Finding the Perfect Dog There is no such animal. So, stop looking.

Really good article about the expectations of potential dog owners:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2100606/

I remember when Dalmatians became the trendy dog, just after "101 Dalmatians" was re-released. Within six months, shelters were full of them. At the time, I owned one, as I do now. People did not seem to realize that this cute little puppy was going to grow into a large, energetic dog, who needed someone to play with and pay attention to it. I saw one couple, on TV, who got rid of the dog, because it was rambunctious with their 6-year-old. ANY puppy will be rambunctious. Naturally, they blamed the breed, rather than the fact that they couldn't be bothered to train the dog.

Mark has two Dalmatians and the twins are allowed supervised playtime with them. This is teaching the kids and the dogs to get along.

Amen Katie - thanks for sharing that!

Took us 11 months to decide on adopting another dog after our Ellie Mae crossed. We looked for a shelter puppy, mixed breed with traits that get along with cats, and one that wouldn't grow beyond the size we were willing to take care of (80 pounds). And 2 puppies later, with first round of obedience training behind us, they are ours for life!! I love my Sam and Spike.

And yes, they are puppies, they have their occassional accident in the house, they yack up things that they have gotten into, they have a strong liking to eat paper and cardboard and once in a great while they will do something really stupid like eating the microwave stand. You re-emphasize the training, learn what you did wrong and correct yourself.

I never went to look for a dog , funny now I got 3 LOL
One dog was to pts at a vets office and so I took him home , he was born with one eye only .
One dog was pts by the local shelter here and was abused by children and a man and so has only one good eye to see .
One dog was to placed to the local shelter , being already 1 1/2 years old would not had a change for adoption .
The moral of the story is , I got 3 dogs and none of them are perfect . 2 are diggers in the yard , 2 of them would kill each other if together .
But all 3 of them great dogs in my eyes and wonderfull loving dogs and would not want to miss them any more

Crazy...as if shelter dogs and only shelter dogs have behavioral problems! And even if a shelter dog needs more affection and training (not a very realistic if), anyone who would rather kill a dog than spend time with theirs should not even have one!

That's my main problem with that article.

Ike is very well-behaved and causes us no trouble. Pearl is a much more rambunctious and very stubborn dog. She has learned "sit" but seems to have a problem with "stay". Chewing is still an issue with her, too. In order to save the house, Pearl sleeps in a crate at night. Its not as if she's bored and has no toys or anyone to play with. She loves her crate and when I turn off the TV, she goes right in, without being told to.

We never considered geting rid of her, though.

Have you tried nonviolent training? It's a relatively newer method that's spread in recent years, but isn't the norm at this time I think. Try The Dog Whisperer by Paul Owens. I found it a very simple and understandable but powerful book. It has great explanations of the concepts and step-by-step instructions on teaching with methods I hadn't even considered before.

It's good that an average cat is so much closer to perfection than an average dog, can anyone disagree?

No Perfect Dogs You got that right, at least my 3 aren't perfect in anyway. But I knew that when I adopted Nakita and Dakota that they were going to tear things up. I knew that when I adopted them that they would be killing small animals that wonder into the back yard, and digging crators big enough to break a leg in, that is one trait of their breeding. I knew that when I bought Ceasar that he was going to have accidents in the house. When Nemo was alive he ate Ken's truck(yes he tore it to pieces). I knew that it was going to cost a great deal of money to feed and care for them.

I have never used anything but Non-Violent training for my animals, they are trained with postivie reinforcement and love. People that train with violence should be shot.

Louse76, you are right cats are near prefection, but I have got to admit that neither one of my boys are perfect. The Sammycat had to be taught that it isn't okay to sharpen his claws on my oak cabinets. Oscar had to be taught that it's not okay to climb to the top of the windows and shred the curtains.

There are no perfect dogs or cats for that matter, but if you are willing to take them into your home, you should be willing to understand that there will be issues that must be addressed. If you aren't willing to take the time and deal with them in the proper way,I mean with gentleness and love, than it would be best if they were not adopted at all. Well let me restate that, it would be best not to be adopted at all by someone who has unrealistic ideas about what that animal is all about.

My dogs are expected to do their business outside, bark at strangers approaching the house and be affectionate and entertaining companions. The back yard is their turf and there are some good-sized holes out there - we just watch where we walk. We provide adequate food and water and plenty of attention, in the evenings.

We NEVER use violent training methods. A stern "no" and a shaken finger is usually enough to stop misbehavior. This only works, when we are at home, though.

Owen's method doesn't even use a "No" or any sternness at all. That's what got me so interested. The only punishment, correction, or whatever you want to call it is saying something like "oops" (not in an angry tone or anything), to let them know they made a mistake.

Really I think all dogs and cats are perfect in their own ways. If a person can't see the perfection in them, too bad for them

Weatherlight, have you thought of using this book to train cats? There are some who claim that cats can't be trained. In fact, cats train us. Be careful when you think you have trained the cat, you may discover that the cat has trained you.

Raising a dog acquired from a good and reputable breeder, who understands the dog's temperament and the human's circumstances and can match the two, is much easier. Working with a Lab, standard poodle, golden retriever, or German shepherd—breeds that have worked with humans for centuries and whose behavioral traits are well known—may mean fewer surprises.

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OR are you advocating this, which you spoke of on petfinders?

CmCinMD...call the shelter and see if he is still available...if they say no...ask if he was rescued by Lost Dog rescue...that is the group I volunteer with...I certainly hope he is either still available or with our rescue.

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Are you pro-breeder AND pro-rescue? Just curious.

Caspar>>>Actually, it's fairly easy to use the sit method with cats, getting their attention upward. Apparently they have the same tendency to sit down when looking above them that dogs do. I've tried it on Kitty and Robin for fun, and it's worked several times (although it took them a few minutes sometimes), but as it's rather useless for them to know "sit," I'm not actually going to obedience train them. I think.

As for the more advanced things...I don't think cats can learn to use a target stick. But how would I know; I never learned much on cat training.

I do not think that purebreds are "better" than mixed breed dogs...nor do I agree that they have less problems...but I do understand when a person decides to go the "breeder" route instead of the "rescue" route. I would simply ask that they spend as much time researching the breeder as they would to research a new car or a new house. A dog is a lifetime commitment and if you decide to go the breeder route..you need to find a reputable breeder. I really referred to this article because I liked how it questions why someone wants a dog and also some of the fairy tale expectations that people have of a dog.

So yes..I support rescuing AND reputable breeders (I do not support backyard breeders or puppy mills)

Katie