My son wants a dog

[Dantheman]

Stick with the happy go lucky easy breeds, stay away from the strong willed and high energy fuckers.

Thoughts on these guys and gals?

https://www.utahhumane.org/listing/9198
https://www.utahhumane.org/listing/9522
https://adopt.adopets.com/pet/8fe1d5...9-814bd6d4b299

Ha, we just went through the exact same scenario. Everyone else wanted a dog, I didn't for the usual variety of valid reasons. So we got a dog. He's been a great dog and we love him. But, I do kinda wish we hadn't got him. He can be a pain in the ass, and I find having to sort out the logistics to be a annoying (mostly finding people to watch him when do shit. And if I am honest with myself, would have preferred we didn't get him. We have two kids (9 &11) and shit is busy enough as it is.



Zero chance. I'm pretty disappointed in how most of the responsibilities have fallen on my lap.

But, we bought the ticket, we're taking the ride.

WHERE WERE YOU YESTERDAY?

[skaredshtles]

WHERE WERE YOU YESTERDAY?

I tried...

[jmedslc]

Has anyone ever considered or executed a dog share with another family? I am in consideration at the moment

[riser4]

A what now?!?!?

[Conundrum]

Has anyone ever considered or executed a dog share with another family? I am in consideration at the moment

Accidentally. One of my good friends was diagnosed with AML right after getting a puppy. There were a few of us who took turns watching him for the first six months. I ultimately ended up taking him permanently but training was not consistent and while he's a good, well mannered dog, there are things that could have been prevented with a consistent training system. Like trying to train...some of the families didn't really do much.

[yeahman]

And DTM, if you read between the lines here, you'll see that even 'hellhounds' are loveable family members that when you're truly faced with the decision, you won't abandon a family member to go pursue life. August here could simply surrender the dog to a rescue, where it would likely find a new happy home and he could go enjoy retirement. Sad as his story sounds, there is enough unwritten love here that giving up the dog never even entered the narrative. It's something that is easy to take for granted when you have a dog that you're met with unconditional love every single day.

To me it just sounds sad. It's ridiculous to not want to put a dog in a kennel for a month so you can go on the trip of a lifetime. Instead you're going to sit at home with the dog? Good grief, the dog will be fine while you're gone, and will be there for you when you return. The best of both worlds, no? People who give up their lives and travel plans for the sake of their dogs (or kids for that matter) need to be a little more selfish IMO. Find a balance.

[zion zig zag]

To me it just sounds sad. It's ridiculous to not want to put a dog in a kennel for a month so you can go on the trip of a lifetime. Instead you're going to sit at home with the dog? Good grief, the dog will be fine while you're gone, and will be there for you when you return. The best of both worlds, no? People who give up their lives and travel plans for the sake of their dogs (or kids for that matter) need to be a little more selfish IMO. Find a balance.

My mom and dad never traveled and just used the dog as an excuse, she never liked to travel anyway.

My wife and I love to travel, but we have 4 adult kids who will come and stay at the house while we're gone, so it's pretty easy. They used to fight over who got to come hang out with the animals for a couple of weeks at a time.

We recently put down one of our two dogs and we have gone back and forth on getting another. On one hand, we are close to a point in our lives where we could just go and spend a month or two in Mexico, guilt free and not worry about leaving animals behind. On the other hand I almost can't imagine not having a dog to hike, bike and hang out with.

[The Tortoise]

WHERE WERE YOU YESTERDAY?

Yeah, sorry. That's on me.

In all fairness, he's only 9 months old so we're all still getting to know each other. I do enjoy having him around and the rest of the family fucking loves him to death. I'm just a bit curmudgeonly because I've been the only one working from home so most of the responsibilities fall on me. And because I can't get anyone else to pick up his shit in the backyard.

He's a German Shepherd/Husky mix who's about 80 lbs at 9 months. He spends the majority of the day sleeping and only gets squirrely if he hasn't been out or entertained in a while, which is pretty rare.

[dan_pdx]

My mom and dad never traveled and just used the dog as an excuse, she never liked to travel anyway.

My wife and I love to travel, but we have 4 adult kids who will come and stay at the house while we're gone, so it's pretty easy. They used to fight over who got to come hang out with the animals for a couple of weeks at a time.

We recently put down one of our two dogs and we have gone back and forth on getting another. On one hand, we are close to a point in our lives where we could just go and spend a month or two in Mexico, guilt free and not worry about leaving animals behind. On the other hand I almost can't imagine not having a dog to hike, bike and hang out with.

