Hmmmmmmmm. What happens when ya take a smart breed and cross it with a dumb one? That one looks like Mort - a bit on the slow side, maybe? Stupid is okay too, I suppose. Mort does alright because his heart compensates for neural divergence...
The hunt begins. People want so much money for dogs now... even the mutts...
I like mutts. Less chance of inbreeding-depression. Less chance of two regressive genes reinforcing and causing some congenital disease.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a target size in mind?
Glad to hear you're looking!!!!
ReplyDeleteThey are getting pricey, that's true, but if you find a good breeder it's worth it. I would advise staying away from the shelters, you don't know what you'll end up with.
We paid $400US for a not-quite-purebred Pyrenees. It seemed high, but he's a sweet, wonderful beast. He does drool a bit.
ReplyDeletegot ours [deceased--many tears] at shelter. german shepherd front and scrawny beagle behind.
ReplyDeletehe was perfect!
when you go to the shelter pray before you go and get guidance
the place was full of friendly pits and pit mutts but i could not chance it with the cats
yup. we paid 300 for what I thought was a lab mix pup. well, there some lab in his butt. not much though. he is a laddie. some lab yuppie mix. hyper as anything.
ReplyDeleteI think the loss of our old girl is what killed our good boy slim.
he went downhill fast after she was gone. Ziva was 14 when she passed and slim was a little over ten.
looking back, I think her passing was harder on him than it was on us.
Shelters are full. Reputable shelters have reasonable adoption fees for dogs past the puppy age. Pick the one who isn't all excited like the rest. The one that is sure he's going to get passed over again. When you get him home and he settles in and realizes he has a person of his own he will blossom and you will be inseparable.
ReplyDeleteSome time back I wanted a shelter pup. The downside was they were neutering 8 week old dogs. I believe they need to grow a bit before that is done.
ReplyDeleteI have a golden doodle and a belgian mal. Doodle is a great, GREAT family dog. The Mal is an experience (I don't regret). Never met a dog like him. Both from reputable breeders.
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of the Pyrenees running around out here in the sticks. Cattle and goat ranchers use them a lot. They are good dogs. Had one that used to come around a lot. Called him dude. Super sweet dog. Protected all the animals. Good with all of them. There's another one up the road.... bad dude we call him. Sits in the middle of the highway and make you drive around him while he barks at your car. He's not so nice.
ReplyDeleteThey make some huge turds so keep that in mind.
The shelters around here are busting since a lot of morons got pets during the coof. Even before, it's a relatively affluent area, and a stupid one, so the shelters had really awesome dogs. When we adopted a cat, a woman was there adopting a pure bred chocolate lab, 6 months old. The owner surrendered it because they didn't think it would get that big. When I went looking for a dog, they had a gorgeous GSD - owner said they didn't have time for him any more.
ReplyDeleteThose ones don't last.
Check the rescue orgs for the breed you want.
That said, may be the time of year. Isn't spring more of a puppy season? We got our big guy for free from a family that had puppies. They just wanted them gone. Score!
A year and a half ago the Calgary and area shelters / rescues were nearly empty. Now overrun with spoiled, untrained, poorly socialized 'covid' dogs. And more coming. Not to mention do-gooders bringing them in from other countries with who knows what problems, health or behavioral. Sure, some good ones can be found but most need a bunch of work and retraining to get them good homes. Sad.
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