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#1
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Help finding a good breed
What's a good family dog? have kids 9 and 12.
Had Dalmatians..too hyper and skin probs. (but BEAUTIFUL animals) Had Bassetts...they want to hunt too much. For us they were hard to walk or train. we have a big fenced yard, in woods in Tennessee. We just want a simple good FULL BLOODED OUTSIDE family dog. Was looking at Golden Retrievers but am concerned about their health problems I've read online about. Any good recommendations appreciated. Thanks ya'll. |
#2
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"Mark" wrote in message ... What's a good family dog? have kids 9 and 12. Had Dalmatians..too hyper and skin probs. (but BEAUTIFUL animals) Had Bassetts...they want to hunt too much. For us they were hard to walk or train. we have a big fenced yard, in woods in Tennessee. We just want a simple good FULL BLOODED OUTSIDE family dog. I should hope you want your dog full of blood. Or did you mean purebred? And does your whole family live outside? That's odd. If you mean that you want a dog to live outside yet be part of your family who live indoors, I'm afraid there really is no breed that fits that bill. The only dogs that live outdoors successfully are those who form packs outside of the home - for example, livestock guardians who become "one" with their sheep pack, or groups of hunting hounds. To have a dog be a good part of the family, it must live indoors with the pack - invariably, dogs left outdoors develop behavior issues (barking, digging, chewing, roaming, etc.) and are not "good family dogs." Conversely, almost any breed that is part of the indoor family and given proper training can be a "good family dog." Specific breeds suit different people - for example, size, temperament, coat care - so it is impossible to recommend breeds without knowing more about what you want in a dog. All dogs need training and exercise, but have different requirements, abilities, and so on. Was looking at Golden Retrievers but am concerned about their health problems I've read online about. All breeds have health problems. Responsible breeders take necessary steps to reduce incidents (health testing, pedigree research etc.) but there are no guarantees. Thus, seeking a responsible breeder is a lower risk proposition than buying from a breeder who takes no precautions. But first, you need to do more research into what you want from your indoor family dog. Christy |
#3
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On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 20:42:15 -0600 Mark whittled these words:
What's a good family dog? have kids 9 and 12. Had Dalmatians..too hyper and skin probs. (but BEAUTIFUL animals) Had Bassetts...they want to hunt too much. For us they were hard to walk or train. we have a big fenced yard, in woods in Tennessee. We just want a simple good FULL BLOODED OUTSIDE family dog. It is possible that a dog would do OK in your situation, but the chances of you and that dog connecting are fairly small. One important part of the problem is that you are asking for conflicting characteristics. You want a dog that can spend a good deal of time alone, yet desires human companionship enough to be both trainable and sociable. That is an extremely rare combination. The issue isn't where the dog lives. It is how much time the dog spends in social contact. It used to be that our dogs were primarily rural, and the dog spent most of its day hanging out with the family members as they worked outdoors. Most of their waking hours the dogs would be able to touch, smell, and interact with people, or other socialble animals. Now even rural people spend most of their time away from home As M. Milani, D.V.M, PHD in the book "The Body Language and Emotions of Dogs" notes about 90% of dogs spending most of their time alone (e.g. "outdoor dogs") end up in behavior problems that their people consider to be serious. To have a mentally healthy, sociable dog typically requires a minimum of four hours a day of direct physical interaction. Typically dogs that can do with less than that do so because they don't need the social interaction. And that lack of need generally makes them not particularly trainable, and often not particularly sociable. If you honestly believe that you will be spending adequate time with the dog, then your best bet it to take in a rescue or shelter dog that has already been kept in that situation. You are unlikely to get any benefit out of seeking a purebred dog (not full blood). The general advantage in a purebred dog is predictability of characteristics. But you don't get that with the carelessly bred purebred dog. And health problems are a risk with any carelessly bred dog. More so with carelessly bred purebred than with random bred. You don't strike me as one willing to put in the effort needed to find a carelfully bred dog, and even if you were you would find very few breeders willing to sell their dogs into the kind of social isolation that usually results from dogs that are never allowed to live with the family. Was looking at Golden Retrievers but am concerned about their health problems I've read online about. Any good recommendations appreciated. The experiences of shelters and rescues is that your situation is not a good one for the majority of dogs. However you may have better defined plans for providing adequate time with the dog than you have outlined here. If that is the case then I strongly recommend (1) get a dog that is fully mentally mature - at least 2 years old (2) focus more on looking at the specific qualities of the dog rather than its breed. I think you like the idea of having a dog, but not so much actually having one. -- Diane Blackman http://dog-play.com/ http://dogplay.com/Shop/ |
#4
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"Mark" wrote in message ... What's a good family dog? have kids 9 and 12. A dog that's brought up as part of the family, taught good manners and feels secure and happy within his human family. Had Dalmatians..too hyper and skin probs. (but BEAUTIFUL animals) Had Bassetts...they want to hunt too much. For us they were hard to walk or train. *Had* them? for their full lifetime? we have a big fenced yard, in woods in Tennessee. We just want a simple good FULL BLOODED OUTSIDE family dog. why 'full blooded' / pure bred in particular? I would start looking to why you really want a dog and what you want to do with the dog before I'd start looking at breeds. Why must this dog be an outside dog? why must it be pure bred and how much time atm to you and your family currently spend outside without a dog ? (...cos if you never play in the yard while you don't have a dog the chances are great that you'll soon find it too much effort once you do have a dog.) If you are trying to create or complete some kind of family image, its not going to work. Every dog comes with 'warts n' all'. Diana & Cindy -- Cindy's web site (I would strongly suggest that a weim is NOT a candidate for your situation either... she can dig for England, has a hearty bark, is hyper like a dali and wants to hunt like a basset, and needs constantly reminding that she must mind her manners, which means a lot of training and supervision... and she is never happy unless she knows her people are there with her) http://cindy-incidentally.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk |
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