Ideas on a suitable second dog?

[latifah]

Hubbie and i have been talking on the subject for a while of a second dog preferably this summer when I’m off work with the kids for settling time. But what breed or cross is best? We live in a bungalow, thats not small but not huge we have a doberman, a guinea pig and a parakeet inside. A medium sized secure garden, with 6ft fences all round. I work 3hours a day, but my husband and i can inter change our shifts so some one is always about.
I need a dog with similar fur to the dobe as my son is allergic to fluffy animals- holds the guinea pig for a couple of mins and his eyes are steaming and he can’t stop sneezing. Haven’t actually tested other dog furs but better the devil you know.
Need a dog that’ll eventually have the stamina of latifah our dobe, about 3-5 hours per day walking/running/swimming.
We have four children between us a 6 year old and an 8  year old that live with us all the time, plus a 10year old and a 11 year old weekends and holidays. Children all respect their animals but do tend to still run around, a big issue we had with latifah is that she enjoyed knocking all of the kids over as a pup as soon as they ran anywhere there she was catching them, although she hasn’t done this since being trained not too.
We have looked into rescue before latifah but due to our childrens ages, there doesn’t seem to be many options. We have ample walking space, with a beach/grass areas 150 yards from our front door plus woodland a bit further on. Any suggestions welcome, latifah will be 2 in may?

[Foxisle_crazy]

A vizsla? http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/97

[Mudgie]

a weim  :tease:  I am allergic to dog hair also and as long as I dont rub my face into Nacho I am fine.  Obviously every now and then I cant resist him  :-* I have severe asthma too but it all under control now.  Weims and vizlas could certainly keep up with your latifah.   

[*Nick*]

I would say a Labrador except most of them could medal in Olympic Shedding.  How is Latifahs temperament? Do you thonk she’ll get on with a new brother or sister?

[dogloverwoooo!]

As i’m sure you are aware its all about how you bring them up. Many people ask me rescue or puppy. Like you say with a rescue it will be difficult as from my experience, finding one suitable with kids can be a trickier process. How ever there is nothing more rewarding  ;D
I have 2 labradors, they are bouncy full of energy, loyal, very clever (not dumb as many people say!) and great with kids IF bought up and trained properly which in general is the same for all the mentioned breeds. do your homework, and i am sure you will be fine! 😉
exciting stuff  ;D

[Anonymous]

If you have one Dobe then why not another ;D

[latifah]

My husband wants another dobe, but we get soooo much grief from people crossing roads and giving us a  wide berth, to allow our soppy dobe to come through. Shes perfectly behaved but people look at her like a monster… so i was looking at another breed or maybe a cross. although i had been keeping my eye on a couple of miniture pinschers at different shows, latifah seems to really get on with them whilst playing, but i was a bit put off when the lady talked about them chasing rabbits and that if they catch them, they’ll destoy. Where we live theres hundreds of wild rabbits, latifah is too noisy to ever get near. I guess if you keep the dog under control it is only a matter of training, but would instinct take control.
We’ve both peviously had labs and retrievers pedigree plus cross’es. But don’t really fancy that mad first year with the retrievers/labs. Latifah was a model puppy and only ate one sofa in that time..  >:D but other than that she did very little wrong.
This is a really silly question but would getting another dog change latifahs behavior much, shes so good now, would it be a bad idea? she’s friends with the guinea pig even shes so soppy. I’ve heard that an only dog is more human, whereas a couple of dogs are more doggy? Are we neglecting her in not having another dog for her to behave like a dog? (having dogs is getting harder than bringing up children).

[Anonymous]

Dex & Kodi’s best friend is a minpin, they get on well  sadie has learnt to get out of the way quick when Kodi’s charging about!
I dont think i’d have one though too small for me personally and they can get stuck down holes etc if the do decide to go after a rabbit!
Black & Tan syndrome is becoming popular nowadays specially with the rottie attacks over the past year, people are just ignorant and believe everything they read, well thats their problem, I wouldnt be put off by what others think, Dobes loves Dobes, my 2 get on great, but if I had to choose another breed I prob go for a Vizsla, Weime or a pointer 🙂

[Mudgie]

depends on the dog as to whether she will change.  Nacho loved it when we had bluebell as a pupster but he is happier dog on his own.  Bluebell and Elsa were happier together.  I had in theory two lots of dogs – Nacho who is very me focussed and BB and Elsa who were both very BB focussed. 

It sounds as though you have a happy well behaved pooch she will teach pupster those manners also.

And no matter what you think your dog is a dog is a dog….  ;D

I only have one now due to personal circumstances – if your pooch is quite sociable which it sounds as though she is another dog would probably make her even happier than she is.  And pupsters bring a whole new lease of life to the household  :-*

Good luck with whatever you decide. 

[latifah]

I agree that another pup will bring in a new lease of life, but think we’ll need a bigger bed for the early morning cuddle as latifah takes up enough room now!
Been offered a basset hound today that someone needs to home as they can’t get a rented property which he can move into? Sooner than i expected, but he’s called Bertie-basset, 4 years old i need to meet him to see how he is, with my kids and Latifah. but I’m a bit worried about the little legs, a bit too heavy to carry about when it gets tired, whilst Latifah will still want to do another 10 laps of the woods.

[*Nat*]

Bless, we met a Bertie Basset Hound the other day ;D  I’m sure once you’ve met and spent some time with him you’ll know if it’s the right thing to do  🙂 Good luck  🙂

If I were to have another dog, I’d have another Dobe  ;D When we had our first Dobe, we also had a JR X KCS, small legs V long legs – didn’t make alot of difference  ;D

[Justine&Rafe]

Good luck with whatever you choose, but dear old Bertie bassett will never keep up with your Dobe!!  They just don’t seem to be built for speed – or stamina!!  And a dobe is as near perfect an athlete as you can get!

[*Lassie*]

You could get a rescue greyhound, they do have young ones that fail in racing because they won’t chase.

[SuzAndTheDiva]

Yep and some are also small animal friendly  🙂

[Sweetypye]

I am not sure how many Basset Hounds you have seen but these are BIG dogs, it is only their legs that are little!

They can also smell, have a very large and loud bark/howl and are a nose on legs.

This is another consideration if you want another dog to be a companion to your Dobe; if you get something like an HPR be aware that these dogs were bred to hunt, flush, and retrieve game and if they are bred to KC standard WILL which is not something that is inherent in a Dobe; so although a Viszla or Weim may be similar in build their outlook on life is totally different to a Dobe.

If you wanted an English Pointer, they were bred to cover MILES of open land and moors and point grouse etc, so you may need to consider what sort of land you have, how much time you have and if you can cope with the sort of dog which may be out of sight for  agreat deal of time.

[Author]

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