Which one of these dogs do you like the most...

Swimpy, while that makes perfect sense (reason why I listed the puli, coton and havanese = non-shedding dogs), I am what they would call a fanatic. They have been selected due to our extreme love for the "whole package." So much so that we may be over look the hair, esp. since trimming is a growing trend and it's the only thing holding us back.

I like rare breeds (i can guarantee none of those dogs will be in our neighborhood), and I am quite picky on disposition, living condition, needs, etc.

Our decision is still far from set. We will first have to find out where my FI is stationed next (still about 8 months away).

The long-haired light shedders such as the Briard, Komondor, Bouvier des Flandres, Portuguese Water Dog, and a few others have traits about them or needs that I am not interested in having/taking care of...

I definitely haven't narrowed my choices down in one day (like those who get into something with nothing more than a desire to own a dog). We have been talking about a bigger dog for almost 2 yrs now (non stop), and contacting different breeders.

Here's a breed that I'm fond of, with short hair, the Weimaraner:

don't lissin to him, he's got a dead fly on his bathroom floor, and gawd knows what-all-else...

They're all great, Joa...

...but I love dogs...I am primarily a cat person.

Ya just don't get anything more beautiful than a cat.

(Well...maybe Jessica Alba and my Nancy, but....)

Weimaraners are really lovely dogs, and also not a huge amount of shedding. Our mastiff mix was a shedder but hey, we loved him. A gentle giant with children - he let our then-10-month-old nephew "ride" him. :-D

But ehBeth's right about life span. The bigger the dog, the shorter the life span. Our boy passed away at age 8. Great Danes and Irish Wolfhounds average 6 years. It's hard to lose a beloved pet, and harder still to keep doing that over and over again.

I know you haven't mentioned labs and perhaps you don't like them (they're anything but rare), but they are a good package in terms of family friendliness. Since there are a lot of them around, you can shop around more (although that also means there are puppy mills, so beware). Yes, they're big and goofy, and they worship tennis balls. But there's a reason why a number of them are trained to be guide dogs for the blind and other types of service dogs. Once they get past their "teen years" (up to about age 2), they can be very patient critters, long as you give them their daily exercise. It will also be far easier to work with a local breeder than with a breeder who you have to fly to or talk to long distance if you have questions. All reputable breeders will do their best to keep up with the dogs that come from their stock, but it's got to be easier all around if the breeder can just stop by if necessary.

Yeah, I love labs, but do not want to own one. They're everywhere. My FI wants one though, so I told him if he did, he could have a goldendoodle or labradoodle. I used to run a message board for these breeds before the BEST breeders (who started this breed in australia) could figure out how to improve their own.

I don't like Weimars either. They're way too hyper and it's not worth the shedding.

Certain dogs I am willing to compromise with ....like a Mastiff. How affectionate can you get? Plus, they're so large and all the kids in the neighborhood want to touch what they assumed was a mean animal.

I think too many people think short hair = shed less, when that's far from the case. Short-haired breeds are known to shed more. Anyone own a pug? They're shedding fools.

As I said, I have rare taste in breeds. I fancy rare ones, but love ALL breeds. Most people don't like the breeds I do, but then again, many people know nothing about breeds they were never around or had that one neighbor who got their dog from a puppymill/petstore.

BBB
See Maddy in my avatar (his fur was clipped at the time the photo was taken.) Madison is a Bichon Fries. They don't shed. Maddy will be 2 in December and now weighs 14 pounds. Very very smart with a great personality. A love bug.

When I was looking for a dog, I was interested in both the Bichon Fries and Bichon Havanese. The Bichon Fries are hard to find in New Mexico and are very expensive. Bichon Havanese are much harder to find and even more expensive. I could have bought one in California but I was afraid of flying a puppy to New Mexico because it is a great risk to the animal.

BBB

Your post made me so happy. You speak a language I understand.

Did you see my Maltese on an earlier page? She is in the Bichon family. My first post also indicated I was also looking at a Havanese.

I have contacted every breeder in the U.S and Canada and even put a deposit on one 3 yrs ago ($1,400), but decided against it when I met my current furbaby. I chose her instead and couldn't be happier.

However, I am working on getting my FI to look at some Coton's and Havanese (both a lot alike). He thinks I already have my foo-foo dog, which is true and would prefer a bigger dog so he could play rough with, take to the lake, and run with. But, I haven't given up completely. We have already arranged to meet some breeders when he returns from Iraq.

The Coton breeder that was on Oprah (as being a GREAT breed) lives an hour from us. Her dog is featured below.

Coton de Tulear:





Havanese:




I prefer the beige, apricot, and fawn colors rather than black Havanese. Purely because I like to see their facial expressions in pictures. My FI prefers the black ones. I only like the black ones that have a "mixed face" like above. Go figure.

BTW, my dog looks like your Bichon here. hehe

She usually has longer hair but the groomer and I had misunderstood eachother. My fault really.

Joahaeyo
Joahaeyo, your Havanese look wonderful. They are great dogs and great company.

From time to time, I have the groomer trim Maddy's fur very short to get rid of fur tangles and he looks like a big white rat with a long fluffy tail. Even his best buddy, Cooper, the large spaniel across the street, sniffs him and wonder who this weirdo is. They are great buddies. Maddy waits all day for the family members to come home from work and school and let Cooper out in the front yard. That's the signal for Maddy to come to my jumping up and down like a yoyo to announce that he want's out to go play with Cooper. They are fun to watch together because of the difference in their size - mutt and jeff.

There is only one add in the newspaper in Albuquerque for a Bichon Fries for $650. That's the least expensive I've seen for months. Maybe in the Spring there will be more available for less.

