I want a dog....

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  • Lauraplane
    Lauraplane Posts: 63 Member
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    Adopt! There are tons of dogs who need homes.
    Loyal to the end, friendly and the best friend anyone could have.

    Adopt! Skip the puppy stage if you are concerned about housetraining, chewing, etc... that is part of a puppy that you have to accept.

    Adopt! My current dog and the 2 before him have been adoptions. We have skipped the puppy stage each time and been lucky enough that they all have been house broken. Go to a shelter or rescue group and there will be one that will pick you. :)
  • mmm_drop
    mmm_drop Posts: 1,126 Member
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    Adopt! There are tons of dogs who need homes.
    Loyal to the end, friendly and the best friend anyone could have.

    ^This. I got my mutt when he was roughly 9 months old. We had a couple months of adjustment where he got into the garbage, chewed a remote, etc, but he quickly learned he was in a safe place and chilled out.

    They say you're saving an animal, but really they save you. :flowerforyou:
  • action_figure
    action_figure Posts: 511 Member
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    Standard poodle all the way, man. :)
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    Research the breed that will fit your lifestyle and family. So many people get dogs because they look cute but get upset when the dogs do things they are naturally bred for.. i.e. shed, bark, dig, run away etc.... Then they give the dog away to shelter because it is not what they expect. Not fair to the dog.

    QFT

    see the dog calculator here:
    http://animal.discovery.com/breed-selector/dog-breeds.html

    It has a lot of great info about many dog breeds
  • imhungry2012
    imhungry2012 Posts: 240 Member
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    Do it. Adopt if you can. We adopted our Terrier Mix pup, Slim, in April of this year from Lucky Dog. He was not the most well behaved dog at the adoption event (barked, was kind of crazy) but we loved him right when we saw him and don't regret it for a second!!

    Slim_April_7_zps5010a6cf.jpg

    I cant even stand how cute he is!!!!!!
  • tripledipped13
    tripledipped13 Posts: 78 Member
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    I agree with the majority..adopt!! OR go to the nearest trash dump and find the puppy that someone decided they didn't want so they threw him\her away.....sounds crazy but that is where I got my last dog from, was taking the trash off and she was playing with some trash on the ground. Poor baby was sooo thin so I took her home. She is the sweetest baby in the world (even named her Sweety)! Now everyone who comes to my house wants to take her LOL :)
  • Melissa22G
    Melissa22G Posts: 847 Member
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    If you want a dog, get a dog.

    As long as you have the time and means for one.
  • Nikole182_x
    Nikole182_x Posts: 1 Member
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    Adopt don't shop! There's millions of dogs in high kill shelters right now waiting for a loving home. My pit mix I adopted from the ASPCA at 1 & 1/2 and she is the smartest, sweetest, quietest dog ever. She was very easy to house train and we only had maybe 1 or 2 freak accidents where she decided something of mine looked like a toy. Scolded her and bought this stuff called "bitter apple" and placed it on wires, cabinet corners, etc that might look chewable to her. It's non toxic to people so you wouldn't have to worry about kids getting into it and all it really is to them is well, bitter!

    Also pit breeds are very adaptable to any type of house or neigjborhood. theyre great apartment pets because they dont really need a lot of tome outside, of course its always a plus to get tjem out tjere playing as much as possible. Theyre also great runners and love to run beside you as you run, bike, roller skate, skate board, etc.

    I wish you luck in whatever you do tho.
  • seilidhe
    seilidhe Posts: 1,042 Member
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    I recommend fostering from a local shelter first. It will give you the opportunity to see if your family is suited for a dog and if you can be responsible pet owners (cleaning the yard, walking, feeding, playing, etc). Often times the shelter has already housebroken animals so that part isn't so difficult. The only downfall of fostering is getting attached and having to let go but if you get especially attached to one, you adopt it!

    The best way to keep a dog from chewing / eating stuff they shouldn't is to make sure they are getting enough play time and providing appropriate toys for them to chew on and play with. Go to your local pet store and check out the wide selection. In addition, I recommend an obedience class. Teaching them that you are the "alpha" of the pack is very important.

