Are you picky about dog breeds.....

[Mokat76]

My favorite is the boxer. I’ve had two, both rescues. Now I have a big mutt (part boxer but mostly bully breeds) and a small mutt (terrier mix), both rescues. I also have cats (they were here first) so I guess my favorite dog is cat-friendly.

 

[Suprize2017]

I’m a large dog person. I grew up with labs. My family was big into field trials and bird hunting so we always had labs. We had three for most of my growing up years. As an adult though, my first dog was a rescue. She seemed to be a mix of Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Golden Retriever. Tessa was a medium sized dog (about 55 pounds). She was wonderful, but must have had some trauma before I adopted her because she was terrified of men for a long time. I’d had her for 3-4 years when I met my husband. He was the first man she really warmed up to and become putty in his hands when he was around. I did take that as a good sign about the kind of man he is (22 years later, I think it’s safe to say she was a good judge of character!). She was never comfortable being hugged and contained close to you (like in a hug or snuggle), so when we had kids and one of them turned out to be a huge dog lover, I felt it was best for all of us to look at getting another dog. We found our second dog at the shelter as well. Max was a border collie mix, a little smaller than Tessa at just under 50 pounds, and was the perfect addition to our family. He and Tessa became best friends, and where Tessa only loved to be by my side, and loved getting pets from me or my husband, Max couldn’t get enough attention, love, and snuggles from our dog loving son (and really, anyone else that wanted to love on his was fine by him. He soaked it all up and if you dared try to stop, he’d gaze at you with his milk chocolate eyes and you just had to continue). Max slept with our son right up until he passed. We had to guess at his age, so, assuming we were somewhere in the ballpark, he lived to be about 14. Tessa lived to be 16.5 years old which was pretty awesome for her size.

After Tessa died, and while we still had Max, we got our current dog, Freya. My husband really loves bird hunting, so really wanted a lab. I was opposed to buying from a breeder, but had also promised him we would anyway when Tessa had passed so he could have his hunting dog. She is 9.5 and slowing down, just a little. She has been an only dog for almost two years now, and is just the best. This is the first year she won’t be doing any hunting, due to arthritis, but she still goes on long walks with me every day. She’s a bit bigger than most labs at 105 pounds, but is just the sweetest thing and is spoiled!

 

[RangerPooh]

We stick with German Shepards. We’re on numbers 3 and 4 since we’ve been married. They’re loyal, protective, and have put up with the kids very well.

 

[Poohlove]

Same here, except my very first dog a neighbor gave to me. After my last dog died, I looked at the humane society 's website every day. After almost 6 months of mostly pitbulls and Chihuahuas, I started looking at breeders until one day my Maltipoo showed up as a stray. Her owner never claimed her, so I got to take her home after 5 days.

So funny! Both of my dogs came from a local shelter - a 9lb chihuahua and a 70lb pitbull

 

[dez1978]

Our little girl Shih Tzu. Understands English perfectly and does whatever we ask! Never barks except at the doorbell and is just the sweetest. My husband LOVES her. My DD jokes that he would keep her and get rid of us

I had 2 shih tzus. One was the meanest dog I've ever met. I got her when she was 3-4 after her owner died, and none of his family wanted her. The other one I got from a resuce near by. She was a former show dog turned into a breeder. She was the best, sweetest dog I've ever met. I don't think I could ever find another one like her.

Currently we have a blue nose pit, who is super sweet and I love her so much.

 

[dez1978]

My dog is part pitbull. Adopting means getting dogs breeds that people are terrible at training and working with it. It's hard work.

That is true sometimes, but not always. There are a ton of dogs in shelters who are easy dogs. Sure there are also a ton of dogs that are there because their owners didn't do their research and know what kind of dog they were getting or what it would take to train them, but thats not all thats out there. I have a pit, she was a rescue. I got her because her family was moving and couldn't take her which I think is lousy, but she was about 7 months old when I got her. Was only crate trained. She's been super easy to train.

 

[mrs. magoo]

We have only had mutts except for the one Golden Retriever that we adopted from a neighbor when I was 5. Ours have all been big dogs with our current one the smallest at 55 pounds. The Golden was definitely the best dog we ever had - he was perfectly trained and was incredible with people. Since then all the other dogs have had some quirks - the stray was afraid of men. The springer spaniel mix ended up biting our toddler - not serious but still had to go back to the rescue. The lab was a bit dramatic. The two current ones are an border collie Australian Shepard has a vet diagnosed form of canine autism and the hound mix well he does not want to listen at all. I am beginning to think that we are just terrible dog trainers - love the dogs but stink at training them.

