We want to get a dog...

[boomerang]

or drive a Hemi?

I hope your dog drives better than Toonces.

[youtube][/youtube]

[gregthehand]

I have two Minature Schnauzer early warning devices that work great. If anyone even touches my door they are barking their butts off.

[Tass]

Miniature Poodle or a small Standard Poodle-minimal shedding, alerts to strangers quickly, standard will have a deeper bark.

Shooteress: try looking at the protein % in your kibble for your gas-bag. I switched brands to one with a higher protein level (not the purpose of the change) and all three of mine turned into miniature weapons of mass destruction. Went back to a lower protein and the problem went away.

I have corgi's: One of the pembrokes (no tail) sheds like mad, but he has a tremendous amount of undercoat and never really blows his coat properly. The other pem and the cardigan corgi (the one with the tail) have a much slicker coat - not as much undercoat - and appear to shed less. The corgi would be the ideal dog for your situation: size, bark, good with the family, however you will still likely have the heel nipping/herding behavior. Regular brushing and a good quality food will keep the shedding down to manageable levels.

There is a North Texas Pembrok Corgi club that does rescue-I saw a lovely cardigan girl there a week or two ago on the website-give them a looksee.

Tass

[puma guy]

here's a webite with a list of dogs that shed little hair. All dogs shed to some extent but these particular breed lose so little hair they quailfy as "Non-Shedding" so to speak. One caution on Basenjis, they hardly ever bark. You can click on the breed and view a lot of good information. The best advice I could give anyone is to read up on the breed you are interested in. Find out if they are easy to train, excercise needs, how they get along with other animals, pack leader tendencies, etc. I have been around dogs all my life and I can't tell you how many times I've seen folks make choices on breeds that are completly at odds with their lifestyle, capability and willingness. Of course the dog suffers and many times ends up in a shelter or abandoned. I grew up the son of a veterinarian and worked with him until after college and then after I retired. He practiced until January of this year and retired at age 92 due to health issues. I have seen just about everything you can see. I always hesitate to give advice on pet choices. The only advice I ever give is to never call your dog to come to you to punish, admonish it for something it did. i.e. the dog poops or pees and you see it after the fact (even if they've just finished). (If you catch it in the act try to take it out side immediately) Have you ever seen a dog that is called by it's owner and before it quite gets there it stops or circles? I can guarantee that the cause is from being called and given negative feedback. Dogs associate the last thing in their mind with the next event. They don't know you admonished them for peeing 30 seconds ago, they associate it with being called and coming to you. Good luck, I hope you find the breed that suits you.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/lightshedders.htm

[randomoutburst]

Thank you all for your suggestions, guys! There were a lot of suggestions that fit the bill, but ultimately my hubby and I have decided on the Standard Schnauzers. They look like they will best fit our lifestyle and needs, and as an added bonus they're gosh darn gorgeous.

Tass, you mentioned Pembroke Corgis - my hubby grew up with them and while he did indeed love them as his children, he does not want more. Besides, his Corgis live next door with his parents so he can and does still visit them. :)

We have found a breeder in the area with puppies and hope to be able to adopt two of the litter. Waiting on a response from the breeder as of now to see when we could meet with them to see the puppies and, of course, ask LOTS of questions before we make a final decision.

[puma guy]

Thank you all for your suggestions, guys! There were a lot of suggestions that fit the bill, but ultimately my hubby and I have decided on the Standard Schnauzers. They look like they will best fit our lifestyle and needs, and as an added bonus they're gosh darn gorgeous.

Tass, you mentioned Pembroke Corgis - my hubby grew up with them and while he did indeed love them as his children, he does not want more. Besides, his Corgis live next door with his parents so he can and does still visit them. :)

We have found a breeder in the area with puppies and hope to be able to adopt two of the litter. Waiting on a response from the breeder as of now to see when we could meet with them to see the puppies and, of course, ask LOTS of questions before we make a final decision.

Schnauzers have great personalities are highly intelligent, inquisitive and can be mischievous. They do have a strong sense of self-dignity and may remember and begrudge mistreatment (intentional or unintentional) so it may be a good idea to watch when young children interact with the dog/s. My brother's Schnauzer would eat ANYTHING except lemons and he gave them a hardy try. He once ate an entire bowl of homemade hot sauce with a 1/3 ratio of jalapeno to tomato. They are great watch dogs!

