Would you get a breed sight unseen?

[Linds]

I think the thing I always think about with this is I hard it is for me to get a read on a a breed from meeting one or two of them just in public. It's just not the same as living with them, even for a day.

I'm of course not saying there is no point in meeting a breed before you get one, because like in Boston's case it was a good thing since she was able to tell right off the bat Kelpie's weren't for her.

But, how often do you really get to know another breed because you met a couple a few times. It can be so hard from that to be able to tell anything (at least for me) other than maybe it's level of drive and people friendliness. Which, don't get me wrong, aren't little things, they just aren't the whole picture.

I guess I just know that when people meet Traveler and Didgie they just get a snapshot. How they are off leash or in a store or something. Living with them is completely different and talking to people and seeing video of the dogs living with their owners got me a much better picture than I think meeting one would have.



Keep in mind, this is just me kinda thinking out loud! I don't care one way or another if someone decides or decides not to get a breed before meeting!

 

[Southpaw]

I think the thing I always think about with this is I hard it is for me to get a read on a a breed from meeting one or two of them just in public. It's just not the same as living with them, even for a day.

I'm of course not saying there is no point in meeting a breed before you get one, because like in Boston's case it was a good thing since she was able to tell right off the bat Kelpie's weren't for her.

But, how often do you really get to know another breed because you met a couple a few times. It can be so hard from that to be able to tell anything (at least for me) other than maybe it's level of drive and people friendliness. Which, don't get me wrong, aren't little things, they just aren't the whole picture.

I guess I just know that when people meet Traveler and Didgie they just get a snapshot. How they are off leash or in a store or something. Living with them is completely different and talking to people and seeing video of the dogs living with their owners got me a much better picture than I think meeting one would have.



Keep in mind, this is just me kinda thinking out loud! I don't care one way or another if someone decides or decides not to get a breed before meeting!

This is what I tried to type out 100x before I settled on my one sentence because I couldn't form words lol.

How my dogs are in public or with other people is not even close to how they are 99% of the time in their daily routines. I don't think meeting a dog is very indicative of how it is to live with them, plus the way a dog is trained can have a huge impact too (ie, I've loved MY boxers but find other people's boxers annoying, usually.)

So yeah just hearing from other owners what they're like is good enough for me.

 

[BostonBullMama]

Yes.

I didn't know ANYTHING about boston terriers, other than that they were black and white "little" dogs.... and english bulldogs? I knew they were cute. Had squished faces. And that my sons adoptive family has one who needed surgery in his first year that cost $1500.

I went ahead and accepted Toby anyway (boston terrier x english bulldog).
We've since put about $4000 into him, at 2 years old. He's had surgery on his leg, has cancer and allergies, is in and out of the vet constantly, but hey - I love him to death and he's worth every penny spent.

He's my first dog, I knew nothing about dogs, not even how to train him until I just dove in and did it.

 

[*blackrose]

This is what I tried to type out 100x before I settled on my one sentence because I couldn't form words lol.

How my dogs are in public or with other people is not even close to how they are 99% of the time in their daily routines. I don't think meeting a dog is very indicative of how it is to live with them, plus the way a dog is trained can have a huge impact too (ie, I've loved MY boxers but find other people's boxers annoying, usually.)

So yeah just hearing from other owners what they're like is good enough for me.

That's kind of where I'm at in my thinking, too.

And like you, I really liked MY Labs. Other people's....not so much. LOL

 

[Elrohwen]

There are breeds that might be a good fit for me, but I'm turned off from the few examples I've met. Like GSDs, for example. I've met a few and disliked them, but when I talk to people online those dogs aren't the norm and aren't what the breed should be. Now I'm biased against owning a GSD, but maybe one that was well bred with a correct temperament would be a good fit for me. I like what I hear online, but overall I haven't met dogs like that in person just because of the random examples I get to meet.

I think that's the danger of basing a breed decision on meeting a few examples out and about. You might be turned off of labs or boxers or whatever when they are actually a good fit for you. I think that talking with a large number of owners online is probably going to be more reliable than just meeting a couple, unless the ones you meet are from the same lines as the do you would get. Ideally I would personally want to talk to people online or over the phone, and meet some relatives of the dog, but I wouldn't worry as much about the examples I met on the street, especially for the popular breeds with tons of variation (like GSD, goldens, labs, etc)

 

[StompinT]

No, I wouldn't. And it's worked out for me - I almost did it last year and I would have regretted it.

I really, really loved what I read about Leonbergers. Spoke to about 5 breeders on the phone. Emailed people with Leonbergers. Joined online forums. And decided I'd better actually meet a few before I made a decision.

