I have 5 dogs. Before I got the last three, I kept saying my next adoption would be a greyhound. I’m still saying that, but I keep coming across dogs that need homes. I like big dogs - I have a doberman, a german shepherd, an airedale, a border collie mix and a fuzzy black dog. They’re all rescues.
I would recommend an adult dog rather than a puppy. Puppies are cute but you have to go through the chewing, piddling stages for quite some time. OTOH, at least you wouldn’t have to deal with a dog that has psychological problems because of abuse or neglect.
I think with almost any dog, from any background, you get out what you put in. If you give lots of love and patience, you’ll get a loving protective dog that’s not aggressive. Don’t expect any dog to be perfect. Even with adult dogs there’ll sometimes be accidents or damamging behaviour. They love you despite your imperfections - be ready to do the same for them.
DanielWithrow - My local dogpound gives dogs 3 days before euthanasia. 2 for the owner to claim them (during which they can’t be adopted) and 1 for adoption. They also have an infamous drop box. You open a chute and dump your unwanted animal into one of three bins - cats and small dogs, medium dogs and large dogs. They stay in there, crammed in the dark together, often injuring each other, until the drop box is emptied. It’s a disgrace.
StGermain, that’s horrifying. Our county shelter used to be pretty bad, before the humane society took it over – but I don’t know that the shelter was EVER that bad here. Not in the last 20 years, anyway.
I definitely would recommend that folks look for a good, responsible shelter to adopt from. I just don’t think that necessarily means finding a limited-access shelter.
DanielWithrow - The last dog I rescued from the pound was a too-skinny doberman. I went to see him on a Saturday, walked him, called the pound about him on Monday. When I asked if he had until Tuesday (his third day) they said, “we probably will just put that one to sleep - no one’s going to want him anyway.” That’s after I walked him and called about him. Needless to say he was mine before they could kill him.
If you like the scruffy Tramp-from-Lady-and-the-Tramp look, might I suggest a German Wirehair Pointer?
A few weeks ago my wife and I acquired a six month Pointer mix stray that had been wondering the farmlands of western Minnesota/South Dakota, playing with children, and she has worked out very well. As a wirehair, she sheds very little, and she’ll probably be 35-40 pounds, which is too big to punt like a football, but not too huge. Very gentle, intelligent, and doesn’t bark much, except when she sees birds/rabbits/squirrels. She has an abundance of toys and is able to entertain herself while we are at work.
The following site has pictures and a description of the breed which has closely resembled our dog:
Yuck! That’s exactly why our shelter has a no-time-limit policy on animals in adoptions: once an animal is made available for adoption, it stays in the adoption room until it’s adopted. The only exceptions are made for animals that develop severe behavioral/psychological problems (becoming aggressive, timid, depressed, neurotic, etc.) or severe health problems (parvo, panleukopenia, etc.).
Ironically, we may lose funding from one of our foundations because of this policy: some folks apparently think that no time limit in adoptions=hoarding animals for months on end. It’s not true, but what can you do?
I adopted one of my cats from a no-kill shelter, and I think she must’ve lived like this. She absolutely stunk and had to be bathed twice the day I got her to remove the stench. She was also quite small, about 5 pounds (1 1/2 yrs old) and appeared underfed.
She is also the most friendly, sweet-natured stubborn cat on the planet, and everyone falls in love with her when they meet her. Even now, at over 5 years of age, she plays like a kitten, loves to cuddle and talks more than most people.
But in the future, I’ll adopt from a full-access shelter. I had to take a tomcat that kept spraying our backporch and trying to get in our house to our local shelter when his owners wouldn’t take responsibility for him, and it just broke my heart. He was such a sweet cat; very good with kids. But I bet his owners never claimed him, and he was probably not adopted.
Again, I’d recommend that you not get a breed from the herding group.
Ruffian, I generally agree with you, but DO NOT get an Australian Shepherd (I think that’s what you meant anyway…) they are smart dogs, but very active and HARD to handle. They have rescue groups for them around here because people don’t do their research prior to getting one.
That said, a pound puppy would be great. Expect to find lots of lab mixes, again skip those with a herding mix. someone who’s not quite sure about dogs doesn’t need a herding breed…
I’ve found many terrier mixes and pit bull mixes as well…I’m not sure about the pit mixes, but I’ve met some very friendly pups from that background.
If you get a puppy from the pound they will probably be guessing at it’s parentage unless the folks who dropped it off know what breed it is…so BE CAREFUL–especially as to size guesses. My friend thought she was getting a mostly full lab…got a lab/great dane mix–cute but HUGE!
And, one more thing, consider greyound rescue…they’re big, but quiet gentle giants with placid dispositions and short fur…