If You Had Only Known...

Actually, from what I have read about Miniature Pinschers, I am glad my dog acts the way he does. He does not bark, and while he is still a puppy and easily excitable and active, he is very well-behaved and I take him to friends' homes all the time. He was potty trained pretty much immediately, which is also not something I was expecting from a small breed. He doesn't chew things in the living room, where I leave him during the day when I am gone. He will chew shoes if I left them out, so I don't. He is perfectly happy to be alone (well, with the cat) when I am away. I was definitely expecting a lot more problems than I have had, and so I'm very grateful.

A MONOLOUGUE ABOUT BEING A BEAGLE BY KEROUAC:

FOOOD .Food food food. if it MIGHT be food, it IS food. do you have food? can i have your food? picnic? no such thing! its a beagle buffet! food! garbage? tip the can , rip it up and find the FOOD in there! mmmm diaper..just USED food...yum yum food.

thankfullly no more diapers in this house!

On the otherhand i was thwarted by breed stereotypes, i was all ready for a spazzy Lab and brought home a MELLOW puppy...he never really perked up. LAZY boy.

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While we've had a good number of surprises so far, I think I was most surprised by what happy little jumpers Aussies are! I suppose I should have expected that, after all the pics of flying Aussies with frisbies in their mouths. I'm 5'10" barefoot & my 4 month old pup is about 6 inches from reaching my shoulder when he's really excited & vaulting himself into the air. We have a lot of fun running & leaping around, but it also means that it's harder to keep things out of his reach. I can't imagine raising him in an apartment or with small children. I have a feeling he's going to make an awesome frisbie dog some day!  []

ORIGINAL: RidgebackGermansShep

. I didn't realize that GSDs were so whiny! kaiser can't go on a 5 minute car ride without whining. I knew they were energetic, but good lord i didn't realize that they could go all day.

thank goodness im not the only one who realized that AFTER!!! Dallas whines SO much....thats the only thing that annoys me about her. I thought it was just her until I've been around multiple GSD's recently and theyre all whiny. i love her to death though! If i could go back i would still get a GSD.

ORIGINAL: TexasDaisy

While we've had a good number of surprises so far, I think I was most surprised by what happy little jumpers Aussies are! I suppose I should have expected that, after all the pics of flying Aussies with frisbies in their mouths. I'm 5'10" barefoot & my 4 month old pup is about 6 inches from reaching my shoulder when he's really excited & vaulting himself into the air. We have a lot of fun running & leaping around, but it also means that it's harder to keep things out of his reach. I can't imagine raising him in an apartment or with small children. I have a feeling he's going to make an awesome frisbie dog some day!  []

He just might. []  Sequoyah's favorite object in the world is a soft frisbee.  She has a hard bite, so I got it for her to keep her from wrecking her teeth.  She would do anything for that frisbee.  Aussies, and other lithe jumpers often damage their ACL's, etc. because they are so agile, and tend to twist in midair, land funny, etc.  So, be careful when you play with your pup.  And, no high jumping until his growth plates close or you risk arthritic changes later.

We did a lot of breed research and I feel we chose well... however, I can tell you they were NOT kidding about cocker spaniels being prone to submissive urination, too 'soft' for correction-based training, on the timid side, and VERY food motivated! [] One of our biggest challenges with Russell is bringing him to social events where food is EVERYWHERE and people just don't understand how hard it is for him to maintain control - they insist I let him off the leash but then can't believe it when he spends the whole time trying to get to the food... honestly it's like letting an addict loose in a crackhouse!

I feel your pain, jones.  I have a hound.  When I take him to events, I get hoarse saying "leave it - come".  He's a very good boy, and does it every time, but the idea of asking that poor boy to "wait", too...I think he would just wiggle and whine himself into a frenzy.  Truth is, I let him, 'cuz I think it's freakin' hysterical, and after all, he does obey.

