Choosing a dog!

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Where are you getting the dog from? I know you have your heart set on one breed in particular, but have you considered a shelter dog? Both Eragon and Matthias are shelter dogs. With Matthias I knew the mixture of breeds. Erie, I have no clue. I have heard everything from sheltie to border collie to chow. Nobody knows what he is. But the shelter can tell you the disposition of the dog and he is such a sweet and loving animal.

If you call your local shelter, they may even have the breed you are looking for. Another thing you can do is go to petfinder.com and you can look at shelters in your area and see what they have for adoption, I think you can even search for a specific breed.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Here is a list of shelties at rescues in the Pittsburgh area.

 

[daisyyy]

We have had several over the years.... and yes.. they are considered "hunting dogs".. but they are the best family dog you could ever want. Not everyone hunts with them... they are just as happy playing in the yard with the kids... but if my husband ever said to her lets find a bird.. then it was business... Excellent choice... We just lost our precious Daisy Mae on 6/13.. and we miss her tremendously. They generally live to be about 12-13 yrs... We will absolutely be getting another GSP after our Disney trip is over.

 

[honugirl]

My oldest sheltie right now is so clued into me, he actually was instrumental in diagnosing my Cushing's Disease the first time around. He could sense my hormone changes and every time he'd go to lick my face and wouldn't stop, I knew to test. I had/have, the verdict is still out, a tumor on my pituitary gland in my head, he zeroed right in on it. I've had Shelties for 31 years. They love to go to bed with me and when I came home from brain surgery, were so sweet and loving and really took care of me. Oh, and when they're on the beach, holy cow!!!! They LOVE it!!!!!!!! They come and tell me when they need to go outside. They're amazing!

This is my big boy who helped diagnose me.

This is my little princess.

 

[paintnolish]

Another Sheltie lover here! Our tri-color is 10 and our blue merle is almost 1. We LOVE them! They are very vocal but it is at things, not for no reason at all. They will bark if someone is at the door or in the yard. They are also shy at first when meeting new people but quickly warm up. They are sweet and gentle and so smart! Or youngest knows all kinds of tricks and picks up on them very quickly. DD taught him to jump through a hula hoop in about 10 minutes (they are also light on their feet and agile). They are very smart but don't seem to be destructive or get bored like other intelligent breeds. Our will lounge around but will fetch like crazy given the chance. I love this breed! Good luck!
Cosmo as a baby and Cosmo "reading" a book called "The Bad Puppy"

Bandit, our "old man"...we keep his fur in a puppy cut because it never seems to lay down...he just gets poofier and poofier!

 

[candykisses]

CANDYKISSES
I am only 20 minutes from you!
Know any local sheltie breeders??
How small is this world!?!

Very small world. I can't remember the name of the breeder, my husband did all of the arrangements. I just know she was down 79 almost into W Va.

My husband is in AGH right now and I don't know when he will be released to even see if he kept any of the paperwork. Wish I could help more.

 

[bonybroad]

I'm sorry to hear about your husband. I hope he gets better very soon and come home to you.

 

[wdwfam]

Oh, wow! This dog looks exactly like our Wendy.

 

[auntie]

We have had several over the years.... and yes.. they are considered "hunting dogs".. but they are the best family dog you could ever want. Not everyone hunts with them... they are just as happy playing in the yard with the kids... but if my husband ever said to her lets find a bird.. then it was business... Excellent choice... We just lost our precious Daisy Mae on 6/13.. and we miss her tremendously. They generally live to be about 12-13 yrs... We will absolutely be getting another GSP after our Disney trip is over.

I'm so sorry to hear about your Daisy Mae ...I know how heartbreaking that can be.

 

[Alice1386]

First, why do you want a sheltie and why do you want a pointer?

 

[Boston Tea Party]

We have had several over the years.... and yes.. they are considered "hunting dogs".. but they are the best family dog you could ever want. Not everyone hunts with them... they are just as happy playing in the yard with the kids... but if my husband ever said to her lets find a bird.. then it was business... Excellent choice... We just lost our precious Daisy Mae on 6/13.. and we miss her tremendously. They generally live to be about 12-13 yrs... We will absolutely be getting another GSP after our Disney trip is over.

I'm so sorry to hear about Daisy Mae.

 

[bonybroad]

I would like a sheltie because it is the right size for what I want, it has a very even temperament, it is good with kids, highly intelligent and trainable, and I like the way they look.
DH would like a pointer because it is bigger, even temperament, good with kids, intelligent, and it seems more masculine to him.
It really comes down to size. Since I am the one grooming the dog and cleaning the house, I think it should be my pick. But I think EVERYTHING should be my pick!

 

[Alice1386]

I would like a sheltie because it is the right size for what I want, it has a very even temperament, it is good with kids, highly intelligent and trainable, and I like the way they look.
DH would like a pointer because it is bigger, even temperament, good with kids, intelligent, and it seems more masculine to him.
It really comes down to size. Since I am the one grooming the dog and cleaning the house, I think it should be my pick. But I think EVERYTHING should be my pick!

