Congratulations! They are about the cutest thing ever.
My earlier comment was made in light of my impression that Tibetan Mastiffs were the next status symbol/protection dog du jour. Along with Ovcharkas/Caucasian Mountain Dog/white fluffy avatars of Death. For example, these dipshits profiled in a National Geographic video. I see little difference in substance between that guy failing to control an angry 175 pound plus ball of rage, teeth and fur, and a guy randomly shooting a centerfire rifle while walking down the street.
Aside, in a world that has the Fila Brasileiro, how can the Journal of Genetics and Genomics make a claim like “Most ferocious dog in the world” for the Tibetan Mastiff?
We think he is a St. Bernard - Pyrenees judging from the two distinct hair types he has. He is not over size for those breads IMO, about 110 pounds.
He was never trained and we sorta got a hold of him at about 2.
Scary smart, stubborn, good natured, does not eat our 8 cats, excellent guard dog. blah blah blah
He was run over as a pup we heard and his left rear does not work well. Had him Xrayed and his leg is broken into 3 parts, does not connect to hiship, etc., etc…
Before we got him, he had figured out how to live with it. Kills us that this happened to him but from what the docs say, it would take thousands of dollars to fix and he might end up with less use than he has developed for himself.
Vocal only when a people or critter invades his area of protection, about 5 acres in total. Lets us know that is all is well or that we need to come help him kill a bad guy he had treed or cornered.
Has a PHD in using his body weight to resist doing something you want him to do.
Very house broken, non destructive etc., etc…
The only thing we let him do is to protect his food dish. He is allowed to charge, growl, bark or shoulder the neighbors dog or any other cat of critter that is fixing to get into to his food. He is not allowed to bite or in anyway to harm the other critters that we have indicated belong here.
And the best part is that the wife & I can take anything he has not swallowed from inside his mouth or a deer bone ha has found. He tends to hide those because he really does not want to give them up.
Sheds, stinks, loves the cold, 24° F is just right. Wants to be outside all through the cold time. Even clipped way down, he will come in for the AC. Sleeps well on the bed and know he has to share with the cat or cats that may be present. Only once has he barked to be let in, it was coming a flood.
Normally he finds a window or door where he can see us and then waits quietly until we notice him. Same for wanting out or wanting something, he will just stand behind you until you notice him. It has been noted that if it is really urgent, he may nudge me with his nose if my nose is buried in the computer screen.
Will resort to a sharp bark, one or two if we have not noticed that he has been alerting us to a strange car or person coming up the drive…
If excited or mad, it is amazing what he can make his bad leg do. We don’t ask him to move a lot. He was never nor has ever played & does not know how. Wrestling` or mock fighting with neighbor dogs or me if I get on the ground and act like a playful dog. is the only play he knows. Won’t chase, fetch, he acts as if he has no idea what I want. And from what I know of his previous life, I fully believe he has no clue or even seen it done.
I am a ‘no critters in the house’ guy for the first 50 years of my life.
Now, all our critters are rescues, some ordinary, some brink of death or have gone feral.
Seeing stuff online and other places will cause my eyes to leak and my opinion of humans go down more & more.
I know this is too long but to all of you who love your critters and care as much as most here seem to do, well. You are the good people.
What is my dream dog at a sedentary 71 years of age?
As smart as “Skipboot.”
Does not shed and still can physically handle the cold and the hot. Pleasant disposition like Zeus.
30 to 60 pounds.
like water, garden hoses, baths, like to ride my motorcycles with me.
Naturally healthy.
Will defend his pack at all times.
Knows like the one up thread that knows what to do when I fall down the well and can communicate that to people so as to rescue me.
Needs to live longer than I am likely too & that should be possible now at my age.
