All social breeds

Breed specific discussion of your favorite breed.

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Neezil
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2012 5:02 pm

All social breeds

Post by Neezil »

Hi my name is Renee. My boyfriend and I just recently bought a condo. He promised his daughter and myself that he would allow us to have a dog. I am an experienced dog owner i have had mixed chows, golden lab retrievers, terriers, shi tzu and have helped a friend potty train her Akita.
However, my boyfriend and I are not agreeing on the type of dogs. He wants a dog, that doesnt bark,likes to be alone, and Is socially friendly. I informed him that all dogs bark some more than others but can be trained to bark only when it is appropriate. His second issue is that we both work. Although in the beginning, I plan to spend a cpl weeks to train and have the dog become familiar of his new home. I will prepare our dog to be alone. So, with me planning to do some serious training and socialize the dog.
I chose the pomeranian, keeshound, and samoyed. I dont mind any hound types either can you help with any advice that will appease this situation. Thank you.
gwd
Posts: 1958
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:33 pm

Re: All social breeds

Post by gwd »

i'm sure everyone will be happy to help. ........but to make the best suggestion, we'll need a bit more information.

1) what is the age of the daughter?
2) what kind of activity level are you looking for? when you're home are you wanting 3 or more hours of walks a day or less?
3) what kind of coat care are you comfortable with? would 15 min of brushing a day be fine or would you prefer to devote less time on grooming?
4) additional grooming question. what is your tolerance level for hair/shedding? will daily running of the vac make you insane or is this something you're ok with
5)how much time during the day are you able to devote to play and training?
6)what is your ideal situation, a dog that is velcro'd to your side or one that is more independent?
7) how many hours during the day to you expect your dog to be left alone?
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Nettle
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Re: All social breeds

Post by Nettle »

It's great that you are giving this so much thought :) thank you on behalf of all dogs.

Your b/f's choices are incompatible. 'Socially friendly' and 'likes to be alone' won't be found in the same dog. Dogs that don't bark or seldom bark make other noises.

There WILL be a dog you all like, as long as the family can offer the dog a proper life in terms of company, training and exercise. Should anyone else be reading this with similar decisions to make, please don't think this can be solved by getting two dogs and expecting them to be company for and exercise each other. It doesn't work that way, and you just get two unhappy dogs instead of one - and an unhappy family.

Do you have another four hours a day that you can willingly and happily give to the dog? And we need the answers to gwd's questions too. Then we can help more.

Keep away from hounds and spitz types as they are noisy, and hounds especially need company.
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Renizzay04
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:59 am

Re: All social breeds

Post by Renizzay04 »

Ok it is me Renee for some reason it did not recognize my original neezil acct even with emAil, even though I have a confirmation acct info sent to my email. .anywyas you guys are great let me answer your questions
Renizzay04
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:59 am

Re: All social breeds

Post by Renizzay04 »

1) what is the age of the daughter?
She is 11. Only visits on weekends.
2) what kind of activity level are you looking for? when you're home are you wanting 3 or more hours of walks a day or less?
I am very active and energetic and hyper (lol) so I will take it on walks, play with the dog, and am willing to do whatever is needed to ensure our pet will be getting his/her exercise. NOTE : I AM ALSO A HAIRDRESSER SO GROOMING THE DOG IS NOT A BIG DEAL. I won't mind at all if grooming is necessary. I would love to maintain the grooming requirements. .having a beautiful coat and loooking pretty is fun for me because I am all about presentation.
3) what kind of coat care are you comfortable with? would 15 min of brushing a day be fine or would you prefer to devote time on
Oops answered this question on #2
4) additional grooming question. what is your tolerance level for hair/shedding? will daily running of the vac make you insane or is this something you're ok with
A clean house is important so not a problem
5)how much time during the day are you able to devote to play and training?
As many as needed
6)what is your ideal situation, a dog that is velcro'd to your side or one that is more independent?
Somewhere in between would be ideal but giventhe two choices i'd rather more independent
7) how many hours during the day to you expect your dog to be left alone?
Around 6-7
bendog
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Re: All social breeds

Post by bendog »

Thanks for answering. My main argument here is that you have said you are willing to devote time daily to grooming (say half an hour), 3 hours walking, and as much time as needed to playing and training (say an hour per day, but likely more) but then the dog will be alone for 6-7 hours? You do realise that this will mean an hour and a half walk before you leave for work, the same when you get home, and another hour an a half minimum grooming, playing etc not to mention hoovering daily too!

This means your essentially doing 12 hour days when you factor in dog care. If you get a puppy no way will it cope with being left so long anyway.

"As much time as needed" is not really a satisfactory answer - would you cope with a dog that keeps dropping a ball in your lap 24/7, or would you prefer a dog that will only play when you start the game. When you come in from work and are exhausted (presumably on your feet all day as a hairdresser) do you really have the energy to then spend all evening socialising, training an playing with a pup?

I appreciate you've had dogs in the past but we really really need to impress on you how much work you have said you are willing to take on!
JudyN
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Re: All social breeds

Post by JudyN »

Also, are you intending to get a puppy, or an older dog, possibly a rescue? 6-7 hours would be far too long for a puppy to be left, though it may be doable if you had a dog walker come in to break up the day.

Occasionally in rescues dogs turn up that have come from homes where they've been left for long periods of time. Also, although, as Nettle said, hounds need company, retired greyhounds are often used to spending much of their time on their own and will happily sleep for hours while you're out :lol: You do, of course, have to trust the rescue as not that many will assess the dog fully and tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
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gwd
Posts: 1958
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:33 pm

Re: All social breeds

Post by gwd »

Neezil wrote:I chose the pomeranian, keeshound, and samoyed. I dont mind any hound types either can you help with any advice that will appease this situation. Thank you.
sammies are extremely heavy shedders. i'm talking garbage bags full twice a year, and then a fair amount at other times. they require a great deal of exercise and don't do well left alone........they tend to be excessive barkers and can be rather destructive when lonely. .....i'm talking chewing thru drywall and eating couches type of destruction.

now kee's are not quite as high energy, however they too can be prone to separation anxiety when left alone, as well as barking. they are also heavy shedders. they, like sammies are quite the barkers!

poms can be delightful little dogs, they can be quite barky and they also are a more standoffish breed with non-family, so not the social dog that bf is looking for......again, heavy shedder. they also can be a bit more of a challenge in the housebreaking area.

i've noticed that all of your choices are of the spitz type. ......which seems to indicate your kind of going for a 'look' rather than personality. sadly the spitz types tend to be very people oriented and might not tolerate a 6-7 hour separation from family
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