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So the wife and I are looking into getting a dog, and as part of our Sunday tradition we go to the parents house for lunch, and they have a Weimaraner, and a lab, and a couple of children. I want to make sure the dog that we get will be a good fit with everyone else. We went to look at a dog this weekend and we took her for a walk outside, and she seemed pretty responsive to my commands, and got a little excited, and curious when other dogs walked by her, but was able to remain calm.
According to the shelter she does good with kids that are 8+, and she gets along with some dogs.
I was wondering what is meant exactly when it says "she gets along with some dogs"?
So the wife and I are looking into getting a dog, and as part of our Sunday tradition we go to the parents house for lunch, and they have a Weimaraner, and a lab, and a couple of children. I want to make sure the dog that we get will be a good fit with everyone else. We went to look at a dog this weekend and we took her for a walk outside, and she seemed pretty responsive to my commands, and got a little excited, and curious when other dogs walked by her, but was able to remain calm.
According to the shelter she does good with kids that are 8+, and she gets along with some dogs.
I was wondering what is meant exactly when it says "she gets along with some dogs"?
She is a 1year old boxer mix
It means she doesn't like all dogs. She may only like males or submissive females or dogs that leave her alone. Based on that it doesn't sound like she's a candidate for the dog park. How a dog behaves on leash is not always indicative of how they are off leash.
We did a lot of research and were careful about selecting a dog that would be a good fit for us (and we for him/her.) We adopted a dog that for the first six years of his life lived with a family with four children, two German Shepherds, and a standard Poodle.
We thought "Great! He's accustomed to children and other dogs. We'll be able to take him with us to our relatives, he'll go to doggy daycare for one day a week, we'll take him to Pups at the Park at Nationals games!" We brought him home and the reality is much different.
He's a little guy that was attacked by one of the German Shepherds in the home (that's why the rehomed him). So not only is he aggressive (out of fear) to large dogs, he has also snapped at our young nephews (granted they were in his face and didn't heed his warning signs) and will pull and growl at the neighborhood kids on our walks.
We are puzzled as to how his personality (if his former family was truthful) could change so much but we have grown attached to him and we've made it work by knowing and accommodating his limitations. When the nephews come to visit, he's contained to a different room. He doesn't go to doggy daycare. He'll never go to Pups at the Park. We try very hard to limit his exposure to large dogs - meaning he will never meet his K-9 cousins. Traveling with him is very limited.
I volunteer at a shelter and we always encourage potential adopters to bring the established dogs and other family members with them to meet the potential adoptee. We do meet and greets with everybody to make sure it will be a good fit. As a previous poster noted there are some dogs who are picky about the dogs they get along with - they will get along like a house on fire with some dogs but be aggressive or otherwise not as acceting towards others. No big deal, but you want to make sure that the dogs the adoptee will be around will fall in the former category. Call the shelter ahead- I would be surprised if they would not let you bring the other dogs for the meet and greet.
Update:
The dog we went and looked at has been adopted, I'm guessing shortly after we left the shelter.
CrowGirl we are going to take the two dogs with us to see if he passes the sniff test.
Sorry to hear you missed out on the dog; I am sure there will be many more good ones. There are always some dogs that get adopted almost immediately after they hit the adoption floor. I'm glad to hear you'll be taking your parents' dogs with you. Even if the dog you looks at loves all dogs one of the existing dogs may take a dislike to him / her.
An update:
The dog we went with is a 1.5 year old Boxer/Mastiff??? mix. My mom brought the Weimaraner, the black lab was sick, they met each other at the shelter and seemed to be ok. Long story short the black lab just kind of ignores our dog. Our dog wants to play all the time with the five year old Weimaraner, and he seems annoyed by his playfulness. I'm thinking that he might be a little jealous that there is a new dog in the house that is getting all the attention. The Weimaraner will be playing with our dog fine, then he'll turn around and bark at him in kind of an aggressive way.
An update:
The dog we went with is a 1.5 year old Boxer/Mastiff??? mix. My mom brought the Weimaraner, the black lab was sick, they met each other at the shelter and seemed to be ok. Long story short the black lab just kind of ignores our dog. Our dog wants to play all the time with the five year old Weimaraner, and he seems annoyed by his playfulness. I'm thinking that he might be a little jealous that there is a new dog in the house that is getting all the attention. The Weimaraner will be playing with our dog fine, then he'll turn around and bark at him in kind of an aggressive way.
Congratulations on your new family member!
I don't think it's jealousy. Sometimes older dogs are just annoyed by younger higher energy dogs. It sounds like the Weimaraner may just have had enough of the play session and was done. As long as your dog is respecting the Weimaraner's signals it should be fine. If possible it might be worth taking your dog for a long walk before your go to your parents, that way he will have worked off some of his energy before he gets there.
I was thinking that too.
We are working on making sure he gets his exercise. With his energy level it can be difficult some times
Do you have a fenced yard or access to a fenced dog park/dog-friendly area? A dog needs regular off-leash activity, especially a young dog like your new boy. He should have both on-leash walks and off-leash play sessions and running.
Good luck!
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