There is a Havanese breeder in Colorado that I communicated with for several months. She had a 5 year old female that she was ready to sell. She was her show dog breeder and at 5 was getting too old to continue breeding. She was for sale at $600 and the owner was willing to drive her down from Colorado to Albuquerque.

But I decided I wanted a puppy to bond with. That meant going through the house breaking and all that crap, but I've never regretted sharing my life with Maddy.

I'm sometimes tempted to look for another puppy companion for Maddy, but I really don't look forward to puppy-hood house training again. I think small dogs are harder to train than large ones. This is strange because Bichons are so very smart re everything else.

BBB

I'm sure Maddy is glad to have you as a best friend as well.

Yeah, puppyhood will be an adventure with a huge dog. I didn't have to worry about chewing too much, at least compared to some of the bigger breeds. I'm thinking Christmas or when I'm a stay-at-home will be a good time to bring another one in.

I've never had an animal pee in the carpet (and I've trained several of my friend's dogs), even when training them in a litterbox, and I want to keep it that way. This means I must be on their butts 24-7 the first week. By then, for me....they've perfected it.

Then there's the constant crying at night.

This is my puppy, his name is "cutesy." He's usually very nice with the neighborhood kids, until one of them makes eye contact, he's hungry, or plain woke up on the wrong side of the doggie bed, LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!! Since the death of Jim, Johnny, Kelly, and Suzy, they make me keep him tied to a tree.

I have a tiny dog... I've heard they're harder to train than the big guys because the big dogs understand your house as their den, and they don't go in their den. The little doggies see "under this chair" as their den, and the rest of the house as indistinguishable (in that sense) from the outdoors...

Anyhow, mine doesn't go in the house, but he doesn't ask to go out either. I have to remember to pick him up and set him out (a holdover from when he was too small to manage the porch steps on his own) every few hours. When I'm not here, my daughter can open the door and tell him to go out, and he does.

I'm suspecting this particular big dog to be more of a challenge though b/c "SOME" lines (bad breeders) are producing dogs that display some aggression.

I will not be able to tolerate this since I would like kids and must protect my cat&small dog.

BTW, I'm leaning towards an OES, labradoodle, or Havanese now. The FI will have to decide from those 3.

Thanks everyone.

If we get one of these, it still won't be a LONG (jun-dec 05) time from now but it's good to start talking to breeders now.

Don't know what it's like where you are, but reputable breeders around here will not breed their bitches for pups that will go to homes between late November and early January. No Christmas puppies. I've been going through this with a friend recently - she's either got to accept delivery in early November, or wait til mid January.

Wy


Wy, that's an interesting thought which had never occurred to me. All I've every heard was that small dogs are harder to housebreak than large dogs.

Maddy has learned to come to me (if I'm sitting) and stand on his hind legs, put his paws in my lap and just look at me. It took me a while to learn that this was his signal that he wanted to go outside. This seems unusual because I thought that most dogs stand in front of the door and maybe bark when they want to go out.

My Maddy has to be different, I guess. I had to learn the difference between his going out signal and his I want to play or eat signal.

Another funny thing Maddy does is that when the family across the street are in their front yard and their dog Cooper is with them, Maddy comes running to me, jumps up against me and then runs to the front door, repeatedly if I don't immediately respond to him. Late in the weekday afternoon, Maddy will sit at the front window on the widened window sill I installed covered in carpet to watch for his buddy Cooper to come outside so they can play together. It's his daily ritual.

BBB

Below is a picture of our dog Max. We got him from a rescue center and I don't care what breed he is, he's loved dearly. I shouldn't even write here, as I am a firm believer in getting a dog from the Humane Society
or other organisations that have plenty of beautiful dogs just waiting
for a loving home.

Nonetheless, good luck with your search for the perfect family addition.

Another mention of the Humane Society. Yes, by all means, support your local Humane Society and animal shelters.

But don't support the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) unless you are a rabid animal rights activist. They are a radical PAC out of D.C. that has never taken in a stray.

Maddy has a new baby sister
Last Thursday, I drove to Los Lumas (south of Albuquerque) to buy Dolly, a 15 week old Shih Tzu puppy. I took her to the vet on the way home and discovered she has a parasite, which she is being treated for. The vet said she is healthy otherwise.

I don't have a photo of Dolly yet, but she looks a lot like the puppy in the bottom photo on this site. Click on SAMPLE PICTURES on available puppies page and scroll down the photos to the one at the bottom of "Brooke."

http://www.teacupshihtzu.com/

Dolly is predominantly white with a black face with some tan and white markings, and with large black patches on her back.

Maddy was so pissed at me for bringing Dolly into his territory. He wouldn't come near me for the first one and a half days. His feelings were really hurt. But Dolly pursued him aggressively and he finally gave in. Now they play together all day long until they both poop out. Maddy is so much bigger and stronger that he controls Dolly, but she is very feisty and is learning to stand on her own. They are funny to watch like a mutt and Jeff couple because she follows him everywhere. She won't get as big as Maddy.

She has taken to peeing on paper on the floor. But she poops under a lamp table on the tile in the great room. So no damage to carpets done as I try to teach her to go outside. So far, after I've put her outside, when she comes into the house she heads for the paper on the floor and pees there. She will learn.

Maddy refused to sleep in my bed at night with Dolly in it. I bought a small cage and put it in the bedroom last night for Dolly. Maddy finally resumed his usual routine. Maybe he will be willing to share the bed with her before long.

I took Maddy for a short walk and Dolly for a drag yesterday on one leash with two links. Maddy goes too fast for Dolly. It will be a while before they can be outside on one leash.

The two mutts are asleep on the widened carpet-covered window ledge in the office as I type. Maddy always waits there for his Spaniel pal Cooper's family to come home.

---BBB