I just want to share a story how an adoption of a big dog had changed our life. We had a small dog before, who was actually a friend's pet we adopted after her moving. She was however old and did not live long. We started to look for a new dog, but that time we wanted a calm large one, preferably of dark color and scary appearance, like a Mastiff or a Great Dane. We however could not find such a dog in shelters. Once my friend the ACO had called me and said that a stray Rottie was taken off the streets and is now availible for adoption. We went ot see the dog. He was very big, although bone-skinny (not a surprise). What I liked the most was his temperament. He was clearly a friendly dog, but did not try to jump on everyone with kisses and hugs. He would rather lean against people and put his big head on their hands. We did not think for a ling time before adding this gentle giant to our family. I named him Roland, just because the name suit him.
Roland fit to the family just great, and everybody had some benefit from the reletionship.
First, having a large dog in the house increase you feeling of safety incredibaly. He has a strong bark and warns us about anyone approaching the house, so the pizza guy asked to remove the dog before open the door. It is not only a recognition of the fact that the dog really protects the place, although Roland does, but just aving a strong friend on your side. I stopped to worry about safety as much as I did before, and in fact am not trying to have defense weapons within close distance at any time.
Second, an energetic dog requires long walks and interaction with other dog owners. That was particularly good for my husband, who is avoiding contacts. Now, he has to answer questions people ask him. And, he even willingly goes to the pet store to buy toys, food, leashes and everything
Third, a dog needs training. Training your dog, working together with him, just engulfs you completely, takes a great deal of your ime, and bring enourmous fun when you see results. Jose benefited a great deal from it. He in fact trained Rolad to sit, lay, and retrieve at the command. I just see him becoming more open and more interacting with the surrounding, and also calmer. This is amazing. In fact before I just could not imagine my hubby telling something like "Let's take Roland and go to the park!"
Adopting a dog is somewhat like adding a new friend to the household. You obviously must be prepared, I mean have resources as well as ability to care for the pet. But if you have that, think of getting your own four-legged therapist!

Could not agree with you more. Large dogs bring a great deal of security safely to a home over a gun or something else. I have a giant breed dog and she used to be great. She is old, damn near deaf and blind, missing teethe and does not get up for nothing, but in her day she was wonderful. Now people just trip over her. You can completely wipe out trying to get over her huge self and she won't even lift her head, she justs cuts her eyes over at you.

My other dog is a medium size but she is very loud. Very on guard all the time. She shows teethe and hair raises all the way down her back like a cat. She is very intimidating IMO. She hears a baby cry or toddler when we walk and she immediately is trying to go to it to "save" it. When our little one cries she is all over her sniffing and licking, like she is trying to make her better. She is an absolute angel with children, adults she is not all too wild about.

When my old girl goes we plan to get another giant breed puppy. The next one will likely be a Great Dane. Since I am home full time with a little kid a Dane is a good match overall for us. That or an Irish Wolfhound but the Dane will probably be easier to find. I would never be able to leave my house and walk if I did not have a dog with me as they do bring a great deal of security even if they are trained to be well mannered as the other people on the street have no clue if the dog is well mannered or not.

I agree, I love my Australian kelpie, he's still a puppy but I guess he's going to be a fair sized dog, not huge, but fairly large. He is already very protective of me and I feel a lot more comfortable going out alone with him tagging along, even on our property.

Veilid, if talking about giant dogs, I am absulotelly fascinated by them. My favorite breeds are St. Bernard, Newfie, Great Pereneese, Great Dane, and Mastiff. Although those guys can be pretty difficult as patients (I still work at the vet), I would love to have one as a pet if my environment allowed to. There are few things in the world that can be compared with a simply hugging your big furry friend and getting a huge kiss! :)
Please keep taking good care of your old big dog. Now, whe she is so helpless, she especially needs you around. Dogs love with all their hearts, and they need love from us, too. If your dog is already can not run and play, simply sit with her and pet her when you have time, this is all she wants.
When I was working at the animal shelter, I saw some people brought their old dogs there for euthanasia. If the euthanasia tech was not on, we would leave the dog in a kennel. Sometimes, when return to that kennel in the morning to feed the dog, we would find her dead, although she was in a fair shape the day before. I truly beleive that animals, especially dogs, can die of a broken heart.

Evie, I am glad you are getting alone with your pup. Kelpies are cute and playful.

