Dog dreaming

[room onthebroom]

I've always wanted a great dane, but there lifespan has deterred me. Such beautiful dogs, though. So are those greater swiss! Have never met one in person.

Me too.

 

[ShrekDawg]

DH & my 1st 'married' dog was a Boxer/Irish Setter mix. He was the funniest, naughtiest, most loveable dog that ever walked the planet. He was a beautiful brindle color like his mama & he had a long tail that would curl into a question mark whenever he was exploring something. That dog was 120% personality plus, but the energy level ran at about 150%. Definitely not a sloth dog like the Pugs I have right now. (Not bagging on Pugs at all, I adore them!)

He sounds like he was truly an amazing dog.

Gator used to do The question mark tail LOL I loved it!!

He would curl it and also tilt his head when he was trying to figure out what you were saying or really interested.

And when he was on guard or smelled something really interesting he would curl it super tight and then it was more of a looser curl or sometimes down when he was relaxed. So funny watching it go super tight then relaxed again.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

DH & my 1st 'married' dog was a Boxer/Irish Setter mix. He was the funniest, naughtiest, most loveable dog that ever walked the planet. He was a beautiful brindle color like his mama & he had a long tail that would curl into a question mark whenever he was exploring something. That dog was 120% personality plus, but the energy level ran at about 150%. Definitely not a sloth dog like the Pugs I have right now. (Not bagging on Pugs at all, I adore them!)

Ha, the question mark tail. That's so cute!

 

[tripletfeb]

My dream dog is a pharaoh hound. I absolutely love that breed! But, they are really expensive. I can't justify more than a couple hundred bucks on a dog. So, until they get cheaper(probably wont happen) I am stuck with doing yet more research and looking at pictures. I did go on a website and it had a quiz where you fill in the answers and it tells you your perfect dog fit. Pharaoh hound fit me 98%. Sigh. Come on winning lottery numbers!!

 

[room onthebroom]

He sounds like he was truly an amazing dog.

Gator used to do The question mark tail LOL I loved it!!

He would curl it and also tilt his head when he was trying to figure out what you were saying or really interested.

And when he was on guard or smelled something really interesting he would curl it super tight and then it was more of a looser curl or sometimes down when he was relaxed. So funny watching it go super tight then relaxed again.

My Pugs are super expressive with their curls too. Straight tail = stress, illness, confusion, depression. Loose curl = very chill. Tight curl = very happy.

 

[ShrekDawg]

My dream dog is a pharaoh hound. I absolutely love that breed! But, they are really expensive. I can't justify more than a couple hundred bucks on a dog. So, until they get cheaper(probably wont happen) I am stuck with doing yet more research and looking at pictures. I did go on a website and it had a quiz where you fill in the answers and it tells you your perfect dog fit. Pharaoh hound fit me 98%. Sigh. Come on winning lottery numbers!!

That makes perfect sense!! I totally understand the expense. Dogs are so expensive now. Even rescue mutts.

For me though I do think it’s worth it and I’ve never had a well bred dog from a good breeder so I think for my next dog, I’ll invest in it but I might also just get a Craigslist dog or rescue or something. We’ll see haha

Maybe you could eventually get a pharaoh hound?

 

[NHMountainMan]

I've always wanted a great dane, but there lifespan has deterred me. Such beautiful dogs, though. So are those greater swiss! Have never met one in person.

I feel the same way about the Dane. Losing a dog is so painful - I don't want to do that in 6-8 years.

As for Swissys - I fell in love with the breed about 15 years ago in Switzerland. I was there on business and staying at a ski resort. I'm an early riser and went for a walk early one morning and watched as the ski patrol was training with Swissys in avalanche rescue. Watching them work was amazing. At the time, I volunteered in Mtn search and rescue.
So I reserved a Swissy pup from a AKC breeder and waited for the litter to be born. The breeder was shocked to find that somehow her Pyr male had fathered her litter with the Swissy female - so no pure bred. But I took one anyway.

The disposition of all 12 of those accidental pups was remarkable - and she decided to intentionally breed them - which is how I ended up with 2 of them! If she was still breeding, I'd go with the mix again - I've had labs, Chesapeake Bay retrievers, huskies - but I've never had dogs like these two.

If it weren't for the shedding, I'd probably get one a Pyr and Swissy, and breed my own mixes!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Have you considered Leonbergers? They are great dogs and may be similar to Newfies but without replacing her haha

Plus they have DRY MOUTHS which is a major plus over both the Newfies and Pyrs LOL

I would love to have a Lean-onberger! I can't seem to get over the 100 lb mark with dogs (previously had an Akita/husky 95 lbs, now have a Anatolian 90 lbs). The main issue is, they're a relatively rare breed, and I so do not want to start off with a puppy (I'm a lazy owner so we've gotten nothing but 2 yr old+ rescues after our first dog, to get past the chewing/housebreaking phase and straight to the more relaxed/mellow phase).

Would "love" to have a Pyrs too (kept looking at the shelter listings) but I know that's just because I think they're beautiful with their white coats. The drooling is an issue for me, and I did hear from Leonberger owners that they're not drool-y like that, which is a plus

 

[ShrekDawg]

My Pugs are super expressive with their curls too. Straight tail = stress, illness, confusion, depression. Loose curl = very chill. Tight curl = very happy.

That’s awesome!! I love the expressive tails. Adorable and funny.

Gator even manipulated me into not making him heel on walks

I don’t think he did it on purpose but he had never really had to her before and I wanted to teach him how when he was an adolescent so I tried to but he got so upset and had his tail down the whole time I made him heel and it would pop right back up when I let him go... I tried to make him for a while but then I read about somebody else with a pack of huskies and they didn’t make them heel but just made them walk with a loose leash and didn’t allow them to pull/drag them to scents and it worked for them. So then I though, ah what the heck, he’s miserable heeling, whatever, LOL and from then on, allowed him to stop and sniff whatever he wanted or walk ahead or whatever but I DID work with him on getting that leash loose and he would take a few steps back when it was tight LOL I did eventually when he was older kinda slack a little and didn’t really correct the dragging me to sniff stuff but by that point he was sick anyway so I didn’t really care. But funny thing is he was well trained, pretty advanced obedience, and he would heel when I asked him to. I did occasionally ask him to on walks or stop in a parking lot somewhere along the way to practice or practiced in the yard or whatever and he would do it perfectly well and then when released, he’d go back to sniffing and enjoying his walk lol

But he showed me through his tail that he was miserable heeling lol

Probably cause he didn’t like having to listen.

But he was well trained.

Not perfect because of other family members not instilling rules/undoing my training but he listened to me lol

 

[NHMountainMan]

I really really want a Berger Blanc Suisse (White Swiss Shepherd) one day haha

My son just got a mix Belgian Malinois, Swiss Shepard mix. He's 5 months old now and about 50 lbs. VERY smart, doing great in obedience and agility - and looks like an athletic freak!