dog breeds as pets

[M1A]

My last two Brittanys came from a long line bred for hunting upland game.
When I brought them home at 8 weeks they stalked and pointed without any training. Breeding was a positive.

 

[terry_tr6]

I was always a Lab of some variety owner and couldn't stand little dogs till I met my current wife(late in life) and she had a Shih Tzu. She was such a great dog it changed my opinion at least of Shih Tzu's. When sht passed at 14 we had already found a male puppy Shih Tzu and now at 10 months old he spends the day harassing my 12 yr old female lab old boston bulldog mix and forcing us to play with his toy of the moment. They have great temperaments, train well, and if my wife would let him, a great little hunter. absolutely fearless and as curious and intelligent as can be

 

[outta_ammo]

Over the years we've gone through three breed periods. The first was Samoyeds. Our whole family had them. Then there were successive generations of Keeshonds (impossibly cute as puppies). The current love of our life is a Pembroke Corgi—a red-headed tri-color if you know Corgis. He is a very sweet boy, and is permanently attached to my wife. Interestingly, they are all spitz-based breeds.

 

[Greyman50]

I'm a dog person and dogs pick up on it, they know. Had a neighbor with a corgi, when in their driveway he would see me in the yard and across the court he came. His " daddy" would be calling him back but he wanted to see me and for me to pet him and always scratch his ears. Daughter has a huge mix that is spoiled beyond imagination, he loves when I visit.

 

[Screwball]

For pit bulls, if they are raised correctly… great dogs. The ones that aren't, are the poster children for all the negative press. The AR of the dog world. [emoji6]

Personally, I'd want to know the reason why the person is giving up the puppy, and sort of figure out how he/she has been trained before I'd say yes/no.

I'm very big on rescues, being most shelters have A LOT of background (temperament, bite history, previous owners). I've found awesome dogs from shelters… including my almost 4 year old lab mix.

My younger dog is a German Shorthair Pointer. I got him from a breeder, but mainly because my area really didn't have shelters with a selection of dogs… just cats (allergic). There were two dogs at one; one was blind/deaf and the other had a couple of physical issues. Now, both probably would have been good dogs, but I couldn't say they would have been a great fit with my lab. GSP… his is definitely more hyper than I would have liked, but he is great with my lab.

While I really can't recommend a breed, as dogs are very individual… labs tend to have an overall awesome temperament. If I were blindly making a recommendation, I'd be hard to not say a lab.

 

[Golddollar]

We have been lucky to have had 5 five great PBs over the last 20 years, but Dan the Grey and Eddy "aka the Chicago kid" are currently the most dangerous:

How did your dog get into my stash of Golden Dollars?

 

[delcrossv]

Would these be the ultimate guard dog ?? Although very possessive, scary, and potentially dangerous. The Caucasian Mountain Dog; 240 pounds, the dog used by the Soviet Army of the north and Russian prisons in Siberia. Yikes, but gorgeous.

We looked at Caucasians before we got our Anatolian Shepherd as we didn't want to deal with a long haired dog. FWIW Caucasians usually are about 140-160. 240 is way bigger than average.

All the central Asian livestock guardian dogs( Caucasians, Central Asian shepherds, Anatolian shepherds, Armenian Gampyrs etc) have similar temperaments- great dogs, but very willful. Not for a first time/ never owned a big dog with a mind of his own, owner.

Before the ASD we had 2 pit mixes. One sort of a pit/lab and the second one a pit/chow/German shepherd mix. The first one was a sweetie, never a problem- and at 75# not so likely to terrorize the neighbors.
The second dog was great with us too, but very animal aggressive and absolutely hated anyone not part of the family. The real worry with dog 2 was "what if he got out", more than what if he goes after one of us ( he was about 140#)

Fuzzy Puppy- the Anatolian Shepherd with my 8 yo and mother in law. He really loves Oma.

 

[Golddollar]

Would these be the ultimate guard dog ?? Although very possessive, scary, and potentially dangerous. The Caucasian Mountain Dog; 240 pounds, the dog used by the Soviet Army of the north and Russian prisons in Siberia. Yikes, but gorgeous.

Guard dog? I thought it was a small lion!

 

[MRB1]

Pits get a bad reputation due to irresponsible breeding and lack of owner training. If I got one, I'd have the dog in obedience training immediately. Over the years I've had a lot of dogs of different breeds, and surprisingly, a Basset Hound was the worst of the bunch. Mean, and too dangerous to trust around younger people. Came from a well known breeder of show stock, couldn't be shown due to temperament.

