Getting a dog: Pound puppy or purebred?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I don’t mean to rag on your friends, but 99% of problems with dogs comes from poor training. They may be great people, they might just not know how to deal with a dominant dog.

Some dogs need firmer training than others, but unless the dog has mental problems, you can almost always fix behavioral issues. If your friends were used to an easily-trained, placid dog, they might not have been prepared for having a dog with a more dominant personality. You can’t train all dogs in the same way.

They could still change this dog. They need to get into a good training program with a trainer who understands termpermental dogs and how to deal with them. The sooner they do this, the better.

When selecting a puppy, you should always do a dominance check, along with other personality tests . You can find lists of the kinds of aptitude/personality tests you should do on the internet. The dominance test is simple: gently push the puppy down onto his back and hold him there. A timid puppy will give up the struggle immediately. A puppy of medium temperment willl struggle for a moment and then surrender. A dominant puppy won’t give up.

That’s not to say one should never get a dominant puppy-- they just require more work in training than dogs of medium temperment. Unless you’re prepared to put in the time and effort it will take to produce a well-adjusted, friendly dog, you should probably look for a different puppy.

22

I agree that the proper training can make a big difference.

We’ve had both pound puppies as well as purebreds. Rescuing an adolescent dog is always admirable if you are prepared to do (or undo) what’s necessary to help your dog become a member of the family. Mutts are great, I’ve had several, but the predicability of a purebred should not be discounted.

Our block is chock-full of dogs, both purebred and pound puppies. There is a neurotic cock-a-poo pup down the street that barks incessantly all day long. There is an ancient Lab who is often out loose and wanders down the middle of the street whenever she feels like it. These dogs have little or no training.

There is a dominant Chow mix rescue down the street that is very well behaved. Her owners understand her and know how to deal with her.

23

I have to add my negative pound-dog story on as well .

Several years ago , one of my Papillons escaped from the yard , and in my frantic search to find her , I went to the animal shelter to see if she had been picked up . She hadn’t , but whle looking thru the cages , I saw a beautiful little Pomeranian with the saddest eyes in the world. I could not get him off my mind. My mother has had Poms when I was younger , and they had a special place in my heart. My Pap came home that night , and in the morning , I called to see when he was going to be up for adoption. Turned out , it was that very day , so I went , paid my $60 , and came home with Joey.

He bonded immidiately with my father. They spent many hours playing fetch or with Joey on his lap with a chewie . He seemed to be the ideal little pet. But Joey was impossible to housebreak. He would be outside for a half hour or more , barking and screaming the whole time , and come right back inside and lift his leg repeatedly. He had to wear a bellyband whenever inside , and STILL lifted his leg inside , meaning he had to have the pads in it changed 3 - 4 times a day. He also had an aggressive streak . If he was on a lap or chair and you tried to move him , you WOULD be bitten. Hard. If company came over , he would jump all over them , and trying to stop him resulted in being bitten . HARD. To clip his nails or bathe or brush him , he had to be muzzled.

I am not an amature dog owner. I have owned and trained dogs all my life. I tried obedience training him , but he would leap up , snapping at me , and grab the leash in his mouth growling and snarling and shaking it. His eyes would literally glaze over, you could see the change come over him.

In the three years we had Joey , he never ONCE wagged his tail. My vet thinks he had some sort of brain damage. As time went on , he got worse and worse. When my father died in May, Joey went around the bend. I could not touch him without his growling at me , and he began refusing to go outside at all. Tha last straw came when I tried to pick him up and put him outside and his eyes glazed over and he attacked me blindly. I had him euthanized two days later.

I think rescue is a wonderful thing , but you have to be very careful. I am lucky he was a 10 lb. Pomeranian and not a Doberman or a Rottie. Personally , I will have shelter cats the rest of my life , but I doubt I will ever get another shelter dog. The closest I might come is to get a dog thru Gordon Setter Rescue someday, where they are temperament tested, etc. I do not ever want to have another experience like that again.

