What should I consider before taking in this dog?

In My Humble Opinion
1

The dog in question is this guy(Rex) http://s793.beta.photobucket.com/user/russvig/media/WP_20130303_011.jpg.html He’s about a year old and expected to grow a bit more though mostly filling in, thy think he’s at his full height.

I’ve been considering getting a dog for a while. I haven’t owned a dog since I was a child. I grew up with a German Shepard.

My sister who works at a pet groomer has been aware of my want of a dog for a while and has been torturing me with cute doggy pics convincing me to get one. Now her coworker who’s more of a dog trainer has ended up with a dog as a foster she can’t keep due to her apartment regulations.

The original owner was planning on abandoning the dog when they moved. It’s suspected this person was abusive towards the dog, sudden movements like you are going to strike him cause him to cower along, with swinging the leash.

There was another person in between that passed this dog to the girl that currently has him. Her apartment limits the number of large dogs allowed and they are already at cap so she isn’t allowed to keep him indefinably. He’s also a rather large dog to keep around in her smallish apartment with no real yard.

His paperwork seems to be in order and lists him as a terrier mix. Why it says that I don’t know, he looks kinda like a boxer to me except his giant head, fee; free to take a guess. He’s had all his shots and is scheduled to be neutered in a few weeks.

I met him this weekend and took him for a walk. He’s doing very good with commands but likes to try and pull you wherever he wants to go. He’s pretty strong, the girl that has him says she usually uses a ‘pinch collar’ because she needs to better control him due to her current health condition. He’s Kennel trained and has been in the kennel up to 12 hours with no accidents, he only peed once in the house and but that was the same spot another dog had gone a bit earlier.

He’s amazingly gently, you can stick you hand in his mouth or pull his ears and he doesn’t even react. He’s been living with the little black dog who’s a little vicious bitch to him. He loves to play with other dogs, the little dog plays much rougher and has left a few wounds, she likes to bite hard, he’s yet to react or do any damage in return.

I live in a large apartment 4 bedroom apartment(currently alone but I’m looking for a single roommate) in a two family house. It is a half acre lot. The other tenant(landlords son and his 3 kids 8 9 18) had a dog when I moved in but she died(14year old golden retriever) he doesn’t want to get another dog while his kids do, he’s hoping the kids might let up if they have a dog around. The kids weren’t very good at doing the work part of ownership they just liked the play part.

My immediate concern is economic. I don’t want to be throwing my lifes savings at vet bills. How much is a reasonable average for dog ownership?
Landlords only concern was insurance saying ‘her policy doesn’t cover specific breeds’, is he likely to be an issue?
Any thoughts?

2

Your current landlord might be okay with a pet but many rentals won’t allow dogs (or potential roommates might not want a dog around). So keep in mind owning a dog might restrict your future choices in living arrangements.

3

Aware but not all that concerned about it. I have other options available to me. I plan to stay here for some time should I chose to move it will most likely be into a house.

4

Oh another thing, He has a bad name ‘Rex’ how difficult is it to rename him at his age?

5

He does look like some kind of boxer mix. Vet bills could get expensive if something’s wrong with him, but if he’s otherwise healthy he just needs shots, heartworm medicine, wormers, and flea and tick stuff like frontline. The shots are pretty cheap at places like Petco and other big box pet stores. So figure a couple of hundred a year for the basics. He sounds like a fun friendly dog.

ETA: Dogs are usually easy to rename. Many have nicknames in addition to their given name. They know when you’re talking to them.

6

I don’t have much opinion about whether to get him or not, it sounds like you’re prepared if you decide to go ahead, though if you’re thinking he may need to be crated for 12 hours while living with you maybe you’re not the best fit for him. But, depending on your relationship with the neighbor and kids, maybe they can walk him for you every day after school or something.

As far as vet bills, who knows? Yearly checkups and vaccines really do depend on your area - call a local vet’s office and ask them what a typical visit runs, then ask them what a dental runs on a dog his size. Be prepared to get dentals for him regularly, probably every 2-3 years, unless you’re able to brush his teeth. Carrots as a daily treat are healthy and good for teeth, too.

If he should remain a healthy guy for most of his life and you don’t need vet visits beyond checkups, vaccines, and dentals, then it’s just once he gets old, arthritic, and needs medical management for pain and such that things can get pricier and vet visits more frequent.

Depending on where you live, be prepared to hold anywhere from $500 to $5,000 in reserve for emergencies, such as eating something he shouldn’t and/or needing foreign body surgery or breaking a leg or needing a hip replaced or whatnot.

