Polyanwood
Queen Bee
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2008
- Messages
- 2,203
- Reaction score
- 5
- Location
- London
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 45
I am still hoping to get a dog. I would welcome people's advice.
We have never had a dog, but do look after my sister's dog for a few weeks a year when she goes on holiday. I love her dog and I loved the previous dogs she had, so perhaps it doesn't matter. There are lots of rescue dogs to choose from. How do you choose?
I've been looking for a while and have begun to think that perhaps the kind of dog I have in mind does not exist. perhaps the ideas about what I should be looking for are wrong?
this is what I think I want
1. a dog that is house trained - grandson will be crawling soon - not a puppy
2. a dog that has long enough legs and is big enough to walk run with me - up to 20 miles at a time when marathon training
3. a dog that will walk/run to heel on a lead or not without puilling or stopping (can all dogs be trained to do this)
4. a dog that is not a breed that will be bad a recall - there are a lot of busy roads so I could lose it and it get run over - I thought the sight dogs like greyhounds and lurchers would be bad
5. a dog that won't make my asthma or my daughters eczema worse - I was hoping for a less hairy, less moulting dog
6. a dog that can be left alone for up to 6 hours a day ( idea is that if I get a dog soon, the children will all be home for the summer and the dog won't be alone for 3 months, but from the autumn the dog would be home alone 3 days a week.) I thought that this meant that I should avoid breeds that tend to get more anxious or easily bored - not a collie, spaniel or terrier.
7. breeds that other people in the family might be scared of: alsatians, rottweilers, staffies
8. a dog without serious behavoiural problems - aggression, food guarding, chasing small furry things, excessive barking or very anxious
9. a dog that is well and young enough to train - not sure how old - I was thinking under 4 years?
So I was thinking a medium sized cross breed dog would be perfect. I thought there would be lots of them, but there are not. I think that there is something wrong with my expectations. What do you think?
We have never had a dog, but do look after my sister's dog for a few weeks a year when she goes on holiday. I love her dog and I loved the previous dogs she had, so perhaps it doesn't matter. There are lots of rescue dogs to choose from. How do you choose?
I've been looking for a while and have begun to think that perhaps the kind of dog I have in mind does not exist. perhaps the ideas about what I should be looking for are wrong?
this is what I think I want
1. a dog that is house trained - grandson will be crawling soon - not a puppy
2. a dog that has long enough legs and is big enough to walk run with me - up to 20 miles at a time when marathon training
3. a dog that will walk/run to heel on a lead or not without puilling or stopping (can all dogs be trained to do this)
4. a dog that is not a breed that will be bad a recall - there are a lot of busy roads so I could lose it and it get run over - I thought the sight dogs like greyhounds and lurchers would be bad
5. a dog that won't make my asthma or my daughters eczema worse - I was hoping for a less hairy, less moulting dog
6. a dog that can be left alone for up to 6 hours a day ( idea is that if I get a dog soon, the children will all be home for the summer and the dog won't be alone for 3 months, but from the autumn the dog would be home alone 3 days a week.) I thought that this meant that I should avoid breeds that tend to get more anxious or easily bored - not a collie, spaniel or terrier.
7. breeds that other people in the family might be scared of: alsatians, rottweilers, staffies
8. a dog without serious behavoiural problems - aggression, food guarding, chasing small furry things, excessive barking or very anxious
9. a dog that is well and young enough to train - not sure how old - I was thinking under 4 years?
So I was thinking a medium sized cross breed dog would be perfect. I thought there would be lots of them, but there are not. I think that there is something wrong with my expectations. What do you think?
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