My 16 year old black lab is on his last legs and I've been thinking about bringing a puppy or a young dog in before he passes. My wife says she will divorce me if I get a puppy.

I got the black lab when he was 6 weeks old and he was freakin' wheels off for 15 months. I can match dog stories with anybody. He chewed up shoes, TV remotes, carpets, stairways, ripped a 6 foot section of drain pipe off the side of the house, ate the pool sweep, chewed through the neighbor's privacy fence and ate their pool sweep, etc. Once he hit 15-18 months, he calmed down and has been a terrific companion since then.

Can anybody make recommendations about a pup that won't chew? I also like short-haired dogs that don't shed too much.

Go to the pound, find a suitable dog that is around 2 years old. Bad puppy stuff mostly over with. It's always worked for me.

Heidewachtel (aka Small Münsterländer)

All puppies chew. It’s just part of the teething process. Good advice above- go to an animal shelter and get a 1-2 y.o. dog.

I don’t know that I’d bring a new dog in with an 18 year old member of the family... he’d have to deal with establishing a pecking order, but you know him and maybe he likes all other dogs.

If this is about a hunting buddy dog, I’d get a started lab to help with the family part, or an older dog from a working kennel, like a game farm that retires the pups after a few years.

Getting a shelter dog is a good choice for a companion pup, but pretty unlikely to be much of a hunter.

I have two dogs.

Schnauzer- great dog that does not shed. Very good with kids and other people.

Border Terrier- funny personality, great around people, actual quite calm in the house for the most part. It independent yet likes some attention. It does shed (I thought it would not, some do some don’t). We do brush often, for a few minutes.

I like smaller dogs but they can be a bit harder headed in my opinion.

I have had a weimaraner, rhodesian ridgeback and now have a great dane. The weim chewed the most by far, nothing out of hand but a few of the wife's shoes met there demise. Our great dane has been very easy to train and other then issues with his size, has been a fantastic companion to our family.

Thats good age for a lab Mike, I hope he has more years in him yet for you.

I dread the day I loose mine, the little bugger is like a third child to me.

Have you considered if the wife has trade-in value on your new puppy?

He still likes to eat so maybe he's got some more time. Breaks my heart watching him struggle to get up and down the stairs but he insists on sleeping right by the bed.

quote:

Originally posted by nute:
Thats good age for a lab Mike, I hope he has more years in him yet for you.

I dread the day I loose mine, the little bugger is like a third child to me.

My brother`s dog passed away last year. We knew it would come, but it`s tough. hopefully we will have some golden years

i have had many dogs - my favorite are boxer mixes, with the absolute fav being a boxer-lab - minimal shed, smart, usually calm, and very affectionate .
My current one is 14 months old - nearly never barks, friendly to people and dogs, easy to live with .. best dog ever

if you can deal with a goof ball boxer they are pretty good dogs, so are the other herding breeds [yes a Boxer is a herding dog]
only issue with them is you gotta be smarter than they are, and they can be some weird about strangers.
[the Boxer cross I have is like that, bonus is I never have to lock the trucks doors]

the Lab I have isn't much of a chewer, but she does like to dig little holes here and there, and she doesn't fetch.
stupid 1600 dollar dog and she doesn't have a clue about anything,,, and especially anything hunting.

If you are looking for both a friend and a great hunter, I’ve had great luck with field trial Labs. Talk to the breeder and do your research and make certain the breeding shows that they have an “off switch”. Check out the classified on Retrievertrsining.net

Best dogs I've had were Labs.
One was a male I got at 5 weeks. Got to 105# and strong as a bull. Trained him with voice, whistle and visual commands. Since I didn't know shit about training a hunting dog, he could find a tennis ball, but wouldn't pick up a dead bird, even though he wasn't at all gun-shy. Made a great family dog.

The second was a female. Not as big, not as disciplined, but had a nose like a blood hound. I could hit a golf ball over the pond behind my house and she would retrieve it! She, too was great with kids.

I'd get another Lab.

I like Schrodinger's idea. Definitely worth investigating.

I like German shepherds but the breed has been destroyed by bad breeding. Need to buy carefully. Better health dogs are also worse pet dogs.

