Sanvean

Many groups nowadays are foster-care based. That's a good way to find a pet, because the foster parent will know a lot more about a pet that they live with than a shelter worker will know about an animal he/she sees for just a few hours a day. Also, danyell's suggestion of being a foster parent is excellent. We fostered twice for my group and discovered that we were looking for something very different than what I THOUGHT we were looking for!

I agree with the others...if the dog is raised with kitties, he/she should be fine. You might look for a breeder who has cats of her own. It sounds like you would be a good family for a border collie! Other activities you might think about doing with your dog include running, biking, flyball and agility. The last two are things your kids might also enjoy doing.

I personally prefer Rotties. The ones that I have known are somewhat less aloof than Dobies. I do love Dobies, but they seem to bond very strongly with one person, whereas I feel that Dobies are more family-oriented.

This is a new pit puppy (well, older puppy) that my rescue has. Isn't she a darling???! [img]http://www.petfinder.com/fotos/MI132.1959974.jpg[/img] You can read about her here: [url]http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=1959974&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=3f395f21212c02b5-app1&display=&preview=1&row=0[/url]

Sounds like he needs to be kicked off the force...but of course, I doubt he will.

Oh, she is a precious wee angel!!!

I've met a couple and think they are just delightful little dogs! You will, of course, want to be careful when selecting a breeder, especially as they seem to be getting more popular lately. This page has quite a few good resources: [url]http://papillonclub.org/[/url]

Thanks, everyone :D Rowie, I have to confess that I'm quite proud of my angel's pedigree! I think she has some fabulous dogs in her family. I got to meet her daddy when we first went to meet her and her breeder...he is 10 now but still a gorgeous dog! He once beat the No. 2 ranked Maltese in the country in a show.

Darling photo!

I love classical guitar, too, Mei Mei! We wanted something a little different -- not a DJ or a string quartet. Plus, it was just right for an early reception. I felt like a band or DJ would have been overdoing it for that time of day.

Good points, everyone. I stand corrected :oops: Interestingly, some of the royal families (like the Hawaiian ones) DID benefit from inbreeding. However, that was because infanticide was practicide widely and any imperfect infants were killed.

I just finished putting Macy's Web site up. It's not a whole lot right now (mostly just her story and her pedigree, along with a new photo), but I thought you guys might want to check it out! [url]http://www.alexiscoxon.com/html/macy.html[/url] Also, if you go under "The big day" on my site, I have an account of my wedding day and part of our honeymoon (haven't finished that part yet).

I absolutely disagree, Cassie. If animals in nature "know" not to breed incestually, then wouldn't domesticated animals "know" the same thing? Wouldn't a male dog, say, refuse to mate with his daughter? Whiile some animals have social structures that would prevent this (say, males generally leave the family group when they're of a certain age), many others do not. This article is very interesting: [url]http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/inbreeding.htm[/url]

I would get started with puppy classes as soon as your pup has all his shots, so he will be used to being around other dogs. In the meantime, make sure your baby has lots of positive experiences with people of all ages, other animals, etc. I think the book "The Perfect Puppy" has a lot of great suggestions for socializing pups. And don't forget to post photos! ;)

It is very, very occasionally done by experienced breeders, but ONLY ones who know in great detail what they are doing and why. I would never, ever recommended it being tried by someone who hasn't been breeding dogs (and showing them and studying genetics) for decades.

I do rescue, and we have gotten many number 10s. One was a very lovely but shy Siamese cat whose elderly owner had died. She was such an angel. (She did find a home.) It upsets me to no end when people can't bother to take care of a deceased relative or friend's pet. If something were to happen to me, I would hope the LAST thing my family or friends would do would be to give my beloved pets to strangers.

I know! Her breeder showed me the photo proofs when I was at a show helping her out a couple of months ago -- I'm so eager to see the article! I even got to meet those puppies when I first went to meet Macy. They were as sweet and cute as could be :D

Ooooh, that issue isn't out here yet! But I'm dying to get it, because the pups in there are my Macy's nieces and nephews!!!! They are her litter-sister's babies, from Veneridge Maltese in Michigan (Macy's breeder). I can't WAIT till it's in stores here!!!!

I assume you mean "get some information," not "get some dogs"! :D This might help a little: [url]http://www.arba.org/Breed%20Standards/Anglo-Francais-Standard.htm[/url]

If you go to this site: [url]http://www.diggitydogpark.com/parkcam.html[/url] you can see two other areas, too...a play area and a small-dog area.

Someone just posted this on another forum I'm on, and I knew you guys would love it! It's from a doggie daycare: [url]http://www.diggitydogpark.com/parkcam1.html[/url]

I've heard some folks on the Maltese forum I'm on say that their dogs did this as puppies. My Macy, who is 5, clearly loves us but doesn't always want to sit on our laps or even sit near us on the couch. From what I hear, though, most puppies get cuddlier as they get older.

Maybe you could inform them that due to your concerns, you'll be putting a security camera up in your back yard (even if it's not true!)

No, I think the breeders are just breeding dogs as huge as possible, with no regard for the standard.

Lisa, as I mentioned above, I'm not opposed to crossbreeding as long as it's for a good reason. (But I don't consider "it would be cute!" a good reason!) I have NOTHING against the dogs themselves -- my only problem is with irresponsible breeding. I am a rescue volunteer and know and love many, many mixes. I work very hard every week to get them good homes, and I think that they are excellent dogs. But yes, in my ideal world, every dog would be born to a loving, careful breeder who very carefully researched health, temperament and conformation before breeding.