Quote:
Originally Posted by Otter
A well trained one.
Of a breed you find physically attractive and compatible with your personality.
This will vary HUGELY from person to person. Some people like Labs. Some people think they are blockheaded fools
Some people like GSDs. Some people think they are whiny, needy and way too intense.
Some folks like Border Collies. Most folks compare them to OCD toddlers on speed.
And on, and on.
Every time one of these threads comes up, everyone jumps in with the breed or mix of their favorite dog ever. Think of YOUR favorite dog ever, the one you found the most trainable and easy to live with - and then look for another dog like that.
|
Amen.
Most important consideration in getting a dog is: What do you want in a dog?
Every individual dog has his own personality. With pure breds, you get somewhat more predictable behavior, but even within the same breed their personalities vary from dog to dog.
The most importan factor in how happy you are with the dog you get is: How well the dog is trained.
If you have low expectations for the dogs behavior, minimal obedience training is all that is required. If you expect the dog to work for a living, behave a certain way in certain situations, then the dogs breed and training become much more important.
In other words breed is important, because it estabishes the baseline traits you have to work with. I wouldn't get a bird dog breed (bred to hunt birds) to watch over my chickens.
Training is also important, because even a dog of appropriate breeding will not perform well if not trained to your expectations.
But the ultimate factor is: What do you want? Do you want a dog that will stay with you, or be more independant? Do you want a dog that will live inside, or outside? Do you want a dog that will be active, or mellow? What jobs do you want him to do, if any? Do you want a large dog, or a small one?
Answer these questions, and you can probably get a better idea of what type of breed you should look into.
163Likes
.
