - but I may be biased

I agree, it can be a good cross. I would vote Pooky myself, given the limited amount of info I have about you and yours so far.

 

[milos_mommy]

I wouldn't take a chance with Chinook being "dominate" without having a chance for her to meet your dogs first.

 

[puppydog]

Is that the shelters spelling?

 

[AgilityPup]

They're on a little french island

Puppydog, remember, they're probably french as a first language, so this may have been put through a translator, if it is the shelter's spelling/grammar/word choice.

I would personally go with a puppy or younger dog if I were bringing it into a house where I wouldn't be able to meet the dog first and have the dog meet my dogs. That's just my preference.

 

[puppydog]

Puppydog, remember, they're probably french as a first language, so this may have been put through a translator, if it is the shelter's spelling/grammar/word choice.

I would personally go with a puppy or younger dog if I were bringing it into a house where I wouldn't be able to meet the dog first and have the dog meet my dogs. That's just my preference.

Oh ok! Didn't see that. Sorry. I was kinda shocked that a shelter would release that (because I am anal) but now I understand.

 

[PeaceLoveRescue]

Yup, they're French so I think considering English is not their first language they're doing pretty darn good. So far it has come down to Pooky or Kimy.


And a little about my dogs.

Both of the shelters knew me well and though they couldn’t adopt Boone or Woof out to the general public or an average joe safely because they were considered liabilities they felt I’d be best suited to adopt them and work with them. Boone, the shepherd mix had to wear a muzzle for several months as we worked past his fear aggression as a 5 month old puppy but looking at him now you’d never know it had reach such a level. He roams the property loose, never stepping one paw off it, never on leash as he is more then content to stick by me and the leash seems to cause his anxiety to rise. He’ll go up to people on his own will and give them a quick sniff, if he’s feel really brave he’ll even give them a lick and snuggle up with them. He’s nervous still, high anxiety, and wary of new people and still very frightened of children but instead of going straight into fight mode he retreats to his safe zone though I try to not let any incidents happen to upset him sometimes they can’t be helped. Woof has helped a lot in giving Boone some extra confidence. Woof himself has his own issues, very insecure with many people, has what I call panic attacks for lack of a better term where if something/one spooks him enough he’ll do whatever it takes to get away even if it means hurting himself. He’s a runner and has a high prey drive and has trouble retaining training (I've started him on some herbal calmers and this seems to help him with retaining training). He’s still learning what its like to be a dog as he spent all his life up until March of this year in a puppy mill. Both are very affectionate and friendly dogs. Woof however does have issues with small dogs/animals as he does have a high prey drive. A Shih Tzu tends to look the same as a rabbit to him and thus is fair game to go after given the chance. Dog’s that play rough tend to spook Boone, he’s a sensitive little guy.

Both of my boys are like energizer bunnies, they’ll go all day if given the chance but when the time arises they have no problems with relaxing on the couch in the house. In the warmer months I do a lot of hiking, and general outdoorsy things and the boys love it, they always come down to the cabin and enjoy their time out in boat, on the beach and in the woods. They’re both pretty easy going; I wouldn’t consider either of them dominate dogs. However Woof tends to annoy dominate dogs very fast, I feel it might be that he just doesn't understand dog body language as he was never really allowed to be a dog or interact with them unless for breeding purposes.

 

[milos_mommy]

Are you sure Woof won't chase a small puppy that gets the zoomies? That would be my only concern.

 

[PeaceLoveRescue]

I don't have a worry he'll hurt an average sized puppy. He'll probably join in the running around but hurt her like he would a yorkie sized dog no.

 

[PeaceLoveRescue]

Well the decision has been made, and Kimy is offically part of the family. Now its a waiting game.