looking for a good dog?

Question

i am looking for a dog we are thing about a german shepherd my boyfriend is disabled and we have small children, we need a dog that is well behaved but one that will give and recieve lots of love and attention, it also has to be well behaved anyone know a good breed for our family, oh yeah and it has to be smart (we already have one that is not so smart lol)

Answer 1

Well, I wouldn't recommend a German Shepard around small children, even for a puppy. They're better with the 10+group

Labs are good, especially if you start them from puppies. The best dog we ever had growing up was an Australian Shepard/Lab mix.

He was very protective of my little sister and myself, and very smart. He lived to be 10years old before we had to put him down, he had so many hip problems in the end that we had to carry him everywhere. Not easy with a 150lb dog. That will probably be another issue you'll want to consider. The life expectancy. The kids will learn about life and death sometime, if they haven't already, and a dog is a much harder loss than a hamster or a goldfish.

Your best bet is to go to the shelter with your whole family and have them interact with the animals.

Don't go with the idea that you have to get a dog that day, just go to look. make a few trips if needed. See how they react. You can usually tell how hyper a dog is by how they act when they are in the play area. If they completely ignore you or anyone else in the family. That's not the dog for you.

You know what you're looking for, you need one that can interact with everyone in your family, including the less intelligent dog..

Just make sure you make an informed decision, and get to actually interact with the dog before hand. Just because it's purebred doesn't mean it's going to act like one.

P.S.
Stay away from poodles there is no help for them. It takes a very special person to love a poodle.

EDIT: I never said poodles were worthless! That word is nowhere in my answer. I'm just saying that they are a special type of dog that needs a special type of person.

Maybe it's just me. I've gotten along with every dog I com in contact with except Poodles. My grandmother had one, and she couldn't train or control it. I was just pointing out that they take a lot of work.

Answer 2

I disagree with the person who said poodles are worthless. Depending on your needs whether you want a companion or a guard dog poodles are adaptive to any situation. I do agree that the pound is the best option and the least expensive. Do a little research though, remember you might be stuck with someones castoff & there might be a hidden reason why they are in the pound in the first place. Bad behaviour is hard to cure if you are in-experienced. The old adage "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is true in a lot of cases. Try the shelter but try & get a brief history on the dog to find out why it is in the shelter in the first place. Wish you luck......

Answer 3

I `ve found that the larger breed dogs ( this does not apply to dobermans, nor rottweilers). play well with small children, the smaller dogs seem to be annoyed by small children, the golden retrievers are at the top of my list for being kid friendly. and the Jack Russel is really smart, but not sure of how kid friendly they will be. "Please" think more than twice before getting a pit bull! also I find that the mixed breeds are more playful with the entire family. lol. they can be so funny.

Answer 4

Try the animal shelter.
This is where I got my Roxy: http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=6662477

Any dog can be a good breed. Why not spend some time at the shelter and really pick one with personality? I have gotten the best dogs from there.. I only paid $30 for her. She was already fixed, and had all of her shots, plus the shelter gave me a voucher to get her a free examination. You can't beat that!

Answer 5

I have an English Bulldog. I know... I know... they don't seem like the nicest dogs, but my guy is the biggest love bug. My little niece came out to visit him and he played with her very well. Now his fat short legs can only take him around the block when it comes to activity, but he'll happily snore on the living room floor for hours. He is smart as a whip, but can be stubborn. He also has selective hearing, but I think it's because he's a boy though.

Answer 6

A german shepered is good make sure they are trained a bordie collie as well but one that is not a puppy they are smart loving excellent breed for family. Did i mention most intelligent dog and loving. Easy to train by the way but make sure when you look for a dog find the backround and that is suitable for your lifestyle.

Answer 7

I would suggest a lab, collie, or german shepard. You might try a greyhound. There are plenty of these dogs for free.

Do not get a pitt bull, chow, or sharpei.

Do not get a dog in the sporting group unless you have lots of land and free time to run the dog.

Answer 8

Blue Heeler. They are great dogs and very smart. They can also be trained to help the disabled and are very, very protective. I also have two small children (3yrs and 17 mths.). They are really great with my kids, they let my little girl crawl all over them and do whatever she wants to them and they just sit there. Good Luck!

Answer 9

I agree with Barbara. My family has a boxer-labrador mix (we think) from a shelter. He was a stray for a while, so training him took patience, but now he's a great dog -- sweet-natured, good with kids, yet barks at strangers that come near the house. Couldn't have wished for a better dog.

Answer 10

The animal shelter is a good start. Just test out the dogs there. Going with any particular breed doesn't guarantee anything... Just like people, all dogs are different....