I'm thinking of getting a dog, a medium sized one -- maybe a German
Shepherd or a Lab. Should I be looking at a purebred or a mongrel?
Are there any pros or cons one way or the other? (There are no small
children in the house, if that makes a difference). Thanks.

On 6 Jan 2007 12:51:42 -0800, "John Davidson"
wrote:

I'm thinking of getting a dog, a medium sized one -- maybe a German
Shepherd or a Lab. Should I be looking at a purebred or a mongrel?
Are there any pros or cons one way or the other? (There are no small
children in the house, if that makes a difference). Thanks.

Here's is a helpful website: http://yourpurebredpuppy.com/tutorial1.html
25% of all shelter dogs are purebreds.

A purebred or mixed-breed dog can be good or troublesome. It really
depends of what the parents were like, And what the new owner is like.

There is no guarantee that a purebred will enjoy good mental or physical
health. In fact, most, if not all, purebreds are known to have one or
more genetic predisposition to some ailment. Quite often, adding genetic
material from another breed or mix will eliminate one or more inherited
ailments--often without adding a new ailment.

If you've done your homework and know that you want a certain breed, you
can contact a rescue group for that breed. Some rescue groups also have
mixes of their particular breed.

In shelters, it is usually a guess as to what the parents were. But
sometimes, you can spot definite characteristics of at least one
specific breed. So, if you see physical features that you like, there a
great chance that the dog's personality will be quite workable.

Sadly, both German Shepherds and Labs frequently end up in shelters.
Very often they are fabulous in every way.



___________________
A dog's life is too short; their only fault really.

John Davidson wrote:
I'm thinking of getting a dog, a medium sized one -- maybe a German
Shepherd or a Lab. Should I be looking at a purebred or a mongrel?
Are there any pros or cons one way or the other? (There are no small
children in the house, if that makes a difference). Thanks.

Assuming that you are talking about a puppy, the advantage of getting a
purebred is presumably that you know what you're getting in terms of
temperament, breed characteristics, size, coat, etc. That depends, of
course, on whether the breeder knows what they are doing.

Both of the breeds you are interested in--which are quite different in
character, I might add--are readily available in extremely poor quality from
people who say they are "just trying to breed nice pets" and they "have both
parents on the premises" and "the puppies are vet checked" and "we know the
puppies will be wonderful because everyone loves Fluffy and s/he doesn't
have any health problems." They may also mention "championship lines" that
will be a number of generations back and "blocky heads" and/or "big bones."
Avoid such sellers like the plague.

If you do decide to look for a purebred, make sure that you get one from an
ethical breeder. An ethical breeder does health testing appropriate for the
breed, only breeds from dogs with generations of health testing, usually
shows and/or competes in something like obedience or field trials, has a
contract requiring spay/neuter for pets, requires that you return the dog to
them for rehoming if at any point in its life you can't keep it, and so on.
Realize that "AKC-registered" applies to random-bred puppy mill products as
well as carefully-bred performance litters. A badly-bred purebred German
Shepherd in particular is not a dog you'd want, for both temperament and
health reasons. They can be a nightmare to own. It is well worth going
through the trouble to find a good one. In some areas, like mine, reasonably
good, ethical breeders actually do occasionally advertise labs in the
newspaper, but generally that not where you should be looking for a puppy.
Absolutely do not consider buying a puppy from a pet store or a broker. No
ethical breeder will sell puppies to them. They are ALL from mills, no
matter what they try to tell you, and generally grossly overpriced for what
you are getting.

Your area will have breed clubs that will have puppy referral services.
Start with the AKC website to find the local clubs. Don't forget that most
"show" litters contain more dogs destined to be pets--but happy, healthy
pets--than show dogs.

If you are open to a mix, I'd go to your local shelters and save a life,
rather than rewarding irresponsible dog owners with ready cash.

In any case, unless you are set on a puppy, I'd check out the German
Shepherd and Lab rescue organizations in your area. They will have dogs with
known temperament and character up for adoption, one of which might be great
for you. (They might even have puppies.)

Labradoodles are mutts, pure and simple. Don't reward that scam with your
money.

But before doing anything, check out www.dog-play.com for lots of excellent
advice on getting a dog.

