Readers Respond: How Did You Find the Right Dog for You?

Responses: 207

By Jenna Stregowski, RVT, About.com Guide

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Tell Us How

From the article: Getting a New Dog

Anyone who has had one will tell you that getting a dog is a major step that will truly change your life. Choosing the right dog can be such a difficult decision to make. There are many factors to consider, including breed, age, size, activity level, personality and your own lifestyle. Share your thoughts and help others decide. What factors contributed to your decision most? How did you end up choosing the right dog for you? Tell Us How

How I found my dog

My dog is named Booger(My Grandson named him). I work in the city and live in the country. One day while at work I saw this white puppy looking for food.He was actually so hungry he was eating food wrappers. I had seen his mother and his father at a abandoned house across the street from my job and he was one of two pups. His mother was colored like a grey wolf and as big. He looked more like a white German Sheppard. I started to feed him and got his trust finally one day I just decided to take him home. I figured if I was the only one feeding him he would be better off with me in a fenced in five acre lot with his own house and people that would take care of him. Anyway we have grew as friends since then. I think he knows why he is here and he seems to know he is loved and is happy. He now eats a variety of dog food, he also is treated to hamhocks at times and sometimes eggs, and during hunting season he gets his fair share of the harvest. He is very fit and very strong. He's loved.
—Guest David Bean

No such thing as a problem dog..

Ours is a 4 year-old chihuahua with a bad leg and a mild seizure disorder. When we went to the shelter to look at "manly" dogs (for my husband) we came across Dexter and were struck by the fact that nobody had adopted this adorable little dog in over four months. The staff quickly explained his medical condition and the fact that he was a "problem dog" - snapping and biting at unfamiliar people and being yappy. They all but told us not to adopt him! Luckily as a former dog groomer I would have none of that, and the adoption went through later that week. After a crash course of kennel training, obedience, and a strict "no people food" diet Dexter the Problem Dog quickly became healthy, happy, and almost completely seizure-free thanks to his new low-stress environment. All in less than a year! Just remember there is NO SUCH THING as a "lost cause" when it comes to dogs! Maybe you yourself don't know how to help, but someone out there does!
—Guest lisa

(Not) Fighting Like Cat and Dog

It was over a decade ago when I was about to celebrate my 17th birthday and completely in love with the northern breeds. Problem was, I also loved cats and just a few months earlier found a kitten. I shelved my dog dreams then, figuring one of those wolf-like beauties probably wouldn't mix well with a cat. Unbeknownst to me, my father did some research and a couple of days before my birthday took me to visit a breeder who, to my amazement, bred both Siamese cats and Alaskan Malamutes. It was a dream come true - I got to choose a Mal who grew up with cats as "pack members". Of course it was probably the other way round and she chose me - one look of those eyes was enough. What's more, my cat and dog hit it off right away and grew to act more like siblings than I ever thought possible. Right now my Snowflake may not be as young as she used to be and we had to give up skatejoring we both loved in favour of walks with occasional short jog but that does not seem to dampen her spirit at all
—Guest M.L.

Paddy

2 years after losing our last dog Heidi, and Dad was spending a lot of time away on business, Mum was getting lonely. As an avid dog lover, I'd spent much time already looking up rescue sites, so had a good choice ready for the right time. We started looking for an older dog - we didn't want anything too frisky - til Mum spotted a litter of collie cross puppies that reminded her of her first dog Tramp. They say you can't fall in love over the internet, but when we read about then named "Clarence", an apparently hyper pup who had broken his own leg by falling off a washing machine he'd tried to jump on, we knew we had to check him out. He was also the only dog on the site within 50 miles of us - just in the next town - it was fate. He was brought round for his home check the next day, and never left. I began his training, and now a star agility lad, he has lost none of his hype. I'm at Uni now, but training continues with my sister-until I find somewhere I can properly look after him..
—Guest Wizzy

Podengo Portugues

My brother gave me one of his two Podengos that I had nursed back to health. Pauley is a medium sized quiet calm dog but as they use sight sound and smell he is extremely intelligent and gives suspicious people his "cop's stare" and barks if they come within 5 feet.
—Guest Catherine Morse

Rescue/Shelter Dogs

My vet gave me my current dog after he rescued the pregnant mom from a parking lot. He has been a great dog, and I would not hesitate to adopt another "pound puppy." I also work for a mastiff rescue and "pure breed" rescue does a great job of evaluating and placing dogs. It is a bit more expensive than the shelter, but you are getting the particular breed you want and helping a worthwhile group. You may have to wait a bit to get a dog, but the wait is worth it! One other thing you can consider in lieu of adoption: fostering. We are always looking for good families to foster. If you would like to see if a greyhound or a Great Dane fits your household, this is one way to provide a home for one a "lifetime" commitment, and you can always adopt if the dog works in your situation (many fosters do!) :)
—Guest Rebecca Imre

