Big Dogs or Small Dogs?

I loooooooove other people's dogs...big ones, small ones, doesn't matter...but I'm way too much of a procrastinator (and, frankly, kinda lazy) to own a dog that needs to be walked and stuff. Cleaning my cat's litter box once or twice a day is more my speed.

I had cats for most of my adult life - because it's hard having a dog in the city. When I moved to the burbs, the cats died of old age and, smitten with my sister's dog, I got one for protection. Then Dad got a Siberian, which I kept after he died. A few years ago, I was in and out of the hospital with surgeries and my mom gave the dogs away.

Trying to be brave about it. It does no good getting emotional. When I get stringer I'll get another Siberian but one dog is not the same as another.

Anyway, I'd forgotten how safe big dogs make you feel.

My uncle breeds Great Danes. All of his dogs have ruled.

It took me forever to come around to big dogs after being attacked by one as a kid but I've known a succession of such lovely, lovely big dogs in recent years that I've grown really fond of them. I do love (most) little dogs, too, though. My family's little dogs are hilarious and adorable but they're also terribly trained/socialized (yappy, terrible on a leash, aggressive towards/fearful of other dogs, etc.). I try not to let that color my opinion of little dogs across the board. The GF and I have been talking about a dog, and I'd opt for a lab in a heartbeat (with loose fur and slobber informing the bulk of my reservations).

I used to be such a cat person but I've lived with way too many shitty (i.e. aggressive, destructive, poorly box-trained) cats of late to feel like much of a fan at the moment. I like other people's cats, usually. The ones who aren't going to bite chunks out of my books and piss on my bed.

hey guys i'ma ask yall this b/c i'm asking everybody.

so my wife and i are moving from a house in new orleans to a surely-tiny apartment in nyc. we have two small cats, a small dog, and a 74lb elderly pit bull who has been my #1 bro for many years. naturally our pet situation is making the apartment-finding process very difficult and frustrating and i imagine the subsequent living-in-tiny-apt-with-mad-pets would be equally difficult. but whatever.

except that an ex of mine, who is still a good friend, offered to take the 74lb dog (with whom she lived for many years) to live with her in her big house with a big yard here in new orleans. ellie (the dog) is like 15 years old and surely not all that long for this world and i want her last couple of years to be super awesome. but i have no clue which is the better situation for an old lazy sleepy dog--hanging out w me in the big city or lounging around this fancy house/yard (with someone she also knows/loves). your thoughts would be appreciated.

(my wife is also trying to find a new home for the smaller dog, who is kinda neurotic and doesn't really give a fuck about people so that whole thing is less fraught)

i feel like by taking a dog into one's life one is making a commitment to the dog to see things through to the best of one's abilities but i dunno. i also feel like i should note that ellie is the dopest dog ever and my ex is not the only person who has offered to take her.

i asked a vet abt it and she was like, leave the dog w yr ex but she may have been drunk.

used to be a cat person until i developed an allergy to them. now, it's looking at pictures of them only. luckily i live in a time of unprecedented access to cat pictures.

both big and small dogs can be awesome, i feel small dogs can be very unfairly maligned with the vicious/yappy stereotype. i love all dogs, except alsations (all cops are bastards) and english bull terriers (exclusively owned by racists)

if you think the ex will take good care of the big dog, i would leave it with her. tough sophie's choice there though.

hard for me to answer that question, as I've already done a whole lot to ensure our big guy is comfortable, including moving at the drop of a hat when he couldn't climb stairs anymore

do you think the dog could handle the change, mentally? serious question

i left my 50 lb dog with my ex when we broke up and i miss her a lot but i just don't have a lifestyle or a space or the capability to look after her in my current life... plus they really fulfill each other well. i'm not sure how dogs adjust to people coming and leaving their lives; i think it depends on the animal. but if your ex is loving and takes good care of the animal, i think your dog will adjust.

leave her with your ex - imo that change will be far less stressful for her than moving her to a tiny apt in NYC. it's a terrible decision to have to make - but mainly for you, not ellie. if she knows your ex really well, i think she'll be perfectly happy and content there.

That's so hard. Your dog is going to miss you, for sure, but may overall be happier with a yard and space and not having to make a big move to a strange city with a new climate. Even typing that makes me feel sad, though, so I don't know.

thanks everyone. i know taking my ex up on her generous offer is the right thing to do but man it is a fucking drag.

I have a friend who had to give up her much beloved dog when she moved to NYC. Fortunately, the dog now lives with her parents where the two get to spend some time together again a couple times a year. Would you ever have the occasion to visit your ex and see the dog?

