Last night Leah and I perused PetFinder. This almost-5-year old is dying for a dog. We'd love one, too, but are just now getting warmed up to the responsibility owning a dog entails. We had so much fun reading the little profiles and looking at the pictures of these animals.
These are the three dogs we currently have our eyes on.
They are all poodle mixes, since the poodle part makes them hypo-allergenic.
Top is Turbo: I talked to the foster-owner of Turbo last night about how he did around small kids. She said, "Is your 2.5 year old the type that would want to be in his face all the time?" HELLO! Turbo might not be a good fit for our family.
Middle is Seabiscuit: Leah said, "Mom, he's smiling at me!" Is that not the saddest/cutest/most pathetic little mug shot you've ever seen. I wanted to drive up to Grass Valley last night to get little Seabiscuit. His time ran out on Friday, but we're hoping they let him live a little longer. At least long enough for us to go check him out.
Bottom is Noodles: This girl is a Labradoodle and she's potty trained! I love labs, but we can't have one, so I'm hoping that the labradoodle mixture will mean no shedding! Leah said she'd want to change her name, but I kind of love the labradoodle named Noodles.
Who would you adopt?
9 comments:
I think I'd definitely go with Seabiscuit.
Seabiscuit!
oh, poor seabiscuit. he looks just like my dog, dierfy, i had when i was in the 6th grade!
you are a brave soul to take on a dog--i dog sat sparky for my parents all last summer, and it made me think long and hard about ever letting one come and live with us!
Oh, they all remind me of Charlie. So cute. I think I would vote Seabiscuit, too.
i'd vote for seabiscuit too - ella wants a dog too - i'm thinking it will be more work than a baby.
I have to get on board with Seabiscuit as well.
You will love having a dog.
Bonny, you can do it, too!
it's seabiscuit for me as well. We will be forced to face this same dilemma when we move, we've already promised Rose, Good Luck!
update: seabiscuit was taken before we could get there! they said we could probably have him, but the lady i contacted was off for the day and didn't realize that he was already being adopted. sadness. i love seabiscuit. so now back to the drawing board.
Comign to this a few days late but I just felt I had to post and caution you that a dog's being part poodle in no way guarantees it will be hypoallergenic- genetics just will not work that way! If you take a poodle parent and mix it with a shedding parent you have a fifty percent chance of retaining the gene for the poodle coat (if the shedding parent had one poodle parent, and is carrying the poodle coat, you have a seventy five percent chance). If you mix a poodle cross-breed (like a labradoodle, cockapoo or any other breed of any sort, real or imagined, crossed with a poodle) with a shedding parent, you have a twenty five percent chance, and so on. I get so very, very angry at so-called breeders who will tout their poodle mixes as guaranteed hypoallergenic- it's setting people up for potential heartbreak later on when they find out that they have to give their puppy away.
Remember, too, that there's no such thing as a dog that doesn't shed at all- even humans "shed" some hair, and dogs do, too. Consider the "non shedding" breeds as dogs that shed so very little, it's as imperceptible as human "shedding" is. A person's reaction to these dogs depends on what it is they're allergic to- usually it's the dander, so a minimally-shedding dog, while not dander-free, they just have a decreased profusion of it because the dander isn't coming out with every wave of hair. Finally, it's always ideal to spend some time with the breed you're interested in before bringing home a puppy and falling in love.
My sister has very bad allergies to dogs, so I'll eagerly share our own shortlist of dogs that she is okay to live with. Some of the most touted "hypoallergenic" breeds are the Poodle (all three varieties) the Bichon Frise (small, sturdy, very frisky little breed!) and the Maltese (we have these ourselves; they are probably the most delicate of the lot, and best suited for homes with kids who won't want to roughhouse with them). You'll also hear people recommend certain wirehaired terrier breeds, like the Airedale, Kerry Blue and Soft Coated Wheaton, as well as the Irish Water Spaniel and all three varieties of Schnauzer. These coats all require a considerable degree of maintenance, but with terriers you have the option to "strip" the coat, rather than clip it- it comes downt o personal preference. If I were looking for a pet, I would prefer the softer "puppy" feel of a clipped coat rather than the coarser, less cuddly stripped coat.
Now, I cannot possibly stress enough how crucial it is to research each of these breeds individually! Some of them wouldn't be great in a home with active children due to their fragility or their nature; I was so happy to see a family considering a poodle, actually, since it seems they often get overlooked when they're actually a really great family breed. They're very smart, very active and great for a family looking for a sporty, athletic dog who has the potential to excel at obedience. Kids can be great dog trainers and it's a great bonding mechanism for the whole family. As a friend of mine put it of her poodles "they're got the pep for the playground and the manners for the park." Just be careful not to buy into the "mix-myth" - that is, that a mix of two breeds guarantees the best characteristics of both!
I wish you guys all the best in your search. Petfinder's a fantastic resource- you can also look into breed rescue in your area. They devote themselves to rehoming dogs of a specific breed and can often tell you very honestly the pros and cons of that particular breed much more frankly than a breeder- they want to make sure the dog goes to a forever home, and doesn't end up back with them!
Best of luck (my word this got very long!)
~Andrea and the pups,
Dakarai, Kaija and Molli
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