Puppies - ya gotta love 'em!

Fran

Former desparate mom
I love the French bull dogs. I just recently saw my first one. They are adorable. Maybe next time.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Frenchies are cute little dogs. There were alot of them where I lived in Germany. They have the most expressive faces and sometimes don't have as many health problems as Bostons can.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Fran, that would be quite a difference for you to get a Frenchie! I have to admit, after a Dal and a Lab, the smaller dogs seem very attractive to me!
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
Fran, that would be quite a difference for you to get a Frenchie! I have to admit, after a Dal and a Lab, the smaller dogs seem very attractive to me!


A few months after husband and I got married, we got Taz. He grew to be fairly large and weighed in around 95 lbs when he died. Then we got Cloe. Smaller than Taz but still weighs about 50 lbs. Now....we have Chester. He's definately my baby at 20 lbs and is quite the different experience than a larger dog.

I suppose it would be like having a teen in the house and then switching to a toddler. As long as it's high up, you can leave things out but you have a different set of issues. LOL Where you could feed the teen all sorts of stuff, the toddler will get sick on some of the same things. Plus there are the different hazards that teens and toddlers face.

It's definately an experience going from a large dog to a small one! LOL
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
My next dog will be a small one. I have had German Shepherds my entire life, either imported from Europe or purchased there and taken back to the US with me.

There's a lot of health problems in the breed. Interestingly, since the registries in Europe won't accept a dog for full breeding license if it has bad hip x-rays, Gryphon does not have hip dysplasia.

At 7 he has a touch of arthritis in one hip, but he injured that in a fall over a training obstacle as a young dog (partial dislocation).

We had a huge scare two years ago when he became very weak in his back end. There's a disease called degenrative myelopathy (DSM) that GSDs are prone to, and it kills usually in under a year.

It's not that; Gryphon has severe spinal arthritis, to the point that you can see and feel the enlarged joints in his lumbar spine. It's another thing that goes with the breed, especially those who were working dogs (Gryphon did competitive obedience and tracking for several years).

He's much stronger in back now but his gait is still abnormal and he has trouble getting into and out of my vehicle.

Add in intestinal problems and the like, and they are a rough breed to own. There's temperament issues to be watched for, too--everything from seperation anxiety to excessive aggression.

The dogs have to be consistently trained and kept busy.

I haven't decided on the next dog. I will probably adopt one from either a shelter or a breed rescue (if I decide on a specific breed and like what research shows me)

Plus, I have to have a dog that I can pick up and carry and Gryphon weighs nearly 90 lbs.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
German Shepherds are often referred to as "German Shedders". I sweep daily and still get dustbunnies the size of term infants!

A lot of other. breeds that are single-coated do not shed badly/noticeably
 
Top