Dog's Name & Age
Dusty Paws age 1
In a Word, My Mutt Is…
Adorable. She is a Lab mix so she has that sad, hound dog face.
Best Characteristics of the Breed
Love, love, love. Healthiness. Intelligence, trainability, personality.
Most Challenging Characteristics of the Breed
You probably can't know what innate instincts are in there.
When, Where and How I Got My Mixed-Breed Dog
We saw an ad in a convenience store. We had a mixed breed shelter dog at the time that we loved to absolute distraction but she was getting on in years so we decided to get the puppy. Let me put my 2 cents in for shelter dogs. We had the most beautiful experience with our shelter dog Maggie. We got her when we were first married, then a couple years later we had our son, and she was the best dog with that baby. She never chewed up his things, was protective, practically babysat him. Of course she was my best friend, my playmate, my partner in life for the 10 years we were lucky to have her.
I'd Describe My Dog As…
We crate trained all our dogs. It really makes everything easier. Dogs like dens and the crate becomes that. Look it up. Our little Lab mix is a joy, loves to play, loves people, is healthy, is our son's best friend and sleeps at the foot of his bed each night. She's sitting here right now with her head on my lap as I type. She loves water so her only medical concern is ear infections from water getting in her big floppy ears. Cheap to treat and definitely not too serious. But you can find any breed at any shelter, I would highly recommend it. They all need and want homes and they all have so much love to give. Not to mention the different breed rescues. Every breed has a nationwide rescue associated with it, so if you're determined to get one certain breed you can still do that and rescue a deserving animal too. There is such a crisis in the US. So many beautiful animals die for want of a home. Mutts really are pretty hardy and loving too of course. Aren't we all pretty much Heinz 57 anymore? Even if we can trace back our lineage do we really want to? So go to your local shelter and take one loving animal home. Both my mutts were easy to train, smarter than anything, active, playful, good with kids, good watchdogs, no serious medical problems, all in all they were both just an absolute joy to share my home with. My Dusty that I have now even gets along with the cat. It's hysterical. The dog pokes the cat with her nose, the cat bats at the dog with her paw but w/o claws, and so they play, on the kitchen chairs, on different sides of a door, etc. I never saw that coming! My current mutt has needed some training in housebreaking; she caught on real quick about not going in the house it was going on the leash while traveling that she had a hard time with. But eventually she got the hang of it. At home she has the backyard and she caught on to that real quick. It was the traveling and the leash thing she had to have some time getting comfortable with. Which I imagine any dog would, being used to having a big backyard to go in. If you start them out walking on a leash that probably will not be an issue. Which is maybe what I should have done but if you have a backyard, it's just too easy...
Advice
- I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with my mixed breed dogs. They have both been absolutely wonderful with my son. My first one was about two when he was born, and she took to him like he was her pup. Cute. Then this one, my son is now 8, she is his best friend. She is so patient with him, even though they are roughly the same age.
- Ask yourself - do I want a pet or do I want a trophy animal? I would strongly suggest checking out your local shelter for a loving pet. Save your money. They cost enough once you adopt them!
