Dogs

[Blaze_Amita]

I am just trying to do general research. No one flame on me for not rescuing a mutt, this descision came with a TON of thought and the situation around me. I've already decided on a purebred, AKC registered female, but I'm down to three breeds:

1. Australian Shepard

2. Labrador Retriever(Black preferred over Yellow and Chocolate)

3. German Shepard

What pro's and Con's do you guys have? Anyone have any of the breeds? I know the grooming with the Aussie, My aunt will help me with, she raises Shelties. I've thought about getting a Sheltie but I'd rather have a bigger dog.

The only con that I have against a German Shepard, is almost everyone that I have met attacks rabbits. My rabbits and my horses are higher priority and I want them safe over the dog. The dog will be gotten as a puppy and it will go through all the training, Obedience etc. . .

So, Ideas? Suggestions??

 

[pOker]

i have had 2 australian shepherds and now have a mini aussie..i ADORE THEM.. they are beautiful dogs, and are curious..we never had any problems with them and the bunnies-aas long as they are trained.. but all of the animals should be EQUAL..i love my bunnies as much as my dog, and my dog as much as thehorses, the horses as much as the lizard, and so on... labradors are great... i had 3, now down to 1, and he is a big guy...i dont reccomend them around rabbits just because of their strength, their tail alone knocks you down-lol..

aussies are truly beautiful-and great around horses too.. and if you think maybe theyre too big or anything like that-get a mini..they are soo sweet.

 

[Skybunny11]

I have babysat German Shepards and I have owned a labrador Retreiver. Here are Pro/Con's I can think of for those breeds. Sorry I can't help you on the australian shepard one


2. Labrador Retriever(Black preferred over Yellow and Chocolate)

Pro's- Loving, Intelligent, Fast Learner, Dedicated to you, and Good with Kids

Con's- Eat's everything, can be clingy, Really Entergetic (Can be a pro depending on what your lifestyle is), Not good Apartment dogs



3. German Shepard


Pro's- Smart, Loyal, Protector, Fealess, Good with The Whole Family

Con's- Entergetic, Not apartment Dogs, Feared by a lot of people, Needs to be socialized good from an early age (As do all dogs)

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I assume that by going the AKC route, you are getting a show line dog?
I think that show lines for German Shepherds could be better with rabbits as they are bred for looks rather than for their ability to preform a task (like police work). Show lines do tend to have bad hips as they are bred to have the sloping back. If you do get one, see both parents and look at how they walk. There are some lines that can barely walk, let alone run or play. A working line wold be more sound, but does have a high drive.
Aussies are a high energy, high drive breed. They should be good with rabbits as they are bred to head, not hunt. Even the show line are very active and smart. You need to keep them busy and engaged. A 30 min walk a day would just be a warm up to the 3 hours of fetch, the run and other games you would need to do. They could be a great farm dog with the right training.
Show bred labs are fat. The standard calls for a level underline, which means they need to be fat. You can of course keep them lean and healthy, but they are predisposed to be fat. Working lines are again active. They would be more of an issue to chickens than rabbits. You would need to train the dog to respect the rabbits and leave them alone.

I am sure that with the right training, socialization and stimulation, all breeds could work for you and be safe around the rabbits and horses.

You should join some breed specific boards and ask questions. Even reading about stores of the different breeds could help, along with the issues people have.
Also keep in mind that many good breeders have waiting lists. You do need to contact the breeder and will have to wait for the litter to be born. It might be a few months to years depending on how often they breed, what you want the dog for and the length of their list.

