Looking to get a dog...

[kt-od]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Steve,
I agree with AUKEVIN, I have a boston terrier. I love him. He is a wonderful dog. Very fun to play with. If you have kids, they are great with them. He is very protective of us. He will bark when someone is at the door. But he is not very aggressive. I think a Boston is a good pet to have. Here is a pic of my Boston. His name is Deke. I play hockey and love hockey, so I named him after hockey. You can tell he loves our son, because he is always around him.

EDIT: I had trouble posting the pic in the body, so you can go to my pics page of My Arena to see him. My pics.

[Brandwin]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

These type of dogs are pretty good to own. Potty trained, don't eat much, a little ugly and pretty cheap. Can't think of the type of dog, but here is the pic

Here's a pic
DOG

[kt-od]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

These type of dogs are pretty good to own. Potty trained, don't eat much, a little ugly and pretty cheap. Can't think of the type of dog, but here is the pic

Here's a pic
DOG

My conscience was telling me not to click that link. I should have listened to it.

[fishepa]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Steve said he wanted a dog that didn't shed and about 5 people have recommended a German Shepherd. Umm....

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

^Hah yeah.

I'll throw in my obligatory Shih-Tzu recommendation. Super nice dogs, great temperament, sleep a lot, very smart/loving, don't shed. Probably a little smaller than you wanted, but they're great dogs. The only issues would be that their breed tends to get hernias or teeth issues -- just the way they are. Their coats are hard to take care of if you let them get really long (their hair matts easily), but if you're willing to pay for a groomer once a month or do it yourself, they look really nice with long hair. We just cut ours when they get too shaggy and it's not that big of a deal.

Ozzy:


Mojo (he has one eye -- we rescued him after my cousin found him wandering around a Safeway parking lot with his eye all messed up.. we assume it was a cat that got him):


And there is nothing in the universe cuter than a Shih-Tzu puppy:

[Chaos81]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Steve said he wanted a dog that didn't shed and about 5 people have recommended a German Shepherd. Umm....

You don't do too well with people not being serious do you? :wink:


Steve, I think the problem for you won't be finding a dog that doesn't shed, but finding one that doesn't shed and is protective. I've been looking, but it's hard to find a dog that's 25-30 pounds, that will manage to scare a person. (No offense to those of you that have small dogs)

[daflyboys]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

We had a Shih-Tzu and I concur. I know they're known for alerting, but ours didn't bark for the first 3 years. She lived until she was about 15 and she was the runt! In the Spring we're going a different direction because our kids are older, but we still need the non-shed and low noise factor..... so we're going with this.... a Basenji (can't wait to get out the frisbee!!)

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Aren't those the ones that whistle instead of bark? There's some crazy African dog that does that and I can't remember the name.

EDIT: Yep, that's them. And Wikipedia says they also "clean themselves like a cat" and pretty much don't shed.. interesting. Sounds like a good option for the OP, actually.

[TIm]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

I agree with people. Go into your local Humane Society bring em a bag of food and tell them what you are looking for. You know, We went there for our 2nd dog. Our first dog was a black lab female given to us. After she passed we waited about 1 1/2 years to look into another "Yes it was that hard" Well we started looking at dogs on petfinder.com I think it was and it brought us to the local humane societies around the area. When we would see a dog that would interest us we would go see he or she. It got to the point that I was just looking at the "CUTE" dogs. Well We decided to start going and became friends with the local society. We even volunteered on Saturdays to hall dogs to different places for adoption days. Our humane society asked what we were looking for. She would call with different dogs. One day we went to look at a lab mix and as we walked in, We saw a dog in a cage. Not the one we went to look at. She looked into our eyes and didn't take her eyes off us..We left with that dog that afternoon. She was about 1 year old spaniel/beagle mix. Was dropped off with a liter of puppies. She was semi trained. 5 years later she is right in front of me as cute as can be and the best behaved dog. Start going to the local place and you will be glad you did. Don't get caught up by the potential cute dog...Get caught up in the dogs that gives you those eyes!!!

[Steve_OS]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Steve,
I agree with AUKEVIN, I have a boston terrier. I love him. He is a wonderful dog. Very fun to play with. If you have kids, they are great with them. He is very protective of us. He will bark when someone is at the door. But he is not very aggressive. I think a Boston is a good pet to have. Here is a pic of my Boston. His name is Deke. I play hockey and love hockey, so I named him after hockey. You can tell he loves our son, because he is always around him.

EDIT: I had trouble posting the pic in the body, so you can go to my pics page of My Arena to see him. My pics.

Nice pics! Thanks.

[Steve_OS]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Go to your local human society and rescue a dog from being killed. They have puppies and they will be able to help you out what you are looking for.

Great idea Paul. What is that process like? You just spot the dog you like and pay for it or whatever? Free? Never done it before, but sounds like a great plan.

[Chaos81]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Great idea Paul. What is that process like? You just spot the dog you like and pay for it or whatever? Free? Never done it before, but sounds like a great plan.

There is normally a fee, but yeah, you pretty much just go in there and spot the dog you want. That's been my experience anyways.

Good luck with your search and don't forget to post pictures.

[TCF]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

Looking to get a medium sized dog, that is kid friendly but attacker frenzy. Ideas? I've had a poodle and chihauhau *sp, but other than that, no experience w/ a bigger dog.

Oh, also. Is there such a thing as a dog that doesn't shed hair? My wife has allergies.

Thanks.

there are i believe 2 breeds that do NOT shed. unfortuneately 1 is the chinese crested which really has no hair at all but are of the toy breed the other i believe is med/large and that is the portuguese water dog. your best bet to find out more is the AKC website.

hope that helps somewhat and i have no idea if it was mentioned before.

[TIm]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

What happens. You once you find a dog you like, There is a small application process. There they can deny you or approve you. Human societies charge different at different places. Alot of the time it's from 50-100 dollars. That covers your dog being fixed and the cost they used to give the dog medical care. Overall you pay but it isn't alot. Plus you save a dogs life..4 years later I don't have much money but I still send them a donation every christmas..

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Looking to get a dog...

About the allergies thing, dogs that have HAIR (as opposed to FUR) are considered hypo-allergenic because the dander that comes along with fur is largely absent. Also, there is just less hair flying around, no seasonal shedding, etc. Some of the hypo-allergenic breeds are Yorkies, Poodles, Shih-Tzus, Schnauzers, Maltese.. they basically have human-like hair and lose it constantly like humans do. Some people who are REALLY allergic will still be bothered by these dogs, but that's not very common.

EDIT: OP, you might also want to look on CraigsList for pets, as there are lots of families that are having to give up their animals due to financial issues... very sad. Many of them have a very small "rehoming fee" just to show that you're serious, but others are just giving them up outright. The shelters are mostly full right now, so buying a pet form a store or from a breeder is pretty irresponsible IMO. Unless you're planning for a show dog or need some super-rare breed (like those that completely don't shed) or something, there's really not many good reasons to go through a breeder/puppy mill/pet store.