John Davidson wrote:
I'm thinking of getting a dog, a medium sized one -- maybe a German
Shepherd or a Lab. Should I be looking at a purebred or a mongrel?
Are there any pros or cons one way or the other? (There are no small
children in the house, if that makes a difference). Thanks.

In my opinion, it is best to get a purebred dog from a quality breeder.
You will typically have fewer health problems if the breeder took the
precautions they need to take for the breed. That being said, if you
can't find a quality breeder, or do not wish to spend that much on a
dog because so and so will sell you one for half the price, I would get
a mutt from a rescue. With a mutt, the diversified gene pool should in
theory help decrease the chances of it having health problems over a
poorly bred purebred dog. But because no real knowledge is known about
their breeding there is most likely a higher chance for health problems
than a properly bred purebred. These are just my moderately educated
opinions.

Now way down the line I would take a purebred dog from a shelter.
Mainly I do not like purebreds from shelters because I view the risk of
either temperment problems or health issues higher than a mutt from a
shelter. Don't get me wrong, you can get lucky, and you certainly
increase your chances of getting lucky by going to the shelters that
specialize in a certain breed. But at your basic animal shelter, the
dogs are there for a reason. And a lot of them are drop offs from
owners who got them from poor breeders who either developed a
temperment issue or a health issue. Sometimes properly bred dogs end
up in your typical shelter by some sad fate, such as bolted out the
door and took off running and got picked up in the next county over to
never be seen by the owner again.

And then even further down, so much further it is nearing the earth's
core, I would get a dog from a back yard breeder, or a puppy mill, or
any other crappy breeder. But this is so far down it wouldn't actually
happen, so don't concider it a recommendation to go that route.

Nick

"
wrote in
oups.com:

But at your basic animal shelter, the
dogs are there for a reason.

Most often the reason has to do with the people who owned them, not the
dogs themselves. My puppy was from an oops litter -- hey, no need to find
them homes, I'll just take them to the shelter.

I have seen dogs up at our shelter with reasons like "owner doesn't have
time to take care of him/her" and "owners retired and wanted to travel
more."-- this latter on a 7 year old dog!

It's true that people drop dogs off at the shelter because of behavioral
problems -- but the vast majority of behavioral problems are caused by
the people, either through lack of training or lack of attention to the
dog, or both.

One of my dogs came from a shelter, one from a rescue group, and one from
a neighbor who was going to take her to the shelter. They are all
wonderful dogs.

Whatever dog you get will have "behavioral problems" or "temperament
issues" -- they are individuals who have quirks and who make mistakes,
but with training and managing and understanding, most could be wonderful
pets.

If your preference is for buying purebreds from a responsible breeder,
that's fine. But it's just wrong to advise people NOT to adopt from
shelters and to say that the dogs are there for a reason -- implying that
there's something wrong with the dogs.

My advice to the OP: try the shelter, and see if you don't meet a nice
dog who calls out to you in some way. It sounded to me (as it did to
others) like you didn't really know what you want in a dog (your breed
choices being so divergent). Maybe meeting a dog you like at a shelter
would be just the ticket.

--
Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow
& Queenie the black gold retriever
& Max the Pomeranian
& Rosalie the calico cat

On 8 Jan 2007 08:26:16 -0800,
"
, clicked their heels and
said:


In my opinion, it is best to get a purebred dog from a quality breeder.

Maybe. Maybe not. A WYSIWYG adult shelter dog, mixed or purebred, is
a pretty good bet. Especially as an only dog.

I prefer to get a dog 2 ways - as above (adult shelter or rescue dog)
or well bred purebred puppy. That said, one of the loves of my life
currently is a puppymill purebred who went through 2 homes by 5 months
old and 2 shelter stays. He is delightful, smart, loving and just a
wonderful dog. There are a lot of dogs out there who simply had the
wrong owner. Choose wisely and you can get a pretty amazing dog
almost anywhere.
--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

ceb wrote in
:

I have seen dogs up at our shelter with reasons like "owner doesn't
have time to take care of him/her"

And, gauchely following up on my own post, what is up with that
excuse??? You adopted the dog, you make time for the dog! Barring
catastrophic circumstances, such as needing so much care yourself that
you can't possibly care for another creature, your commitment to your
pets should be absolute!

