Recommend a good first dog for my wife and me. :)

[alkemyst]

Any dog will go on the couch/bed unless trained not to do so. Any dog can have the potential for serious property damage especially during their puppy years. It's pretty much impossible to survive that first year without some accidents/misfortune.

My cattle dog did some damage without crating him it would have been a lot worse and just reinforced his bad habits. I tried to let him free-roam at 1 year and that lead to magazines being shredded still and some wood damage...3-4 months later he has been free in the home and doesn't destroy anything. He has a toy box that he knows anything inside is his (unfortunately I haven't taught him to put his toys away ).

There is probably 10 times the work of raising a puppy vs an established adult. However, if you are a good owner that puppy will grow up to be exactly the dog you want.

My dog's one bad feature was someone must have really hurt him with toe nail clippers. Just on sight of them he panics. I can use a dremel no problem. No one at the shelter ever hurt him with them, yet they acknowledged he had a fear right away so he had experience with them.

That said, they found him tied up in a shopping bag inside a dumpster in an area known for dog fighting. They more than likely thought he was a pit bull as a puppy but by 3 months knew he was more other things so trashed him.

 

[96Firebird]

when they're young they'll test you big time for a little while.

My GSD mix would do this as a puppy a LOT, he still does every now and then even at 1.5 years old.

Another issue with them is that they are very protective of their "pack". He is very cautious of new people, but once I greet them or start talking to them he warms up to them. We tried our best to socialize him when he was a puppy, but I think it is just their nature...