My family wants to get a dog. advice please?

My family is thinking about getting a dog, do you think this is right for us?





We are a family of five, my mom, forty, my sister, eleven, my brothe, nine, and me, fifteen. We recently went through a nasty divorce and are enjoying new freedoms, so my mom thought it would be nice to get a dog. We own our reasonably-sized single-family home with a large fenced yard. My siblings and I go to school and my mom works as a teacher. There isn't anyone home during the day, but the dog would get lots of attention after school. We are an active famlily and love to hike and camp. None of us are afraid of dogs. We would like a larger dog. Our grandparents have a house on a lake, so our dog could swim with us. We're prepared to go for walks, even the groomer is nessesary. One more thing, my mom also thinks a dog would be a good idea for protection (like barking if anyone comes near the house, and basicly just looking formitable) lots of our friends have dogs, including our next door neighbor, who we are very close with. He has a larger dog and they could even have play dates during the day. This will be our first dog.





Well, what do you think? Is our lifestyle ready for a dog? Also, what breed of dog would be good for us to get?male of female? Puppy or adult?





Thanks for your advice. We want to have lots of opinions because we understand the impact a dog will have on our lives.My family wants to get a dog. advice please?
hi,





to know what type of dog will suit you, you can use this dog finder match up http://dogtime.com/matchup/start


the goal here is to help you figure out what type of dog best suits your personality and lifestyle. The results of the match up will suggest certain breeds.





hope this helpsMy family wants to get a dog. advice please?
An adult dog. Have the dog indoors when people can't be outside with it to supervise. Maybe once you get used to one dog, you could have two so the dog isn't lonely during the day.





Get one from a shelter and save a life.





http://petfinder.com/





I have rescued four of my five dogs. All have been wonderful. My other dog was given to us as a puppy, and as God is my witness, I'll never get a puppy again if I can help it. Adults are much easier to train.





Don't buy from a pet store.





http://stoppuppymills.org/ http://saynotopetstorepuppies.com/ http://millbusters.com/





As for snappiness, that knows no gender. My male I have now is more vocal than any of my dogs, even my female that I have now.
Dogs are great you should really get one! But you have to know it is a lot of hard work. Getting its food everyday, brushing it, (if it even has fur) walking it, playing with it, but that's up to you! You should get a bichon or a multese, a girl, and of course a puppy! You wouldn't want an adult becuase adults don't live longer! Get a puppy so you can have it for a long time before it dies.
Get a Whippet or a Dalmatian.





Both are awesome athletic dogs that are very family orientated.








http://www.akc.org/breeds/whippet/index.鈥?/a>





http://www.akc.org/breeds/dalmatian/
At first look I want to yell ';HUSKY!!!'; because you seem to be very willing to be very active with your dog. Of course, they do love to escape (from any yard really) and you can not really let them run off the leash for a long time (we are lucky after only 7 months with us we can let him off the leash), but they are great family pets, love everyone they meet, mainly children. However, they are strong and made for pulling and running, so for the smaller children it could be very hard to walk the dog. A Collie is a wonderful pet for a family, loyal, easy to train (most of the time), a great playmate and protector the same goes for Labrador and Retriever.


However, straight from the heart I would say why don't you all together go to one of the shelters and see what you find there, maybe beforehand do an online search and see what is out there, even on craiglist you often find a lot of great dogs. Since the dog would be alone in the morning you should decide on one that is already house-trained or wait until spring break, so you can potty-train a puppy (of course it might take a bit longer than spring break..)


Also the fact of allergies can come into play, check if you and your siblings might be allergic, then you should go for a breed like terriers, poodles, spaniels.


