Help us choose a dog

[tradosaurus]

We owned two Great Danes when my kids were small. Both were inside dogs as I worked and my wife stayed home with the kids.
That breed solves your length of life. Normally about 10 yr lifespan.
I would go for a male fawn Great Dane.

 

[scootr]

The Queensland Heeler has Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the genealogy. That's enough terrier for me.

 

[newbury]

Corgi
I've lived with many wonderful dogs.
Beagles, Poodles, Labradoodles, setters, German Shepherds, Collies, etc.
Corgi was best for size, disposition and many other factors.
And like most "small" dogs they can carry a big bark.

 

[scootr]

Corgi
I've lived with many wonderful dogs.
Beagles, Poodles, Labradoodles, setters, German Shepherds, Collies, etc.
Corgi was best for size, disposition and many other factors.
And like most "small" dogs they can carry a big bark.

Agreed! We have had 2 corgie/border collie mixes. aka Borgies
Wonderful dogs.

 

[Snobdds]

Corgies are good dogs. I had to put mine down last year. It lived to be almost 15 years old. He ran the show around here. He did stuff when he was damn well ready.

One time I was walking the dogs in the meadow and he did not want to go home. His stubborn little ass finally came home 3 hours later in the dark. The ranch is huge and I knew he could find his way home and he did.

 

[Blue Mule]

I had a black Lab. She lived 16 years. Now I have two Australian Shepherds. They are night and day different from the Lab. They LOVE cold weather. As soon as the temperature plummets they perk up and get extremely energetic. One of them wants to play constantly. He brings balls or frisbees to me 24/7. Makes it hard to get any work done. They are extremely loyal and want to be next to me constantly also. They require a lot of attention. They have shown a protective side, and will bark at people who come to the front door or walk near my fields. This is all totally opposite of the Lab which laid around and slept a lot, showed zero aggression, and didn’t really care if we played ball or not. She was mellow and sweet, like a teddy bear. The Shepherds are clearly "dog" and you can see their close relation to the original breed.

For what you describe I’d look at the retriever category. They are more docile and sweet and will make a better family member.

I don’t think I will have any more dogs in the future. When these pass I’ll be in my 50s and I want to start enjoying travel more.

 

[NoTrespassing]

The two shelters I have to choose from have such an invasive homing process I couldn't bring myself to use them. The amount of information they wanted from me and my family was just too much for me to bear. It's been many years since we checked them out but I do remember they wanted to visit our home and they weren't keen on invisible fences. They also require the dog to be in the house every night which is a deal breaker for us. It's unfortunate because we could have given a couple dogs a very good home on our acreage. I ended up purchasing a GSD from a local "breeder" and was able to rescue another dog from a private party. One is about 13 years old now and the GSD is about 10. Good luck on your choice WD.

 

[WinterDeere]

The two shelters I have to choose from have such an invasive homing process I couldn't bring myself to use them.

Yeah, we won't be going far down that road. I'd like to do a shelter the favor of taking a dog off their hands, if they have something that fits. But if the vetting process involves any more than a basic discussion, I'll be buying from a breeder. I don't really care at all about the cost of buying vs. adopting, my only interest in adoption would be getting a less fortunate dog out of a shelter and into a good home.

 

[Joel/ak]

We hot 2 of our best pups from a pound in Anchorage. Our shepherd lived 11years ( best dang pup ever, never can replace him) and one of our current which is a lab/shepherd mix. Going on 13 and still somewhat active but showing her age.

Both picked my wife

Had a 75% wolf hybrid, dang good dog albeit stubborn until the wolf comes out.

Besides the mix, we have a shepherd from a breeder. It was the runt of the litter but he picked my daughter. Very protective of my wife and daughter, probably doesn't give 2 craps about me and I'm fine with that

 

[WinterDeere]

Speaking of protective dogs, I grew up with a very large shepherd/lab mix, which looked all golden lab except the face, and she was so friendly that we used to joke that she'd probably just lick any intruder to death.

Well, there was a night around age 14 that I stayed at a friend's house four doors down from ours, and I awoke in the middle of the night to see two men trying to break into the front door of their house. I could see them thru the sheer-curtained side lights on the front door, trying to either work on the door knob or just pry the door open. I threw some lights on, and the intruders seemed to decide they'd try another house.

I get home the following morning, and learn that around the same time, our golden lab apparently went absolutely batshit nuts, trying to throw herself thru the glass french doors that let out to our patio. I suspect the same intruders were trying several houses in the neighborhood, and must have come 'round to ours just after I'd spooked them away from the neighbor's where I'd been staying.

It was amusing to hear how ferocious our tame lab had been, when it mattered.