What breed and gender of dog should I get?

[bock]

My sister and I have been trying to convince my parents to let us get a 3rd dog for about 4 months now. I think they are finally considering getting one

, but I am trying to decide on a breed and gender I should get. So here is what I want in a dog. We are going to rescue from a shelter, so it may be a mix breed. We already have a 10 year old female lab mix, Sugar, and a 4 year old female chihauha/wiener dog mix, Sabrina. My lab HATES water and never fetches, people say that is very uncharacteristic for labs.

My Chawiener loves playing fetch, but doesn't swim in our pond. We really want a medium-large dog. This dog MUST be nice to our dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, and pigeons. It needs to be nice to guests, but scare off trespassing people and animals . It should be able to defend our animals from predators. We live in a climate with extremely hot summers and fairly mild winters, so preferably a dog with a short to medium coat. We would like a dog that fetches and swims. It should be easy to train. During summer I will be able to spend every day with it, but when school starts I will only be with it from 3:30-10:00 in the evenings. Our dogs spend most of their day inside, but have to sleep in the garage because Sabrina has accidents at night and howls if we put her out without Sugar.

We live on 5 acres in the country, and have a 1 acre area we fenced off for our dogs. I will walk it every day if needed, now I walk my dogs 2-3 times a week. I have never had a male dog, and I think it would be good to get one, but my mom thinks it will pee all over things.

The dogs we have are fixed, and this new dog would be too.I love dogs, and just animals in general, and I am ready for the challenge of a new dog. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[ShrekDawg]

i think you should get a retriever, a shepherd, a BC (or some other collie/herding type dog), a poodle, a corgi, a papllion, a great pyranees (or other lifestock guardian dog), a bernese mounatain dog, a hound or terrier type dog, etc or any mix and/or combination of anyone of these types of dogs., you should just go rescue a mutt from a shelter that matches your lifestyle/fits your description of what you want in a dog, i am sure a retriever and/or shepherd mix of some sort would be just fine and im sure any dog would appreciate you rescueing them. there are loads of dogs/animals out there that need homes and im sure they would all be very appreciative of being rescued and would be a great companion. have you tried www.petfinder.com ?, its a great website, you just enter where you live and then you can select what type of dog (or other animal) you want (like size, gender, age, etc) or you can enter a specific breed or type of dog (like Labrador Retriever or retriever, for instance) and it shows you lots of animals that match that description in your area, it is really an amazing website and they have loads of animals in need of homes listed so im sure you could find one to suit your needs. also, yes that is pretty uncharacteristic of labs, i used to have a lab and he absolutely loved his ball and water. we had a golden for a little while before we got the lab too and he was great too. so far we have only had male dogs and they have all been fine, no issues (really as far as housebreaking and marking and stuff goes), i think as long as you spay/neuter them early and housetrain them then they should be fine, i think the marking thing only comes up with unneutered males and usually only if theres another male in the house (sort of as a "this is mine" type thing i think) and/or unless they have some health problem (such as a urinary tract and/or bladder infection or something) so i think as long as you train them, fix them early, dont get 2 (unneutered) males, take them to the vet as needed/regularly, then there really shouldnt be any issues, i dont see why there would be, as long as they are all fixed then theres not really any competion (for mates/mating or anything) so you should be fine. and theres usually not much of a difference between males and females (temperment wise) so its really just a matter of personal preference. but i really think you should check out petfinder.com and maybe not even specifically search for a breed or anything at first, maybe just hit dog and your zip code/city and state and possibly size or something and just see what comes up, see if theres anything you like, then enter the specifics later and/or go check out the dogs you like. hope i was helpful to you, and good luck finding another dog!

*edited for spelling

 

[bock]

Thank you so much! I will check out Petfinder tomorrow, it's getting late.

I am so excited!

Thanks!

 

[ShrekDawg]

sure, no problem, and yeah i should probably be getting to bed soon too... haha and you're welcome, np, good luck!

good night

 

[Riocotesei]

You can't go wrong with an Australian Shepherd, Great Pyrenees, or a Collie. They are amazing, smart, affectionate loyal dogs. I've found female dogs to be the best in my experience. Boy dogs are sweet and all but its hard to find a real genuine awesome boy. Just my opinion...
Aussie mixes that look predominantly Aussie are really great too.
I work with dogs 5 days a week playing with them and seeing similarities in breeds. Unless you want to be a very stressed person, don't get a Boxer. Once again just my opinion

Great Pyrenees would be good for you because they do great with other livestock. (gentle giants) mine helped me find some lost chicks and has never harmed or attempted to hurt my poultry other dogs or cats. They are a big breed and can look intimidating / thus good guardians. They are VERY smart my Pyr knows the most tricks out of all my dogs.
There are also great Pyrenees/ Anatolian Shepard mixes and that would give more color variety if you wanted something more unique looking.

Anyways hope this helps and good luck

 

[dreamwallaby]

Most of what you have described is a matter of training and not relative to the breed you get. As you know from your lab, getting a "water dog" does not guarantee your dog will want to swim. Having a dog that is good with guests is also a training matter. You said you live in a warmer climate so I would worry about both the anatolian shepherd and the g. pyrenees which both prefer a cooler climant. If I were you I would look at mixes at the shelter or on pet finder where you can talk to owners/shelter employees about the dog's personality and not focus on a certain breed. good luck in your search

 

[V Comb]

Good on you for adopting from a shelter!

Im hopefully getitng a cat from a shelter who is just

 

[SillyChicken]

I would stongly recommend a neutered male. Another female could cause disharmony in your "pack".... Otherwise, I'd pick the dog that is friendly and outgoing, and not worry about the breed so much.

My intact male never peed on everything. Nor does my current neutered male.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I second getting a male. In fact, I prefer males over females any day! Neutered males are much more easy going.

 

[PioneerPrincess]

We have a wonderful male Australian Shepherd. He is great with all of our animals. They are very smart dogs and the males have a beautiful mane, which is why we purchased a male. He is a great guard dog and good with people he knows. He is fixed and has not caused us any problems.

Here he is watching 'his' chickies: