I will be using this thread to compile my thoughts on finding the right canine companion. Sadly, my beloved Black Lab, General, passed away in July. I can't express what an utterly transformative experience it was to adopt a dog, and care for him for several years. I adopted General after moving back to Philadelphia from Chicago in 2010. He had been abused and left without food or water in the woods in the middle of the summer before being rescued by animal control. The truth is, I didn't even notice him when we (me and my ex) went to the kennel. Most of the other dogs were barking, and he was sitting quietly and sadly (his brother, Major, had recently been adopted, but not him). My ex noticed him, and called me over. He was big! Well over 100 lbs. (he was part English Pointer). We met with him in one of their little meeting rooms at the SPCA, and agreed to adopt him immediately.
General came home with us the next day. Though I had had dogs growing up, I had never directly been asked to care for one, and the relationship changed things immensely for me.
I will be using this thread to examine what it is to care for a dog, how to find the right dog for you, the benefits of adopting, and the changes that can occur in a human being as the result of caring for a dog. If others have similar dog experiences I invite you to join in and discuss the positive ways having a dog has changed your life.

I  think you may well end up not with the dog you think you want but with the dog that teaches you the most, even if it turns out to be a little sneaky stinker weisenheimer of a pooch like mine.  ;-P
-Eva

Pictures?

The best ones support your practice. 

Indeed

What does it mean to "own" a dog? If you love your dog, is your love a reflection of something belonging to your dog? If the dog dies, where does the love go? Did it belong to the dog or was it yours, and if so, where is it now?


O.K. Back to paper writing.

Later I will update with dogs generally considered appropriate for apartment living.

Dogs generally considered appropriate for a reasoanble size apartment: Boston Terrier, English Bulldog, French Bulldog, Chihuaha, Daschund, Great Dane (?), Greyhound(?), Pug, Havanese, Maltese.

This list compiled from www.pawnation.com

Some of them, like the Great Dane and the Greyhound were admittedly a surprise to me. I wonder what other surprises lie (lay?) in store as we continue our exploration. Will you join me?

Someone I know just recently adopted a rescue dog, a greyhound-husky cross, just a beautiful dog – people say there’s no God, but this dog would suggest otherwise.  Needs exercise though.

That's a great anecodote, Lama Carrot Top. Thank you for sharing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0975263110/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/186-2257779-2938403



Anyone read this book?

Nah, but that's awesome. 

The Limited

I saw a man swerve his car
And try to hit a stray dog,
But the quick mutt dodged
Between two parked carsAnd made his escape.

God, I thought, did I just see
What I think I saw?

At the next red light,I pulled up beside the man
And stared hard at him.
He knew that’d I seen
His murder attempt,But he didn’t care.

He smiled and yelled loud
Enough for me to hear him
Through our closed windows:“Don’t give me that face
Unless you’re going to do
Something about it.
Come on tough guy,What are you going to do?”

I didn’t do anything.
I turned right on the green.
He turned left against traffic.I don’t know what happened
To that man or the dog,
But I drove home
And wrote this poem.

Why do poets think
They can change the world?
The only life I can save
Is my own.–

from the book War Dances,

Ha. There is a cat on my lap right now that I've inherited joint ownership with somehow upon moving in with a cat owner. As for dogs, to each their own. Some people say they never wanted to get married until they met the right person. Perhaps you just don't know which dog is right for you, which is the purpose of this thread. I imagine there are a lot of people out there in your position. I do hope you you will continue to check in, and keep an open mind. The perfect dog may be waiting to transform you.

Edit: I'd like to see this thread reach 300 views by daybreak. I will continue to work on school and check in, but I am optimistic. 

After much deliberation I went with a ten month old Bernese Mountain Dog/Lab mix. She is female. Ten months old. Lainey. I will update more (perhaps) at a later time.

We've recently moved from a flat to a house. For the last few months we had 4 dogs, all rescues/retirees of some sort, 2 of them black greyhounds (one is a temporary resident whilst my father-in-law works abroad), 1 lurcher and 1 whippet/greyhound cross (we think). As long as you don't mind sharing your space completely they are lovely dogs. Very lazy, not desperate for lots of exercise. Sweet and daft in a nice way. Be prepared to share your sofa and possibly bed! Also they make very little noise, some barely ever bark, I know living in communal buildings this could be a factor.

For the last 4 years or so we've lived with 3 longdogs in 2 different flats. Possibly the only less than ideal thing is their size, some greyhounds are quite big but they do vary.

Here is a recent pic of our 4, seems I can't work out how to embed the pic
https://flic.kr/p/sLpfwM

Sweet. I used to have a pound great pyr-- very best wishes to you and yours

To Nick's point, I do meditate with him, definitely metta and karuna and a little massage for limping-side hip and  calming vigilance to sounds. He was stray and had a few owners so a) he knows the good free life of being stray during formative years, b) he knows a lot of kennel/impoundment (and seems to enjoy kenneling and jumping on chain fences), c) he's had a few owners' rules and several training styles, including prong collars-- so he's made a lot of adjustments for different conditions.

And I practice karuna-metta for myself, too, as I learn and make mistakes and inconsistencies in our language-behavior building. It took me about 9 months to find a training method that I think is ideal for us (Heeling by Choice). 

Now for walkies! =]

Cool, Gareth. I saw the pic. They look like nice dogs.

Thanks, Katy. I will check out heeling by choice. Sounds interesting.

Dogs are great levelers.  I like to tell people that every jacket I own has poop bags in the pockets, including my tuxedo and dinner jackets. And yes, I can come home from a formal event and take the dogs for a walk, and pick up after them.

On Daniel's character sheet, I would add "skillfull relationships with dogs" as an attribute, and it would rank higher than "skillfull relationships with people". In my neighborhood, I learned the dogs' names long before I learned their owners'. 

Sorry for the delayed response. The second paragraph was funny Thanks for sharing.