Hi all

So now that I am settled into my house and 95% unpacked (still got the sewin room to do), I want a dog to complete the little happy family.

I am thinking of getting one that is not a puppy, but a year or so older and house trained. Trevor and I are out of the house working at the same time 2 days of the work week, so the dog will be on his/her own for 8 hours during that time. Besides those two days, someone will always be around. Come the Fall season Mum will be retired, living in my basement apartment (actually her moving day is this Monday), so someone will be around all the time then.

I want to get the dog early Spring/Summer so he/she is used to the garden and lots of walks.

Any other advice?? all is greatly appreciated. I am thinking of getting the dog through the local SPCA.

Cheers

How about waiting until Mom is settled in, too, before getting the dog?

Getting an older dog is an excellent idea... no annoying puppy stage with teething and toileting issues! :-)

And best of all, you're giving a dog a second chance at a great life.

My only advice is to give the dog time to settle in, and be realistic about what you expect at the start. We see a lot of people here who take on a dog and expect it to instantly fit in and "gel" with everyone, and that's not particularly fair.

Wait, I've got one more bit of advice, research the breeds you're interested in, even when getting a mixed breed there is often a "dominant" gene, so find out what traits are common.

Good luck :-)

Congratulations on your decision to save a furry life.

Have you watched or read the Dog Whisperer? Cesar Milan is very good at explaining about bringing a dog into the pack. I would recommend that you check him out. He does have a great website with good info too.

We have two pound puppies and it is AMAZING how well they play together. That way they are not lonely when we are not at home. Both are Lab/Hound mixes (about 70 pounds now) and both were adult when we adopted them. Heidi was over 2 and she has treat aggression that we have to work on. (Make sure you get a good read on your dog's temperament before you pick)
Sadie was a little over 1 and she had not been well socialized. (When you don't get a puppy, you take on whatever baggage the dog carries with it. The good news: they learn fast and they want to do the right thing. Praise works, and sometimes treats.)

I think that the right dog (or dogs) will speak to you and you will know. (At least that is the way it was for us)

How exciting. :!: :!: :!: :!:

Oh how happy you are going to make some critter! What size are you looking for? I have 2, and 60 pound male and a 15 pound female. I prefer females because they are not as prone to lifting their legs to mark their territiory. The big male also is a husky type dog with lots of thick fur, that sheds in the warm weather. He actually needs to be clipped because his fur keeps him so warm here in the summer. The female is a rat terrier, who needs sweaters in the winter because her fur is so fine!
I had always had smaller dogs, because they eat less, thus mess less! The bigger dogs are more intimidating, and need more exercise! Tundra, the big dog, is very friendly, but LOUD, and scares people. Kids LOVE him. Susie is more timid. Both love to ride in the car. I can take them both with me when I visit some people, but have to board them when I go other places. When they are home, they have the run of the house. ! do have a fenced back yard, but Tundra can jump the fence, so he has to be inside or tethered when I am not home.
I would go to the pound and look, but it is hard to leave without one, so be prepared for that!
Bigger dogs are more difficult to walk, only because they are stronger.
Obedience training is a must, but so is consistency!
Mine are a mess, but I love them both. They get along well with the cats. They all give each other plenty of room. Playing can get rowdy, but whatcha gonna do!

Bless you for adopting. I will never get an animal other than adopting, and right, they do come with some baggage. But so do we. And they do want to please. I adopted my Nemo cat at 6 months. I was looking for a female kitten, so much for that. At bedtime he is now like one looooong strip of Orange velco attached to my side. We have our issues but by adopting you are saving an animal that didn't deserve the first few months of its life that it got. Can't wait to see some pictures!

We rescued two dogs, both about 2 yrs. old when we got them. Best way to go as far as I'm concerned. I found them on petfinder.com. It's a site sponsored by Petco. They list from pretty much all local shelters and you can search by zipcode, size, age, sex, even breed. Will probably go this way again when/if we ever get another dog.