I know that I am responsible for teaching most of thees items
Agree. Plus, they don’t know they’re little dogs. I like big dog attitudes (not aggressive, but not easy to physically intimidate,) but I’m getting too old and down in the back to deal with stuff like wrestling a great Pyrenees into the bathtub. We have no plans to add another dog anytime soon, but I think we’ll be on the lookout for a Corgi when we find ourselves short of a dog.
That being said? It might be a mutt, or whichever dog finds us next. Besides, you can’t really go by “Breed X is known to be smart/obedient/protective/whatever.” Our last Pyr was everything he was supposed to be - extra-smart, protective, stubborn, a bit aloof. Our current Pyr is clingy and needy and dumber than a box of wet hammers. I’ve fostered the stupidest black Lab that ever whelped a puppy, a hyperactive basset hound, and timid German shepherds, plus a Bernese mountain dog that was such a scaredy-cat that he felt compelled to actually sleep on top of my head so that I could protect him from things that go bump in the night. Breed generalizations certainly aren’t guarantees!
Beagles are sweet, but they’re also dumb and bark at everything. That’s their job, and they’re good at it. I’ve met exactly one person who said theirs didn’t bark excessively, and ours sure as hell did. At people, at squirrels, at falling leaves, at ghosts no one else could see or hear…
If you’re afraid of dogs, I think you need something kind of low-key/mellow. If you can find one, I recommend a cocker spaniel. When I was a kid, they were the family dog of choice for a lot of the people I knew, and they were a great size for the crowded city we lived in.
Best dog I ever had was a Malamute. Incredibly smart and preceptive, great communicator, endlessly good-natured. I’d have another one in a minute.
Current canine friend is a fairly recent acquisition, a Border Collie just barely one year old and coming along very well. Reports of the breed’s high intelligence seem to be correct, but he’s a little more high-strung than I’d prefer… hopefully that will improve with age.
LavenderBlue - how much space have you got? Do you have a fenced yard for the dog to run in?
If there is room to run I’d recommend a Sheltie. They do require a lot of brushing, but little girls will generally enjoy taking care of it.
Shelties are gentle, quiet, soft and trainable. They are generally a little on the timid side with new people, and some strains are unpleasantly nervous, so try to meet the bitch before buying a pup. If she is calm and friendly then the pups should be too.
But if a sheltie doesn’t get to run each day they will become lethargic and depressed.
We had all dropoff or pound pups except one purchased working-bred Aussie (I have cows and horses, and during her era, sheep) that NEVER shut up and was a cat killer. Her tail was cropped too short and husband and I developed a sincere distaste for cropping and docking.
Last year our LabDal and Labeeler both died within a few months- Bert to age in his sleep and Rosie to cancer.
One of husband’s wealthy furniture clients had a couple Standard Poodles. Get a Poodle, he said. They don’t shed, he said. What they DO is bring in a lot of stuff from outside
(Rosie was yellow, and shed enough to knit a sweater from daily). So- we have a 7 month old Spoo. Paid up front, so they wouldn’t dock his tail or clip his dewclaws. He’s clipped like a Lab with a perm, so people always think he is a Doodle. The breed forum disses the breeder because they don’t show- (and they really do have too many puppies) but they have a lot of happy customers! Us for one. He is very very smart. MUCH smarter than the Labbishes. After a bit of a rocky start- breeder has a lot of puppies and he was underweight- he is 40 lbs and still growing, barks ONLY to go out, come in, or at complete strangers. He has zero interest in herding cows. Doesn’t wander- and will go home if Husband takes him for a walk and chats too long with the neighbor. When he is 3 or four we’ll probably get another. This one is solid colored- fading from black to blue (maybe silver) and, according to a guy on the street, show quality based on his conformation. That’s nice, but I’m not a show person (though quality is nice, as long as I agree on the goals). The tuxedos and partis cost more just for white bits that would get dirty here .
