Adopting a dog

[Azull]

I love that you named a pet Voltron

[Deejay]

my friend got one a couple week back, 8 weeks old looks like frank from Men in black, Mother fuck is adorable and playful (and won't be much bigger then your cat)

I grew up with 2 pugs. I love the breed. The one who past most recently had a lot of breathing problems though.(a lot of asthma symptoms and she couldn't really run in the heat.) I want to be able to go on jogs with my dog, which is why I'm looking for something a little bigger and less fragile.

[Plow]

So like what is the point of owning this cat

hating people =/= hating his people


also, @dj, you need a golden retriever but if that's too much hair a lab will have to suffice

[Deejay]

Yeah, I feel like we're going to end up compromising on a Chocolate Lab. If this were any other person moving in, I would say fuck it and just go pick up a Pit right now. But she's a life long friend and she's completely leaving her comfort zone in NY to come down here. Adding a breed of dog that she may not feel comfortable living around may not even be worth it. Who knows though, I may continue to try and sell her on a pit puppy. I'm confident that I'll be able to train it. I like jogging too, so the dog will have a lot of experience meeting new people and going to dog parks. I'm sure he can LEARN to be a nice gentle dog, but what I'm concerned about is whether or not my roommate will have the patience for it.

[TacoTaru]

Like others have said, adult dog vs puppy really doesn't mean anything without knowing how the adult dog is around cats to begin with. Also some dogs (such as huskies for example) have really high prey drives which can make them absolutely terrible around cats, but all in all it's really going to depend on the dog. My cat taunts my german shepherd then acts like a little bitch when she actually wants to play, but it took A LONG time for him to get even that comfortable (and comfortable is putting it generously) to where he'd even be in the same room as her. She's a big sweety though and just want to push him around the house with her snout.

If you do get an adult and it wants to chase/play but your cat is skeptical (and probably will be for a month or so regardless of well they get along) just make sure you have plenty of high places or places your cat can feel safe away from your dog. We ended up moving all of our cats stuff into our spare bedroom and giving them a safe haven during the day to get comfortable with our GSD.

Probably repeated a lot of stuff and rambled, sorry.

[Plow]

yeah, breed is less important than people think, I mean I knew people that had a hundredish pound siberian huskie that was the most beautiful thing ever (looked like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...per_bi-eye.jpg) that lived with 3 cats and 2 other dogs np

however, there are some like golden retrievers and about any labrador retriever, as well as some smaller stuff like yorkie terriers, that are just naturally predisposed to be incredibly friendly and loving

[Plow]

and speaking of yorkies it's too bad you're against small dogs cuz these guys are amazing with cats plus




YOU CANNOT SAY NO TO THIS FACE, GRASSHOPPER

[Ddz]

Just know that if you get a puppy, it is going to be curious as hell about Dudley and terrorize the shit out of him for a few weeks until they get used to each other. I would look into getting a dog that is familiar with cats already.

[Abandon]

Yeah, I feel like we're going to end up compromising on a Chocolate Lab. If this were any other person moving in, I would say fuck it and just go pick up a Pit right now. But she's a life long friend and she's completely leaving her comfort zone in NY to come down here. Adding a breed of dog that she may not feel comfortable living around may not even be worth it. Who knows though, I may continue to try and sell her on a pit puppy. I'm confident that I'll be able to train it. I like jogging too, so the dog will have a lot of experience meeting new people and going to dog parks. I'm sure he can LEARN to be a nice gentle dog, but what I'm concerned about is whether or not my roommate will have the patience for it.

labs are amazingly great. Chocolates are mega-hyper. Labs love to eat, make sure you watch how much they do. They'll get HUGE if not watched properly.

[xopher]

my vote is for Boston Terrier.
They're awesome... I might be getting my breeds mixed up, but they look like a mini pit.. maybe?

Spoiler: show

Bosties are fucking awesome.

[Abandon]

Pug. Always pug.

Also, pit bulls are amazing. Any dog can be vicious.

pugs? eat shit

[Guitarman]

A pit is only going to be vicious if you train it to be. Train it right and you'll have very few issues.

That being said, labs are fucking amazing dogs, so the mix would be great. If the mix is mostly lab, or at least has a lab's mentality, the cats can walk all over the dog literally and figuratively and it wont give two shits. They're just so passive. So it's up to you both, honestly.

And go puppy, not full grown. It's always easier to train an animal to co-habitate with other animals from a young age than "trying to teach an old dog new tricks" etc.

[zoobernut]

A pit is only going to be vicious if you train it to be. Train it right and you'll have very few issues.

That being said, labs are fucking amazing dogs, so the mix would be great. If the mix is mostly lab, or at least has a lab's mentality, the cats can walk all over the dog literally and figuratively and it wont give two shits. They're just so passive. So it's up to you both, honestly.

And go puppy, not full grown. It's always easier to train an animal to co-habitate with other animals from a young age than "trying to teach an old dog new tricks" etc.

Any breed of dog can be vicious if you train it to be. Also labs are not inherently cat friendly or people friendly at all. Just like ANY dog breed you need to train them properly and teach them not to chase/bite cats. Don't assume that a dog is going to be friendly to other animals or strangers just because of their breed. Individual dogs can trend towards certain personalities but that is more about the individual dog and less about their breed.

[Abandon]

please show me a lab pup that isn't inherently people-friendly.

[zoobernut]

please show me a lab pup that isn't inherently people-friendly.

Not sure how you expect me to show you that but puppies of all breeds are usually pretty people friendly as long as they haven't been abused. Dogs usually start to develop their stronger personality traits with respect to people or other animals when they are a little bit older.

[Fievel]

please show me a lab pup that isn't inherently people-friendly.

Vicious as fuck

[zoobernut]

My wife has plenty of stories about cats or other animals coming into her work after getting into fights/being bitten by dogs of all different breeds. You can't assume that a dog is going to be friendly with other animals or strangers just because of its breed.

[AoE]

Fuck Chihuahuas and everyone who likes those hyper sacks of shit.

That's all I have to add to this discussion.

[archibaldcrane]

You're a renter? Yeah dude, don't just get a dog, get a dog that many apartments don't even allow! Then complain a ton when you have to move and it's really hard to find a new place and how you're being oppressed by dog-racists, even though you knew about all this going in!

Then eventually give in and send that dog back to the shelter like everyone else does!

(people who move into different rental situations often should not get dogs, and should definitely not get dogs that are of breeds that are discriminated against)

That's my advice.

[Fievel]

(people who move into different rental situations often should not get dogs, and should definitely not get dogs that are of breeds that are discriminated against)

This is fantastic advice, I love my pit but when it comes to home owners insurance/renting places he can definitely cause problems. Gotta be in a good situation already or be prepared to deal with some shit if you get a pit.