My Bear

Border Collie Harmony was pregnant in the back of a shelter and considered unadoptable. Thankfully, a no - kill shelter pulled her and took her to safety where she safely had 7 Border Collie puppies. But they desperately needed a foster home, so me, looking for a dog, agreed. Immediately, meeting the litter, I was stuck. A small chocolate and white border collie puppy struck me by her liquid honey eyes - that intense Border Collie stare! Well she took my heart and never let go. After seeing that her mom and littermates found good homes, Holly and I began our journey. Today, she is five years old and we are doing awesome together in agility and obedience!
—Guest Claire

My Angel Forever

I was two years old and I always nagged my family for a puppy. Then when it was my third birthday, my grandma went to the airport and came back a few hours later. When she came back, she was holding a pet carrier. She opened it and showed me a little puff ball. I screamed and THANKS MAMAW! Well, you know how sometimes when look at someone or something it's just love at first sight? Well that's what happened to me....I knew her name from the start, Holly. I named her that because my grandma told me she came from Hollywood. But that was about 6 or 7 years ago and I'm nine. Holly is turning seven years old on Feburaury 12th 2010.
—Guest McKinley

The Right Dog

To honor her Bear, Mommy found me at the Humane Society, too. I spotted her first. Mommy says we saved each other /\/\
—Guest prince-gray

Milo and Lola's Mom

I choose two Japanese Chin's seven years ago and haven't regretted it. They are delightful. They are so quiet! and sweet and clean. I am 54 and have had dogs since Iwas 4 years old and these are the best. If they have one flaw, it is that they shed. Anyone wanting a smart, compassionate, quiet dog that seldom barks...this is the ideal dog.
—Guest Kathy Acton

mr

Mike -(of mikes crystals) rescued "Cookie" from a trip to the wash with a ball peen hammer from a hot dog vendor. Cookie is a small boxer pit cross -which when deposited on my front steps was about the nastiest snarling puppy you could imagine. My first comment was "Mikey, this dog hates me!" - "Not to worry- she hates every body." Our first expedition was into the desert where cookie was turned loose, and I followed on a bike. As it was summer (120 degrees here) She was soon back for water and to have spikes pulled from her feet. That as they say was the beginning of a beautiful friend ship. After several years and the application of some of Ceasar Milan's training techniques- We have a dog that is now refered to as the "Wal-Mart greeter".
—Guest bill moore

Finding a dog that needs a home

We had been married for seven years and didn't have any children, so for Christmas, my husband told me to pick out a dog for my gift. I went to the humane society center to look for a 'lap' dog. I came home with a German shepard/Husky mix we named Lucy. She was a very important part of our lives, and we took her everywhere that we went. She was our first daughter. When we finally had children, we were apprehensive as to how she would react to them. She protected them like they were her own! We enjoyed her companionship for 13 years. When she passed on, we buried her in our back yard in her favorite blanket soaked in our tears. We planted an oak tree at her grave and 12 years later everytime we look out the window we think of her.
—Guest mammahop

My little Angel

Some people I know their Golden Lab had just given birth to 8 Lab puppies. After 4 weeks they called me and asked if I wanted a puppy. I said isnt 4 weeks kind of early and they said hey they just evicted and had to either give the pups away or take them to the pound. I picked out the runt of the litter and could hold her in one hand. I took her to my vet and he said it was really to soon so I got the babby bottles, puppy milk, puppy food and her own cage to sleep in. What a waste of money for the cage. She will only sleep with me. I put in a puppy door on the back door to the back yard so she could go in or out when she wanted after she got bigger. Every 6 hours she was fed with the babby bottle. A week latter she was eating solid food and drinking her own milk. With in a week Angel was potty trained. When I got her she was so dam small but now 7 months latter when she runs to jump on the bed she looks like a loaded freight train all 80 pounds of her. She will always be my little girl
—Guest bubbabear200

Sheltie Rescue

I got a phone call from a friend who said "I have your dog. When can you pick him up?" Since she knows me very well, I didn't worry about her judgement, just went and got my dog, a 5 year old former puppy-mill papa, bi-black Sheltie, named Tony because he was Bony! He was, and still is, very cautious and shy, but soon learned how to eat and drink from a dish, come when called and to enjoy being petted. Then I met an elderly rescued Sheltie who was so obese and tiny, she resembled a footstool and was appropriately named Tidbit! She helped Tony become more outgoing! Due to the extreme strain years of obesity had placed on her bones and organs, she was with us ony 3 years before her deteriorating health made euthanasia the kindest outcome. I then fell in love with the photo and description on petfinders.com of a young tiny male Sheltie in Kansas. We, Tony and I, drove there (500 miles one way) to meet him and subsequently bring Scottie home. Delightful little dogs!
—rquacke

jel

I had just put my Awsome Blossom down due to kidney failure..was at a retreat in Apple Valley sitting around after dinner when a pup got loose from a lady who lived behind..I caught him and asked if he had a sister..the lady said.."Just so happens there is ONE left in the litter.." I stayed an extra day to get this lil black bundle..her name is ABBEY for "AB" She is more hyper..more everything, but she sure filled that void.! My Mom passed away and before she did we moved in to her condo..she brought her joy when I had to go to work every day..she has been the perfect little girl in my life.
—Guest JELLI