help me pick a breed

Well honestly I dont think a Beagle or a Cocker Spaniel or a Chi would do it for ya!! LOL

But here is some good breed suggestions:

Any kind of a pointer breed, canaan dog, gordon setter, chesepeake bay retriever, curly coated retriever, english setter. All of those dogs would be great and they fit your description. I hope I helped!!!

 I think Ron has a point.  The English style Labs are very trainable, and generally like other dogs, people, kids.  If you get a pup, your older dogs will probably not mind it, so long as it's respectful - easy enough to take a pup to play groups with others its own age to take some of that playful edge off.

Or, you may want to wait for a Lab mix or a herding mix from the shelter.  Herding mixes can have less "sharpness" than their purebred cousins, but still enough of an alert bark to scare someone who has ill intentions toward you.  Find a shelter that has a good professional behavior assessment program and they will help with the intro's to your older dogs.

My last class is tomorrow night to be able to start volunteering at the shelter. I would love to be able to find a dog there one day or even another shelter, or rescue. The whole hang-up with that is I would want an adult, and there are my dogs at home to consider. I can and will d o puppyhood if I have to, I surely have the time right now, and alot of times I think I would just like to start from scratch with a puppy and rasie it the way I want it to be. But with a few million dogs out ther that need homes I would really really like to give one a home. Plus a little bit of a mix in there may help with some of the health problems that some purebreds seem to have. The problem with puppies at the shelter is most of the time it is a crap shoot as to what they actually are, or how big they will get. I asked in the shelter class how they decide what they are, and she said they guess, and usually say mix because they can't be sure of what it is.

I guess my experiences so far have made me a little bit more leery than I need to be. The rescue dog we have is a little bit strange, ok a lot. She had no socialization or probably even some abuse as a young puppy and has never gotten over it. The puppes at the shelter can only be gotten out one at a time to prevent the spread of disease until they are 6 months old. SO up to then they have no socialization except in the puppy room, out back to potty and whoever is handling them. SO  I see a puppy in the shelter about 6 months old and I wonder if I'm going to take home another Bear. He has had very little socialization and an unknown past before he came there.

Kota seemed like a perfectly healthy puppy, then her health problems began to surface and she cost me a small fortune over the next 10 years. My main concern is those two things when it comes to any rescue or shelter dog. Health and prior socialization. I have looked through dog breeds, reading about them online, just to kind of get familiar with some of the charactieristics of the ones I'm fond of so I know if one falls into my lap, I know if I should be interested or not.

I am just all over the place right now in deciding what I would like to have, that is why I'm not out actively looking for a dog. If I didn't like big dogs it would be easier. I know a lot of big dogs develop joint problems later in life. What I don't want is one who develops them at 3 like Kota did. By the time she was 5 her activities were already limited, and I had to leave her at home a lot of the time.

I really appreciate all the replies. It really does help. Julie

Brookcove, very interesting about mixing the two instincts. Hmm.. There is or was if he didn't get adopted a pyrenees mix at the shelter.

I jumped ahead to the second page and missed the couple posts here so when I posted above I hadn't read them yet.

Ron, my husband would love to have a lab. He would also love to have a st bernard. I guess that would mean one dog, or two dogs smashed into one dogs coat with some drool added. there are a lot of labs in our neighborhood. I think I am a little confused as to the different lines of labs. I have never been around a st bernard. My husband has had 3 and loves them.

Everyone I talk to has something different to say when it comes to breeds. It is taking a shift in thinking to think that anything smaller than a 100 pounds is big. I have been trying to consider more in the lines of 70 pounds or so as big enough. Watch me end up with a st bernard. Julie

spiritsmom

I think I am a little confused as to the different lines of labs.

Labs come in three colors. And are monochromatic, one color. Black, Yellow, and Chocolate. Blacks can develope a white crest or diamond on the chest and that's okay. Older Labs get gray around the muzzle. The whole breed itself is a working dog. But some may take dogs that are excellent at field trials and breed them as working dogs and others will take Labs that have AKC perfect dimensions and breed them as show dogs. But any breeder should be attention to temperment. The Lab is is to be friendly to humans and other dogs.

As for size classification, the dog food companies consider any dog over 50 lbs as large breed. A Siberian Husky can get to 24 inches at the shoulder but is considered a medium breed. Because they are usually lighter, maxing out at 45 to 50 lbs at the heaviest. Where as large Labs can get to 100 lbs. Sometimes more.

Also, as a side note, Silver Lab is not considered true color because there is still debate that somewhere in the past, a Weimaraner snuck in, creating the recessive that causes some to be silver. Others consider it a variation of Chocolate.

If you get a Lab at the shelter and there's no paperwork or microchip to attest to AKC registration, it is likely from a working line, at least in say, Texas. People around here breed Labs like crazy and I know some people that hunt with Labs and Lab mixes.