I don't know why I'm ranting today. Maybe because I had a wonderful
weekend with my little mob -- we had a couple of excursions (my new knee
is doing great!) and I had so much fun with them. Although why that
should lead to ranting, I'm not entirely sure.

--
Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow
& Queenie the black gold retriever
& Max the Pomeranian
& Rosalie the calico cat

Janet B wrote in
:

There are a lot of dogs out there who simply had the
wrong owner. Choose wisely and you can get a pretty amazing dog
almost anywhere.


I also think that sometimes people don't accept that dogs are individuals
-- many people seem to have an idealized notion of what dogs are like.
Just like with people, there's a certain amount of accepting flaws and
valuing the dog for him/herself.

--
Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow
& Queenie the black gold retriever
& Max the Pomeranian
& Rosalie the calico cat

On Mon, 8 Jan 2007 17:32:39 +0000 (UTC), ceb
, clicked their heels and said:


Just like with people, there's a certain amount of accepting flaws and
valuing the dog for him/herself.

How true. I've chosen some really amazingly wonderful shelter dogs
(as well as purchased amazingly wonderful purebred puppies) and I
adore all of them for themselves!
--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

ceb wrote:
If your preference is for buying purebreds from a responsible breeder,
that's fine. But it's just wrong to advise people NOT to adopt from
shelters and to say that the dogs are there for a reason -- implying that
there's something wrong with the dogs.

And I don't think I said not to get one from a shelter, I simply stated
that I prefer getting them from a good breeder because in my opinion
the risk of having problems that you don't really want to mess with
from a shelter dog is greater than from a good breeder. I have
personally had dogs from a poor breeder before I knew any better, which
I think a lot of people make that mistake, and my current dog is from a
shelter. My fiance's family on the other hand has many dogs all but
two from good breeders and the other two were from an unintentional
mating, so they helped the guy out by taking two of the pups. My dogs
from the poor breeders were by far the worst I have had in terms of
health problems. The many people I know who have gotten dogs from good
breeders vary rarely have health issues. My shelter dog on the other
hand has some pretty major health problems himself.

As far as temperment problems, a lot of that is the result of the
owner, but sometimes the damage done to a dog's temperment as a puppy
is too great to ever be fully repaired no matter how great an owner you
are. The original owner a lot of the time can be at fault, but another
thing this brings up is the difference between a good shelter and a
poor shelter. My shelter mutt came from a rescue group where the only
form of training they recognized was a squirt bottle filled with water
when they were misbehaving. The result is my dog is so phobic that if
I pick anything up that looks at all like a squirt bottle he will run
to the farthest part of the room to get away from me, even if I just
picked it up for some reason that has nothing to do with him.

The only thing about shelter dogs that I am wary of is purebred dogs.
I do not desire to own another purebred from a poor breeder, the health
issues were enough of a pain to me that I would not risk it from a
shelter. In theory, all good breeders should not have their dogs end
up in shelters because they would have impressed on the new dog owner
how willing they are to take back the dog if it becomes a problem.
That being said, I think that almost all purebreds that end up in a
shelter most likely come from a poor breeder, and I stay away from them
as much as I can.

Case in point, I helped arrange an adoption of a pure bred Lhasa Apso
for my grandmother from a shelter. Within the first year she spent
over $2000 on vet bills as a result of medical bills from health issues
that were most likely the result of being from a poor breeding. She
also has minor behavioral issues that the shelter made no mention of,
and in some cases said the exact opposite of, their description of her
was basically of exactly the type of dog my grandmother needed. And
these behavioral issues were not things which would most likely be
evident visiting the dog at a shelter, but most likely evident to the
caretakers of her at the shelter. So she went in thinking she was
getting a great dog with a good stable temperment already developed and
now she has to deal with the issues.

So in my experience the risk of the purebred dog being there for a
reason is much higher than the mutt.

And, furthermore, I like shelters and animal rescues. I used to
volunteer with one. I feel they do a good thing. I just prefer to get
my dogs from good breeders, and that is my recommendation to others.
If they don't want to get on from a good breeder, I definitely
recommend a shelter next, and only prefer mutts from shelters instead
of purebreds, unless it comes from a rescue specializing in the breed.