I need help with choosing a dog for my birthday. I am looking for a specific breed. But i cannot choose which?

Question

I am looking for a good breed. Here are my requirments

- must like to play
- must be healthy
- must be fairly small (small enough for me to carry around)
- must get along with my bro's dog (beagle)
- pretty easy to train
- Active

I have decided that it is better for me to rescue a dog then to buy one from the pet store. So i need a dog that will most likey be at a shelter. I know i am asking alot, but i know what i want and what i like.

It will also have to be able to live in a cold and warm climate. During winter i can dress it up in a sweater and stuff but it can not be prone to cold.

I also want a dog i can spoil. That i can dress up in sweaters, and cover it in bows.

Thanks yahoo answers. And all of you people that will answer. I apprecite soooo much. I am not looking for a stuffed animal either. And i can take on this responsibiltiy

Answer 1

I would use petfinder.com. Not only are they able to narrow your search to your location and surrounding area, they also have a link on their site, where you can put in what you want as far as your desires in a dog, and it will feed back to you what type of dog is best for those needs. I hope you find a puppy that you can love and spoil. I just had to put my puppy down today, so, with time, I will be going to petfinder.com again to rescue another one. Just not ready to do that quite yet.

Answer 2

Good for you for deciding to rescue a dog rather than buying one from a pet store! I know that the fact that you've saved a dog's life will bless you many times over.

That being said, several of your requirements aren't breed-specific - that they must be healthy, get along with another dog, able to spoil it - are traits of individual dogs rather than entire breeds. You can have two dogs of the exact same breed, and one will be healthy, friendly, and spoiled, and the other will be sickly, mean, and hate wearing bows. The other traits - easy to train, playful, active - are somewhat breed specific but are again more traits of a single dog rather than a whole breed.

Your best bet is going to be to begin visiting the shelter over and over. Eventually you will find a dog that speaks to your heart, and you'll know that's the one that was meant for you. It might be a purebred Yorkie, or it might be a complete mutt. Whatever it is, you'll fall in love with it and it will be your baby!

Also, as far as being easy to train - that's dependant a lot on you! Like you said, it's a big responsibility and part of that responsibility is taking on the job of trainer. Take the dog to obedience class in order to help you and him learn the basics of training to start with, then go from there.

Regarding being able to live in cold, generally, the smaller the dog and the shorter the hair the less they can stand the cold (i.e. Chihuahuas are not known as being cold weather dogs). That being said, however, almost any dog can survive - and even thrive - in any climate as long as they have the proper care and supplies (whether that's a thick sweater in winter or a nice cold bowl of water in the summer).

Answer 3

Well the best bet is to call around the animal shelters and ask if they have any small playful well rounded doggies. tell them that you want a lover and a cuddler who doesnt mind the cold. You can get such breeds as cairn terriers who usually have a bit of hair....or a doxen, yorkshire terriers, scottish terriers, .....they are both cute and love to play. It will be kind of hard to get a dog like that to your standards from a shelter but what you can do is visit the shelter and see what they have and you can meet the dogs seperately. See which one you like and if they take to you well because you obviously want a mutual attraction. Most dogs at shelters are mix breeds or mutts so you never know exactly what you are gonna get. Look up different dog breeds on the internet and research their temperments....then when you go to the shelter you will kind of have a guide to go by when you are looking. Print out pics of cute dogs that you like from websites so if you dont know the names you can show the employees at the shelters what you like. You can also leave your name and number and when a dog comes in of your request they can call you. You might be surprised by what you find. Plus with adopting animals....you dont really know much about their history wich could be filled with abuse, neglect or disease that nobody can see or knows about. really take that into consideration. Also shelter animals can really benefit from an obediance class or two to kind of freshen up any skills that they may already have or might lack thereof. Anyway good luck and happy shopping.

Answer 4

Most dogs at the shelter...unless you go to a rescue...are mutts. But honestly, mutts generally make the best pets. I've always had mutts and they have the best personalities. The problem with purebreds is they often have so many problems (and personality flaws) due to over breeding and inbreds. Take a rat terrier for example...while you may get a sweetie, they can also be unpredicatble biters....same with other breeds...mainly in purebreds. Of course you also get the timid mutts that have been abused and trained to be mean. But look for a golden retriever or lab mix with a smaller breed. Or min. poodle mixes. Mutts are usually cuter than them all and have the most loving and playful personalities.

You'll be able to tell their personality when you meet them at the shelter. Make your choice then.

Answer 5

I have a maltese and he is the best puppy ever. he is hard to potty train b/c i didn't taken the responsibility right away to do so.
Besides that though super playful, loves to give kisses, i dress mine up all the time, he gets along with other dogs when we are out,but i have a cat at home and they are best friends. very good dogs. BAD part is I doubt you would find any small breed cutey at a shelter. People don't usually just put them up for adoption.
Good Luch in the puppy search

Answer 6

I would suggest a Jack Russell terrier. I have one and its great. They are extremely energetic and love to play. They are also small dogs. Make sure the Jack Russell is the opposite sex of the beagle because Jack Russells are known for same sex aggresion. They are very active and require a lot of excercise otherwise they will turn destructive and start causing chaos if they get bored. They are a bit difficult to train though so you should take it to puppy class if you get one. These dogs are quite a handful at times but for the right owners (like me) they are a very good choice.

Answer 7

Maybe a Bichon Frise or Havanese. A Bichon will be more readily found in a shelter than a Havanese, but both can be adopted through its own breed rescue organization. There's always the Toy Poodle, too. They are pretty common in shelters, at least here in Chicago.

Good luck!

Answer 8

You dont want a dog..you want an accessory. You will have to spend day and night at the shelter to find an animal with all those attributes. You wont be able to tell if the dog will get along with the beagle unless they meet.

Answer 9

I suggest that you get a poodle. Poodle's loves people to carry them around and loves to play. It depends how you feed poodle's because they catch worms very quietly by feeding them table food. Also you can take them to the vet only even something is wrong with the dog. How do I know? Well my aunt has a poodle that's how I know

Answer 10

Check out the AKC website. You can read up on and compare all the recognized breeds and if you think you're interested, they have additional resources on the breeds (and dogs in general) and can refer you to reputable breeders in your area/state.