We are fortunate to have dog-owning inlaws, and our dog loved them, as well as a fantastic petsitter that we found on Rover.com. When the opportunity came up for me to spend a few months at my company's Singapore office, my in-laws stepped up; for short vacations, the petsitter was great. Once our pooch got older and creakier, those options were no longer practical, and we did give up on traveling without him for a year or two, but while he was young and spry, it was not an issue to leave him with a known and trusted petsitter. You do need to invest in helping the dog develop those relationships though - our dog would go to his petsitter for a day visit a couple of times a month even when we didn't need to go anywhere, just to keep him familiarized / comfortable.

[BCMtnHound]

Regarding the boarding/care of the family hound and taking trips, we've never had any issue. We have a local doggy daycare/boarder that is fantastic and reasonably priced. Some of those boarding sites are more like canine spas, and their price reflects it. Lexa doesn't mind being boarded, but she is always happy to come home and rest a bit - life is a bit more hectic with a house/kennel full of dogs of course. One thing that helps, especially with younger dogs, or going to a new boarding facility, is to include a family blanket or old shirt or something with family smells for them to sleep with. But ya, taking trips that aren't suitable for the hound is not an issue once you find a kennel you approve of, and they are springing up everywhere it seems.

[Woodsy]

We have a great woman who works at the local vet and comes over to walk and feed our dogs when we travel.

DTM you have a fantastic dog tender near by, loves dogs and you 2, former or now lurky mag.
Hint he used to tele & his name is Phil

[Yonder_River]

I haven't read all the comments but it sounds like you've thought it out very well and know exactly what you're getting into. My wife who isn't around nearly as much as I am proposed a dog and our kids promised they would take care of her. They do but only when I tell them to. Overall the dog has been fun and has brought a ton of smiles into the house so that's the upside. If I had only one child, I would definitely go for it.

Just plan on setting some money aside to shack them up with someone on Rover when you travel places they can't come. I would recommend getting the smallest dog possible for your needs as it's easier to get them in the car, snuggle on the couch, etc and they just need less space in general. Our dog is 22 lb but can still do the 10 mile hike, play fetch, hang with the big boys and I can still pick her up and carry her if needed. Also I would get dogs that are on the low anxiety spectrum so you can leave them at home for 6+ hours at a time without them freaking.

[MontuckyFried]

Also I would get dogs that are on the low anxiety spectrum so you can leave them at home for 6+ hours at a time without them freaking.

THIS! ie Do NOT get a weimaraner. Ask me how I know. 12 years old and STILL freaks the crap out when we even go just out the door without her. Dog is needy as hell. She's the canine equivalent of an overly attached girlfriend.

[easyrdr]

Thoughts on these guys and gals?

https://www.utahhumane.org/listing/9198
https://www.utahhumane.org/listing/9522
https://adopt.adopets.com/pet/8fe1d5...9-814bd6d4b299

The first and third are definite no's. You don't want any dog that doesn't get along with other dogs and more importantly you don't want any dog that doesn't like kids of all ages. Just not worth the headache or liability.

For a first dog I would go with a golden retriever or yellow lab. Happy, mellow, good on trail, friendly with other dogs and kids. Plenty of breed specific rescues out there if you want to go the rescue route.

[MarcusBrody]

Thoughts on these guys and gals?

https://www.utahhumane.org/listing/9198
https://www.utahhumane.org/listing/9522
https://adopt.adopets.com/pet/8fe1d5...9-814bd6d4b299



WHERE WERE YOU YESTERDAY?

I probably wouldn't go for the first (Dodie) for a new dog owner. Shyness and need for attention can be indicative or nerves/lack of confidence and both can lead to some negative behaviors that can be hard to break. Some dogs become much more confident when they find a new home and get consistent training, but others are a lot harder, so for your first dog I wouldn't probably take it on.

Milo seems like he would be wildly energetic, so it depends if that's what you want. Rosie I can't really tell much about as there isn't info.

[MarcusBrody]

The first and third are definite no's. You don't want any dog that doesn't get along with other dogs and more importantly you don't want any dog that doesn't like kids of all ages. Just not worth the headache or liability.

For a first dog I would go with a golden retriever or yellow lab. Happy, mellow, good on trail, friendly with other dogs and kids. Plenty of breed specific rescues out there if you want to go the rescue route.

I agree on the first for sure. I'm not so sure on ruling out the third for the kids reason. A lot of shelters seem to put a age restriction on all very active larger dogs for fear that they'd knock over little kids without any info on how the dog feels about them. If they told me that they didn't have any info on how the dog felt about kids, but just worried about knock downs, I wouldn't hold it against the dog. Labs (at least in my experience) are about the worst for clumsily walking into people or hitting little kids with their tail, loveable lugs that they are.