Anna

24

It sounds like the lab puppies will find a good home regardless, so go to the pound. Around here we have a no-kill shelter, and we got our last three dogs from there. One, unfortunately, we had to return, but our late Ember came from there and our darling Buck (who the vet says is the strongest dog he’s ever seen, like a body-builder dog) was one of three puppies.

25

He’s so cute! Please pet him for me.

There are organizations that rescue mixed-breed dogs as well as purebreds. Most of them do some temperament testing on the dogs they rescue, so you’re getting a little bit more of a known quantity than you would be with a pound dog. And you’re still saving a life- they very often get the dogs they offer from a pound.

Petfinder is a good way to locate rescue groups in your area. Or try going to your local pet-supply store on a weekend afternoon- some rescue groups sometimes do mobile adoptions.

26

We have a purebred yellow lab and he is the greatest dog. His personality is so sweet everyone just loves him at first sight. I don’t think you could go wrong with one.

27

I got my Basset Hound from the local pound. I’m positive she is pure-bred, and I paid $11.00 for her. She had all of her shots, was housebroken and spayed, and is a complete sweetheart. Most of the dogs at the pound that day were Lab crosses. We probably would have gotten one of them if our yard was larger, since I have owned (rescue) Labs before and love them. They are wonderful dogs. So, go to the pound or Humane Society and save a doggy’s life (and make a wonderful addition to your own)! Good luck!

28

I’ll pile on and add to the pound majority. I can’t have an animal right now, but there is no question that I’d adopt in a heartbeat. I believe the animal knows you saved her/him from probable death. They’re great pets and saving their life creates a bond which will last for life.

This is a decision I can’t imagine you regretting.

I’ve done this in the past and even the short time the animal was able to be with me enhanced both our lives.

29

I have 3 rescue dogs and one purebred. I love rescue dogs. But having a purebred dog like Jasper means you know who his parents are, who his grandparents are, etc. Since I got him from a breeder who has her dogs’ hips x-rayed and OFA’d and all their eyes examined and checked, I know that the chances of him having hip dysplasia, hereditary eye problems or inherited epilepsy (all problems in my breed) are slim.

A pound puppy is a bit of a crap shoot. With a purebred from a GOOD breeder, you should know a litle more what you’re getting in advance.

Having said that, if I got another dog any time soon, I’d get another rescue. But I do want one purebred from a good breeder in the house.

30

Thanks for all the great advice - and especially the pictures! After reading this thread yesterday I went home and had a delightful time hanging out with the ancient mutt that just moved in to our building, he also encouraged me to go to the pound.

Can you each please go and give your gorgeous dogs hugs for me.

Y’all have confirmed my suspicions that pound puppies are the way to go. I didn’t know that they had mixed-breed rescues, or that they did temprament-testing, so I may go there.

This is still a long way away but it’s getting more real in my mind … I can’t wait! It’s lucky there aren’t more strays in my neighbourhood or I’d take in the next one that passed by!

31

If you’re a novice dog owner then a rescue organisation rather than a pound would be my suggestion. The rescue organisation take in pound puppies and rehome them, but because they have the dogs for a while, they can give you a pretty good idea of temperament and level of training. A mellow, older dog with a bit of training would be ideal for a new dog owner. Puppies are heaps of fun, but they are hard work.

Labs are sweet dogs, but they are high energy puppies with a need for real training, and they can be very destructive. And they need a fair amount of exercise if they are to be happy (and slender). It’s something to be aware of, if you’re tempted by the purebreed puppy. You’ll end up with a wonderful dog, but you’ll have to put the work in for the first couple of years.

For the most part pound puppies are nice dogs who have ended up in pounds through no fault of their own. Many dogs are impulse buys as cute puppies, and once they leave the cute puppy stage and need training, they are dumped at pounds.

