Author Topic: Need help adopting a dog... (Read 705 times)

miko2d · « **Reply #30 on:** October 06, 2003, 01:04:47 PM »

Boxers are great. They are the best dogs to be with children - very smart, tolerant, have high pain threshhold.
At the same time boxers can be real vicious when protecting your kids.
They weight about 70 lb.

Boxers are a unique breed in that they do not lose their playfull puppiness with age. A 3-year old lab is a bore, not so with a boxer.

Contrary to popular opinion, boxers do not drool - as long as you do not feed them off your table or tease them with food. If you spoil them by throwing them fod off your table, they will be sitting while you dine and waiting for food - drooling puddles.

Short hair of boxers does not mean they do not shed like any other dog (also depends on what you feed them). It's not so bad especially if you have strategically selected colors for your carpet. But forget walking barefoot on that carpet - a dig's short hair enters your foot like a steel splinter.

Jack Russels are the breed I love second most, though I never owned them. Consider getting a pair - this way they will not go crazy while staying home alone. you will actually have less trouble with two of them than with one dog that is driven psychotic by loneliness and starving for attention.

miko

OIO · « **Reply #31 on:** October 06, 2003, 01:51:28 PM »

"They are the best dogs to be with children - very smart, tolerant, have high pain threshhold."

That is so true. I am ashamed to even think of all the stuff my sister and I did to our boxer when we were little.

. never a growl or nip or bite or even a bad look. just pure play. Gawd i miss that dog.

"At the same time boxers can be real vicious when protecting your kids"

When I was 14 and my sis 11, we used to have a gardener working at our (rather big as i said before) 'yard'. This guy had found one of my sister's dolls she had left outside... one of those cry-if-you-tilt-them dolls.

All I remember is my dad going outside when we heard the boxer snarling and growling in a way we had *never* heard in our lives (and never heard it since)... and coming back inside with my sister's doll. Apparently the poor gardener had picked up the doll, it had begun to cry, and the guy tried to make it stop crying by flipping it around a few times.. and the dog saw him. Now this was a doll my sis played with a LOT since she was like 5 (and we got the boxer when sis was 3). So in my mind i can imagine the boxer, having seen my sis play with a crying 'baby' for years, then this guy treating the 'baby' in a hostile way... well, *groowwwll*

That gardener asked us to put the boxer inside the garage and close the garage door when he was working in our yard from then on. Kinda funny that this guy was more afraid of the rather small sized, little teethed boxer than the big black labrador that kept him under watch the whole time he was working in the yard.

Get a boxer! You wont regret it

GrimCO · « **Reply #32 on:** October 06, 2003, 01:56:37 PM »

I'd go with the Lab... They will tolerate just about anything a kid will throw at them without ever biting. They are awesome dogs.

miko2d · « **Reply #33 on:** October 06, 2003, 02:30:39 PM »

My 2-year old is a vicious little monster when it comes to torturing a dog. He would persistently pull on the dog's ears (they are not cut), stomp on his feet and run him over with a bicycle time after time - that in between petting and hugging and licking each other's faces. The dog would cry out and even growl and feign a snap at the boy - but never break his skin or scare him.
At the same time one minute of roughhousing with the dog leaves me swearing and bleeding from multiple wounds - and I used to train attack dogs...

Nevertheless, the dog would never stay in the room alone, even if he really wants to sleep - he would always follow people and subject himself to torture...

I am prertty sure that an average boxer would be less likely to snap at a child than a Lab or even such icon of nanny-dog as Collie.

miko

manticor · « **Reply #34 on:** October 06, 2003, 03:23:15 PM »

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Originally posted by muckmaw
Most people I know who have dogs work.

*shrugs*

I went to the animal shelter. Nothing grabbed me...aside from a cute little lab...well..not so little. I was considering her as a pet until she showed she did not have such a great temperment.

Growled and got a little vicious there.

Oh well, the search goes on. I'm thinking beagle.

The JR looks like great fun, but I just can't give it the attention it needs.

Thanks for all the help! You guys rock

You might also want to consider the border terrier. They dont howl like beagles and they are better with kids then russle terriers. these are hunting dogs originally were used to hunt foxes in the fox dens. I would highly recomend these over the beagles

here is a link for more info:
http://www.petsmart.com/aspca/dogs/border_terrier.shtml

JBA · « **Reply #35 on:** October 06, 2003, 03:34:20 PM »

I had a Choc. Lab for 13 years. Great dog, smart learns fast. If you insist on a dog you can't go wrong.

But I have to say this in all seriousness, I just had to put mine down, One of Hardest damn things I've ever had to do. It will happen to you, fact of life, we out live them. I had my dog before my boy was born he was only 2 years when I had to do it, he doesn't remember much about him, thank God.

Your girl is 4 now that means around 16-18 years old you'll be dropping that on her. Just a thought. As a dog owner I don't recommend dogs to anyone.

The day my boy asked for a dog, will be the day mommy get allergic.

midnight Target · « **Reply #36 on:** October 06, 2003, 03:40:00 PM »

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The Centers for Disease Control study dog bite incidents, including the types of dogs most likely to bite. The breeds that the CDC considers highest risk are pit bulls, Rottweilers, German shepherds, huskies, Alaskan malamutes, Doberman pinschers, chows, Great Danes, St. Bernards and Akitas.