 

[delcrossv]

Pits get a bad reputation due to irresponsible breeding and lack of owner training. If I got one, I'd have the dog in obedience training immediately. Over the years I've had a lot of dogs of different breeds, and surprisingly, a Basset Hound was the worst of the bunch. Mean, and too dangerous to trust around younger people. Came from a well known breeder of show stock, couldn't be shown due to temperament.

Friend of mine had a Rottie like that. Dog was rather nuts and would bite him fairly frequently- liked me for some reason though. Go figure.

 

[rubiranch]

I had German Shepard's when I was a kid and loved them.

If I got a dog today I'd go to the shelter and look for an adult/elderly Chihuahua/Yorkie mix like my last dog.

No puppies for me. Been there done that.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Dogs, like people, are individuals. No two are the same no matter the breed. I've seen pits that are sweet, sweet dogs, and I've seen poodles that would rip your throat out for fun.

 

[65Whelen]

Over the last forty years the best family dog we had was a rescue pitty/mix. She was a sweetheart to very body, other dogs and cats included. On our second rescue pitty/mix she also is a sweetheart.

It's not the dog it's the owner.

As far as people having a bad experience with a pitbull. You can say that about any breed, they all have their stories. Someone earlier hit it, pitbulls are the AR15 of the dog world.

Here's our Miss Miley, not one of her better moments. Adopted her when she was seven, twelve now. Wonderful god.

 

[444 Magnum]

I had a pitbull/boxer mix as a teenager. Beautiful dog, 70 pounds, great temperament. So I always defended pitbulls when I heard the stories, I said it was all about how a dog was raised. However, in the last few years, I have had two friends whose pitbulls got the "bloodlust" and attacked other smaller dogs and deer fawns. Both dogs were raised in healthy environments but had to eventually be put down. I'm not sure anymore about the pitbull. The boxers, however, I know are extremely loyal and family friendly.

 

[ancient-one]

I think it was about two years ago that an 80 plus year old woman in OKC walking down the sidewalk was killed by 2 pit bulls. They had caused problems before and should have never lived to do this.

 

[jeffrefrig]

We have a beautiful Weimaraner; extremely smart, excellent at self-teaching, even still at 13 years old, very strong and would probably destroy anyone that went after wife or daughter. She's probably the smartest dog and definitely the prettiest I've ever been owned by. She loves as much as you let her, and goes everywhere with me. I've seen pits that are just as loyal and gentle as her. It's how you raise them. Pits are very smart dogs, at least the ones I've known.

 

[5-Shot]

Another savage Pitt Bull (Staffordshire Terrier in this case).

Ed

 

[mmb617]

got a chance to get a 2 month old pit bull mix , free. ( do not remember what breed or 2 she has but lets say she is mostly american bull terrier ) 2 month old . have heard so many stories about these dogs being able to turn bad on people . but she would be brought up with loving care & disepline . what is the truth ? !

When you get a puppy that's only 2 months old the dog will be what you make it. We had a pit mix that was right about that age when we got her. She was a great dog and very friendly to everyone. She lived with another dog and a couple cats and there were no problems. Well, one of the cats sort of dominated the dogs. They were both afraid of Tigger.

The gas company meter reader was afraid to come to our house because there was a note in his schedule saying we had a dangerous dog. I asked him what that was all about and he pointed to Zena who was watching through the gate and said "Right there. That's a pitbull and they're dangerous". Meanwhile she's sitting there with her head cocked to the side as if to say "I'm dangerous?"

 

[us2]

I got a pit bull mixed pup from the pound. He stayed mostly in our house and fenced back yard and appeared to be a great dog. When he was just over a year old trouble came. I am sitting in the den watching a Braves game. The wood door was open with the old style storm door closed. A neighbor lady walked by on the sidewalk. I saw Bogie raise his head and look at the woman.... 5 seconds later he jumps up and runs through the lower metal portion of the door out into the street chasing the lady and finally caught her in the neighbors yard. He bit her but luckily I got there before it turned serious. I paid her medical bills had the dog put down and narrowly avoided a lawsuit. I know we will never have another dog that resembles a pit bull. There are lots of breeds available with better reputations. We love our Chocolate Lab!!

 

[grover99]

I am glad that a lot of people think pit bulls are only bad if raised wrong. A good buddy of mine had one and I got to know the dog well over two years and at times it would crawl in my lap to be petted. One day for no known reason the dog attacked and bit me in the face requiring 15 stitches. It took me several years to stand having any dog over 20 lbs near me. To this day if a pit bull came toward me I would shoot it. The dog that attacked me was raised from a puppy in a loving home and was a member of the family. Pit bulls are a time bomb with some of them living a full life and never having the bomb go off. Other just snap and do a lot of damage.