[Tass]

Did you know there are herding schnauzers out there? A friend has standard schnauzers that do very well in herding trials here in Houston. We have a trial coming up soon, I'll send pictures if he is entered.

Tass

[gregthehand]

I guess I've been calling my Standard Schnauzer a miniature by mistake. He is a great dog and very loyal. Incredibly smart as well. When I get him cut I leave the skirt off since it seems to just gather debris and sticker burs. Great choice.

[Tass]

Greg...

Just a note, you might want to use the phrase: 'groomed' or 'trimmed' rather than 'getting him cut'....to those who have a background with livestock/animals, getting him cut has a WHOLE other meaning! I had to read that post twice!

BTW: SPAY AND NEUTER!

Tass

[hoot]

I have been looking at this topic for several days.
I have started several times to make a comment.
My neighbor (RR) was the victim of a home invasion about 4:30am a few weeks ago.
RR has two dogs. Normally you cannot enter the alley without being greeted.
During the home invasion, neither dog made a sound.
Perhaps dogs, like children, require training.
Hoot

[davidtx]

What kind of dogs?

[randomoutburst]

Okay, update on our dog decision - we decided to get one Standard Schnauzer now and another at a later date.
The puppy will be shipped this week or next week from Wisconsin and we are very excited.

As an interesting twist, we found a dog running down a street near our college on the way to class. It was thin, very dirty, covered with burrs, and had greasy, matted hair. We carried it door to door and asked if anyone knew who it belonged to. Almost everyone said they had never seen it before. The last two people we asked pointed to a house down the street and said it belonged to a hispanic family who lived there. Both said the family did not treat the dog well, left it outside, and didn't bother to look for it when it (often) got loose; both also pledged not to say a word if we wanted to keep the dog instead of return it. The family wasn't home so we took the dog home, bathed it, removed the burrs, and fed it only a bit of food in case her tummy was upset. She wolfed it down and wanted more.

This little dog is the sweetest, most well-behaved dog. She is very careful to not bite us when playing or eating from our hands. She hasn't barked once, even at the sight of other dogs. She accepted a collar and can walk on a leash. She hated the bath, but allowed us to bathe her without much ado. She just wants to cuddle up next to us and is content to sit in our laps and be brushed. She is not potty-trained and went on the kitchen floor, which makes us think the comments about them keeping her in the yard is true...and the fact that she's so thin and covered in burrs (many were so deeply embedded in her fur that I had to use scissors) makes me think perhaps they don't take care of her. The filth we washed off of her was appalling. A dog can't get that dirty in a day, or even a week. Maybe not even a month.

My hubby went into Petsmart to buy food and shampoo before we went home. She tried to grab at a napkin in the car and when I told her no, she cowered. I pet her to reassure her. She grabbed at it again; I told her no; she cowered again. This happened a couple times, with me reassuring her and petting her after telling her no, before she stopped cowering. She will still cower at loud noises.

I don't think we're going to take her back to that family. She is too sweet to give back to a family who doesn't appreciate her. She is so thin, was so dirty, and reacts in a way that makes me think she was yelled at often, if not abused.

So we have a new dog before we even get our dog. Haha.

Will post photos of both the Schnauzer and this dog (we think she's a Australian Terrier with a black coat, a fault when it is a show dog) soon...

[joe817]

God Bless you and your husband random!

You will have a loyal and loving friend for life. From your description that dog was abused, and you rescued it. WELL DONE!

[Oldgringo]

God Bless you and your husband random!

You will have a loyal and loving friend for life. From your description that dog was abused, and you rescued it. WELL DONE!

I'm with Joe. Generally speaking, we prefer our pets to...er, uh well, you know...people.

[randomoutburst]

Oldgringo, my husband and I do as well. I felt so bad for her when we were picking the burrs out...she just let us do it, too. Very trusting.

I don't know if we're going to keep her for sure...I would actually prefer to give her to a guaranteed loving home than keep her here, but if we cannot find a suitable place for her, we will keep her. I would never take an animal to a shelter and I wouldn't give one to just anybody.

My grandmother was contemplating getting a dog so I'll check to see if she's interested. She spoils her pets rotten so I know this little girl would be happy there. :)