Want to get a puppy or dog - maltese, beagle, lab ?

[TheNinja]

Ok, my wife and I are looking at getting a puppy or adopting an older dog (like 2-4 years old). Here is our lifestyle and arrangement. I am gone every weekday from 8-5 sometimes 8-6:30. My wife is gone most weekdays from 7:30-4:30 approx but has her summers off (she is a 1st grade teacher). We have a 1250 sqft house with a pretty good sized fenced in dog run in the back yard. I have read almost every one of the dog/puppy posts here and have done some research, I just like to hear suggestions and/or stories from peopel in similar situations or with similar types of dogs. I really love the look of beagles and think it would be awesome to have one but I'm afraid they are too noisy and wild and would probably not be ok with us gone a lot. I also love labs (chocolate or yellow) but they are pretty big. And I used to have maltese dogs growing up, they are the best apartment/lap dogs ever just keep their coat short (puppy style cut) and they are maintenance free, don't shed, and can handle you being gone b/c they sleep all day. I would probably get another maltese but they are just so small that at this point in my life and with the large backyard already fenced in I would like something that I can be a little more wild with, or a dog that is more robust that it could possible stay outside during the day.

Thoughts: puppy, or already trained dog?
Breed: any favorites? any comments on the three I've mentioned?

TIA

 

[MrBond]

We've always had beagles as family dogs. I just bought one for my sister now that she's out on her own with her own house. They're GREAT with kids, beagles love anyone.

They do bark a bit and will smetimes dig, so you need to take that into consideration. There's three "sizes" of beagles, but they're all fairly small. The current family beagle is just fine with us being gone all day, he barks to greet us but that's about it. My sister's puppy will bark when you immediatly leave her, but after a while she settles down (unless a rabbit or something desides to tease her outside of the kennel ).

The biggest problem with beagles is they follow their noses. If one gets out, he will follow his nose everywhere and ignore everything but the smells. We have to make sure our beagles are secure and can't get out of the kennel, because they could very easily get hit by a car they didn't see.

You honestly couldn't ask for a more loyal dog though. Even when I roll in at 3-4am, Remington gets up from his bed to come greet me . Gotta love that

Edit: Definatly get a beagle puppy if this will be a house/outside combo dog. They're kind of hard to train, and it's much easier when they're puppies.

And to futher sway your opinion to the Beagle side, here are some pictures of the beagles

Gwendaline

Gwendaline - christmas morning

Remington

 

[human2k]

Get a Lab.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Out of those choices I'd say a lab. I've had three labs and they've all been great dogs. Beagles on the other hand have been the most stuborn, disobedient, generaly anoying dogs that I've seen. That's just my experience though. I vote for the lab either way.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

are you ready for the down side of owning a pet. Making sure it is feed and has water. cleaning up it's poop. takeing it to the vet, making sure it has all it's shots.

 

[TheNinja]

Ya, I realize what having a dog will entail. I'm almost 26 years old and have been thinking about this for a while. And I appreciate MrBond's beagle stories and you other people's suggestions on labs.

 

[stormbv]

yeah, labs! It's good that you have a big backyard, because labs like to be outside. They are very friendly dogs. The only downside is that they shed like crazy and some of them can have terrible problems with their hips (I guess).

 

[ElFenix]

labs rule!

its golden retrievers that have hip problems. labs have weak stomachs. and yellow ones are susceptible to skin cancer

 

[drewdogg808]

i hear labs are great, but beagles and maltese are so cute.

 

[poopaskoopa]

My parents got a beagle a few years back. She rocks. If/when that dog dies, I'm going to have to put my mother on Suicide Watch.

 

[TheNinja]

well there isn't overwhelming evidence one way or the other. It sort of looks like they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Maybe I'll just go get a mutt.

 

[GasX]

Get a lab or a mutt from the pound - the bigger the better. Big dogs are WAY better than little yappy rats...

example

Since your wife has the summer off, wait until then to get a dog so someone can be with it all the time for its first week home.