If there is a breed of dog you particularly like, chances are that unless it is an unbelievably rare breed, one will turn up in rescue. I have two Neapolitan Mastiffs, both rescues, the latest is a 5 month old puppy, dumped in a pound because her breeder couldn’t sell the last puppies from the litter.

There are also breed rescue organisations, which take purebreeds from pounds and rehome them, so again, if you’re set on a breed, or fall in love with one, you can rescue a pound puppy and have the breed you want.

I do disagree about the purebreed dogs. Certainly there are irresponsible and unethical breeders, and ego-driven breeders who breed to the extremes of the standard. But there are also breeders like the OP’s friend, who breed carefully for health and temperament.

Mixed breed dogs, many of which come from puppy mills and unregistered breeders, can have all the health and temperament problems of purebreed dogs and in the case of puppy mill puppies these problems are often compounded by dreadful breeding practices.

That being said, unless you’re particularly set on a specific breed, a mixed breed pound puppy can be a wonderful friend … says my old dog, who came to me from a rescue organisation nearly 17 years ago.

32

I’d reiterate the notion that you should look for a dog whose energy suits your lifestyle. The labs I’ve known can be rather energetic - fine if you’re a runner, but not so fine if you just want to veg on the couch in the evening.

As to the OP - I got Rupert (the Wonder Beagle) from a breed rescue, and I second that the rescue route is a good choice for a novice owner. I got a good solid medical report on him, and also everything they said about him (social, a bit lazy, housetrained) was dead-on - it took a lot of the risks out of it for me.

33

Mr2U and I lost Dog2U back on May 5 to cancer - we’ve been holding off, but we feel we’re ready now and we’re hoping to adopt a dog after work today - we have a friend who is the health coordinator at a shelter in our area and a dog my husband saw on cable access that we’re interested in is re-available (it had been adopted when we first called, but the dog is back) and we want him!! We’re excited and really hoping - we know what the dog’s issues are and are perfectly willing to handle it. We may be the proud parents of a fifteen month old German Shepherd this afternoon!!! :smiley: Please keep good thoughts for us!!!

34

But I assume that the incidence of genetic diseases will be far lower compared to purebreds.

35

Not necessarily. All you need for genetic diseases to appear in a dog, is one or both parents with the disease. If you breed two types of dog (say a Poodle and a Labrador, a popular, big bucks cross) you are as likely to get Hip Dysplasia as if you bred two Labradors and two Poodles.

However, under the conditions of a puppy mill, I’d argue that your chances of HD, or any other disease, showing up are likely even greater, since puppy millers don’t do hip scores or other health tests for the dogs they breed, as would an ethical breeder.

They just breed for the cash. They have no interest in the long term health of the puppy once it is sold, nor in the long-term improvement of a breed, since they don’t actually have a breed to improve.

Crossing two dogs of different types won’t ensure you don’t get unhealthy progeny, you stack your odds of getting healthy progeny by breeding from healthy parents, from healthy bloodlines.

The kinds of health testing and record-keeping that this kind of breeding requires is unlikely to be done by puppy millers or those, “let’s just let Fifi have a litter, the puppies will be soooo cute” types.

36

only if by purebreed you mean AKC papers

37

So Missy2U…Is there another Doper Dog in our midst ? And if there is , you know the drill ! :stuck_out_tongue:

PICTURES !!! We need pictures !

38

Rescue all the way.

Your friend may be the exception, and may have simon-pure intentions, but generally speaking people who get money for purebred dogs will always recommend them. Personally the only other people I meet who recommend “purebred” as more desirable are what I’d consider to be snobs, or at least “name brand” people.

Let me share our “disappointing” pound rescue experience.

My brother was the first of our family to win parental consent to get a dog. We were in third grade. The pound was our first and only thought; rescue seemed like the right thing to do if we could find a dog we wanted.

My Dad’s main objective was to guide my brother to a shorthaired dog; a small one, if possible, that would make less of a mess and fit our small yard better.

Love obeys no rules.

Of course my brother fell in love with a big, longhaired German Shepherd/something mix. This dog was an adult, large and awkward-looking. Nor did she seem to want to come home with us.