Good for you, we are dog lovers, and ours runs this home!

Adopting is the way to go!

Ninnie

I have a helper dog and love her. She is at my side and will not leave when I am having an off day. She is OLD, and we are thinking about what if when she is gone.

Good luck with your choice of breed, size and age. Sort of like Ice Cream cones.. Too many choices.

The horror to me was the "crate" training.. I did not agree but when we trained puppies for the Pilot Dog program - when I was healthy, young and had 13 plus year old kids in the house to help... that was the introduction. It was a "had to agree" or not be in the program. Could not believe, when we were gone they were in thier "crate"... cage... and eventually we kept the door off because it was the puppy's bedrooms! Amazing. The "Crate" kept the dogs out of finding things to eat when board. These puppies were on a waiting list and an accidental death woudl be a longer wait for those on the list.

So, dust off books on when you are alone.. 8 hours is a long time. We always had TV turned on or a radio..

The pup/dog will be great for your mom too.
Good luck !

Ellen

I love my Yorkiepoo. Sort of high strung but so small it is just cute. On the other hand we saved a Redbone Coon hound from the pound. I don't recommend it. Hunting dogs are usually outside for a reason. This one is settling down now. She will be 10 next month. Beautiful dog but lord the Anxiety!!

http://purina.com/dogs/breedselector/index.aspx is Purina's great dog selector guide. It makes you think about the qualities that your perfect dog would have and how well different breeds adapt to your lifestyle.

I tend to love large breeds and just don't have the right environment for one right now. Maybe someday....

Dogs are great, but cats rule! :)

I'm sure whatever dog you choose, it will be loved no matter what. If it were me, I'd check out the local animal shelter and save a life.

Was reading in the paper today about some of the greyhounds here that are still looking for homes. I'm REALLY tempted to get one, but would be killed by 2 cats in the house. I know they'd come after me the minute I fell asleep. lol

Thanks so much for all the advice!!! I am working through my lunch today so I can leave the office early so Trevor and I can go over to the SPCA shelter. Their office closes at 4pm on the weekdays, so we want to get there with lots of time to really look around and see all the sweet little faces.

I went looking on my local SPCA website and saw the CUTIEST adorable face. His name is Benny.

Check this one out!
http://www.spcastjohns.org/index.php?mact=Album,,default,1&albumid=2&returnid=92&page=92

I think Benny is adorable. He kind of reminds me of the Disney dog Benji!!!

Wish us luck on bringing home a new family member this afternoon! First thing I want to do once he/she checks out the new home is go for a nice long walk in Bowring Park. I promise to post photos when we get our new furry friend!

Cheers

Oh benny looks too darn cute for his own good. I'm in love. :lol:

Aww...he's cute!
I like Max too!
Then I went and looked at the cats.
Spook there is just soooo handsome!
Ok, I like ALL the animals. lol

Good luck!

Good luck today! You will want to take all of them home - I did. Can't wait to see pictures.

PLEASE spend lots of time with Benny before taking him home to be fair to both of you. Don't be blinded by "cute" Try really hard to take off the "cute glasses" and see Benny for who he is and how he will fit into your home. If we had spent more time researching and playing with our Coon puppy I am sure she would have gone home with another family. Good luck!!

Oh I wanted to take all of them home! Thank you for adopting, there are too many unwanted/homeless animals out there. We have two rescue pups and while they have issues, I wouldn't have it any other way. Good luck in meeting your best friend.

We went to see Benny today. He is a cutie but he barks alot. We don't want to annoy the neighbours. So we did take to Alexi and applied to adopt her. She is less than a year old and is house trained. We took her for a walk and she is full of energy. She is a nice size dog to keep in the house. We will know about her and if we get her sometime tomorrow.