LOL! Both would be great picks for your family. The sheltie will require far more grooming and both will shed, all of which is managable of course. Size might not matter after some good training. I have two beagle rescues that I am fostering at the moment that are much more of a handful than my much bigger border collie (he has much more training under his paws). I would encourage you to go to petfinder.com and start searching in your area for both pointers and shelties. I am sure you will be able to find a puppy for both breeds in a rescue relatively close to you. Also you might see if you can find some people with each of these breeds to meet and play with the dogs and get a better feel for what it is like to interact with them. You might also consider getting an "adult" dog. Although they will come with a past and more than likely some bad habits, they can easily be trained are usually done with teething and usually will be much more thankful for you rescuing them out of the less than plush shelter. It might also be a way to provide a good lesson to your kids about making commitments to things and that animals are not things to be thrown away. My beloved border collie was rescued the day he was suppose to be put down-my purebred border collie (well as purebred as one can tell). However, if you do want a puppy and can't find one on petfinder or in a shelter, please get one from a breeder who actually competes with their own dogs, in either AKC sports or AKC confirmation. They are much more careful about which dogs they breed, and select them for health and temperment. Best of luck with which ever dog you bring into your family!

 

[honugirl]

Oh, wow! This dog looks exactly like our Wendy.

Wow! They do have a strong resemblance. That's amazing!

 

[saratogadreamin09]

I would like a sheltie because it is the right size for what I want, it has a very even temperament, it is good with kids, highly intelligent and trainable, and I like the way they look.
DH would like a pointer because it is bigger, even temperament, good with kids, intelligent, and it seems more masculine to him.
It really comes down to size. Since I am the one grooming the dog and cleaning the house, I think it should be my pick. But I think EVERYTHING should be my pick!

If you ask my dad Shelties are very masculine. He loves our Shelite to death and takes him everywhere.

 

[auntie]

Absolutely..Shelties aren't a "foo..foo" type of dog. They are family oriented..frisbee lovin' herding dogs. They love to run, and play. Nothing pansy about them. No offense to toy breeds... just that both my son's wanted a dog they didn't think was "girlie". I wanted a dog that wouldn't knock you over, and fit well into our home.
Okay..I will admit this..I really don't like the whole crotch sniffing thing that some dogs do. Not knowing very much about dogs (other than I hated that my brother's labs did that)...I figured I wanted a dog that was too short to be able to do that! Sheltie filled that requirement! Too short for it to be an issue. Seriously, I think about it now, and realize how ridiculous that was...but hey..it seemed important at the time!

 

[saratogadreamin09]

Absolutely..Shelties aren't a "foo..foo" type of dog. They are family oriented..frisbee lovin' herding dogs. They love to run, and play. Nothing pansy about them. No offense to toy breeds... just that both my son's wanted a dog they didn't think was "girlie". I wanted a dog that wouldn't knock you over, and fit well into our home.
Okay..I will admit this..I really don't like the whole crotch sniffing thing that some dogs do. Not knowing very much about dogs (other than I hated that my brother's labs did that)...I figured I wanted a dog that was too short to be able to do that! Sheltie filled that requirement! Too short for it to be an issue. Seriously, I think about it now, and realize how ridiculous that was...but hey..it seemed important at the time!

Another thing to note, if you have a few people standing around the Sheltie will circle around them to try to get them closer. Its just in its nature to want everything close together.

 

[daisyyy]

Size... our Daisy Mae was at the tops.. 50lbs... very lean, muscular. My parents also have a GSP.. he's a little bigger.. maybe 55lbs or so.. not more than 60lbs... within breed standards. they have very fine short hair, so the maintenance is very minimal. shedding was non-existant. we never found hair all over the place from her. Extremely loyal / social / friendly and loved the kids.. We have 4 kids.. who took her spot as the baby in the family.. but she never showed any signs of agression, or jealousy towards them.. and the kids miss her so much. It's been a few weeks since she's been gone, and my 1 year old keeps looking for her.. (we always referred to Daisy Mae as our 1st baby)... I do not know much about Shelties, so I can't say anything one way or the other on them... but if you do choose a GSP, I can promise you , you will not be sorry. Let us know what you do finally choose.

 

[bonybroad]

We are going with a sheltie.
We have a pretty good sized house. But I always feel that a big dog makes your house feel smaller.
We have contacted a few people who have sheltie pups, and are waiting to meet with them.
I did think about a shelter when we were first discussing a dog. Our last dog (8 years ago) was a shelter dog. He had some issues, but we were training him and thought it was going to be fine. Well, I had my son about a year later. It turns out the dog HATED babies. He would snarl and growl and snap at my son. I was terrified. He also bit my mother in law.
We took the dog to the vet, and the vet said something in the dog's past must have caused the strong aversion to babies. She said that we absolutely should not keep the dog under these circumstances. We tried to return the dog to the shelter, and they refused to take him. We couldn't in good conscience give the dog away knowing he could be aggressive like that.
The vet recommended we put him down. I cried and cried because it wasn't the dog's fault, but there was nothing else we could do. I still feel so sad about it 8 years later. I don't want that to happen to another dog that has already had a rough life.
I am very sorry if some people don't agree with our decision, but we made the choice we felt was best for us.
So....
Thanks for all your opinions! I can't wait to find the newest member of our family. I will post pics when that happens!!

 

[daisyyy]

Congrats and good luck with your puppy.