However, they tend to love to bark, and get very very excited when seeing other dogs. Pretty fierce behind a fence, not so much when in the same area.
Getting a new dog
- Thread starter Zenthar
- Start date
There are some shelters that use DogTrax to help identify breeds and get their dogs adopted.
We are now on our third shelter dog, all adopted at 3-4 months old, all lab mixes. We have never had them breed test although the vet can usually give you some pretty good guesses on the mix.
We had boxers when I was a child. Sweet, playful, loyal. They look a bit scary even though they aren’t, which is a nice security feature.
I'm torn between whether it works better to adopt puppies or adult dogs; there are advantages/disadvantages both ways. We've adopted both adults and pups. Puppies are a helluva lot of work to get trained on where/when to go potty, but are trainable. Adult dogs have histories, and have some personality traits and behaviors already ingrained depending on the treatment they received from their previous owners. Some of them take a lot of time and loving care to bring them out of their shells, but they can be so worth it...
One thing nice about kittens vs. puppies: kittens are practically born knowing how to use a litter box; no "walkies" every hour on the hour!
One thing nice about kittens vs. puppies: kittens are practically born knowing how to use a litter box; no "walkies" every hour on the hour!
Yes, they are the sweetest, bad-ass looking dog haha. Our boy was just so loving and wanted nothing more than to snuggle up to you on the couch. He was protective of us, in a positive way. He made just enough noise to keep door-to-door salesman away, but would also relax quickly once we showed him someone was not a threat.
Only negative with boxers is they have a relatively short life span. 10-12 years
Or just dont go to a breeder...adopt a dog, most of them are great and you can tell within 5 minutes which dogs have been trained and not trained. I adopted a dog that came fully crate trained, potty trained and a great dog. Breeders are disgusting usually, shady as ****, and you have no idea what youre getting then you pay hundreds for it.
We really tried for an adult dog last time, but had a lot of not good with kids, other dogs or cats, etc.
The potty training other than random accidents doesn’t take more than a couple of weeks. The biting phase is killer though
Ours was great for scaring away door to door religious zealots.
Our neighbor worked a night shift and was always wary of our boxer but when he fell on the ice and hit his head early one morning coming home, and the dog barked until we paid attention, they became best buddies
Hundreds? Haven’t looked at breeder prices in a few years, eh?
To be devil’s advocate—not all breeders are evil. We bought a breeder pup a couple months ago. It got really sick the next day. Like parvo sick. The breeder instantly Venmo’d me our money back (I didn’t ask for it) and asked us to take the pup to an emergency vet for treatment at their expense. Pup had to be put down the following day. They gave us a free pup from the next litter. And this is just some southeast Iowa farm breeder.
Most of these Puppy mills have horrible conditions, saw a story of a hidden camera walk through of a puppy mill in southeast iowa and one of the dogs literally had maggots visibly eating the mom of these puppies while she was nursing. Just because they gave you your money back doesnt mean they didnt lead to the death of that dog lol the poor dog died most likely because those people are pieces of ****.
There are SOME good breeders, and some terrible ones as well. Adopting is generally best, but if you feel you need to go to a breeder, meet them, ask to see where the dogs live, and do research. Don't just throw them money and take a dog. That gives them no incentive to take good care of them.
My ex-wife insisted we go to a breeder for our boxer. It was a nice farm family, we met the mom and a few other pups. We saw the kennels where they lived which had plenty of space, and we knew from research that this mom had only had a few litters and they only had one at a time so they weren't a puppy mill.
The breeder was very nice and kept in touch for a while. We found out our pups mom had gotten sick a few months later and the breeder actually asked if we'd had our girl fixed yet. She probably wanted to buy her back. But we had taken care of her already and she was well loved.
Moral of the story is that not all breeders are monsters, but you have to do a little extra work to find good ones.
You’re right, I bet most puppy mills do have horrible conditions. But I didn’t say anything in my post about puppy mills. I was just saying not all breeders are bad. Your post assumes an awful lot. Your one “story” you saw doesn’t make all breeders pieces of ****. But it’s great you’re blaming the death of a puppy on people you have no knowledge of and calling them names because you saw a show.
I would encourage adopting, but if you do go through a breeder, do as much research on them as possible. Make sure they aren't on a list like this
who13.com
Iowa has a lot of awful breeders due to weak animal abuse laws.
13 Iowa Dog Breeders Named on Humane Society ‘Horrible Hundred’ List
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa currently has more than 300 puppy mills in the state, according to animal rights advocates at Bailing Out Benji, and the Humane Society of the United States highlighte…
who13.com
Iowa has a lot of awful breeders due to weak animal abuse laws.
There is a MASSIVE difference between a good breeder, a bad breeder, and a f'ing puppy mill.
Saying that all breeders are bad is like saying all cattle farmers abuse their animals. Just not tue.
When my parents were getting one of their dogs from a breeder (probably 15 yrs ago) the breeder wanted pictures of my parents backyard so they were comfortable that the dog would have enough space. If you don't do your research on anything you are in for a ****** deal.
Every dog we've gotten from a breeder (2 German Shephards, 1 mini Dachshund, 1 Newfoundland), the breeder interviewed us as much as we interviewed them. Don't go to a breeder for a "dog," go to a breeder for a specific breed. Puppy mills make money on dogs. If a "breeder" has all kinds of "dogs," run away. And if you can't visit the breeder, don't buy from them.