 

[hartleybun]

onder:i have two chocolate labs - mum brandy and her daughter whiskey. we chose a choc because the yellows and blacks were getting a tad in bred. the same names were cropping up in the ones we were looking at. in laws had always had yellows and their last two showed signs of too much close breeding.

brandy was maternal from day one which is why we finally chose to breed. we were lucky with the stud too. her pups were socialised with the bunnies from day one under supervision, and soon learnt how to behave. it helped that the breeder of the buns had dogs herself.

if you have the time to train and walk labs then they are great companions. they do love their food but this can be easily dealt with by keeping them on a strict diet my vets have a scales which we can use at anytime to check their weight.

good luck with choosing - i dont envy you at all! do let us know that you choose tho':biggrin2:

 

[fuzz16]

-labs
pros: good with kids and people, smart
cons: many health problems with irresponsible lines, high-strung, stubborn, can have "der" moments like larger breed dogs, i have met some that are just NUTS
*labs need a strong owner that is prepared for a dog that doesnt need discipline but good job good dog kind of training

-aussies i think are good dogs over all, i like them, dont have a lot of personal experiance though

-germand
pros- protective, good with kids, loyal, loves to please and learn
cons- health problems

I have a love for germans so dont see a lot of flaws with them. I had a german sheperd/aussie mix. he didnt chase my rabbits, he was great with with my daughter, and listened very well. he was abused when i had first got him. im not a big lab fan personally, i like a more relaxed companion

if your not a dominent person dont get a german
if you dont have pateince dont get a lab
if your not active...maybe none of them. all of them need mental stimulation as well

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

You're picking 3 very active dogs and large dogs. Truely any of them I wouldn't want around loose rabbits... but I wouldn't single out the GSD to attack rabbits. I've an Australian cattle dog, and he doesnt mess with them....but he started out as a 6 week old pup around everything. The rabbits came in a little later, but he doesnt mess with them.

The aussi has strong herding instinct. Which will be hard to break around horses. It depends on the pup istelf how high of a herding drive it will have....but that will take LOTS of energry to break.

The labs a bird dog, and can be extremely hard headed. If you have any chickens and things... not a good match.

And like someone else said if you're not dominent the German shepard can be a problem.

Hip problems can occur bla bla bla.

But overall they're 3 very active breeds


In the end, you can get an AKC breeder that uses the dogs for what they were bred for... or you can get a breeder that just has the dogs for a hobby and they're essenstially 'worthless' in what they were bred to do.... I'd look around at different breeders, if they do the testing on hips and things, check all of that.

In the end when picking the pup, dont pick the pup, let it pick you. You'll have a much more well behaved dog if its the one who chooses you.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

The Herding instinct in the Aussie is the main concern there. The GS is the over loyal and hip problems, the lab is the hard headed.
My aunt, who will help me when i do decide, she knows how to help break the herding instinct out of the aussie, she did it with her shelties. She had GS when she was younger but I haven't met any GS yet that haven't gone after Rabbits before, even my friend who had hers from a 8 week old puppy the dog is 3 and still can't go with her into her rabbit barn because she can't control herself. my old dog was half lab half husky and i loved her to peices, other than she had the husky wandering side to her and we could never let her off teh leash. we don't have chickens and i did break my old dog of the bird fettish(just let the parrot get her once and that was all it took) she had a complete ignore the rabbit sense, and i know husky's would rather eat them, so that came from the lab side.

I'm getting the lab and GS for dummies books and an aussie book this weekish, read through them.

THank you all for the advice! I do konw to let the puppy pick me, Magic(mutt) and Ayden(Cocker spaniel) both picked me and Ayden turned into such a wonderful little dog until I had to get rid of him(dad didn't want him around anymore, something about hating male dogs)

 

[MyLOVEABLES!!]

Blaze_Amita wrote:

The Herding instinct in the Aussie is the main concern there.

Ditto!

 

[Blaze_Amita]

I think I've decided on a lab, black preferred, then yellow and lastly chocolate(not a fan of chocolates, not even with the dutchies).

I mean I'm still going through the two GS and Lab for Dummies books and the aussie guide book, but I've also been watching Petfinder(looking at mutts too, still- found one that looks identical to My Magic girl) and found I have a Lab rescue about ten minutes from my apartment. I won't be getting a dog until I get my own place next summer but it's a good thing to know.
The whole AKC thing was so it could still be registered and I would know it's whole background. And can still show in some dog shows, not confirmation because I know fixed dogs aren't allowed there. I'm also working on getting my old Cocker spaniel(Whom my sister now owns) registered, i never sent his paperwork in as a puppy, he's CKC registerable.