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Old 08-13-2005, 06:22 AM   #27
Sanveann
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Default Re: Pets, Kids and Families

A dog from the pound can absolutely be a great family pet! One thing I recommend is looking at www.petfinder.com and finding foster-based rescues in your area, where the dogs live with families in their homes. The foster homes usually know more than a shelter or pound volunteer will about the dog's personality and how it reacts in certain situations. Many foster families even have kids of their own, so they can tell you how the dog is with them.

What you will find at the pound varies by region, but in my area, you will find a lot of shepherd, lab, pit bull and beagle mixes. I personally think any of the above can be wonderful.

Shepherd mixes are obviously going to be the biggest and hairiest! Some can be VERY large and very high energy. We fostered one BEAUTIFUL one who was about 100 pounds, and we just couldn't walk the poor guy enough to work off all his energy!

Lab mixes will be on the larger side usually, as well, and they can be pretty energetic as well. I find that big dogs are usually very good with small children, but the downside is that they can accidentally knock them over, especially if they tend to jump!

Of course, many people have vastly differing opinions on pit bulls. My personal opinion after working with a large number in rescue for the past eight or nine years is that they are a very loyal, loving breed that has the misfortune to appeal to some very evil people in our society. They are usually extremely tolerant with children. (Check out these adorable photos! http://pitbulls.iwarp.com/photo.html ) BUT they can tend to be dominant, particularly the males, and they can be aggressive toward other dogs. For those reasons, I would recommend them only for experienced dog owners and/or people with dominant personalities.

As for beagle mixes, IMHO, they are usually very good family dogs -- a nice size, good with children and very friendly. The downsides is that they MUST have a fenced yard, or they will wander after every interesting scent, and they can tend to howl and dig. We fostered a sweet little beagle mix named Betsy a few years ago ... she tore our back yard up trying to find this mole (who had already torn our back yard up!) She eventually cornered it, but DH didn't have the heart to kill it ... which I thought was sweet

I don't know HOW big a dog you are looking for, but if you don't mind a very large one, what about a Great Dane? My friend does Dane rescue, and I find that they are VERY friendly, tolerant dogs who aren't particularly active. Plus, they are extremely gentle but definitely have a deep, intimidating bark -- no one is ever going to break into their house, for sure! The downside is that the biggest one, Blanco, can walk right up to the stove and -- without standing up at all -- steal a chicken right off the stove (we saw him do it!)
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