xpost- any breed suggestions on child friendly dogs?
Just wondering if there are any dog informed mamas out there who can give me some suggestions on what types of dogs are best suited for a home with 3 boys under 7. Sadly, we recently had to put down our almost 11 year old family basset hound due to an abdominal tumor and we are just reeling around here. I'm not sure about another big dog, and I'm not sure I want to run right out and get another dog, but we will probably get another one down the road a few months. I'm thinking either a poodle mix or something similar. Any suggestions, info, experiences, etc? I'm not having a whole lot of luck on my web searches. Thanks in advance!
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Proud SAHM to Tyler 7, Sam 4 and Mark 2!
Just playing in the leaves!
Retrievers! Labs, goldens, mixes. Cattledogs are not bad but more likely to have dog aggresion issues, but if you adopted one from a rescue, they would be able to tell you that ot not. Beagles, although if pure, they are harder to train but fabulous when trained. If you really want a great dog that is easy to train and extremely loving, Portuguese Water Dogs (I think the P stands for Portuguese, lol; even though I am not 100% sure tonight on the P, I have read a lot about them and they are amazing.)
Course I own mutts and always encourage rescuing. Go to www.petfinder.com to find any breed you want.
We have a Great Pyrenees. One of the main reasons we chose that breed is because they have a reputation for being good with children, and she has more than lived up to it! Before we had Louisa, she was always thrilled when she had the opportunity to interact with kids, even if it was toddlers trying to pet her and ending up hitting her on the nose. She was in the bedroom with us when Louisa was born-she refused to go downstairs once I started pushing- and has loved her ever since. Of course, if you don't want a big dog, you don't want a pyr. Ours weighed 101 pounds at her last checkup. I'm more comfortable with big dogs around little kids, because they can just get up and leave if they are annoyed, so they don't need to bite. I have been afraid of dogs most of my life. It's not nearly as bad as when I was a kid, but I'm much more comfotable with my big teddy bear doggie than most other breeds. If we were going to get any other breed, it would be a Newfoundland. They're similar to Pyrs in size and temperment.
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Thea
wife to Chris since 8-7-99
mom to Louisa May 9-30-2002
and Morganna Rose 6-17-06
I second the Lab suggestion! There an excellant family dog! My mom had one for 11years and he was wonderful with my children! If we were to get a dog a lab would be our first choice! The only down side to a Lab is there very hyper as puppies to about 2yrs. Once you get through that you'll have a wonderful dog! I guess thats were early training comes in ? HTH,Sharon
__________________ Sharon ~ Mama to Griffin(10) Rosie(8.5) and Adrien (3)~
The only down side to a Lab is there very hyper as puppies to about 2yrs.
LOL! That is so true. The personality of a lab that adds to them being good playmates for kids is that they are always saying "Where's the ball, throw the ball, throw the stick, play with me, play with me." Check out petfinder and start e-mailing those with labs and lab mixes in your area and ask them how hyper they are. A hyper, hyper dog will have the hunting line and the calmer ones (still hyper as puppies) will have the show line. Rescues are very knowledgable about the dogs they have in their care and want to make sure the match is perfect and will even take a dog back if the match isn't right because they want what is best for the dog (example: if the foster parent didn't have kitties and you do, you would be given the dog after clearing through the adoption forms on a trial basis to see how it behaves around kitties).
thanks mamas for all of your input. we opted to adopt a feist/beagle mix from our local humane society. we are very pleased as she is already mostly house broken and she is not only playful with the boys, but is a lovable lap dog for myself! i'm not always happy with how our local humane society is run, as we are in a small rural town and they don't have enough funds to keep the dogs very healty, but we do have an awesome local vet and they have assured us that our new "Baby" (which is what we've named her) is healthy and will spay her for us after we get her vaccinated. again... i'm extremely appreciative of all of your responses and took all of the info into consideration!! thanks again!
xpost- any breed suggestions on child friendly dogs?
check your local humane society out!!~ 
Sharon ~ Mama to Griffin(10) Rosie(8.5) and Adrien (3)~
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