My next dog?

If you are wondering what is the right dog for you, this is the place to be. In this introductory forum we talk about topics such as breed vs. mix, size, age, grooming, breeders, shelters, rescues as well as requirements for exercise, space and care. No question is too silly here. This particular forum is for getting and giving helpful, nice advice. It is definitely not a forum for criticizing someone else's opinion, knowledge or advice. This forum is all about tail wagging and learning.

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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 11:48am PST


	I have been posting on here since I had one dog, and now I have 4. Most recently I have been posting because I have been looking for advice for dealing with a moody little dog, and things are working out with that. My pack now consists of 3 females - a 6 year old lab, very mellow and a 4 year old female Cocker rescue, good natured but kind of hyper, a 4 year old female Corgi mix with attitude (my problem child - insecure and grouchy) And the boy of the bunch - 5 year old Samoa who is probably an Aussie/Golden mix and is a wonder of mellowness. I am retiring next year. I don't travel much (at all) and have mostly domestic sort of hobbies, nothing that takes me away from my pets. So since I will have lots of time to spend with them I am considering getting another rescue. Since I have such a mixed bag, I was thinking another Cocker, a male. But what I really need is something very mellow - as similar to Samoa's nature as I can find. Ideally it would be a smaller dog. And I would actually like to get a mature dog, or even a senior to give it a happy home for a few years. I don't believe that any of the dogs other than the Corgi would have issues at all. So her attitude would be the decider. In the meantime I am trying to improve her social skills so she is more confident and not as defensive. The question? Is my best bet working through a breed rescue, and if so is there a breed that (generally speaking) is pretty rock solid? (I'm not breed particular, but have always tended towards herders and sporting.) Or should I get a steady communication going with local humane societies to find the mix (like Samoa) that is just what I need? I guess I think the tendency of the humane societies is to push dogs and that I might end up with one that is less than a perfect fit. Because this time I want as perfect a fit as I can find...and am going to steel myself against falling for the first fuzzy set of chops I see...

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Star BN RN- RA

IM too CUTE

Barked: Mon Feb 25, '13 12:10pm PST


	i would do a bit of both, I would contact local breed or even non-breed specific rescues and tell them what you are looking for while keeping an eye on the local shelter residents.

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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!

Barked: Tue Feb 26, '13 12:32pm PST


	Thanks, that is probably right. I know I will need to do a lot of shopping around. I'm dragging this back up to the top with a sub-question. A while ago a poster wondered if their dog had a problem with dogs of a certain color. It seemed to them that the dog would react differently to dogs of one color distinct to it's usual behavior. I do remember my first Lab (for whatever reason) seemed to dislike black labs. (I figured it was because she had tangled with the neighbor's black lab at one time.) But while working with Dubs it has occurred to me that the only dogs that she seems to like (aside from Savvy) are all black. Could it be possible that she prefers dogs of this color? I'll have to test this out with her. If so...next pup will be black.

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Star BN RN- RA

IM too CUTE

Barked: Tue Feb 26, '13 5:58pm PST


	My doxie Maggie hates white poodles...she is fine with my friends black poodle and her parti-color (grey and white) but go crazy whenever she sees a white poodle. I think some dogs just are used to seeing certain color dogs and when the color changes it throws them off.

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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!

Barked: Wed Feb 27, '13 5:58am PST


	Dubs was brought into a house as a pup with two large dogs...so I could understand how she prefers large dogs. Samoa is a black, and he was really her "daddy" when she first came with us...letting her sleep on his bushy tail and pretty obviously looking after her. Her neighborhood friends include a big dobie (black) and a big black chow. I had been thinking she was okay with big dogs, but she was not okay with a big light colored husky we met lately. So...is it black or is it large that she prefers. Or is it all in my imagination? Will test the theory. Thanks for answering Star!

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Jewel, PCD

8.6lbs of fury- in a bow!

Barked: Wed Feb 27, '13 6:27am PST


	Savy have you thought about using that extra spot and time for a foster?

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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!

Barked: Wed Feb 27, '13 6:47am PST


	I have. And I would really like to do that. One thing that puts me off is the Dubs issue. She needs some work. If she hated every single foster that we tried, things could get pretty exciting. Another thing is the recent post where someone asked what fostering takes. I was seriously spooked by the potential issues. But I would still consider it. I would like to "do some good."

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Jewel, PCD

8.6lbs of fury- in a bow!

Barked: Wed Feb 27, '13 7:09am PST


	Oh sure we posted all the bad things in there but it's seriously addicting to foster! I'm currently not taking any fosters as I'm bring home a puppy in about a month and I'm suffering!! The day after my last foster got adopted I barely got out of bed, I was so depressed. There was a dog I wanted to foster next and I couldn't take her because she's special needs (deaf) and I'd likely have her a long time. Yeah it's work, I've had dogs that Jewel hated or was scared of (that was bad) but I had some that she liked too. What does Dubs think about puppies? You could just foster puppies! I know that in our rescue we have a couple fosters that do the welping and if the puppies aren't spoken for by 8 weeks they get split up and sent to other fosters (mom too) so the welping home is open for the next Momma in need. Or you could just foster older black dogs.

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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!

Barked: Wed Feb 27, '13 7:16am PST


	Well, I was thinking of fostering a black senior...I don't think she would feel challenged by that. But puppies would work I think. I would really love to do more in this way. Watch me end up adopting a black senior and also fostering... 'Cos, I am crazy...don't you know. This doesn't happen until next year, so in the meantime I am testing Dubs and trying to raise her tolerance level.

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Jewel, PCD

8.6lbs of fury- in a bow!

Barked: Wed Feb 27, '13 7:19am PST


	Once I get my new dog settled I plan to get back into fostering. But not as much as I was doing. I was doing two at a time back to back. I would like to do one at a time, possibly special needs. Maybe even with a week or two between then rather than an hour or two like it was with the last three.

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