They shed a lot too.

Most bad people don’t mess around with house with a German shepherd.

I would only get shepherds but I am biased.

Mike

I agree German Shepherds are great dogs, but the don’t hunt. The biggest problem is the show people have developed this deformed roach back. One has to get a dog out of east Germany or Czech breeding to get a dog that’s not crippled.

German Shepherds have been so inbreed to accentuate certain traits that hip dysplasia has become a major problem. For years I bred, and showed them in AKC conformation and obedience trials. They are great dogs but be sure you have their hips X rayed. Frankly, I would get a rescue lab.

yup the have seriously destroyed the german shepherd bred.

i imported a pink papered dog from europe and it still has issues.

only good ones health wise are sable working lines and ddr ones. problem is they make difficult pets.

Mike

Lots of good advice Mike, but I would like to add a different consideration. Have your own circumstances changed? Can you still spend the amount of time you used to spend on exercise etc.? This would affect the breed of dog that you get, whether from a breeder or from a shelter. My last two dogs were both rescue dogs, lab/golden retriever mixes. They were/are both wonderful dogs. Bailey died last year, but Tenley is still with me. They get me my 10,000 steps a day! Some dogs do take a lot of time, however. I had a Chesapeake Bay Retriever that was a wonderful dog, but I spent a LOT of time with him.
Good luck!
Peter.

My first lab didn't chew a thing. Wouldn't retrieve anything either. Great dog though. Lived to 16.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
if you can deal with a goof ball boxer they are pretty good dogs, so are the other herding breeds [yes a Boxer is a herding dog]
only issue with them is you gotta be smarter than they are, and they can be some weird about strangers.
[the Boxer cross I have is like that, bonus is I never have to lock the trucks doors]

the Lab I have isn't much of a chewer, but she does like to dig little holes here and there, and she doesn't fetch.
stupid 1600 dollar dog and she doesn't have a clue about anything,,, and especially anything hunting.

I want to thank everybody for the comments. I appreciate it.

One of the main reasons I've been thinking about a new dog is the walks. My old guy just cant do it anymore. Heart is there but the legs/hips are gone. He can manage a trip around the cul de sac but not much more.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Lots of good advice Mike, but I would like to add a different consideration. Have your own circumstances changed? Can you still spend the amount of time you used to spend on exercise etc.? This would affect the breed of dog that you get, whether from a breeder or from a shelter. My last two dogs were both rescue dogs, lab/golden retriever mixes. They were/are both wonderful dogs. Bailey died last year, but Tenley is still with me. They get me my 10,000 steps a day! Some dogs do take a lot of time, however. I had a Chesapeake Bay Retriever that was a wonderful dog, but I spent a LOT of time with him.
Good luck!
Peter.

There is as much behavioral variance within a breed as between the breeds.

All puppies chew stuff. If you need a companion dog it is probably better to adopt a young dog from a shelter or rescue group.

quote:

Originally posted by Alec Torres:
There is as much behavioral variance within a breed as between the breeds.

All puppies chew stuff. If you need a companion dog it is probably better to adopt a young dog from a shelter or rescue group.

I too would recommend checking out a shelter. Some of those dogs are there because their owner passed away. Many will already be trained/house broken and done with chewing everything and are looking for a new buddy as well.

quote:

I too would recommend checking out a shelter.

That's not like it used to be. With many working from home all day due to Covid, most adoption shelters have long waiting lists. When a new dog shows up, it's usually gone within a couple hours.

I am a sucker for labs. Get a lab bred for the field with an off switch as mentioned above. To reduce chewing and bad behavior, get a female and don't get a chocolate dog.

I can't help myself, have had two chocolate labs and one male, but the black and yellow dogs and the females were way softer dogs, easier to train, and generally more compliant. Despite my advice, the hardheaded (and very smart) chocolate male is probably my favorite. He's done a great job of training me.

I'm a volunteer 'Dog Walker' at a local animal shelter. Doctor told me to get more excercise so I think of them as my 'furry personal trainers' and it's been very rewarding for me in retirement. Some of them indeed have behavioral issues but there are plenty of cool dogs out there needing a forever home.