Another dog thread. So..do you have a favorite breed?

[Disneyland1084]

When getting a dog, is there a specific breed you want? Though I've always loved dogs of all sizes, when it comes to owning one, I prefer small ones. Like lhasa apsos, cairn terriers, cocker spaniels. I can never own a pitbull because my homeowner's insurance wouldn't allow it. And it breaks my heart to see how many of those are at the pound. If I ever live on an acre or two some day, I think I'd want to get a couple of big dogs. Maybe labs or golden retrievers, or whatever I could find at the pound.

 

[Mizzoufan]

Big breeds. Saint Bernards, Pits. Rots etc. etc. etc...

 

[L&Lfan]

I've always been partial to Cocker Spaniels. We had 2 when I was growing up.They were both wonderful. One black and one blonde.

 

[dclpluto]

When getting a dog, is there a specific breed you want? Though I've always loved dogs of all sizes, when it comes to owning one, I prefer small ones. Like lhasa apsos, cairn terriers, cocker spaniels. I can never own a pitbull because my homeowner's insurance wouldn't allow it. And it breaks my heart to see how many of those are at the pound. If I ever live on an acre or two some day, I think I'd want to get a couple of big dogs. Maybe labs or golden retrievers, or whatever I could find at the pound.

If your serious about pit bulls. Check out State Farm for insurance. That’s what I had to do for when my insurance drop me when I had a rotewerrier mix. Don’t know if it’s the same for pit bulls but if your serious check them out and see if they will cover you.

 

[rodeo65]

All breeds. We have a Labradoodle, Beagle, Morkie and PomChi. DH likes large breeds better but we don't really have the room. I love large and small and everything in between. We have a fenced yard and he walks them daily but our big guy loves to RUN!!! If we ever have property, I'd get more large breeds.

 

[bballmom56]

In the past, we have had big dogs - Irish Setter, Shepherd/Saint mix, Saint Bernard. Now we have gone smaller. Corgi is the breed or mix of choice in our house. We have had 2 full corgis and one mix. We also have a basset hound/lab mix who is just the most awesome dog. Love that mix! All our dogs have come through rescues.

 

[because]

anatolian, akbash, kuvasz, ovcharkas, maremma, and most working dogs in the pastoral group. For plain old companion dogs, I prefer any of the larger breeds or mixed breeds.

despise bred-on-purpose mutts or "designer dogs" (not the dog or the owner, but the "breeders" trying to make a quick buck by throwing two dogs together and giving it a fancy name or calling it a doodle.) If someone wants a mixed breed, go to the shelter. Plenty of "designer dogs" without the fancy names there. They are not "breeds." They are mixed breed dogs.

 

[MamaBelle4]

We currently have a golden retriever. She is so smart and well behaved and loves to play with the kids. I've said to DH and he's said to me, we couldn't have asked for a better dog for the kids to grow up with. She is perfect. We adopted her from a family friend who had passed away. Other than her, all of my pets come from the pound.

I'm not partial to any particular breed, but I do prefer dogs medium to large sized.

 

[kmb584]

Rotties. I grew up with them, and now have my own wonderful girl, Boo. They are such sweet, smart, and loyal dogs.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We love our Shelties. They are hair-shedding beasts, but they are wonderful dogs. We've also had a black lab, and he was great too.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'm more of a cat person, lifestyle-wise, but if I were going to have dogs, I love corgis!

 

[shoney]

Labradors. Have 2 now. Will probably stick with labs. They are adorable and loving.

We tried having a small dog many years ago. A mini daschund. Just wasn’t for us.

Loved my Dalmatian. She was a sweetie who died way too young. Health issues.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Cairn terrier, West highland terrier, anything with hair and no fur is always my first choice..

 

[dotfurio]

I used to have labs, one partial and one purebred. They were both the sweetest, most loyal dogs, although they didn't realize their size as they knocked stuff off the table with their tails or tried to be lap dogs. My current dog is a terrier mix and much smaller (her head is about knee high). I like her size for in the house and on my lap much better than labs If I get another dog I was thinking about a golden retriever.

