We’ve been spinning is circles this past year trying to decide things about our family. The four basic options seemed to be–maintain status quo, have a baby, adopt a baby, or get a dog.
The most emotionally rewarding option (for the missionary minded, Florence Nightingale type) was to adopt. We took classes, filled out mountains of papers, and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the thing to do at this moment.
But wanting to keep adoption something that we could do in the future means we won’t be having a baby. There are only so many plane tickets to Kansas we can afford each year, after all. And I’m okay with that. Although, at times this year having a baby seemed like the thing to do (mostly because a happy accident would sort of make the decision for us) despite my save the world tendencies. Now, after our year of searching and contemplating I really am ready to move past the baby making phase of life, in the permanent sense. (We’ll make a Dr appointment for the husband I think.)
That leaves status quo and get a dog.
I like the way things are, we are a nice family. But the kids and I need something smaller than us to take care of and love. We need to bond with something little and dependent.
We need a dog.
So, I’m a stay at home mom. We have a very big yard. I’ve never trained a pet before. The neighbor’s dog looks mean and gets into our yard sometimes. It rains a lot here. Our house is kind of small. I like affectionate animals.
What dog would you recommend?
I rather like the Australian shepherd/collie mix… though, they do tend to chase kids, sheep, and cars… but I liked mine when I was a child. The golden retrievers I met were affectionate. I remember liking a cocker spaniel (I think) puppy that was dumped at my house — he was a good dog… though he liked to dig under fences. (thats how we lost him).
How about a shelter dog? — unless of course you need to know the pedigree (I never knew them).
Dogs are social and affectionate in general. They want to please their people — training them is mainly a matter of not confusing them, if they know what you want and they like you — they will try to make you happy.
My two favorite are cocker spanual or of course fox terrier or a sheep dog. They were all dogs that have been in my life. They were all loving. The fox terrier would be kinda hard to keep in your yard. They need to run.
I am REALLY behind on reading blogs (darn Facebook) so this suggestion may be late…
Anyway, I agree with Michael Jay about a Australian sheperd-type dog. We went to dinner at Tony’s long-lost friend’s house and they had 2 mini Australian sheperds. They were smart and pretty and good with small girls (ages 5 and 3) although they had longish hair they are only taken to the groomer every few months or so. These particular ones DO try to herd the kids sometimes, but they also do great being inside 98% of the time.
That makes them sound lovely like a border collie. : ) Daniel’s mom grew up on the farm with Australian Shepherds and actually went out of her way to warn against them. She remembers they are so protective and clannish that if you don’t live in the house with them they won’t let you in–very guard dog like. So even though she grew up with those dogs after she went to college they had to be put in the barn (or whatever) when she came to visit or she coudln’t come in. I’m thinking maybe the difference is hers were working dogs and these have been raised as family dogs. But that propensity makes me kind of nervous.