Linda, my old girl is a Great Pyrenees. She is on marriage 3 with me LOL (I try not to count that middle lighting fast one), so I won't be disposing of her! She has been my best friend for many years from my single days in apartment life in the busy city to the days we had a farm. Now she is in a rural neighborhood. I could live without her blowing her coat, but other than that she is pretty perfect. She is around at least 12 so she is very old for her breed. That is all she does now, she will come up and just put her head in my hands. Nice thing about Pyrs is they are well known for not licking, and are pretty to them self. Excellent guardian dogs. You swear they are not watching but then they are right there if anything goes wrong.

When they are young it is hard to have them in an apartment as for the first 8 years of life all they do is bark bark bark. Gnat farts, bark, grass grew, bark, butterfly went by outside, bark... But to this day she is a great "jungle gym". I used to chase my teens when they were still just little ones off of her as they would ride her and she was happy to do it. Now the young one climbs all over her, sits on her, hugs her. It is impossible to tick one of those dogs off I swear. Most patient breed of dog in the dog world IMO. That is the reason I am thinking Dane, I have read for years they are supposed to be as good with kids, patient wise, as the Pyrs. I still want a giant dog around but I do not want one like the one I have now as she is irreplaceable. So I figure I will go with way less hair the next time! And since I developed agoraphobia a dog that needs constant companionship like a Dane would not put me out. When I got my Pyr I was not agoraphobic and worked, she could be left alone and be well behaved (long as no goodies in the trash).

Has your new dog gone counter surfing yet? That was the new thing I had to learn and train on with a big dog as she was not a house dog when I got her from the rescue 10 years ago. She has her head set high enough if there is food on the table or counter she would be very quick to grab it and run. First day home she introduced me to this by stealing a whole large pizza! I have not had a coffee table in about that many years either as on wag of the tail wipes everything out. She is not much of a counter surfer these days, she waits until you go outside to do it LOL.

Hm, I had posted reply but it disappeared
I ment, Pyrs are great, and hope you and your girls will have more good time together. About Danes, to be honest (it is up to you, of course), for a family with kids I would pick a Newfie or a St. Bernard, or a Mastiff. See, Danew were bred as guard dogs, and may have issues with aggression if are not getting early obedience training or their environment is not safe enough.
Yes. Roland likes table search. Just last weekend he ate a sweet bread Jose uncarefully left on the coffe table. He also goes into a garbage and drinks from the toilet

All this dog talk makes me dream of having a dog again someday. My dog was euthanized almost two years ago.

Linda, that is great you adopted Roland the Rottie. Rottweilers have such a bad reputation, but most of the ones I have known have been very good dogs.

Last week on the Dog Whisperer there was a story of a woman who has panic attacks and agoraphobia. She trained her dog as a service dog and they passed the test. The dog is now able to go everywhere with her, like a guide dog. With her dog she is able to leave her house and feel safe.

vst

I must agree with you about owning dogs. We just adopted one from a shelter that was living in a puppy mill since he was born so he was severely neglected and ,we believe ,abused. He is terrified of men however he is very slowly getting used to my husband. He suffers from past trauma. Funny how I fell in love with a dog that I believe also has PTSD and he WAS supposed to be my husband s dog. Instead he loves me and follows me everywhere. But the feeling you get when you make that connection with a dog is a feeling like no other. These incredible creatures give us so much and it just kills me to think they can be abused. It makes me want to cry

HI everyone,
Vst, Rotties make great pets when raised and kept properly. I work with animals all my life, and everything I see just confirms my opinion that it is more an environment than a breed, which contributes to the animal's personality. A Rottie, a Pit Bull, a German Sheppard, a Doberman all make perfect house dogs in right hand. Although there are, of course, behavioral traits running in breeds.

Dshanks, there are all the reasons to suggest that dogs can have PTSD, too. A dog who was abused or exposed to severe stressors behave just the same way as a human does. We in fact had observed an American Bulldog with nightmares in our hospital! Most animals become stressed out when visit the vet, since none og them likes needles poking their skin. However, animals who were severely ill or injured and had to undergo long-lasing unpleasant treatment, often just freak out during their check-ups, or even react with fear and aggression on people wearing scrubs.
Good luck with your new puppy. Raising a previously abused pet is challenging, but also rewarding when they start to behave in more normal way. Feel free to ask me questions about your pup, as I have experience in working with troubled pets.
Take care,
Linda

This makes me want to have a dog again ! We had to put our dog to sleep, 6 years ago (he was very sick and very old). He was the best !! And I still miss him a lot, he was a Britany ! W had him for 14 years ! I now live in an appartment and having a dog is harder !