I need some advice.
I am wanting to adopt a dog but I don't know if it is a good idea right now, or which dog to choose... I have a senior dog (Golden Retriever.) I had another senior dog who passed away recently and I had been thinking about getting another dog for a while now, but even more since he passed away.
I like to do agility and other sports but my Golden had to stop these a long time ago due to back problems, so I would like a dog I can do sports with. I am not sure if I should wait to get one until after my senior dog is gone.
The first option is, I have been fostering a shelter dog who I kind of like but I am not sure if I might want to adopt him or not-- sometimes I think maybe it would work out and sometimes I think it is a bad idea or that he is not a good match. He is a Lab mix about 10 months old. He is very friendly, housetrained and actually pretty calm for a young dog... Some of the reasons I am not sure about possibly adopting him are that he plays really rough with other dogs and with my cats (tries to grab them or puts a paw on their backs which is especially bad as he did this to my arthritic senior cat), and has bad habits such as he jumps up on people with his claws (I have bruises/scratches). He also has not had any obedience training and pulls very hard on leash but those last two are things I can work on- I am not sure how to work on the playing too rough though. He also REALLY wants to chase small animals on walks and I have small pets (in cages of course) so I am a little concerned about that. He watches my rats in their cage pretty intently but does not try to go up to them or jump at the cage or anything (I can also keep him out of the room where they are kept if needed.)
Another option is, I know of a German Shepherd puppy available from a breeder. I have always wanted a German Shepherd but have not had the opportunity to get one before. He is about 4 months old, mostly housetrained and has some obedience training (took classes). His parents have OFA hips/elbows and other health testing done and the mother does agility. He has some type of food allergies so they are lowering the adoption fee.
I am not sure if a puppy is a good idea, although I do have quite a bit of free time right now for training and socializing...
One thing is with either of these dogs I can't do dog sports right away because with large breeds they should not do any activities which are hard on their joints until about 2 years old, to prevent injury while they are growing.
The other option is just to wait and not get another dog right now. I would be able to start preparing them to do sports activities but could not actually take classes for say agility, flyball, etc for quite a while.
The other option is just to not get any dog right now-- to wait a while, which would probably mean waiting until next spring at the soonest.
I am wanting to adopt a dog but I don't know if it is a good idea right now, or which dog to choose... I have a senior dog (Golden Retriever.) I had another senior dog who passed away recently and I had been thinking about getting another dog for a while now, but even more since he passed away.
I like to do agility and other sports but my Golden had to stop these a long time ago due to back problems, so I would like a dog I can do sports with. I am not sure if I should wait to get one until after my senior dog is gone.
The first option is, I have been fostering a shelter dog who I kind of like but I am not sure if I might want to adopt him or not-- sometimes I think maybe it would work out and sometimes I think it is a bad idea or that he is not a good match. He is a Lab mix about 10 months old. He is very friendly, housetrained and actually pretty calm for a young dog... Some of the reasons I am not sure about possibly adopting him are that he plays really rough with other dogs and with my cats (tries to grab them or puts a paw on their backs which is especially bad as he did this to my arthritic senior cat), and has bad habits such as he jumps up on people with his claws (I have bruises/scratches). He also has not had any obedience training and pulls very hard on leash but those last two are things I can work on- I am not sure how to work on the playing too rough though. He also REALLY wants to chase small animals on walks and I have small pets (in cages of course) so I am a little concerned about that. He watches my rats in their cage pretty intently but does not try to go up to them or jump at the cage or anything (I can also keep him out of the room where they are kept if needed.)
Another option is, I know of a German Shepherd puppy available from a breeder. I have always wanted a German Shepherd but have not had the opportunity to get one before. He is about 4 months old, mostly housetrained and has some obedience training (took classes). His parents have OFA hips/elbows and other health testing done and the mother does agility. He has some type of food allergies so they are lowering the adoption fee.
I am not sure if a puppy is a good idea, although I do have quite a bit of free time right now for training and socializing...
One thing is with either of these dogs I can't do dog sports right away because with large breeds they should not do any activities which are hard on their joints until about 2 years old, to prevent injury while they are growing.
The other option is just to wait and not get another dog right now. I would be able to start preparing them to do sports activities but could not actually take classes for say agility, flyball, etc for quite a while.
The other option is just to not get any dog right now-- to wait a while, which would probably mean waiting until next spring at the soonest.