I get my Mastiff fix from a neighbor- he has an intentional cross between an Anatolian and a Boerbel. Massive dog. Bear repellant, coyote killer, livestock guardian. Very effective, and because he was socialized here, patrols our perimeter as well. He’s one of those with a head the size of an engine block ;). Neighbor also has two rescued pugs. The female pug bites, not very effectively, as she is missing her lower left canine. I know this because when I laughed at the poor thing for biting my boot she launched herself at my knee and took a good nip. There are three dots of scar where her teeth got me. Neighborwife was mortified but it was still funny- and the plexus of knotted blue vein in that place was gone after the puncture wounds and bruise healed.
If I were alone here, I might get one of the OlympicDog crosses like the above- that breeder does a lot of testing of his molossers, both for temperament, disease, and structure, and intelligence (he says he’s still looking for a Dane with brains). Guard dog, lives outside preferentially, with the Boerboel yesma’am attitude.
As a kid I always wanted a Dingo. Then a wolfhound. Guess I’ll stick with my Poodle-that-isn’t-clipped-like-a-poodle.
Shelties are darling. I’ve seen a few in the parks around here.
We have a standard detached house on a 60 x 100 foot lot in a NJ suburb.
My dad has a dog that is probably mostly cocker spaniel. It’s the first dog he’s ever owned. He calls her Lovey because that’s apparently what she does all day – spends it being a very loving dog. She’s a very sweet dog. My eldest thinks beagles are adorable. A friend of hers has one so that’s her current favorite dog.
As this point my concern is about our youngest who is three. She’s a very rambunctious three year old who tends to tug and pull on our kitties. But she seems to be getting much better lately at interacting with dogs. We saw a very charming pug this morning. She was quite nice around him – petting him gently and letting his sniff her.
The beagle we had when I was growing up did not bark excessively, and he was a smart little bugger. Plus Charles Schulz said the beagle he based Snoopy on was the smartest dog he ever saw.
A pug only because it would make my daughter so happy. I’m partial to last-chance mixed breed problem dogs I can save instead of having someone cook one up for me special.
I currently live a dog that is probably mostly mini-poodle and as she is the best best dog in the whole wide world, then mostly mini-poodle (or whatever she is).
Assuming that was out, possibly a Klee Kai or Japanese Spitz.
There are a LOT of dog breeds I’m irrationally fond of. But as it is, my most recent dogs have been from breeds I didn’t particularly like (a black lab and a rat terrier mix), and we bonded anyway.
So, as a PRACTICAL matter, I know I can love any dog from any breed, so long as we’re a good personality match.
I have a list as long as my arm, but my top pick would be a Lab. Second is an Irish Setter. Third is Springer. Fourth would be GSD. I like the sporting/herding dogs. I’ll also take an OES, Corgi (Pembroke) and Westie. I would also like a mini Bull Terrier. And a black Standard Poodle named Raoul.
Actually, I’d probably go for a pound mutt too. But the type of mutt would be medium-sized with white fluffy fur. When we lived in the suburbs of Bangkok, we were in a building that did allow pets. One Thai family had such a mutt, but then decided they didn’t want her anymore. Why, I don’t know. The family literally just told her, “You’re not ours anymore. Go live on your own.” Like you could reason with a dog like that. She became the building’s dog. Lived for several years, had lots of cute puppies, and everyone took care of her (everyone except that family, of course). Someone even took her to the vet and had her bandaged up when she got hit by a car once. That was a smart dog, and friendly. We’d like one just like her. Her name was “Pooey,” which means “cotton” or “cottony” if you pronounce it using the correct tones. And it was sad to see her perk up every time she saw that bastard family, who just ignored her and went on their way.
Have 2 cats (one is pre-symptom terminal). The FIP-free cat is now very used to being in one bedroom for long periods.
If the other cat passes… if I’m still home-bound and able to handle the extra work… if the family agrees to add a dog to the mix (vacation hotel issues included)…
…then I’d hie my ass down to a shelter & see who likes me closest to the breeds I [del]hope[/del] think I can handle: a boxer, a beagle, or maybe a pitbull.