We also went to the local city animal shelter and fell in love with this gorgeous black male mix who only arrived at the shelter as a stray last night. We applied for him too (mind you we only plan to get one dog, so whichever one we hear from first we can have wins). With him we have to wait 5 days instead of 24 hours for Alexi as they have to see if his owners come looking for him. He is very well behaved and taken care of. If 5 days pass and no one claims him, he officially belongs to the city until he is adopted. We won't hear about him until Monday.

So for now we sit tight and wait patiently. keep your fingers crossed that we get one of these two pups! hopefully we will have good news soon and lots of photos!

Cheers

I can attest to that. At our house, Monty is the pack leader of the critters. It's funny how a 10 lb kitty can drive a 70 pound dog in a corner just by a stare. He has poor Sadie so cowed, it's pathetic. Heidi and Monty get along just fine - well, they ignore each other. Mr. Bean is friends with both dogs.

Benny is totally cute. Hope his temperament suits you. I fell in love with Heidi on the internet as well, but when we went to check her out she was withdrawn. Turned out the poor thing had kennel cough and wasn't feeling well.

She is home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have Alexi home with us and she is such a little cutie!!! Very well behaved and aims to please!!! She is sitting next to me so quiet here on the couch as I type this! She is going to make such a wonderful addition to our home! I promise to post photos soon!! She is too excited right now and just wants to give kisses!! When she is more calm I will take photos and share them with you.

Cheers

Oh congratulations on the new addition! Can't wait to see pictures.

Can't wait to see pictures! Alexis sounds just perfect!


Ninnie

Oh how fun! Welcome home to your new four legged friend. Riley is from Oklahoma-had her sent as a puppy. She is a love! We adopted Yukon off a rescue site-sight unseen as they were not sure which one he was in the picture of a pile of puppies. He has been the BEST! And he SMILES :lol: :lol: :lol:

Congrats!
I'm sure Alexi will be a wonderful addition.
Now, where are the pics?

How exciting!! :D :D Now I have to go back and see her pics from that link.... :D :D

Congratulations! She sure is a cutie. I'm thrilled for all of you! I'm looking forward to those pictures too!

all those cute faces !!! Breaks my heart. Hope all of them get adopted !

Congrats!!! Yeah, a new addition!!!

So it's not the easiest to get a photo of this little girl of ours cause she doesn't leave my side and she is on the go and hates to miss a thing. But I DID manage to get a photo or two just before supper tonight while Trevor and Alexi were taking a little nap together.

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you all to ALEXI!!!

Too cute!

Welcome Alexi! Looks like she is part of the family already. What a sweet face.

She looks right at home there!


Ninnie

Well,, it is clear that the little girl is NOT going to be spoilt at all. lol Rough life, poor thing. gggggg

Too cute for words!

hee hee .. nope not a bit!!

This little girl has stolen our hearts and won't be giving them back EVER!!! Right now we are just relaxing after a big Sunday morning breakfast and our little girl is basking in a nice sun beam. hee hee I think she might be part cat!!!! LOL!!! Seems she loves a good sun beam!
So much for the sunbeam... she is now over here looking for me to love her. gotta go... Seems she doesn't like me typing even with one hand on her head and one on the keyboard!

She's just adorable!
And look at her with her new daddy! What a pic! Too cute!
I'm sure all 3 of you will have TONS of fun filled days!

Congratulations on your new furbaby!! As a mom to 4 cats, one dog and two small parrots, I know what joy pets can bring. Bless you for adopting one from a shelter. I hope you have many, many loving years together!

I'm sure we will have many fun filled years with her, but first we need to take her to obedience school as she has a few things we need to address. She barks alot around other dogs, (so so much right now for taking her to the doggy park and Bowring Park where there will be many other dogs), and she needs to learn to listen to her Mommy and Daddy when they tell her to sit, stay, etc. She is also a bit excited when she goes on the leash and you are practically running to keep up with her. She needs to learn to walk better on her lead and no take US for the walk! all in due time