    Good luck! BTW - pit bulls are amazing dogs and there is a high need for fostering / adoption with this breed due to their unwarranted bad reputation. Make sure the shelter knows you have kids and what ages they are so they can match you with one that is kid friendly.

    QFT

    Fostering helps dogs and helps you. And you can usually find a rescue organization for whatever breed you're interested in that needs help with fostering dogs and preparing them for their forever homes. And as nebtuibed above, you can always adopt your foster pup if you get really attached to him or her.

    And by fostering, you can determine if you really are ready for a pet. Too many people get animals and then, after a couple of months decide that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all, so they turn the animal over to the shelter/pound/whatever and way too many of those poor things are euthanized on a daily basis.
  • tripledipped13
    tripledipped13 Posts: 78 Member
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    I agree with the majority..adopt!! OR go to the nearest trash dump and find the puppy that someone decided they didn't want so they threw him\her away.....sounds crazy but that is where I got my last dog from, was taking the trash off and she was playing with some trash on the ground. Poor baby was sooo thin so I took her home. She is the sweetest baby in the world (even named her Sweety)! Now everyone who comes to my house wants to take her LOL :)

    Also wanted to add that we adopted an older puppy (about a year old) from the local shelter and he is a wonderful dog too. He was supposed to be an inside dog but he couldn't handle being in the house so we put him outside--now I live in the country on a lot of land with miles of woods behind us so he is NOT chained or fenced. We just love him too and it warms my heart to see him running and playing on all that land knowing that he was born in the shelter and was there for the first year of his life :(
  • OptimisticlyOptimistic
    OptimisticlyOptimistic Posts: 162 Member
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    Go for a ST. Bernhard. They are so gentle and very good family dogs.

    We had 2 St. Bernards when I was growing up. LOVE THEM! Great, loyal, loving family dogs. :happy: :heart:
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
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    rotweiller for sure
    OMG. This OP should NOT get a rotweiller! You need to be an experienced dog person for one of those things.

    My friend has one. She's a dog trainer. He's crazy! And huge! VERY sweet, but thinks he's 5 pounds, not 120.

    Agreed!
  • _abbie
    _abbie Posts: 24
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    Greyhounds make amazing family pets.


    Best. Dogs. Ever.
  • PaulHalicki
    PaulHalicki Posts: 576 Member
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    Get a rescue dog. There are so many out thee that need homes.
  • skinnyjeanzbound
    skinnyjeanzbound Posts: 3,932 Member
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    rotweiller for sure
    OMG. This OP should NOT get a rotweiller! You need to be an experienced dog person for one of those things.

    My friend has one. She's a dog trainer. He's crazy! And huge! VERY sweet, but thinks he's 5 pounds, not 120.

    Agreed!

    Also agree! I love rotties, but after doing a bunch of research, I decided not to get one as my very first dog. You have to know how to train a dog and be the dominant one in the household to handle such a breed.

    Ironically, I ended up adopting a boxer/shepherd mix who is super-dominant. Luckily, all of the research and training books I read about the rotties gave me the info I needed to train my current dog. He's still got a very "big dog" attitude, but he knows I'm the alpha.
  • splashtree2
    splashtree2 Posts: 277
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    a great friend the dog i prefer to have one when i'll have back my boyfriend,
    and anyway...
    a puppy of a good husky for a special friend i would take, yes for one of my courageous friend !
    the one who survived to extreme situation.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
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    As you can see in my picture..i have a Shih Tzu and a Samoyed...I LOVE THEM DEARLY!! I did my homework about both breeds. They both have the sweetest dispostions. They loveeeeee people!!!! I got them both as puppies. Housetraining took some work but they are housetrained. Samoyed trained very fast 1 month

    Samoyed (Mila) shed A LOT!!! Because she is so smart we have to stimulate her everyday with training and LOTS of exercise and walking. If not she will dig holes in the yard for entertainment!! LOL! But she is a really great dog especially around kids ,people and other dogs! Oh and she loves to talk!! LOL! Be prepared for food bill. Big dogs eat a lot! :smile:

    My Shih Tzu (Marley) is like a human she prefers to be with people instead of other dogs. I have to get her groomed once a month because her hair will mat and grows long. But she is quiet, sweet and cuddly and hardly any effort to take care of.

    Good luck in picking your new best friend!!

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