Thanks for the heads up spiritdogs! He definately does the mid-air twist/ akward face-plant landing thing, lol. We'll see if we can't tone it down a bit till he grows up & learns to be a bit less clumsy. []

With best intention, we adopted our Treeing Walker Coonhound, and while she is adorable, cuddly, very loving and very social-she is also hunt trained, and when the nose goes up and she scents something-literally everything else falls away and you can stand on you head, spit doggie treats, scream, yell, run like hell, and you aren't going to stop her from treeing her prey....I always fear that she will run afoul of cars, trucks, because she literally doesn't register anything than what she is chasing, and when she is on scent, barriers are a challenge, not a deterrent.  She has gone over and under fences, tunnelled, broken through, climbed, jumped, vaulted.  The dog is athletic in the extreme, and her energy requirements are very high...It is hard to keep her properly exercised in the 30 foot training lead.  And I have learned the secret to a good coonhound is one that is happily worn out.

It is hard to keep her properly exercised in the 30 foot training lead.

Strap on them runnin' shoes! I've found that getting Marlowe exercised on his 30 foot lead is a lot easier if I go to a field rather than wooded area. we go to a park that has a few trees but is mostly field, and it allows him to track and (occaisionally) tree without me having to bob and weave around branches and logs. I've also found that a good 20 minute free-shaping session does wonders for him when he's too wound up. But I also don't know what I'd do without our local fenced dog park.

He's also been jogging with my husband lately and DH reports that Marlowe in fact is a complete whussy about it. His normal tracking speed is a quick trot, but not a run by any means and the dog has let us know that he is built for endurance, not speed!

I didn't want a lab puppy - so I didn't even bother reading about labs. DH talked me into the adorably cute lab puppy at the shelter (even though I wanted an adult dog to jog with - I got sucked in by the cuteness).  I had NO idea they were as mouthy as he was.  I didn't realize that it would be almost 3 years before he started to settle down.  [&:]
 
I just wish I had known what I know now.  I would have been better prepared to bring a dog home.  It's totally different when it's your dog instead of your parents' dogs.  Lesson learned - so now I heavily support everyone who's bringing their first dog home (or their first dog in a while).
 
I knew what I was getting into with Tux.  I read everything available.  I read articles, books, talked to people who had owned them.  I did my research and he's exactly what I expected. [] 

"When happy,a Great Danes tail can become a deadly weapon!"
 
so true. And nothing can prepare you for the reality of Great Dane Slobber. The stuff could be sold as an industrial adhesive. 

I did alot of research about Pomeranians before I got Missi, but one thing that wasn't mentioned was how much I'd be vacuuming my living room carpet! [sm=rofl.gif]

We did some research when we brought our sheltie home 7 years ago, but I didn't know that she would want to eat poop from any source that she could find (diapers, cat box, other dogs)[:'(]  I also didn't know that no matter if the vet says 1 cup of food a day is more than enough for her that she would always be hungry and very sneaky about stealing food whether it is from the cat bowls, an unsuspecting child's hand (or an adult if they aren't careful), or anywhere that they can find it.  I didn't realize how protective they are over their 'territory' (she hates the mailperson) and when the books say they bark a lot that it means that they bark at everything (snowflakes falling, squirrels, leaves flying by, a dog walking down their street, anything and everything).
 
I am still learning about labs.  I had read a lot, but the books didn't prepare me enough.  I was under the assumption (stupid me) that labs had a natural drive to retriever, we ended up with a labrador non-retriever[8|].  Labs like to eat poop (just like shelties - whenever the opportunity arises[:'(]    I thought that labs were more high strung, so far ours has been pretty mellow as far as puppies go[]  I didn't know that labs need to be bathed pretty often because they develop a strong doggy odor pretty quickly.  I also didn't know that larger dogs like labs (from what I have read) take longer to housetrain.  (How long does it take, I don't know yet, it seems like a long time so far).  Does anyone else know, because just when I think she is getting it she has an accident[:'(]  (Will she have to be in the crate every second that I am not watching her forever?)  I didn't know how much I would love the short, shiney black that is so easy to care for.  The labs that I have petted before always left a residue on my hands that made them feel dirty, but not my girl.  I didn't know that labs snore really loud and are really sweet, sometimes low key and like to take little naps at your feet and are big bed hogs even when they are little.[]