Dog Breeds - Help Pick

[mrs.b]

If you get a mixed breed puppy from the shelter, you may or may not know what it is. Shelters, and even animal control officers, often misclassify dogs. Animal control officers like to label everything with a large chest a pit bull. Shelter workers will often call pit bull mixes lab mixes. Actually, lab/pit bull crosses are common, but the shelter will focus on the lab part to increase adoptability.

That's where sis-in-law would be my eyes. She is amazing at classifying, it's a game to her, and while it's often difficult to have any sort of check and measure, she has found original owners to learn of some dog parents before, and in the case of her own pups, went to the trouble of doing the doggie cheek swap for DNA checks. She's always at least within the right family, if not right on the mark.

Temperament is the main consideration, I'm mainly looking at breeds for a starting point to temperament. If a goofy little Chihuahua (or mix) showed up and amazingly had the perfect temperament, I might be able to overlook my deep-seated disdain for them. My kiddo certainly leans towards smaller dogs; I'm the one that likes somewhat larger ones.

You might want to cross the Alaskan Malamute off your list too. Well, you'll know which type of dog won't be fit for the climate when you see it. It's a shame that your HOA won't allow pits. I've found that if an apartment or HOA bans just one type of dog, it's the pit bull. They are very misunderstood.

Your HOA might ask for a vet's opinion. Depending on how the dog looks, you can get away with calling it a Boxer or Lab mix. If they don't ban other bully breeds, you could probably get away with bulldog mix and the like.

Yes, anything with long or overthick fur, I wouldn't consider. Pits are so misunderstood; I've only ever known lovable, gentle, sweet-tempered ones that just want to love and be loved. That said, our HOA has it written in the bylaws but they're pretty lazy in managing most rules. So long as the dog doesn't look like a pure-breed pit, I doubt it would ever be an issue unless the dog showed aggression (and I wouldn't want or keep a dog like that, anyway). The president of the HOA has a collie that regularly jumps its fence (who puts up a 3-ft fence to keep a dog in?) and chases walkers and joggers on the sidewalks and come dangerously close to biting; I have a stick I take with me each day on my outings just for that jerk. If the rest of the HOA won't handle that, I don't see them getting too detailed about a mix breed that isn't clearly a banned breed. Particularly if it appears more lab-like.

OK, will look into pit-lab mixes. Just the sound of it makes me smile, and depending on size (i.e., other breeds mixed in) and attitude, that might be a good one to put on our watch list.