Just adorable!
Posted on 12/02/2014 9:27:12 AM PST by TNoldman
My wife and I have had Goldens Retreivers for the last 20 years. We are in our late 70's and recently had to euthanize our 11yo Lady Golden. We still have a 12 yo male Golden and two adopted older cats. All of our pets are rescued or adopted.
We live in Indiana and RV travel about 4 months of the year. We are looking to downsize our Pet Family in physical size not quantity. What can our FReeper Friends suggest for our next small sized Dog (10 lbs or so).
I know, they are fantastic, and very underrated, even if officially top of the charts for decades. Never get the attention they deserve. You’d think they were rare the way the media avoids ever using them.
But, these people want to RV travel. Small is better, especially when you are older and God forbid have to help the animal in an emergency situation. At 45 I know how hard it can be to help a virtually crippled large dog. How many times I thought this last year how much easier it would be if Tara was a small dog; I could just pick her up, cradle her in my arms and go. And she was a proper-sized GS, not the behemoths people brag about but are oversized.
OOoo ooo someone posted a photo! Pugs could be great, maybe?
Not a bad idea.
We have a Boston Terrier mutt we adopted. Great dog. shes not high energy which is nice since she lives with 2 old people. She is perfectly happy to take a 2 hr nap next to me.
Daughter has 2 shih tzus. They’re not bad dogs but I did notice that the first one got better after they got the 2nd one. Til then she was just a pita.
We have two Havanese. Incredible dogs!!! We have always had labs until 7 years ago. These dogs are so smart, easy to train, and they don’t bark much or shed. My male is a better swimmer then my sister’s retriever. They are very friendly with other dogs and children. Our neighborhood has fallen in love with our dogs. There are now 9 havanese in our small neighborhood (most are related in some way). Our house is in front to the school bus stop so the children would play with our pups everyday, before and after school.
We have a Boston Terrier mix and I 2nd that. We have always owned boxers but when our last one passed I too wanted something smaller. Love me some pug nosed dogs. Lol
There are genetic defects called dwarfs. It happens in German Shepherds.
Go to the shelter.
There is a dog there for you.
That is my advice.
Some of the male GSD’s are impressivley large, and the most majestic dog that I have ever seen in my life.
Truly a magnificent animal.
But I am very happy with my beloved girl dog.
She started off with me at 2 years of age and only 54 lbs, having been left to starve in someone’s backyard.
She is now up to 82lbs, and just beautiful.
I can’t even tell you how many people stop to remake on her as we walk. People will stop their cars to talk about her at times.
Even had a police officer pull over and we talked a while. Personally I think she would make an outstanding police service dog, because she is just as fast as lighting, but not yet quite as fast as the elusive yard squirrel :D
I really get the impression from all of this that the German Shepherd is still a much loved dog.
But, most importantly, she is truly a blessing from God, and it is my honor to give her as fine a life in this world as I possibly can.
Just adorable!
As much as I love my Yorkies and would not give them up for the world, if you are going to be on the road 4 months out of the year I wouldn’t get a breed with a high-maintenance coat where you would have to learn to groom and clip or find a groomer on the road. I would go with something lower maintenance such as a JRT or a rat terrier. (I can’t imagine having anything other than a terrier, I just love their spunk).
I grew up with a Dachshund and it was adorable. She put up with five children and was a total ham - showoff. She got along with everyone. She was quite spoiled. She was quite empathic. If you were sad, she was sad. The opposite was true as well. She smiled. She was smart. All the kids wanted her to sleep with them and it was as if she knew this and rotated herself each night to a different kid’s bed. She was sensitive to prayer moving to the lap of anyone praying. She traveled a lot with the family in a car, long distances. Since she chased squirrels, she had to be leashed outside the car.
We had no other animals so I don’t know if she’d get along with them or not. I think she would as long as she was not abused. She spend her wild side of life chasing squirrels she never caught. She lived to be 17. : )
I had a larger male Yorkie once. kept him short cut in puppy cut. Small dog big heart and lovable. Keep him with you, take him everywhere and introduce him to many and you wont have a yappy or diffiulct dog.
Big hearted dog in small package.
We rescued our dog from Petfinders in Utah, 7 years ago.
A very nice pet.
He is a Maltese / Shih Tzu
He looks just like this one.
http://all-puppies.com/12-shih-tzu-maltese-mix-puppies-photos.html/brown-shih-tzu-maltese-mix-puppies
We have also had a cocka-poo that was a great dog, got her from the Detroit Animal Shelter.
My Tara was probably the most gorgeous dog I have ever seen. But, she was severely defective in so many ways. But absolutely gorgeous and (before the hip dysplasia really sank in) a magnificent mover. Seeing her, I now finally know what a true, great GS trot is. I have never seen it on any other dog. Never - not any of those self-righteous “show” people on either side of the pond could match it. She moved like a Standardbred, which is what it should be.
Too bad she was such a mess in other ways!
Then there was my beloved Shana, just the best dog ever. Virtually flawless in all things.
I love girls, BTW. Boys tend to be very sloppy and careless, and seem to always smell.
I'm going to add another vote for the Austrlian Terrier we have 3 of them and they are a trip. Love my Aussies.
There is something amazing about the way GSD walks.
My girl kind of lopes like a wolf might. I don’t know it’s hard to describe.
But what really blows my mind is how she stalks squirrels like a cat would.
Her body becomes as straight as an arrow as low to the ground as she can possibly get while still standing.
Her head shoulder and hips are a perfect horizontal line, and she just walks in super slow motion toawrds the target without ever breaking that perfect line or changing her heigth as she moves.
I have never seen a dog stalk like this in my life.
I am so thankful for the time in my life that Ihave been able to spend with Shepherds. It’s about about 17 total years now between Isis, who is my current, and Grainger, whom I had for 14 years before he passed away. I still miss him terribly, and I wish the two of them could have met.
We rescued a Chihuahua puppy off the street about 6 years ago and I can tell you they are just great little dogs. Loyal, smart, loving, great big personalities and great watch dogs. Ours is 10lbs of cute.
GS are amazingly like cats. I like cats, BTW.
My Shana was very “handy”. Used her paws all the time like hands, as cats do. Never mind some of her other traits. They have all at times tucked under the front paws like cats. Even the big boys. I call this the “egg” position in cats. :-D
I am not as big a fan of cats, though I always have one. I mean I love them and all, but I’m just not crazy about them like I am GSD’s.
But I always want to have a cat for the dog, partners in crime I call them. I love to see a cat and dog get along...at least most of the time.
Speaking of dogs and paw hands, my girl dog herds the cat all day long. She does this by many, many false charges. They usually end in a sliding stop into the cat.
But every now and then, when she is really feeling her oats, she will charge the cat, let out a furious growl/ bark, then upon arrival she takes her front paw and just basically steps on the cats head, pushing it into the ground, but not so much as to hurt her.
Usually at this point, the cat has had enough of the friggin’ dog and her charges, so she then chases the dog all around the house until the dog can regain the upper paw.
These two are endless comic relief entertainment. They both bring a lot of laughter and joy into the house (and hair).
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