Adopting: Which dog would be best for me?

[Crazy Dog Man]

My wife is American and even though she has visited me a few times, she wants to go move to America and live with her at her house.

We want to adopt a dog from a rescue shelter, however I have asthma. I was OK with Lady and I am fine with Rocco because my parents use a special pet shampoo that removes pet dandruff and animal saliva from furr so I want to make sure the dog I adopt will not cause me asthma attacks or make me itch & sneeze everywhere.

Another thing that will be great is if the dog is very affectionate and protective. Like, I would like the dog to be protect me and my wife from burglars or street thugs but I don't want him/her to be vicious, the dog needs to be socially adaptable. Also, it'd be nice if the dog would tolerate children since me and my wife also plan on adopting children in the near future.

Easy to train and moderate walks is a must, I want to get in good shape so I would love to take the dog on regular walks, however not too much since I have a heart condition and I wanna be able to train the dog to not destroy the house LOL!

 

[JudyN]

My first thought is that you should drop the idea of the dog protecting you. It is simply too hard to train a dog to the level that it would actually protect you against violent people but not attack friends, random people, or even drunks whe approach you and act 'not quite right'. Eventually, the dog would go for the wrong person, resulting in possible charges against you and the dog being destroyed.

Of course, a dog who is a cuddle monster but looks imposing might help. Staffies spring to mind, though I'm not sure they tick all your other boxes - they're not hypoallergenic.

 

[Crazy Dog Man]

My first thought is that you should drop the idea of the dog protecting you. It is simply too hard to train a dog to the level that it would actually protect you against violent people but not attack friends, random people, or even drunks whe approach you and act 'not quite right'. Eventually, the dog would go for the wrong person, resulting in possible charges against you and the dog being destroyed.

I had no idea about this, thank you for telling me. I have only ever had 2 dogs in my lifetime and that is Lady & Rocco, all other dogs I've met were dogs that belonged to other family members or close friends so I don't have much experience when it comes to dogs and the last thing I want is a dog ended up becoming violent & aggressive and then being euthanized... I could never forgive myself for destroying the dog's life

Of course, a dog who is a cuddle monster but looks imposing might help. Staffies spring to mind, though I'm not sure they tick all your other boxes - they're not hypoallergenic.

I have had good experience with staffies in the past... When I spent a few years in North London, a former neighbour of mine owned a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and he was absolutely lovely and when I first moved to Yorkshire and had a small flat near a park, there was a man who owned 2 golden brown Staffies that lived across the road from me and his Staffies were very social and loved human interaction so I think I would get along very well with a Staffy.

I will visit some rescue shelters and see if I can spend the day with some of their dogs and see if I have any allergic reactions to the Staffies.

From my past experiences with Staffies, I never had any allergic reactions, however I always washed my hands after spending time with other people's pets so there's a small possibility that I could have washed away any trace of the dogs from my hands.

 

[JudyN]

Have a look at miniature schnauzers too - they are listed as hypoallergenic. They were originally bred to guard, so although you would still want to socialise one to be friendly, they would be more likely to bark at people who seemed threatening.