Any Lab, Golden, or German Shepard mix sounds like what you would want. Personally, I would stay away from a Husky mix even though my daughter has one that is a very sweet girl. She also has a Rot/German Shepard mix that is also a great all-around dog. Neither are dog or people aggressive. I am assuming that is what you want.

When you go to a shelter, look for a 2 year old that is openly friendly and you will get a pretty good idea of its personality. Also, at two yrs. you will know the size. Stay away from shy dogs unless you want to put lots of effort into training. If the sign on the cage says the dog is good with children, other dogs and cats, you probably have a winner.

Good luck with your search, there are tons of wonderful mutts out there looking for you!

Most huskies have a tendency to escape. My dog is a bull mastiff husky mix and fortunately the bull mastiff rules out the husky...he has no prey drive - in fact he has little drive at all :-) My suggestion, ask as much about the dog as possible, as the rescue organization if they can determine the dogs prey drive and how it is off leash - if it has a tendency to escape.....good luck. Remeber first thing before bringing the dog home, is to leash walk it for 15 minutes or more and have the dogs meet on neutral territory.

Great suggestions ... and you just reinforced why Dakota wanted to chase deer! And with his long legs he was gone in a flash ... that ended quickly!

I had thought a 2 year old would be good, ask lots of questions, and didn't think about leash walking for 15 minutes, great ideas.

When Dakota met Lily, I had arranged a meeting outside a local PetSmart where the rescue group was for the day. It worked out well.

When I met Brandi at the SPCA, she immediately rolled on her back for a belly rub ... that was all it took for me!

Here are the pictures I couldn't post before:

My 1st dog, Brandi
{{!gwi}}

Dakota, my old man who just passed ...
{{!gwi}}

Lily, my current girlie ...
{{!gwi}}

All beauties!! Lucky you! Good luck with your search for your new friend.

Fuzzy, hairy dogs?? Funny. I have a purebred shaggy sheepdog (briard mix??). She's energetic and leaps into the air in exuberance. But she LOVES to run into the wild blue yonder though she does come back pretty quickly. got her at the dog pound.

Remember that any dog you get may not meet your exact requirement unless you can try them out first.

Your home sounds wonderful for dogs. Mine is too. Similar to yours with acreage but i have lots of dogs and LOTS of fencing!!

I have two donkeys also - arent they cute? One of mine is fat though and we're working on that finally.

Hey Luvdogs ...

Yeah furry, fuzzy kids ... that's what I'm attracted to.

I've sent an email asking about the dog below ... my friend looked at the picture and said "that looks like your type of dog". We'll see what they say ...

Used to have lots of the horse fencing, which wouldn't contain a dog anyway ... but that deteriorated and was pulled down, except for the wire field fencing for the donkeys.

My jenny was fat when I got her, everyone thinks she's pregnant, but she's not. Really hard to make a fat donkey skinny. Both my boys, geldings, are in good shape ... careful about what they eat. Good luck on getting your skinnier.

Pam

Here is a link that might be useful: Dog at SPCA

What do you feed your donkeys?

I hope that dog works for you - i love ALL dogs - even Chihuahuas.

I think you should get a hairless Chinese Crested - LOL.

Bruiser looks like he would fit right in!! I hope he's a good match for you and your furry friends!! What a lucky dog he would be!!

Haven't heard yet on "Bruiser", will call tomorrow.

I feed the donkeys timothy hay, and crimped oats in the winter for a treat. No oats or feed with molasses in them, that gets them fat fast!

What are you feeding your donks? Mine were yelling at me tonite cuz i didn't give them any oats ... spoiled donks! LOL!

I think any kind you get would be a lucky dog they are all so sweet looking ...good luck

I met "Bruiser" on Saturday, and so did Lily .. he's a great calm sweet dog. I'm going back to bring him home for good on Friday. Lily and his meeting was very uneventful, sniffing and then wanting to play.

The first thing he did when I saw him was to lick my hand .. little kisses.

I learned that he is approx. 1.5 years old. He and his buddy were turned over to the SPCA by people who had them living in a stall in a barn. Someone asked them to turn the dogs over to the SPCA so they could get real homes, and they complied.

So he's never been in a house that they know of .. so we'll have to slowly introduce him to things like vacuum cleaners, etc. Those big scary things! And potty training. Though the woman at the SPCA said he might be easy to potty train since he's always gone potty in an outside setting, and might already prefer that ... one can always hope!

Picking him up Friday, and have an appointment at the vet before going home ... he has strange dew claws on his back legs that I want looked at.

So I'll post some pictures over the weekend and he's getting used to home. I'm amazed at what a calm sweet guy he is. And his new name will be Brownie ... Bruiser doesn't work.

Congratulations Pam! Brownie looks adorable and is such a lucky guy.

Good luck with getting him settled in :)

Yay for you and Lily and Brownie!! I guess you have to give some credit to the original owners that gave the dogs up. At least they have now allowed the dogs to go to loving homes. As for the housebreaking, Brownie will have Lily to show him the ropes and I'm betting he'll be good in no time. Good luck and keep the pictures coming.