Getting a dog

[Diabeetus]

KG is absolutely correct about the potty training method. My golden puppy had exactly three in house accidents and was trained in about three days, and crate training is good for both dog and owner. I always tell my friends who are getting dogs that for the first month or so, puppies are more work than babies, and if they don't think they could take care of a baby for month, don't get a puppy.

Eventually, you'll discover that two dogs are better than one - they entertain each other, play, and remind each other they are dogs. Got a golden puppy after our last one passed, then about nine months later got a six-month old sheltie. I never trained the sheltie at all. She's so smart she learned everything in about a day and half from watching Sam the golden. I'm lucky because I live on a large piece of land far off the road. The dogs are out most of the day and never, ever stray. The rest of the time is like a Warner Brothers cartoon, minus the explosions.

but do anvils fall out of the sky every coupla minutes?

Sorry, can't handle those kinds of problems...the risk of TNT is too much to take ;)

 

[joe]

I'm not sure what is says about our society when a thread on getting a dog has more hits than one on dating a co-worker. Yes, I've been monitoring these two since they both appeared about an hour apart.
When I posted this, the dog thread hat 62 reponses, the dating thread 61.
That is all.

 

[Yawn]

Get a cat. They take care of themselves, don't require much, and will pick out one person in your household to be loyal to. Just keep their bowls filled, and a fresh **** box once in a while.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

 

[sportschick]

F_B, I have that clock in my kitchen.

 

[TyWebb]

That clock scares me.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

F_B, I have that clock in my kitchen.

I am absolutely not surprised by this at all.

 

[The Big Ragu]

FB, That was awesome. Just awesome.

 

[Yawn]

Considering the consistency of this type of response to my posts, I bet you ordered this one as a self-gift from the Cartoon Network, no doubt.

 

[markvid]

Yawn, you are out of control.

 

[sportschick]

F_B, I have that clock in my kitchen.

I am absolutely not surprised by this at all.

My mother bought it for me.

 

[SportsDude]

I have a lab. She's one-year-old now and we got her at five weeks. She was a real handfull when we first got her, but now all she does is lay around and sleep. Still haven't trained her not to jump on people yet and she gets overly excited at the presence of other dogs. I love her to death. I've always had dogs around and I don't know what I would do without them.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Wanted to add one thing. I've volunteered at shelters, rescues and pounds. If you're interested in a purebred or a particular breed or even those designer breeds (labradoodles, puggles, etc.), they're often available at shelters and the pound. Also many breeds have rescues - Poodle rescue, Beagle rescue, etc. - if you have your heart set on a particular breed. So you don't have to chose between saving a life and getting a particular breed. Frankly, there's no reason to waste money on a breeder when you can save a life.

Just wanted to echo the rescue group suggestion.

We volunteer with a Border Collie rescue group and have two Borders we adopted through the group. One had been a stray and the other was turned in by a breeder. They're both great dogs.

A good rescue group will help you get a dog with a personality that fits you and your home. The dogs that they rescue from shelters go to foster homes, so they'll have a pretty good idea of the dog's traits. Just run a Google search for a breed's rescue group in your area.

 

[JoelHammond]

I have a lab. She's one-year-old now and we got her at five weeks. She was a real handfull when we first got her, but now all she does is lay around and sleep. Still haven't trained her not to jump on people yet and she gets overly excited at the presence of other dogs. I love her to death. I've always had dogs around and I don't know what I would do without them.

SportsDude, have you read Marley & Me? There's a hilarious passage in there about jumping, where Grogan told anyone and everyone that came to his house to, with his blessing, elbow the **** out of the dog in the chest. He learned really quickly.

I echo the potty training, only to add this: When you do take the dog out every 30 minutes at first, throw a freaking party when it goes. Shower them with praise and a treat, immediately. That, obviously, tells them they've done the right thing.

Good thread.

 

[outofplace]

I'm still wondering what is wrong with somebody suggesting a cat instead. In some situations, cats are a better fit.

I'm a dog person. Grew up with them, but my allergies got worse. I had been tested and told I was allergic only to dogs, not cats. So the wife and I got a cat. A year later, we got a second one.

Then I started feeling sick. Damn allergies to cats didn't really show up until I lived in a house with two of 'em. It took me nearly two years to cave, but when my little one started getting sniffles every time she went near them, that was it. Found 'em a great home with lots of space to run around and an owner who is crazy about them.

By the way, Yawn's wrong about all cats attaching to one person. Some cats do that. Some don't. One of ours attached to me. The other loved everybody and would basically go to anybody that paid attention to him.

I miss the little hairballs, but I can breathe better and so can my little girl. And don't start with the Labradoodles. One, I hate poodles. Two, for me it's the dander, not the fur. Doesn't help.

 

[Flash]

Mixed breeds are mutts. Nothing more. There's no glamour to it. That is all.

 

[outofplace]

Mixed breeds are mutts. Nothing more. There's no glamour to it. That is all.

True. It's just a term to make dog owners who care about things like breeding feel better about owning a mutt.

Not that it always works. This evening, we took my daughter and four of her cousins to a nearby playground. A woman walked by with what looked like a Dauchshund. I point the dog out to my little one, because my brother has a Dauchshund and this gave me an opportunity to show her what one looked like.

The woman stopped to allow the children to pet the dog. I start to tell my daughter that this is like my brother's dog, then I see the dog's face. He does not have a sharp snout that any adult Dauchshund would have. Basically, it looks like a beagle's head on a Dauchshund's body.

But when I asked the woman if he was mixed, she quickly insisted he was pure-bred. From the look on her face, you would think I'd asked her if it was a flea-bitten rat. There is not a chance in hell that was a purebred Dauchshund, but I just smiled and said, "Oh, ok.'"

Some people really worry about the wrong ****. He seemed like a great dog. Very friendly and playful. Who cares what he is?

 

[ArnoldBabar]

I have a lab. She's one-year-old now and we got her at five weeks. She was a real handful when we first got her, but now all she does is lay around and sleep.

Lay around and sleep? How the hell did you do that? My chocolate lab is 18 months and still like a nuclear power plant. I run/swim his ass at least an hour a day, and even then his energy is amazing. I guess chocolates are known for their endurance, though.

 

[Diabeetus]

I will not, under any circumstances, be getting a cat. I have nothing against people who have them or like them as pets, but they're not my style.

 

[sportschick]

Says the guy with a cat in his avatar :D

It's not that I dislike dogs, I don't, but I'm not at a place in my life where getting a dog would fit with my lifestyle. Cats are much more independent and a lot less work than a dog.