Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-15-2011, 03:40 PM
 
Location: Kansas
25,752 posts, read 21,897,823 times
Reputation: 26355

Advertisements

We have a mixed breed (Chow, shepherd, lab, ?) who is a 6 year old female, easy going and laid back. We want to adopt another dog. When we go to the humane society, all the dogs, mostly lab and terrier mixes of all sizes, are just over the top in wildness and energy. I know that being cooped up can drive some of this. They probably have at least 60 dogs, some inside and some outside and I just become overwhelmed. Many of the dogs seem much more interested in the other dogs and ignore us which does not seem like a good sign. Our dog, although I expect some jealousy, is good with every living thing, but I am thinking excessive energy would drive her a little batty. We considered taking her to the humane society but she would be so excited trying to get people to pet her that she would just ignore the dogs. I am thinking of giving up the idea of adopting and looking at purchasing (I usually adopt) a specific breed known for being lower energy. Because we have an adult son with Down syndrome who lives at home, I need a dog that is obedient and listens to me rather than running off to seek the company of the neighbor's dogs. I have been looking for about a year since we have to drive a ways to actually be in contact with the dogs. I like bigger dogs but that probably would not be a good match and female which probably isn't the best match either. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-15-2011, 03:45 PM
 
7,329 posts, read 16,376,307 times
Reputation: 9693
You could go to petsmart/Petco adoption events where the number of dogs wouldn't be so overwhelming. There would be people there distracting her but you could take her away from the store to walk with other dogs one at a time, away from the confusion, to get a better idea of how they're hitting it off.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-15-2011, 03:55 PM
 
Location: North Western NJ
6,591 posts, read 24,807,730 times
Reputation: 9680
given your looking for a good match for your child with downs id avoid lab and lab mixes under 3 yrs old, labs tend to be in the "puppy stage" untill about 3 yrs old, after that they do tend to calm down.
a golden over 2 yrs old might be another good choice.
a sheperd or shep mix.

id avoid the terrier group completly, while often smaller in size they make up for it in big personality and i dont think a terrier personality would match well with the chow mix or your little one.
the same goes for the hound group, they tend to be very indepednant and might not be a good mix (they also tend to be a little stubborn)

some of the spaniels might work...cockers seem to have a bad rep here in the usa, probably from bad breeding, but i, my brother and sister grew up wiht english cockers and they are supposed to be happy go lucky sweet natured dogs, and ours always were.

if you were going the breeder route id suggest a rotty from a wonderfull breeder, but im not so sure id go that route if your planning on doing a rescue...(check out redyre.com she has amazing dogs)

id probably avoid anything in the toy group, again little dogs with big personaities and fairly breakable might not do too well with a chow mix and a child.


i think though given your current dog and child, id look for a slightly older sheperd mix, 2+ yrs old, preferably with at least some obedience training and socilization (also look into good breeders they often have older dogs that didnt make the show ring, but are otherwise wonderful dogs looking for good famiy homes)
go with male (chows can be prone to same sex agression, and maes in general tend to be a little mellower as they mature)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-15-2011, 04:21 PM
 
298 posts, read 702,833 times
Reputation: 509
Newfies are very laid back and gentle. We have a Newfie-lab mix who is very mellow.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-15-2011, 05:55 PM
 
Location: Floyd Co, VA
3,513 posts, read 6,358,269 times
Reputation: 7626
How about a breed specific rescue, ie golden retriever rescue or grayhound rescue or shepherd rescue or...whatever you think would be a good fit for your family.

Some of them do take mixed breeds if the predominant breed seems to be what they specialize in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-15-2011, 06:38 PM
 
Location: Las Vegas
3,631 posts, read 7,639,360 times
Reputation: 4372
There are also "all breed" rescues that include mixed breeds...often their adoption requirements are not as strict and there is less red tape when working with these groups as opposed to many breed specific rescues.

I agree with those who said look for a dog who is past the wild puppy stage.

Whatever you decide I would also advise going with a male since you already have a female who is possibly a chow mix.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2011, 06:11 AM
 
Location: Kansas
25,752 posts, read 21,897,823 times
Reputation: 26355
Thank you to all that responded.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2011, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Northern California
970 posts, read 2,207,381 times
Reputation: 1400
Usually if you go to a shelter or a rescue they make you bring your current dog along to make sure the dog you choose gets along with it. Even within a breed there can be a lot of variation so the best thing to do is actually have the dogs meet.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-18-2011, 11:09 PM
 
426 posts, read 1,567,220 times
Reputation: 436
I agree with looking at rescues, especially the PetsMart, etc. ones that aren't at the shelter. The shelter environment is indeed stressful. However, a majority of shelter dogs (where I live at least) are young, high-energy adolescents. People surrender them because they don't know how to handle or train them. So you might not find what you're looking for at a shelter.

Foxy has good advice (as usual.) When at the shelter, I'd look at older (4-5 years) dogs. They're more likely to be past that hyper teenage phase. Another option might be to look for an older dog from a breeder. Often they have retired show or breeding dogs that go to pet homes, or young dogs, past the puppy stage, that they kept as show prospects but ended up not being show quality. A family member of mine got a wonderful, calm, sweet 18 month old Lab this way. Often breeders will know of dogs in private rescue also.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-18-2011, 11:22 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,786,527 times
Reputation: 30714
Basset hounds are very low energy. Sweet dogs too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top