To re-name him, call him by his current name and his new name together for a few days/weeks depending on how bright he is. Try the new name alone occasionally and when he starts responding to it alone, drop the first name.

7

I wouldn’t be crating him so much, I’m expecting to walk him an average of an hour a day. I have an outside runner wire thing as well if he likes being outside. When he’s older and a bit better trained I’d want to be able to take him to job sites with me, I do a lot of outside work on wells and associated dig work.

8

Can you price those 6’x6’ covered kennels with a box? I say that because keeping him in a create would be really small for an adult dog.

I’d never leave a dog tied to a line unattended. He’d be at risk of anyone walking up into his space and claiming an injury (because, people never cause a dog to bite… the dog is just vicious no matter how much the kid provoked and taunted him) and he’d also be at risk of attack by roaming dogs.

9

I just want to say how much he looks like my dog Georgie.

Georgie is also a “terrier mix”, he is pit bull and German Shepherd.

10

He looks pretty similar to my boxer/pit mix. She is the sweetest dog on the planet. These types of terriers do tend to have knee problems.

I live in Nothern Virginia, so vet pricing is probably pretty high. We spend, on average, about $500 a year on each dog, for regular vet stuff, food, etc… We may pop for a knee replacement for my girl; approximately 3K.

And I agree with Enkel. Particularly since “Rex” looks like he has a bit of Pit in him.

11

By crate I mean I’ll have a cage style kennel that used to be used by the golden retriever who was a bit larger than him.

I wouldn’t plan to leave him outside when I’m not around, I’d be more worried about him escaping and wandering. My neighborhood doesn’t see much activity. I’m on a corner lot near a river and a warehouse. The warehouse rarely seeing much activity, it’s deep storage for paper mill equipment. I have two neighbors both with fenced in yards, my yard is unfenced.

12

Do a google search for pitbull insurance, there are many out there.
It looks like he may be one to me, if so you couldn’t do better IMO, of course.

this one I have contacted myself

For general information you can go to www.vrcpitbull.net and read up.

Wishing you many smiles to come!

13

I’d suggest fencing your yard. Boxers are athletic and good jumpers/climbers, so make it a decent fence.

14

Our three dogs. The one on the left had a run-in with cancer a few years ago. She is in remission and doing fine, but total costs were near 5 thousand bucks. The Shepherd in the middle is grown up now and other than basic vet care has been cheap. The one on the right takes meds for joint pain. She is doing very well, but her medication is around $125 a month.

15

For a young dog, I’d say the estimate of a couple hundred a year is pretty accurate. Though I would like to suggest two things.

For walks, don’t use the pinch collar. I’ve found that a gentle leader is awesome at stopping pulling. If he’s been abused, I don’t see why anyone would use something that would cause him pain like a pinch collar.

And on the abuse side. You mentioned your landlord’s kids. If it were me, I’d keep him away from the kids for a while until I was confident his fear issues were taken care of. Not saying that he’s a bad dog, or that it’s super dangerous. But kids a lot more ‘spontaneous’ in their actions than adults. It could trigger some fear response in him, and while right now it seems he’s withdrawing, there’s always the possibility it could lead to fear aggression.

16

He doesn’t look terribly pit bull to me. Of course, Boxers are also a bully breed, so they can be similar-looking, especially if they’re mixed. Of course, the thing about breed-specific prejudice is, it doesn’t matter what breed he is, or is mixed with; all that matters is what other people decide he is. (Most Breed-Specific Legislation is written so that even a veterinarian’s determination doesn’t count; the police and/or animal control can decide an given animal “looks like” a “pit bull type” dog, and that’s enough to count for breed bans and so on.) Therefore you may run into issues from prejudice and ignorance even if he’s a boxer.

That said, he looks like a goofy lug. :slight_smile: Don’t let other people’s ignorance stop you from reaching out to someone in need!

One of the things we’ve done to reduce anxiety in a dog who was maltreated was to try to GENTLY turn the source of the fear into a reward. Sadie had almost certainly been kicked – she would “go to ground” if we stumbled or even made a loud footfall – so we began using our bare feet to stroke her very gently when she was relaxed, and she’s mostly over her fear of feet now.

17

Many landlord/tenant liability insurance carriers are excluding pit bull like dogs from coverage. Yes, the dog looks close enough to the pitbull “type” that your landlord’s liability insurance may well not allow the dog on premises. You need to get that sorted out before doing anything else.

Beyond this, many people have various opinions on pitbull like dogs. You may find some friends and associates will not want to you to bring the dog along to any gatherings with other dogs or kids.