made the decision to get a dog...HELP

[Badger]

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Just so we're clear, when you buy a dog, it will live for about a decade, pooping a couple to a few times per day.

You will handle 100% of that poop. Keep that in mind.

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I'm afraid of what the current state of my back yard is. 2 Dogs, haven't cleaned up in over a month...

[katyseagull]

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I'm afraid of what the current state of my back yard is. 2 Dogs, haven't cleaned up in over a month...

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[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] ew

[bisonbison]

And your dog will be sick, or injured, and the way in which you exhausted his energy, a daily task unto itself, may disappear for a while, and you've got to care for him.

But you'll love him within a week. And it's worthwhile.

[basco]

Consider getting a puppy from the humane society - something like 50% of all the dogs and cats there are euthanized.

Please correct me if you know otherwise... that seems staggering.

[Drew16]

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Rescue a dog from the pound and give it the life it deserves.
It is a decision you will never regret.

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petfinder

[PokerFink]

Hey bud,

I'm not sure that you realize what you're getting into. Dogs are expensive. They also require a lot more money and work than cats. Cats pretty much take care of themselves, while you have to do everything for the dog. You don't have a yard, so you MUST walk it SEVERAL times per day. It has to go to the vet for checkups, and many breeds require constant grooming. We have a PBGV and my mom literally combs it several times per day, otherwise she would be a mess. They need a lot of food, which they then [censored] out and you have to cleanup.

Definitely DO NOT get one from a pet store, whatever you save upfront you will lose later on many times over. Find a good breeder and make sure you visit their house to make sure it's clean and the dogs are being born in a good environment.

The idea of getting an older dog isn't bad. Puppies are adorable and very lovable, but they're also a pain in the butt. It took us a while (~ a year) to housetrain our latest dog, and she still has accidents occasionally. Training the first one is not easy. While you miss out on all the puppy-ness by getting an older dog, you can save a lot of headache. It's not just house training, you also have to train them not to chew, how to interact with others, etc. You have high counters which will help, my dogs LOVE jumping up and pulling food off the table/counters. And god help you if you get a biter, it can be very difficult to teach some dogs not to bite people. Chewy has bit just about everyone in our neighborhood, thankfully never bad enough for a lawsuit, but he has drawn blood. Actually I think I'm the only one he has never bit.

I'm not trying to say you can't do it or you shoulden't. Nor am I suggesting a cat, because I think dogs are much better. I just want you to realize what you're getting into.

Breeds to consider:
- West Highland Terrier
- Scottish Terrier
- English Bulldog
- Norwich Terrier
- Norfolk Terrier
- Lots more, this is just a sample. The norwich/norfolks are hard to find and expensive, we tried for years to get one and never could, although Chewy is a Lucas Terrier which is half Norfolk. But they're adorable and supposed to be great dogs.

Breeds to AVOID:
- Jack Russell Terrier: too high energy, bad for apt.
- Fox Terrier: loud, yappy, annoying
- PVGB: very high maintenance, lots of grooming
- You also want to avoid anything with long hair, like a Maltese, since they will be very hot in Vegas and require lots of groming.

Tips:
- Buy books. Go to Amazon or Borders or PetCo and get books on dog training and different breeds. There are six gazillion books on dogs that can help much more than OOT.
- Get Natures Miracle. It's a product sold at every pet store. It will get the smell out when the dog has an accident on the rug, no cleaning required, you just dump the stuff on and let it dry. It's cheap and worth its weight in gold.
- The more toys they have the less incentive they have to chew your stuff. You don't need fancy toys, my dogs' favorite toys are our old shoes and pieces of rope. And empty 2-liter soda bottles, they love those. There are also toys called "congs" thats a rubber thingy with a hole running through the middle. You put a treat or some peanut butter in the middle and the dog works the food out. Keeps them occupied for a couple hours, ie they're awesome.
- Positive reinforcement is better than negative. Obviously you have to yell at the dog when it pisses on the rug, but the best way to train them is to use treats when they do something right.
- Careful with human food. My dogs love just about everything we eat, especially salmon and sweat potatoes. A little bit is fine and they will love you, but don't let your dog get fat. The vet can help with this. Oh, make sure you give them a jelly bean at some point, it's really funny.

Oh, here are Chewy and Chloe, a Lucas Terrier and PBGV respectively:

[Drew16]

btw, here are my dogs. both came from a rescue...

[katyseagull]

PokerFink, I love that Chewy dog so much.

[LockForward]

Dog 1
Dog 2
Dog 3
Dog 4
Dog 5

These are some good candidates for you. Found them in a few minutes on petfinder. The 2 greyhounds are larger than you wanted, but they actually make excellent apartment dogs. The others are smaller dogs, but they all will require you to brush them out a few times a week and take them to the groomer ever 4 to 6 weeks.

I'm amazed at the number of brachycephalic breeds (dogs with a pushed in nose) that people have recommended so far. Stay away from these breeds (bulldogs, pugs etc) given your climate and your dog experience.

[PokerFink]

Thank you. Outside the biting problem, he's great. Loving, very obedient, and super low maintenance.

If you're interested, here is some information. It's a mix between a Norfolk Terrier and a Sealyham Terrier.