 

[bjscheel]

I like medium dogs. Not a fan of most types of small dogs, especially yappy ones, and big dogs can be more intimidating or harder to handle. We had a big thick Dalmatian for 13 years. He was definitely DH's dog and towards the end when he was crabbier I was a little scared of him.

So we had a 30 pound stray tricolor mutt show up during that time and she was the best dog. She was small enough for me to handle but not just a little bitty thing. She died Memorial Day 2020 and we got another 30 pound mutt that Labor Day weekend. The shelter called her a mini Aussie, but she's definitely got something else in like Collie.

 

[disneyseniors]

I’m a large dog person. I grew up with labs. My family was big into field trials and bird hunting so we always had labs. We had three for most of my growing up years. As an adult though, my first dog was a rescue. She seemed to be a mix of Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Golden Retriever. Tessa was a medium sized dog (about 55 pounds). She was wonderful, but must have had some trauma before I adopted her because she was terrified of men for a long time. I’d had her for 3-4 years when I met my husband. He was the first man she really warmed up to and become putty in his hands when he was around. I did take that as a good sign about the kind of man he is (22 years later, I think it’s safe to say she was a good judge of character!). She was never comfortable being hugged and contained close to you (like in a hug or snuggle), so when we had kids and one of them turned out to be a huge dog lover, I felt it was best for all of us to look at getting another dog. We found our second dog at the shelter as well. Max was a border collie mix, a little smaller than Tessa at just under 50 pounds, and was the perfect addition to our family. He and Tessa became best friends, and where Tessa only loved to be by my side, and loved getting pets from me or my husband, Max couldn’t get enough attention, love, and snuggles from our dog loving son (and really, anyone else that wanted to love on his was fine by him. He soaked it all up and if you dared try to stop, he’d gaze at you with his milk chocolate eyes and you just had to continue). Max slept with our son right up until he passed. We had to guess at his age, so, assuming we were somewhere in the ballpark, he lived to be about 14. Tessa lived to be 16.5 years old which was pretty awesome for her size.

After Tessa died, and while we still had Max, we got our current dog, Freya. My husband really loves bird hunting, so really wanted a lab. I was opposed to buying from a breeder, but had also promised him we would anyway when Tessa had passed so he could have his hunting dog. She is 9.5 and slowing down, just a little. She has been an only dog for almost two years now, and is just the best. This is the first year she won’t be doing any hunting, due to arthritis, but she still goes on long walks with me every day. She’s a bit bigger than most labs at 105 pounds, but is just the sweetest thing and is spoiled!

That is a beautifully stated post, OP Your love for labs and other dogs shows through.
'We had a black lab for about 11 years that we loved! Labs seem to have that sweet, just want to be loved, kind of vibe.

They do tend to attach to one person only, but tolerates others. REb was my dog and would look out for me all the time. We had a nice swimming beach on the lake and if I was swimming, he would swim out and gently grab onto my arm and pull me back to shore, LOL. It got so bad that I had to put him in his pen when I went swimming.
I share your love of labs too

 

[Disneyland1084]

So funny! Both of my dogs came from a local shelter - a 9lb chihuahua and a 70lb pitbull

How special. FYI, I don't dislike pitbulls and chihuahuas, they're just not my type of dog. *Maybe* I would get a Chihuahua some day. I used to think that breed was very yappy and annoying, until one moved in the house around the corner from me. He was a badass! Then a couple across the street from me adopted a Chihuahua mix a few months ago from the pound, and I swear that would be my dog if I didn't have already have my Maltipoo.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

My next door neighbor had a chihuahua several years ago. I love animals, but I hated that fricking dog. It barked non-stop and was absolutely vicious. It bit me, a friend of mine who came over to visit (luckily, she was wearing long jeans so no damage), and everyone in the owner's family. It was a horrid thing. It finally died and I was honestly happy. That family moved a few years ago and now *I* am the one with the yappy dog...LOL

 

[bobbiwoz]

I’ve always just wanted a dog, and finally was able to get one when I was 40. We adopted them from shelters, or in two cases when family could not keep them. Mostly they have been lab mixes, or English labs, but Buster looked like a junkyard dog and Gus is a Black and Tan Coon hound. They have all been adults, so we don’t have them for more than 6 years.