Looking for a pup or young dog for my daughter

[spokey9]

I've been hunting all over trying to find my kiddo a buddy but I'm having no luck. Either people don't want their dogs going to a home with a 3yo or they're asking too much for a "rehoming" fee. I'm not looking for a purebred or a show quality dog. Honestly a mutt with a good temperament will do lol. My girl Emma is great with her grandparent's dogs and really wants one. If anybody has any ideas or inside tips where we can find her a good mid-sized dog for $100 or less please let me know.

[Amx]

Should be some listed on Craig's List. Or your local animal control shelter.

[spokey9]

Yeah I've been all over Craigslist & the shelters.everybody seems to want $350 as a baseline for young dogs or pups even if they're not purebreds. Most claim it's to prove we can provide a good home. Truth is I'm not comfortable paying that much since we'll taking it to the vet afterwards anyways for a check up and to be completely honest my wallet says nothing of the home environment my family has to offer.

[Amx]

Ya, that is a STUPID amount of money. I'll PM you a phone number of a local lady that owns and runs a dog obedience training school. She trains people to train their dogs, purebred and not, AKC competition and home obedience. She'll know of someone in the Lake Stevens area that should be able to help. But it would most likely be a pure bred dog, but not necessarily, lots of mixed breeds are also taking those classes.

And just for the heck of it I'll tell you this;

I've been training dogs in AKC obedience for around 35 years, since early Jan. of '79 until a few years ago. She's been training dogs a little bit longer.

[Amx]

Either she, or one of her trainers, or a person in the Lake Stevens area should be able to help. They'll be asking what breed the grand parents have, the dogs' ages, what fencing you have to keep the dog safe, the activity level of your daughter, the amount of activity your daughter can give the dog, the size of a dog you want, how much basic obedience training you can give the dog for good to great house and family manners. Stuff like that.

[spokey9]

Thanks Amx, nothing wrong with any of that. We got a 3 bed house on a 1/3 of an acre in darrington and her grandparent's dog is German Shepherd. My kid doesn't have an off switch and we go for walks around town here and a lil bit in the woods besides the fishing and clamming trips. We're hoping for a dog about the size of a Shepard or lab, with the intention of house training as well as basic commands & leash training so we can take him/her along with us on the family adventures lol.

[Amx]

Well there are lots of breeds about that size, from Brittney Spaniels to Malamutes, even bigger dogs like Kuvas, and such that really like kids and are great family dogs. And of course Golden Retrieves, Huskies, and such. I personaly would go for a Lab or Golden, if you don't mind grooming a Golden. Something that likes to go for a good swim. Lots of Huskies and Malamutes don't like to swim, but they can learn, and they will follow the kid into the water, my first Malamute would, but wouldn't swim on his own, and neither would any of my other Malamutes.

You can look thru the AKC list of breeds, maybe start with the Sporting Breeds in the Sporting Group to pick a swimming type dog. Say a Portuguese Water Dog, which is sorta like a Standard Poodle. And then there is the Poodle, Poodle - yes they are a hunting breed, at least the Standard Poodle is, used for duck retrieving.

http://www.akc.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Portuguese Water Dog, which is in the Working Group;

http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/portuguese-water-dog/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Juniah87]

How far are you willing to travel to get the dog? I am more then happy to help you look around. My dad and I travelled all the way to Wenatchee from Lake Stevens to get my last border collie, but that was because we were looking for a specific breed. The asking prices you are seeing are crazy high, you shouldn't have to pay that for a puppy.

[Amx]

Go down towards the bottom of that AKC page and look here:

You vs. Breed Ever wonder which dog breed you have the most in common with? Find out which breed you're most compatible with here.

It can be interesting.

[Amx]

And no you don't have to get a Pure Bred, the suggestions I mentioned can be the primary attributes of a mixed breed dog that you might find, and so figure out what the temperament, and such would be for that/those breed/s.

[Amx]

And then there is the American Water Spaniel which is more like a fuzzy Lab.

http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/groups/sporting/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[spokey9]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks the prices I've seen are steep, I was beginning to I'm cheap lol. We'v been searching from the Craigslist ads & shelters from Thurston county to whatcom county plus kitsap so far. Heck a drive to Wenatchee wouldn't be unreasonable at this point either lol. Thanks for the offer Juniah, I could use the help.

So far a basset hound is my best match lol

[Juniah87]

Are you primarily looking for an indoor, or outdoor breed? Any size preferences? Assuming you are looking for a medium or large breed since you have a youngster. I'd personally recommend a border collie mix if you can find one, I've owned 2 boarder collies in my life, they are extremely smart and mild temperament. May be a bit more spendy because of that though. Does anyone in your household have pet allergies? If so a shorter haired breed would be recommended. I will keep an eye out for you, good luck!

[spokey9]

There's no allergies here and we're​ looking for a mid sized dog to be an indoor/outdoor. I don't think I'd have the heart to keep a dog outside in some of the weather up here lol

About the only breeds we've ruled out are pits & dobermans, other than that we're pretty open to breed

[Amx]

Yup, there are LOTS of breeds that would work out. The TROUBLE is in the looking and deciding which. The FUN is in the looking and deciding which.

[Amx]

And the BEST dog/breed is one that is an inside AND outside dog. They NEED to be with the family almost ALL the time to be the BEST family dog possible. Dogs are a pack animal, and the family is their pack, they NEED to be together.

[spokey9]

So the wife just wanted to "look" at a Chihuahua mix pup and long story short, we got a small dog now lol. Both the wife and kiddo took to him pretty quick so I couldn't bring myself to hold out for a bigger dog. He's 6 months a friendly lil guy and we think he's mixed with some kind of terrier. I'll try to post a pic of him today, if I can get him to hold still long enough.

[Juniah87]

Awesome news that you found a dog! It really is hard to tell what your family will fall in love with, and like amx said, finding that out is part of the fun. Looking forward to the pictures!

This was the first time I had looked for pups in over 10 years, I see what you mean with all these "rehoming" fees, almost started sending some emails to yell at these people

[Amx]

Congrats. Take good care of the little critter.

[Bodofish]

So the wife just wanted to "look" at a Chihuahua mix pup and long story short, we got a small dog now lol. Both the wife and kiddo took to him pretty quick so I couldn't bring myself to hold out for a bigger dog. He's 6 months a friendly lil guy and we think he's mixed with some kind of terrier. I'll try to post a pic of him today, if I can get him to hold still long enough.

That's the way it happens! I'm sure they'll love him to death! =) Certain he'll work his way into everyone's hearts.