Adopting a dog.

[Yachtzee]

I wonder if a lot of it has to do with shedding. Black fur has a tendency to show up on light colored carpets. Personally, I love black dogs. The best dogs I've ever had were a black lab mix and a border collie (tri-color, but predominantly black). Were I to get another dog after Traubi passes on, I'd prefer a black lab, a chocolate lab, or a newfoundland.

[Red Leader]

I wonder if a lot of it has to do with shedding. Black fur has a tendency to show up on light colored carpets. Personally, I love black dogs. The best dogs I've ever had were a black lab mix and a border collie (tri-color, but predominantly black). Were I to get another dog after Traubi passes on, I'd prefer a black lab, a chocolate lab, or a newfoundland.

If you like those three, don't rule out a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. A friend of mine in college had one and he was one of the best dogs I've ever known. Smart and had the demeanor of a golden, or a yellow lab. Cheseapeake Bay retrievers are chocolate colored with a wavy coat on their backs. Other than that, they look almost identical to chocolate labs, *without the hyperness because of that recessive gene.



*for Puffy

[Edskin]

Dogs rule......

[Yachtzee]

If you like those three, don't rule out a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. A friend of mine in college had one and he was one of the best dogs I've ever known. Smart and had the demeanor of a golden, or a yellow lab. Cheseapeake Bay retrievers are chocolate colored with a wavy coat on their backs. Other than that, they look almost identical to chocolate labs, *without the hyperness because of that recessive gene.



*for Puffy

Thanks for the tip. They're beautiful dogs.

[Yachtzee]

Here's my border collie mix, adopted from the Lorain Co. Animal Protection League in 1997.

[Puffy]

Chesapeake's are great dogs. Very smart and friendly, eager to please.

* By the way, for those wondering, the reason Red Leader knows so much about recessive genes is because he is a victim of a recessive gene.

[SunDeck]

The best dog I've ever had is a mutt. She's loyal, has a great disposition and was a dream to train. The girl will down stay in the middle of the street if I ask her to and is perfectly walkable off lead. Couldn't ask for a better dog.

I've had pure breeds and I worry about the disposition. Golden Retrievers, of all dogs, now have this strain of snippiness running through them from poor breeding. It's not that I object to breeding, but I think you have to be careful because some people are churning them out right and left without regard to temperment.

My vote is to go to a shelter and find a nice medium sized mix female. The girls are much easier to train, especially if they are edging out of puppyhood IMO. If I were going to adopt tomorrow I'd look for something with terrier shephard or retriever tendencies. My old girl has a lot of sheephound in her, which can be a little on the annoying side (she herds things, like kids and other dogs), but overall I think whatever else is bred into her has evened out the oddities of her sheephoundedness.