Hi all,
My wife and I are interested in getting a dog. We're still looking into the idea, and I hoped to get some feedback from the forum members. We both love the idea of having a dog in our home, but had not planned to get a dog for some years. However, my wife feels less than 100% safe in our house at the moment. We're not in a bad area, but we recently moved to a new area of the country, and we had a somewhat traumatic "welcome" to our new neighborhood. So, we've started considering getting a dog sooner rather than later to help my wife feel a little more secure. I should emphasize that what we think we want is a good, loving family companion; not a true guard dog, per se, but one which would offer a warning bark and hopefully serve as a deterrent. Our initial research has generated a strong interest in the boxer breed.
Now for the tricky part. We're not exactly ideal dog owners, as I'll try to outline here concisely:
Neither of us has dog ownership experience
The house is empty 9.5 hours/day, 5 days/week
We have an 19 month old son
We'll have a second child in mid May
We have a 9 year old cat
Our yard is on the small size
Our thoughts are to get a full grown dog (2 years or older). We don't have the time or experience to deal with a puppy at the moment. Also, a rambunctious puppy is probably not a great mix with a toddler. Moreover, we're thinking that getting a grown dog from a reputable breedr might be the best way to go for us. Obviously, we're concerned about the dog's temperment and tolerance of children. It seems to us that getting an adult dog from a breeder means that both the dog's lineage and its individual history are very well known, and that this would be a big step towards ensuring sound temperment.
So we're hoping to get advice on many fronts:
Is our current situation compatable with a boxer?
Is the idea of an adult dog from a breeder a reasonable/realistic one?
Does anyone have any suggestions for other breeds or sources of dogs we should consider?
I appreciate any input you're able to offer. Sorry for the long, somewhat disorganized post.
-Adrian
My wife and I are interested in getting a dog. We're still looking into the idea, and I hoped to get some feedback from the forum members. We both love the idea of having a dog in our home, but had not planned to get a dog for some years. However, my wife feels less than 100% safe in our house at the moment. We're not in a bad area, but we recently moved to a new area of the country, and we had a somewhat traumatic "welcome" to our new neighborhood. So, we've started considering getting a dog sooner rather than later to help my wife feel a little more secure. I should emphasize that what we think we want is a good, loving family companion; not a true guard dog, per se, but one which would offer a warning bark and hopefully serve as a deterrent. Our initial research has generated a strong interest in the boxer breed.
Now for the tricky part. We're not exactly ideal dog owners, as I'll try to outline here concisely:
Neither of us has dog ownership experience
The house is empty 9.5 hours/day, 5 days/week
We have an 19 month old son
We'll have a second child in mid May
We have a 9 year old cat
Our yard is on the small size
Our thoughts are to get a full grown dog (2 years or older). We don't have the time or experience to deal with a puppy at the moment. Also, a rambunctious puppy is probably not a great mix with a toddler. Moreover, we're thinking that getting a grown dog from a reputable breedr might be the best way to go for us. Obviously, we're concerned about the dog's temperment and tolerance of children. It seems to us that getting an adult dog from a breeder means that both the dog's lineage and its individual history are very well known, and that this would be a big step towards ensuring sound temperment.
So we're hoping to get advice on many fronts:
Is our current situation compatable with a boxer?
Is the idea of an adult dog from a breeder a reasonable/realistic one?
Does anyone have any suggestions for other breeds or sources of dogs we should consider?
I appreciate any input you're able to offer. Sorry for the long, somewhat disorganized post.
-Adrian