DOG OWNERS: COME FORTH. I'm in the process of buying or adopting a dog and can use some advice.

They need regular attention and daily exercise (walks, parks, etc)

 

http://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/samoyed

Seems like a horrible idea

 

ADOPT!

There are tons of great dogs that need a good home at the local dog shelter. Itll be one less dog that get puts to sleep and youll feel so much better about the whole situation.

In your case, with your lifestyle, you can go to the shelter and spend time with each dog you are interested in and see how they behave around you. Youll get to see if they are active but not overly active since you live in an apartment. Most of them are going to be mutts but thats okay. They're healthier than purebreds; have the pros of their donor breeds and mostly eliminates the cons of them.

Lastly for some reason, they just know that you were their savior, and for that, they will love you and be loyal forever.

 

Can't go wrong w/ a Boxador!

 

Care

The active Samoyed is not suited to apartment or condo life. A home with a large, securely fenced yard is the best choice. Because the Samoyed is a working dog, he needs room to romp and play.

Keep him mentally challenged with ongoing training and dog sports. Allow him to become bored and he's likely to dig, escape, or chew to entertain himself. Note: The Samoyed should be kept on leash whenever he's in public; he seldom can resist the lure of small, scurrying animals.

With his Nordic heritage, the Samoyed is a natural fit for cold climates, and he loves to play in the snow. Conversely, with his thick coat, he can be sensitive to heat. Do not allow him to exercise strenuously when it is extremely hot — limit high-level activity to early morning or evening when it's cooler. During the heat of the day, keep your Sammy inside with fans or air conditioning.

 

Sounds like a terrible idea.

 

terrible idea. Stick with the cats in a NYC apt. or adopt a mature dog that doesn't mind sleeping all day, as long as he's no longer in a cage waiting to be adopted.

From a Samoyed website:

To this day, the Samoyed's reputation as an intelligent, dignified, family dog is well deserved. He often chooses to dote on one special person in the household, but he is affectionate with everyone in the pack. Happiest when he is part of family life, this breed needs to be with people. In fact, leaving a Samoyed alone too much is the best way to make him miserable.​

 

Please adopt if you can, there are a lot of great dogs out there looking for homes. BARC is highly recommended.

http://houstontx.gov/barc/BARC-Home-Page

 

Understand that dogs need to be walked around 5 times a day minimum, leaving them home all day sucks for them if you don't have at least 2 dogs so they can keep each other company. They may bight up furniture, carpet, belongings etc. It will pee and poop all in your house especially if you're not walking it 5+ times a day. It may or may not try to attack your cat. Vets, food cost plenty of money, flea's can be a bother, barking can be really annoying especially in apartments when there's a lot of people constantly making noises around you giving them reasons to bark.

Thats just off the top of my head, there's plenty of other negatives to owning a dog in your situation.

 

I disagree with a lot of this. First of all, dogs sleep upwards of 20 hours a day - so leaving them home all day isn't a big deal. I do agree that having two dogs is better than one, but the OP has other pets too so it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal as long as it bonded with at least one of the cats.

I walk my dogs three times a day and never have issues. I walk them in the morning, when I get home and when I go to bed. Usually at 8:00AM, 6:30PM and about midnight. In the morning the walk is about 10 minutes, the walk in the afternoon is for 30-45 minutes depending on the weather and at night is another 10-15 minutes.

Different breeds are going to need different levels of attention, and then also there is different temperament within breeds, so it is really a crap shoot. OP should know that dogs do need attention though, they need the affection that most cats could care less about. So, when I'm home I make it a point to play with my dogs for at least 2-3 minutes per hour. Much longer than that and they get bored anyway. They also love to take rides, so I'll take them on rides to the drug or corner stores a few times a week.

Dogs don't require a ton of attention, but they do require some attention. If you crate/kennel them away you don't have to worry about them tearing things up. I don't crate my two dogs, I just leave the TV on for them and they are fine.

The hour or two I dedicate to my dogs a day I get far more in return. If I have a bad day I forget about it as soon as I open the door and I'm greeted by two beings that think I'm the most important person in the world. I also highly suggest getting your dog accustomed to other dogs by visiting the dog park and other public areas too. They need that interaction with others whenever you have the time.

 

As long as you have other pets for it to play with... Dogs get lonely as ****.

 

My dog is only 30 pounds but when I moved back to the US, I purposely moved to Austin over NY and LA just so my dog could have a yard. It has been not-so-good for my career and my earnings, but I'm the steward for this animal's life and I'm ultimately responsible.

Living in an apartment in New York with two cats would be unacceptable for my elderly 30 pound dog that sleeps all day. If you want a dog, wait until a better situation in life to have one, and even as many are saying, adopt.

 

PSA.... My dad told me today the Montgomery County Humane Society (I believe it's the HS and not the SPCA) had like 600+ fogs as of a week ago.


That being said, I've bought my dogs, as my wife has allergies and I have a hard time finding low shedding breeds in the shelter. Would love to adopt though.

 

Get a Labradoodle, if you can afford one, or are lucky enough to get a rescue. I looked for a rescue Labradoodle, but had no luck, so I shelled out some $. They have smaller sized "versions" that are below 30 pounds. Mine is a 70 lb. female (I wish she was a smaller size, but have no regrets). Loving, protective, and very, very smart. She doesn't have that "dog smell" all dog lovers are all familiar with. The Labradoodle I had back in the 1970's didn't, either. Very close to being hypoallergenic. I have a nice backyard, though. My first Labradoodle was a rescue from the Houston SPCA. No one had dreamed up the name, much less knew anything about them back then. Best dog I've ever had, easily. I'm hoping that this one will rank up there, too, but she's still young. Early days.

 

Miniature Dachshund is the way to go. They are ok being left alone, they will get along ok with the cats, and they are nice and small. Very friendly and natural clowns. The only problem is, living in an apartment building, they think they can fly, so they may sometimes try to jump out of high windows. Make sure you don't let one near the open window.

 

This is not true. Dogs only sleep 10-14 hours. Leaving them alone all day is not healthy. They are a pack animal. If you leave them by themselves, they will find something to do, and all the training in the world will have a difficult time of preventing bad habits that they develop when left alone. This is especially true of puppies of all breeds and working breeds who need a job all day.

It is very poor advice to tell someone "leaving them home all day isn't a big deal," especially puppies.

 

I have two Shih Tzus (15 lbs-ish) and they're pretty great apartment dogs. They have a lot of fur so hot seasons aren't great, but if you have the money to do regular grooming, it isn't a big deal. They're very affectionate toward you and get along well with other animals, from my experience. Don't need a TON of walking.

 

I had a puppy. I had to give him up after 1 year because I couldn't give him enough attention. Living alone, working full time and doing me left only a few hours where I could see him. It's basically like raising a baby. Not that I know what that's like but I can imagine it's similar?

 

Not juat the breed, but you have two so they aren't alone