So, I flew clear across the country and spent several hours with a breeder. The dogs were even better than I had hoped ..... but I knew within an hour that I COULD NOT ever live with that amount of shedding. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. And I knew it was year round.

So, no Leonberger for me.

I ended up with a Bouvier, and I have to say, this seems like the perfect breed for me. I absolutely love his personality.

 

[noludoru]

No, I wouldn't. I've had a similar experience as BB.... with Aussies and tollers. I like both on paper... tollers just don't excite me too much in real life but I think I'd enjoy one ok and most aussies I meet kind of annoy me for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. .

You don't think it was the fact that they are physically incapable of STFU? Every Aussie I've met at the dog park has been ridiculous. I lived with Zoom for a bit, and even though Sawyer is The Best Dog in the History of Ever, he thoroughly convinced me out of owning an Aussie. Everything is perfect except that they're a little small and are apparently incapable of not barking. Vizslas are the same - I LOVED Bay and she had so many wonderful qualities, but she loved the sound of her own voice so much that a shock collar couldn't teach her to be quiet. I tried positive reinforcement, but I truly believe she had no idea that sound was continuing to come out of her mouth, so I never managed to train a "quiet."

To the thread topic... Umm no? I'm a visual/kinesthetic learner, and I NEED to meet animals to decide if they're right for me. I want to see and touch and interact. There are quite a few breeds that are perfect on paper that I've met and HATED or at least disliked, and quite a few I thought were a bad fit until I met them. For instance, Standard Poodles. Other than size, they fit EVERY SINGLE THING on my list. But I can't stand the coat texture. They also don't really call out to me - there's no connection with the personality. Strangely enough, every Labradoodle I've met has had a personality I LOVED upon initial meeting. On paper, naah, but I've liked almost all their personalities and about half the coat textures I've felt.

So basically, no way. My next dog is a HUGE commitment and I want to make sure I'm right 50x over before I proceed with getting a puppy.

 

[GaelicBlues]

I wouldn't personally. Although we decided we liked Brittanys before we got Scout, we had never met one so we talked to the breed club and arranged to go meet some at a local field trial.

We have twice since we got Scout gone out to meet people who were keen on the breed but hadn't met one and had contacted Scout's breeder. In New Zealand lots of people like to go hunting and I think the Brittany is seen as a nice sized urban hunting dog that can double as an inside family pet, however they are rare, 1 maybe 2 litters per year and the club has a ton of people waiting on puppy news. The people we met up with both times just wanted one as a pet to go for nice lead walks and play ball at the local park. In both cases neither ended up putting a puppy order in. Not that Scout is a horrible dog but she doesn't do "nice walks" she does hunting. I told both of them there are much easier breeds.

I have also taken Gael to meet someone locally who was interested in a pup from her breeder for agility. They ended up telling the breeder they didn't want a pup as Gael was very aloof and would not interact with them! That is one of the things I like about her, she is very handler focussed.

 

[ThreePs]

Meeting with the breed

Funny timing! I have been thinking about this for a couple of days. People say you have to get to know the breed, even say you have to live with one before you own one. Where is the doggy rental service?

How much do you learn from meeting a dog? I've met a couple of dogs of a rare breed that is indifferent to strangers. I see them on leash at a trial or class. Does that give me an accurate picture of what it's like to live with one? Of course not!

So what do you do? Dial 1-800-dog-rent? Seriously? I bet if I asked an owner, a stranger, if I could take her dog home for 24 or 48 hours so I can see what the breed is like, they would run out of the building possibly while simultaneously calling the cops. What are you supposed to do?

 

[PlottMom]

I had never met a plott until we got Eerie. No regrets!

 

[SpaceMutt]

I'm about to.

To be fair, though I haven't met any whippets I have met a fair few sight hounds, especially greyhounds, so it's not like I'm jumping into an entirely unknown type of dog.

I had met and interacted extensively with a boatload of different herders before I had my failed herder adoption. There are a bunch of cattle dogs now I'm around all day that I love to work with, in fact. On the other hand I hadn't met a single Shar Pei before bringing home Astro and it's worked out wonderfully, albeit with growing pains.

I've finally learned what tics and tricks will set me off in a breed and which won't, no matter what I try to convince myself, so I feel better about relying on research. If I see the word "barky," for example, in any description of a breed online, I just don't even go further, but the word "stubborn" has no such effect.

 

[LostAndConfused]

yes.