 

[Hoober]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Get a lab or a mutt from the pound - the bigger the better. Big dogs are WAY better than little yappy rats...

example

Since your wife has the summer off, wait until then to get a dog so someone can be with it all the time for its first week home.

Good idea. It'll be best if she's home most of the day. Training will be a lot easier.

 

[BigSmooth]

My gf and I have a beagle, he's great. We adopted him when he was around 1-2 years old.

He's small enough for an apartment, but not "yappy" at all. I think ours might have a little bit of some other breeds mixed in - he does not run off when we are outside and he VERY rarely barks for some reason. He is trained pretty well, nothing too complicated, though.

He does whine or howl on occasion when we are gone. That's pretty much the only problem we have with him. He never destroys anything, he virtually NEVER has accidents (and when he has, it's been as much our fault as his), his coat is easy to maintain and he doesn't get too smelly.
He's extremely cute, also.

 

[newbiepcuser]

Originally posted by: human2k
Get a Lab.

My ex had a lab. She got it when it was just pup It was really friendly and playful. Gosh I miss the lab more than my ex now.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: bigsmooth
My gf and I have a beagle, he's great. We adopted him when he was around 1-2 years old.

He's small enough for an apartment, but not "yappy" at all. I think ours might have a little bit of some other breeds mixed in - he does not run off when we are outside and he VERY rarely barks for some reason. He is trained pretty well, nothing too complicated, though.

He does whine or howl on occasion when we are gone. That's pretty much the only problem we have with him. He never destroys anything, he virtually NEVER has accidents (and when he has, it's been as much our fault as his), his coat is easy to maintain and he doesn't get too smelly.
He's extremely cute, also.

Sounds perfect, where do I sign up? Seriously that sounds like a great dog. Nice size, doesn't run away and is fairly quite.

although it is starting to seem like the labs are winning out here.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Staley8
Sounds perfect, where do I sign up? Seriously that sounds like a great dog. Nice size, doesn't run away and is fairly quite.

Yeah, unfortunately I don't think he's a typical Beagle.
From the way he looks, I would actually guess he is about 1/4 or less Dachsund (he is small, with a longer muzzle than you'd normally see on a Beagle).

Mostly he just has a very calm temperament. We were just lucky to pick him out at the shelter.

 

[MrBond]

Labs are going to be more popular here, they're really popular now as a whole. I love them too, but honestly, without a huge yard and invisible fence for them, I'd feel like I was being cruel. Labs have TONS of energy, we dogsat for one last summer, we'd take him to the park, play catch for an hour or so, and he'd be full of energy when we got back to the house.

Beagles do bark, but really no more than other dogs. Mine will stick by my side anymore, but if one of the cats decideds he wants to tease the dog, he's off like a shot and he's not going to be caught until he trees the cat (the cats love this, because he can't catch them). I mention the running off thing only because my boss had two beagles with an invisible fence. It got hit by lightning, and his first one got out and ended up getting hit by a car. He lived near a relativly busy corner and had a huge yard, there was no reason for the dog to leave, but she got trailing something and didn't pay attention where she was. His next beagle did the same thing, only this time the neighbors saw him and brought him back.

My sister's puppy has gotten out once and she came right back. They know where their food bowl is and they will always return

If you do get a beagle, remember you can't open-feed them. They'll eat until they explode, so give them their daily food allotment once a day (or half at breakfast and supper) and ignore their pleading looks. Remington his gotten VERY good at tricking me into thinking he hasn't been fed that day, when in fact he has . And people say beagles are dumb

 

[BatmanNate]

Only get a Beagle if you plan on eating it.

 

[CFster]

Adopt a greyhound. They make excellent pets and you'll be saving a life.

Contrary to popular belief they are not hyper, and don't need a heck of a lot of excercise. They are sprinters - my two can run around the yard for five minutes in the morning and are perfectly content to be couch potatoes for the rest of the day. Mine have no problem going 8-9 hours inside without a break either. They have been trained from birth to know to go outside to do their business and rarely have an accident.

