Posted by Gracie2 on January 19, 2002, at 23:49:10
In reply to Dinah - dogs..., posted by Krazy Kat on January 17, 2002, at 9:59:59
I've always had questions about dogs but wasn't sure it was appropriate on PSB, so I'll try to stick to the psychologic aspects? We had two dogs, both purebed, first a black labrador and then a golden retriever. The black lab was an excellent guard dog, although I don't believe they're known, particularly, for this trait. We
had to put him down last month because he was nearly blind and so arthritic that he was in constant pain (my husband walked around in shock for two weeks).
The retriever is still just a few years old. He's beautiful to look at and affectionate with everybody, and he's helped quite a bit with my husband's grief. But he's not much of a guard dog.
We live in an old part of the city that's just being rebuilt, and there's still a lot of crime.
My husband is a firefighter and I'm by myself at home a lot of nights. I don't feel safe without a guard dog but I don't know that much about dogs, as far as training them goes. I'm afraid of buying a dog that seems, at least to me, to be naturally aggressive, such as a pit bull or rotweiller.
What to you think about a German Shepard? They seem to be friendly but naturally territorial. Also, my husband might not be ready to accept another dog at this point...he still has the cremains of our old dog and is waiting until he can think of the exact right place to scatter them. The lab was like a child to him.
So I'm afraid the care and training of the new dog will entirely be my responsibility until my husband comes around, which I'm sure he will. He
loves dogs, but he's not ready to replace the old one quite yet. Help?
Thank you-
Gracie
poster:Gracie2
thread:16896
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020112/msgs/16997.html