While in High School, I worked part time at a vet clinic. One Saturday morning, a family came in with this adorable little grey pup. I looked at him and said, "weim pup?" The woman said, "No. He's a Texas Blue Lacy. He just arrived from Texas, so we want to get him a health check up." When I got home, I did some research on the breed (what little I could find) and thought they sounded like pretty cool dogs. About a week later, the lady called up the vet clinic to let us know that she had taken him to one of the local rescues. A day or two later, I went to pick him up. Best dang dog we ever had (sorry Hudson!)

While working at the same vet clinic, I met my first english shepherd. The man who owns the vet clinic had one because he also had sheep. One of the techs did dog training on the side. I saw her at the vet clinic a few times when the vet was dropping her off with the tech/trainer and when the trainer was giving her back to the vet. Those were the only times that I met, face to face, an english shepherd. Now I see one every day

 

[yv0nne]

Before getting Penn I met zero Vizslas. Before getting next puppy, I will have met zero.


I think the real question here is would I get a breed sight seen

 

[Annabell]

I definitely would, and plan to in the future.

 

[Sit Stay]

We did it with Ned, and it worked out fantastic!

With Quinn, I put the deposit down before ever meeting an ES. A few weeks later we met Quinn's aunt (her sire's litter sister). When we went to visit Quinn at 6 weeks, I also got to meet her dam and grand dam. Aside from those brief experiences with related dogs though, I had no experience with ESs.

 

[noludoru]

Funny timing! I have been thinking about this for a couple of days. People say you have to get to know the breed, even say you have to live with one before you own one. Where is the doggy rental service?

How much do you learn from meeting a dog? I've met a couple of dogs of a rare breed that is indifferent to strangers. I see them on leash at a trial or class. Does that give me an accurate picture of what it's like to live with one? Of course not!

So what do you do? Dial 1-800-dog-rent? Seriously? I bet if I asked an owner, a stranger, if I could take her dog home for 24 or 48 hours so I can see what the breed is like, they would run out of the building possibly while simultaneously calling the cops. What are you supposed to do?

Well... Meeting a dog in public tells me a LOT, because their public face is important to me. If the dog is aloof or friendly but reserved, that's exactly what looking for. If the owners tell me the dogs act in such a way or I go to their house and observe for myself, I'm fine either way. It's better than reading it on paper.

Also, you can volunteer in rescues and shelters to gain experience. I've met and snuggled with and walked tons of different dogs and can generalize about a lot of common breeds and some rarer ones.

 

[PennyD]

never thought about it, but probably not!

 

[AmandaNola]

I would, after researching everything possible about them and searching out owners of the breed (thank you, FB!).

Like some people have said, what you see with a dog out in public isn't always what you get. If you saw Nola in public you'd think she was a flawlessly behaved, quiet, unobtrusive little dog. When in reality she is a LOUD, high energy, stuck like glue Velcro dog who can be a bitch when she feels like it. She's in your face, bossy and incredibly ballsy.

If you saw Pike, you'd think he was quiet, very reserved, placid guy. At home, he is off the wall high energy. He's loud, he's obnoxious, dramatic, sensitive douche. He needs to be with me (preferably touching) all the time, and he's not shy about achieving it. I love him and he works for me, but most people find him annoying lol.

You see what you get with 5mo old Olivia though. She's a goofy little snot.

 

[Shai]

I wouldn't say "never," but I haven't nor do I plan to. Thus far I have gone out of my way to meet before committing and am becoming more, not less, determined to do that in the future as well. Mira was the closest I have come, having met a couple unrelated FCRs and basing my decision mostly on pictures/vid/talking to her breeders. And she is perfect haha. With Lodin I knew not only the breed but many of his family members. Linds has been nice enough to let me spend quite a bit of time with her and her Kooligans. And I know a lot Golden Retriever lines. Those are really the only breeds on my radar in terms of ownership.

 

[Kootenay]

I have and would again. I hadn't met any "ANCDs" before getting Yarrow, and even though he is not even close to what I had hoped for temperamentally, I still love him to death and he's perfect in his own way.

I also really hadn't been around THAT many Malinois before getting Onyx, but I just had this conviction that it was the right breed for me, even though you hear all sorts of horror stories...and the one Malinois who I had spent the most time with was like, weirdly perfect, definitely not a good overall representation of the breed.

I do a lot of research and I feel like I can usually get a good sense for what a breed is going to be like.

I also agree that just briefly meeting one or two dogs isn't really going to tell you much about how it is to live with them. I know that doing boarding has turned me completely off of SO many breeds, which is kind of sad, but true. I still really need to hang out with some good GSDs to counteract the awful ones I had to live with on and off for a few years...