They are the one of the only purebred breeds that have no inherent health problems. When you get them from the track they have already been "fixed", have all their shots and understand what the word "NO!" means. Another misconception is that they're "skittish". This is usually true when you first get them - as they have previously lived in a cage with little human contact. However, when they get to know you their personalities come out and they turn out like any other dog. They shed very little as they have extremely short hair. They don't really smell as much as other dogs either.

There are some caveats however. You absolutely must have a fenced in yard. They are trained from birth to chase things - and they will. Something goes click in their heads. They are sight hounds, and have excellent vision - seeing a mile away easily. No matter how well you have yours trained to "COME", it will forget that training instantly if it sees a cat down the street. Ours got loose once and ran down the street so fast she tore up all four of her paw pads and required stitches. We didn't make that mistake again. It was our fault, not the dogs.

But, like I said you'll be saving a life. And you wouldn't believe how many people stop me on the street and want to see my Greys up close!

 

[CraigRT]

I have 2 beagles... I love them... very cute..... I think my next dog is however going to be a lab or a golden retriever.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: CFster
Adopt a greyhound. They make excellent pets and you'll be saving a life.

Contrary to popular belief they are not hyper, and don't need a heck of a lot of excercise. They are sprinters - my two can run around the yard for five minutes in the morning and are perfectly content to be couch potatoes for the rest of the day. Mine have no problem going 8-9 hours inside without a break either. They have been trained from birth to know to go outside to do their business and rarely have an accident.

They are the one of the only purebred breeds that have no inherent health problems. When you get them from the track they have already been "fixed", have all their shots and understand what the word "NO!" means. Another misconception is that they're "skittish". This is usually true when you first get them - as they have previously lived in a cage with little human contact. However, when they get to know you their personalities come out and they turn out like any other dog. They shed very little as they have extremely short hair. They don't really smell as much as other dogs either.

There are some caveats however. You absolutely must have a fenced in yard. They are trained from birth to chase things - and they will. Something goes click in their heads. They are sight hounds, and have excellent vision - seeing a mile away easily. No matter how well you have yours trained to "COME", it will forget that training instantly if it sees a cat down the street. Ours got loose once and ran down the street so fast she tore up all four of her paw pads and required stitches. We didn't make that mistake again. It was our fault, not the dogs.

But, like I said you'll be saving a life. And you wouldn't believe how many people stop me on the street and want to see my Greys up close!

I've heard that before as well. I hear that they are actually great pets. It probably isnt' a concern right now as I live in Northern California, but I may move back to the midwest in the next couple of years and would be worried that b/c greyhounds have such low body fat and a thin coat that it wouldn't be able to handle the elements very well. I'm not sure if that is true or not. I really love all dogs I guess.....cats on the other hand (blind hatred for those sneaky, sly devils).

 

[GasX]

As the local greyhound adoption poster says...

Adopt a 40mph couch potato!

 

[jw791]

If you really want a beagle, I'd suggest getting a rescue. That way, you already know if you have a barker/chewer/digger or not as they have been in a foster home. Also, you might want to consider expanding your list to foxhounds or a similar breed.

Don't worry about the size of the yard, if you are committed to walking the dog and taking him to a dog park regularly. Dogs don't generally exercise themselves. I'm not a fan of leaving dogs unattended outside anyway.

If you decide on a puppy - do it right as soon as your wife is off for the summer. Adult dogs can be left alone for hours but puppies' bladders are small and they need to go quite often. A general rule of thumb is that they can hold it for 1 hour for each month of their age (e.g. a 2 month old puppy should be able to go out every 2 hours.) And that won't work with your work schedules.

Good luck!

 

[bigshot]

i have 2 maltese dogs and have grown up with them all my life. they do bark when someone is at the door but that is ok cause it warns someone is near the house but other than that they are quiet. they can be left alone because they do sleep alot but they love to play and they are intelligent. one of my dogs watches tv constantly and if he sees a dog he goes nuts. there coats are silky and long but i keep them short (looks better) and so their fur doesnt get matted. they dont shed and love to be with you all the time. i find however they are picky eaters but once you find something they like its fine (i find they dont like hard food but soft food) if you want a nice little dog that doesnt need too much exercise and is always by your side they are the dogs to get...plus they are so cute.