Our dog might have had that on her adoption ad (not sure as it was pre-kids) and she definitely tore around the house, but ended up being an absolute angel with our son once he was born. Very gentle and just extremely tolerant of his occasional lack of consideration (despite our best efforts) in "petting" or falling over on her. In some ways, larger, "tougher," breeds (ours is a cattle dog/catahoula mix) can make great dogs around kids as they are not feeling threatened by what a little kid is doing. Our big challenge was teaching our son proper gentle interaction with the dog as she would look at us as we talked to him about being too rough with eyes that said "No, that's totally fine. I've been lobbying for this family to interact via jumping on each other and wrestling for a while now."

[MarcusBrody]

From the shelters you linked, I like Dex:

https://www.utahhumane.org/listing/9514

[Cono Este]

My Dad has about 30 strays on his property in Chile. Word is out he’ll feed them, fucking Chileans just drop them off. Vet bills and food is bankrupting him. Plus he pays a guy to clean up.

Get a 5-6 yr old sleepy lab from a lab rescue group. Old dogs are awesome. Fuck the shelters.


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[Dantheman]

Dex looks cute, but not sure I can handle long hair.

We'll see how meeting Trigger goes tonight (the Boxador from yesterday). According his current owner he's 45-50 lbs at 1 y.o.

[MontuckyFried]

Dex looks cute, but not sure I can handle long hair.

I dunno. I'd take my long hair Sheltie ANY day over my late lab mix. Labs shed like freaking CRAZY. Oily coat too. Other than the twice a year double-coat blow out, my Sheltie was easy to maintain without shedding anything near like the lab mutt. YMMV.

[2bjenny]

We had shelties growing up, great dogs. Somewhere I saw a young lab/pyreness mix for adoption recently. That would probably be a great dog except for the size.

The few boxers I have been around have been very headstrong and kind of nuts.

[Danno]

Every breed has its tradeoffs.

My old golden was the perfect dog, everything one could possibly want in a dog (obedient, loyal, loving, friendly with all beings, tons of personality, just perfect) except for the hair. Oh my god the hair.

My wife was also mildly allergic to him, so for the new pup we went with a goldendoodle, hoping to get a similar dog with a better hair situation. As a puppy she was way more poodle than golden, but now at 2 1/2 she's settling down and showing more (but not all) of the golden traits, she's a great dog and doesn't shed a lick. But requires a trip to the groomers every couple of months or she becomes Jah Rastafari dog, the dreads are insane. So sometimes I would prefer a shedding dog that is self-maintaining.

Of course some breeds work for some people and not others, and some people have a "perfect" breed for them, but that doesn't mean that breed is perfect. They all have their pluses and minuses.

[riser4]

We have a toy poodle and I know what you mean about dreads. I just wish he'd fire up the big spliff some night while he was relaxing in my lap and pass it to the left..

[spotted dogs]

We have had several dogs over the years and never regretted a minute of it. Everyone has their favorites... and as you can tell by the thread you reference, they are all a bit wacky . Some more than others. Do a bit of research and look for a low shedding, happy go lucky breed.
I would make the effort to find the right dog and if you go puppy, a good breeder. Some people say rescue BUT the issue with that is you never really know what you are getting and the kind of baggage that comes with . It is a bit of a lottery. Some people win and others have had horrible situations . We have had both.
Anything with golden retriever in it will be great, as are the mixes you see these days with poodles. We have a Bernese/ poodle mix right now and he is the most gentle , friendly , athletic dog we have had . We had a goldendoodle previously but he passed if an immune system disorder .
Dogs WILL fill your bucket , always be happy to see you and make you smile after even the worst day.


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[AKbruin]

I've owned a variety of dogs in my lifetime, and boxers for the last 18 years. My two boxers were amazing dogs in every way, and, while I'm aware that it sounds like hyperbole, I really couldn't imagine two better dogs. Maybe I was just incredibly lucky, but both boxers were super tractable, highly intelligent, preternaturally well behaved, great with all people, and just the biggest sweethearts. I'm not saying that all boxers are like that, and the health issues are real. They also got cancer and died before age 9. Despite having had my heart broken twice, I'll still advocate my family to get another boxer because I love the breed so much. YMMV, but I thought I'd just offer a counterpoint to some of the over-zealous, under-baked opinions in this thread.

Also, Dan, count me as another vote to get a dog. I miss my dog something crazy.