Whichever your family will decide, I wish you lots of fun and good luck! In the end you will find the right dog.
a german shepard or a golden retriever, good luck!
Dont get a puppy. Get an adlut dog. Get a dog that is at least over a year old. Puppies are a HUGE responsibility. If you get a newborn puppy get ready for crying and barking at night. Poop on the carpets, and you have to always be watching it to make sure it doesnt get stuck behind something or fall. Probably Male. Because females are known to be kind of snappy more of the time. And the breed is up to you. I have a Collie. And i love him to death. Hes wonderful with children and is a great dog.
Definitely an adult - puppies need lots of time and training, as well as bathroom breaks, which you wouldn't be able to provide if you guys aren't home much during the day.





Since you guys seem to be open to anything, i would take a trip to your local shelter and look around. If you see a dog you like, ask the workers if they could guess the dog's breed(s) - then go home and research it.





Remember with a mix they can inherit any, all, or none of what they are mixed with! But researching will at least give you an idea of what you can expect! Keep these few things in mind:





Size, energy level, exercise needs, general temperament, grooming needs, shedding/nonshedding, trainability, intelligence.





For a first time dog owning family, i would stick to ';simple breeds.'; Stay away from the powerful working dogs - they tend to need more training, exercise, and socialization to prevent behavior problems.





Some of these dogs include Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Mastiffs, and PitBull type dogs. If the family THINKS they can handle any of these dogs and you're willing to bring in a trainer for help... then go for it. Just be warned...





Also keep this in mind: the main caregiver and the person who WALKS the dog (or handles the dog in public) should be able to physically control the untrained dog. You wouldn't hand the leash of a 120 lb Great Dane to a kid who weighs only 80 lbs, or to an elderly woman with back problems.
say no to pitbulls!!
sounds like you need an large-ish, energetic breed that is pretty easy going. how about a boxer? they may not be the prettiest dogs in the world but are so loving, and sound gr8 for you. they are ready to play when you are and often give a small warning bark.


Labradors are gr8 too. they are very smart aswell. i would suggest an adult dog ar one over 2 years. Females are generally more easy going but i dont think either gender is particularly different. i have a female jack russell terrier puppy. she is totally mad but is gorgey all the same. my mum is at home most of the day at the mo tho.


before you search for breeders or anything, go down to your local shelter and have a look at all the dogs, big and small and see who come up to you and you may fall in love with a chiuauaua. have fun with youre new dog


x
You guys sound ready for a dog! I would suggest a lab for you, they are big and love to swim. Plus they love being involved with the family and are great with kids.
I think a dog would be a great addition! I think it would be a really fun experience for your family to rescue a young adult dog. You could all go to the shelter together and see if there's a special one that just seems as though it's been waiting for you all along. I say adult because there is no one to be home to supervise for the majority of the day, so a puppy might be difficult. If you do decide to get a puppy, I would suggest thoroughly educating yourselves first, and getting it at the start of the summer when you're out of school. That way the puppy wont be alone during those first crucial months of his life. Training a puppy is much harder when you're not there to teach him right from wrong in the beginning.





As for a breed...I have a golden retriever and I would recommend this breed to just about everyone! This breed is great for outdoorsy people because they LOVE the outdoors. However, he's a terrible watchdog, no one is a stranger to him:)





He is a male, and I personally like males (neutered males, that is) better, but most people say the sex doesn't matter. In my experience females have been more needy and jealous. But that's just my experience.





That's all the advice I have :)
It does sound like your lifestyle would be suited for a dog...as long as they are getting plenty of attention. As for the type of dog, it depends on what qualities you are looking for you can watch DOGS 101 (I think it comes on animal planet) and it will give in depth descriptions of different breeds of dogs as well as the pros and cons of owning each breed. As far as what sex to get I am partial to males myself, but females tend to have more of the motherly instinct about them. I would deffinately suggest getting a young dog, between 4 months and a year. I only suggest this because you said that your neighbor has a dog and it is a lot easier to introduce a young dog to new dogs than it is to introduce adults. But with you guys only being home in the morning and the afternoon it would be difficult to house train your dog. Hope this helps!!
i think you guys sound in need of a good dog. i would suggest getting a great dane, big, good watch dog but gentle giants. and couch potatoish so not overly hyper
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/search.htm