In fact, she was severely messed up. She’d been mistreated; whenever any one of us raised a hand above waist level, she threw herself down and cowered. She had to be carried to the car; I remember her body was so rigid with terror that we held her front and back hips and carried her like cordwood.

In this day and age, she would have been ruled unadoptable and destroyed. But this was decades ago, and the pound was probably glad to find a home for such a sad case.

She was completely beaten down and made no visible effort to win our – or anyone’s – affection. My father, noting with dread the long, fine undercoat hairs the dog shed in clouds, tried cautiously to talk my brother out of choosing her, but he persisted in this mad course with single-mindedness. This dog, and no other, would be the dog.

At home, the dog, now named Princess, crawled into a basement corner and lay fearfully shaking. We had no experience with how to socialize a mistreated dog.

And it was here, under the least promising starting conditions, that things began to turn around for Princess. I have no other way to describe it except to suppose that the true quality of the dog began to shine through all the bad that had gone before.

I cannot convey on a message board the amazing qualities of this dog. She became brave and confident. She was ever gentle with children. She raised two abandoned kittens, allowing them to playfully bite and claw her ears…when the pain got to her, she would ever-so-gently open her mouth and close it around a kitten’s head and just hold the cat still for a second. All these years later I can still see the enormously indignant kittens glaring back at her with wet matted fur. :slight_smile: She never hurt them, and when they grew up she defended them against neighborhood dogs and cats.

She must have been part Lab; her love of water was so total that she’d drag us straight to even the shallowest mudpuddle and then just stand there with wet feet, wagging her tail gently.

This dog raised us three human kids too. She was a role-model for love; always attentive, always tender. Patient when waiting, forgiving when we roughhoused. Maybe she knew we’d saved her. I do know she lived every moment of her life for us after that car ride.

Princess had foibles of her own. She didn’t understand the TV; she’d lie in front of it and simply BASK in all the attention of the whole family gazing raptly at her.

One time I got a pet rabbit. We did not have a cage for the rabbit yet, so we put her into a downstairs office and closed the door. Somehow Princess got into the room, and the rabbit died, maybe from sheer fear; there wasn’t a mark on her, and she was not a hunting animal. Instead, she licked the poor bunny all over, either before or after the rabbit’s death, and when we came home, Princess crawled up to us miserably begging forgiveness, and led us to the body. She knew she’d done something wrong. We never did have any trouble with other rabbits in the future though; she never again got near one.

Princess lived a long happy life. We’ve had many dogs since, and still she stands out in my memory as the finest dog I’ve ever known.

I have no doubt that unexpected surprises can turn up in a rescued animal. Unexpected does not always mean bad. :slight_smile:

Best of luck to you in finding a Princess of your own.

Sailboat

39

Dammit, got something in my eye here. Sniff.

40

I am sorry that these are the kinds of purebreed dog people that you know. The breeders I know, and count as friends, have purebreed dogs for no other reason than for love of that breed. They are not snobs, not do they make money from their breeding. Whelping and raising a litter is an expensive proposition … it would be a rare breeder who made back in puppy sales what they spent on getting puppies to the point of sale, if they abide by the code of ethics of their registering organisation.

The reasons people might want purebreed dogs are not because they are “name brand” people, but because they fall in love with a particular breed of dog, or because they value the consistency of type and temperament buying a purebreed dog can offer them, and because buying from a good, responsible breeder can help ensure that the puppy they take home is healthy and well-raised.

All my dogs are pound puppies, a couple are purebreed dogs who came through rescue, and those for no other reason than I love the breed. But the breed of my heart is very rare in rescue here, so one day I will buy a purebreed puppy from a breeder … and I don’t think of myself as a snob, nor do I care about name brands.

I am glad that Princess turned out well for your family. I truly believe that most dogs, if given the chance, are more than willing to be good citizens, and for a chance at happiness are willing to forgive many human transgressions.