What kind of dog should I get?

[Joe]

My girlfriend and I are both 20, and we live together. We want to get a dog very bad. Both of us like to go for runs outside, so we would like an active dog. I also want a medium- large sized breed that's very friendly. My girlfriend has always wanted a Rottweiler, and I was thinking a Doberman or lab. We always have people over too, so we want a breed that's generally pretty calm and friendly. I know every dog will be different, but I know some breeds are friendlier than others by nature. Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks

[Live with Love]

golden retriever!

[Lilly]

In general larger dogs have more hip and joint problems as they age, and so may not be the best running companions. Rottweilers are really just too heavy to be good at running for long amounts of time. I suggest that you look up the health of each breed you consider before getting one. If you decide to buy from a breeder make sure you find out what health tests should be done for that breed, and if the breeder hasn't done them, do not but one of his/her puppies. They may be perfect in every other way, but you will be setting yourself up for expensive vet bills. l love Dobermans, but the prevalence of Von Willebrand's disease is really alarming. It sounds like what you need is a nice lab mix from the shelter. You might check out border collies, heelers, springer spaniels and brittany spaniels, too. If this is your first dog, I'd definitely suggest you go with a spaniel.

This is a good site to check for joint health, but some breeds do have low sample sizes: http://www.offa.org/stats.html#breed
I think this site does a fairly good job of laying out the pros and cons of each breed: http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/dogbreeds/

[Paige]

usually rottweilers , dobermans and labs are very social and good in an active household. you can take a quiz in the link to see what breed is good for you!

http://dogbreedinfo.com/search.htm

[BelovedBig423]

Good that you have not jumped right in and purchased, and are taking the time to pause and thoroughly research before committing to owning a particular breed.

By nature the Doberman is a standoffish breed that will calmly take note of the presence of strangers its leader/owner allows into the home, but not react with excitement or much interest. Some dogs will warm up to guests, while others will remain reserved and act as if they are not there, going about its business.

It is not the healthiest of breeds, which is why purchasing from one of the top kennels that health tests and proves breed worthiness by titling their stock is important. From eighteen months a healthy Doberman can be taken out jogging, with its stamina increased gradually over time. My dog is up on his toes eager to be outside burning off surplus energy and loves jogging, with down time to track and play after we are done and in peak physical condition.

As important as regular hard exercise is mental stimulation and it is a breed that loves to learn and wants to be doing something to challenge its mind, with training ongoing throughout its life.

Perhaps from the breeds listed the Labrador may be better suited to what you want in a dog, as by nature a sound tempered dog is social with dogs and people, and when it is physically mature could be taken out jogging.

If you are both working you may want to consider an adult rescue dog from a breed or general rescue or an older dog run on the a working gun dog/show breeder, as its temperament and abilities would be fully developed, and the traits you require could be matched to against the needs of the dogs to find a suitable dog.

I suggest you begin by contacting the breed clubs as they are a font of useful information about the breeds and discuss what you want in a dog and plan to do with it and they will give honest advice on suitability, including the positive and negative aspects of owning it.

[Annoyingsummer866]

Doberman
Poodle
Border collie
Vizsla
Rhodesian ridge back

They are just some great breeds
I would recomend Agility classes also they are GREAT!

[Pao]

Congrats on your decision to purchase a dog!! I highly recommend for you and your girlfriend to get perhaps a Lab. They are VERY easy to train. If you are a first time dog owner, would like a puppy and are generally very active I would recommend, like I said, a Lab.

However, if you are a first time dog owner and don't know much of training and are a little uneasy of it, I would recommend even adopting an older dog, by older I mean (8 months-2 years) from a rescue/shelter/etc. Those dogs are usually already trained the basics and their personalities are much easier to read than puppies.

Good Luck!

[I Like Stories]

My 2 cents, from my experience. Undoubtedly people will disagree.

If you are both away from the home a lot, a larger breed is a good choice. Again, my experience the smaller dogs have a harder time holding it for 10 hours at home alone. Think about it, you work 8-9 hours a day and you have a commute on either end. Works out to be 10 hours that the dog is inside alone. My golden retriever never (knock on wooden head) has accidents. Daughters Yorkie, not so good.

I'm no longer a fan of the pure breed rescue dogs. Odds are pretty good if you go to a shelter (or rescue league) and see a beautiful pure bred dog, the dog has some serious behavior problems. The previous owner gave up - which is why it's in the shelter.

Puppy's in a pet store probably came from a puppy mill. Do your own research on puppy mills. Puppy mill dogs look beautiful, behave appropriate as a pup - but can turn into a psycho in a year. Odds are that beautiful adult pure breed in the shelter came from a puppy mill. Takes a lot of time and patience to work through their issues.

I can't recommend highly enough that you spend the time to research breeders in your area (by area I'm talking within about a 200+ mile radius) for the breed you think you want. You want to visit the breeder and see at least the "mother" (since Y/A won't let me use the proper name) prior to making any commitment to purchase. For breeds that are susceptible to hip dysplasia you want to have veterinarian reports on both parents. You won't be running with a dog that has hip dysplasia. Your breeder would ideally have their breeding stock in a highly social environment (i.e. in a family home) and the puppies are part of that environment. I visited at least 5 different breeders before landing on the one we purchased our dog from.

For larger breeds, the females will be smaller. A male golden retriever can tip the scales at a 100 lb (two of those in my neighborhood), female will run about 65# (my dog). Bigger the dog, the more food it eats, the larger it's deposits 10 minutes later.

Golden retrievers are extremely friendly. Watch the movie "up". the dog called dug would pretty much describe my dog to a T. My dog loves to run, but doesn't do well going for a "jog". She needs to smell every light pole and greet every oncoming person/dog. Every dog will have the same need to smell it's world. So, don't be disappointed if running with fido doesn't work out. My neighbor and his wife run marathons, they have a lab (2 actually). Lab never goes on runs with them.

Doberman story to leave you with. When I was in college I had some friends who had this super scary looking doberman. The kind with the ears cropped to stick straight up, the collar with the spikes, dog was beautiful. I'd go to visit, the doberman would come over and pick up my hand in his mouth and just sit there staring at me with my hand between his teeth. Freaking terrified me.

My golden, you come to my house she will run to greet you, soon as you pet her - she's good. You sit down she will come over and nudge your arm/hand with her nose to pet her. She now owns you until you leave.

[Alicia]

I own an Australian shepherd! Love going on runs! Very friendly! They are a medium sized dog and come in a lot of great colors! Black tri, blue Merle, red Merle! Very smart! Learn very fast! Easy to train