I'm open to shelter dogs but most of the shelter dogs around here are pitbull/mix or chihuahua/mix and I'm not interested in either of those. I really don't want anything smaller than my current dog.

 

[cleverclovers]

Mutt. Beagle size.

 

[mickman1962]

Feist, have 2, best dogs ever and I've had German Shepard, Golden, Beagle and too many mutts to count

 

[KVH]

Sammies! The woo-woo dog of the north.

 

[J'aime Paris]

I had a toy poodle during my childhood. We got her when I was 3 years old, and she died when I was in college.
I used to dress her up in doll clothes, paint her nails, take her for bike rides in the basket on my bike. Everywhere I went as a kid, Misty came with me. She was a sweetheart and such a wonderful dog to grow up with!

When DH and I married, we got a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. Taylor was the most friendly, loyal, playful dog! He was awesome when DD came along, no jealousy at all. Her childhood was spent with him right by her side. He died at 15 years old, and I still miss him.

Currently, we have 2 dogs and one cat.
Barney is a Shih Tzu and Bichon mix. He's 10 years old. A true lap dog in every way, and loves to be pet and cuddled!
Hatley is a Yellow Lab and she's 4 years old. She's the smartest and most energetic dog we've owned. She loves to be included in everything we do, and is such an affectionate girl!

So I guess we don't have a specific type of dog, we just love having them in our family!

 

[tzolkin]

I prefer larger dogs. They’re more athletic and tend to have fewer of the traits that I find annoying (like barking, jumping, house training issues, etc). Whenever we adopt, we look for a certain personality rather than a certain breed but I do always specify that we are not interested in any small dogs, especially tiny ones like chihuahuas.

We currently have a dog that I consider small, but probably really falls into the medium category. She was a puppy at the time and appeared to be a shepherd mix. Vet estimated that she would get to be about 50lb, but she’s nowhere near that (only 28lb). We had a dna test done and found out her highest percentage is ironically chihuahua (second was Rottweiler, no shepherd in the mix)

I do love our greyhound. He is extra large (stands at my hip) but, of course, super skinny. He is ideal for the therapy dog work we do.

But, whenever we adopt again, I’m fairly certain it will be some type of bully breed. Our previous dog was a pit bull and we volunteer some with a pit bull rescue. For both DH and I there are really just no other dogs like them.

If your serious about pit bulls. Check out State Farm for insurance. That’s what I had to do for when my insurance drop me when I had a rotewerrier mix. Don’t know if it’s the same for pit bulls but if your serious check them out and see if they will cover you.

State Farm is about the only one (at least in my area) that has no breed restrictions. There was one other company that said they didn’t, so I proceeded with a quote over the phone and she prepared it with $100k liability. I told her that was certainly not enough and she said that was their limit because of the pit bull. To me, that’s still a breed restriction.

 

[maxaroni]

I've always been partial to Cocker Spaniels. We had 2 when I was growing up.They were both wonderful. One black and one blonde.

I had 3 poodles growing up.

At any rate, DH, DS & I were out taking a car ride in the area and came upon a black cocker spaniel walking on a dirt road. We scooped him up, he came willingly. We scoured the area asking about someone losing a dog, as he had no tags. We brought him home, bathed him and fed him. Called police depoartments and local vets. We wound up keeping him. He was older and the vet surmised he was dumped off as that particular area is known for that. He wasn’t chipped either. He had lung and heart issues.

Since he was an older dog, with health issues, DS (about 8 at the time) wanted another dog that was a bit more active. We went to the shelter and there was a 5 yr old buff colored cocker spaniel. We adopted him. He had tons of energy and was our devil dog. The black cocker was our little old man.

Losing them was the worst but they brought us so much love and it was reciprocal. We also felt good being able to rescue them.