Leave her with your ex, imo. They know each other, it'll be less stressful than the alternative. Offer to chip in on vet bills for the inevitable end-of-life care soon to come?

i'll be back in new orleans regularly so there would be visits.

yeah i'm not gonna stick her with giant piles of doggie hospice care bills or whatever. she just went to the vet and apparently is in fine robust health for her age but i feel like shit can go down pretty fast.

i m losted good luck

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Funny thing I noticed is that of my parent's two dogs, one is clearly more dominant -- pushes the other aside to receive all the petting, is always up front on walks, etc. -- but that when the two of them play, the dominant one acts submissive by rolling on her back and licking the other's face. Is that weird?

the concept of dominance is somewhat ridiculously overstated when ppl talk about dogs, somewhat comparable to talking about alpha males and beta males w/ humans and thinking it's a real thing

I'd say more oversimplified than overstated.

or misapplied I guess

yes

So maybe the dominant dog is throwing the other one a, ahem, bone?

I am always proud of my black labrador, Dogsby. Whenever other dogs show up there is no jealousy or oneupdogship, he is always delighted that another of his brethren is present and does his damndest to play with them. There is a dude around the corner with this muscular killer pitbull type beast that tried to kill him. Luckily it wasn't as bad as it looked and Dogsby had a pierced ear and some gashes on his head. Got revenge on the owner by screwing a load of inch and a 1/2 "8 screws into the fucking tyres of his VW Golf.

Dogsby!

Named after the one in the middle from an old Cbeebies show.
http://www.ukgameshows.com/p/images/7/77/Shiny_show_puppets.jpg

proof of of how soft as shit he is.

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii559/palex10/SAM_0051_zpsc09c90a5.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/34pyxlf.gif

big dog AND little dog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwkuD_Ij-HE

:D

Ahem

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m134/johnjusten/Mobile%20Uploads/2009-11/2DE9938F-8E61-4145-85CB-056C6C8C8EE5.jpg

Note to self: get Great Dane and chihuahua

Had our dude (a dane) at the groomer the other day & there was a 4 month old chihuahua giving him the business there. Wasn't as funny as the two above but incredibly cute nonetheless.

i've got a 9-month-old yellow lab, a little smallish for the breed, who's p much ruling my life these days. good: he forces me to take 1-2 long walks/runs in the woods every day. bad: he eats furniture if I don't.

This is Bud, a 4-year old, 104 pound Anatolian Shepherd/Great Pyrenees mix at a shelter nearby. I wants him.

http://www.petango.com/sms/photos/182/a1ea5ac0-0974-4199-9467-25b504f4f6d5.jpg

Even in the adoption glamour shot, you have a peak into the gallons of slobber that would be your life if you adopted Bud.

the great pyranees is an awesome dog

http://www.caninedistractions.com/21-great-pyrenees-who-love-being-big-lap-dogs/

http://www.caninedistractions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/tayna.jpg

my inlaws had a gp, he was magnificent & so placid <3

Walked past a house today with few houses around, mostly fields, there was two big dogs, acting like angry guard dogs when they saw me and the fences weren't that high. If they wanted to jump over they probably could have. I walked very slowly past and for the rest of the day I've been wondering if I was nearly savaged or even killed. I'd like to think the dogs would have been fine and merely curious if they jumped over to see me but I've got a bad feeling those fences are irresponsibly low. Regardless, those dogs are likely to terrify lots of people going for a walk. I'm not going near that place again, which is a shame because it's a nice route.

ALL dogs!

https://ithelpstodream.tumblr.com/post/127807954992/amanda-jones-has-dedicated-the-past-20-years-to-an

Very nice photos of aging dogs

I'm not joking, this fucking jerkoff plumber comes into my house today, with poser gym muscles and tribal tats down his arms, and then shits his pants when he sees a soft old 12 yr old black labrador. The soft twat refuses to do the gas safety check until I take the dog out of the property. Sometimes I think fatal industrial diseases that affect tradesman, like asbestosis are not so bad after all. even tho i've probably got it myself.

little dogs are the all time best, nothing in the world like them

We just got a tiny little dog, named Josie! She is a Mi-ki, and she is very chill and cuddly:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51057693562_0993b0cb39_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51056888858_f4677b4309_c.jpg

!!!

that is a real muppet

Josie got a new coat!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51721552619_81677276d2_c.jpg

that dog is so cute! I'd never heard of a mi-ki before today