# I'm going to be getting a dog soon… **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-be-getting-a-dog-soon/669936 "2013-09-29T17:47:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-be-getting-a-dog-soon/669936/1 "2013-09-29T17:47:44Z")
I’ve been doing research on dog breeds, and have narrowed it down to a few specifics, I’m not looking for a purebred, and I will be adopting from a local shelter, I just have to wait for the right dog to adopt me… I live on a farm, we have 50 acres of land, mostly hay fields with a mix of Timothy and alfalfa hay, we have a one acre man made pond, stocked with largemouth bass, and the property is surrounded by woods and a couple small woodlots, needless to say, any dog would be happy here We have a pair of indoor/outdoor cats, shorthairs, a few barn cats at my sister’s barn, and she has a couple toy sized dogs as well, a mini-dachsund, and a ( groan) long haired chihuaua, and yes, it’s as annoying as the stereotype, the mini-D is great, but getting on in years… So, the new dog will have to get along with cats (they were here first) and will encounter my sister’s dogs, as her house is also on the property The breeds I’m considering, in no particular order, are; Border Collie German Shepherd Siberian Husky Alaskan Malamute Labrador Retriever Or a mixed breed with one or more of the above bloodlines My prime consideration, must be good with cats, must be intelligent and trainable, and must be mellow and easygoing, personality-wise, no high strung yapper, but also must be a good watchdog I know, tall order… So far, I’ve visited two shelters, the NHSPCA just outside Greenland/Portsmouth NH, and a smaller shelter closer by The NHSPCA looks to be a great place, the animals are clearly well cared for and well adjusted, the kitteh room has three distinct playrooms where you can interact with cats outside their cages, the dog room also has playrooms, and they have plenty of outdoor spaces to walk the dogs The other shelter, well, I was not impressed, multiple mobile home trailers bolted together, the facility was directly across from a prison complex, the dog kennels with barely enough room for medium to large dogs to turn around, and almost every dog there was showing signs of aggression barking, the only dog that seemed remotely well adjusted was a sweet yellow lab named Putt-Putt Sadly, Putt was not good with cats, otherwise a great dog The feeling I got from that facility was pure desperation and panic, NONE of the animals wanted to be there, and indeed, I got a general “feeling of death” from that place, kind of like what you feel in a badly run nursing home… The NHSPCA, OTOH, impressed me enough to want to volunteer there Sadly, no doggies matched my needs at either place, but NHSPCA is getting in some more dogs in the next couple weeks, maybe one of them will adopt me? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-be-getting-a-dog-soon/669936)._