Breed for my parents?

i didnt look for her post ^^^^
they come at all ages and if you get from one rescue that i know they will test for that and i can get your local branch for you. Its actually the one i worked for. We had them from a year old to 9 years old. Also they DO NOT want a puppy. We had a 6 month old one come in and shes more of a handful then our working APBT puppies :yikes: and that was only when i saw her an hour- 2 hours a day LOL. and you can always ask more on msn or CALL ME!! Another plus of Greyhound Adoption is at least with my group there was a foster to adopt program or you can foster to find your baby like we did with Scirrocco

and i geuss i could share some lazy Scirrocco pictures
one with our 10 lb dog.

Plus Scorrocco taught the other dogs. Maybe an option for Sir Ripley LOL

Dang, I came in late but I'm happy to see that many agree on the two breeds that I was thinking of..St. Poodle and Greyhound. I do all of the behavior training for a grey rescue group here in Calgary and I haven't had a case in months. Even straight off the track, they tend to fit in well and quite quickly, though they may not know what stairs or glass doors are.

I LOVE these dogs and will one day have one in my life one day I'm sure. They are affectionate, kind natured, low energy low shed, and just all around lovely. Most people I know who have a grey say that they've found their breed. Like the others have said, you can get them very young. Some have only raced once, some never and once in a grey't while, you'll see puppies posted on rescue sites.

Standard Poodles are fantastic dogs. I find the puppies more comical and silly than unruley or hard to manage. That poodle brain is very easy to channel in the right direction, the only thing that is a concern is all of the health problems with the breed...finding a good breeder will obviously help with that as you know better than most. All of the criteria that you mentioned would be fulfilled with a Standard Poodle for sure.

But thats the fun part. Grace remember if you/they go that route Window clings or tape on sliding doors is a must LOL. Nothing like a grey running full speed into the screen because they dont see the door LOL.

So true. Most of my grey behavior cases are not behavior related at all but rather helping new owners with some tricks and ideas on how to help their grey acclimate to living with all these strange new things.
I had one owner call me with her grey "stuck" halfway up her fairly long stair case - shaking, too affraid to move. That poor guy sat there for almost 2 hours before I was able to get there and show her how to lure him up rather than down. Once he covered the second half of the stairs he treated them like they were a new jungle gym and literally glided up and down with pure joy on his face.
The glass tape is a must too.

LOL one of my main jobs was to take my dogs and teach the new fosters/adopted to go up stairs. One lady we adopted to didnt tell us about her stairs and when she got home she called the Emergency Number saying she couldnt get her guy up the stairs. So we loaded Scirrocco up and since the dog (cant remeber his name right now) was our foster he followed Scirrocco right up and in the process knocked me down the stairs

I was thinking Greyhound also. Really awesome dogs.

I was going to say Greyhounds too but I'm biased and hope they get a Golden so you can post lots of Golden pics .

Also a thing about Greyhounds with your house would be you would have to train them to stay away from the pool Greyhounds cannot swim. and they cant sit for long if at all. ill try to think of things as i go LOL.


heres the chapter in AZ http://www.gpa-az.com/

and a place to get more info.
http://www.greyhoundpets.com/afteradopt.htm

What about a weimaraner? as puppies, they've got energy, but so does any puppy. They really mellow out fast though.

I think the greyhound idea is fantastic!

As far as show goldens- I know you're probably the last person that needs reminding of this, but have your parents be VERY careful as to who they get their dog from. There has been a slowly rising trend in SOME show-bred goldens to breed for a more intense "up" temperament (in order to make them flashier in the ring), and in SOME lines that has been translating to *aggression* which of course should be absolutely unheard of in this wonderful breed.

That being said, my next door neighbors have two absolutely wonderful (and gorgeous) goldens from well-respected programs. Their temperaments are as sweet as honey- and while they're rambunctious, they do know when to settle down and lie across your lap on the couch. Babysitting them is really a treat- can you tell I'm a tad bit obsessed?

You all know where I stand !! You don't stay with a breed for over 60 years without a reason !

How about an Olde English Bulldog? Athletic enough to keep up on walks and take some heat but still the couch potato streak of the modern-day english bulldog.

I really like the idea of the Greyhound and was going to suggest that until I saw it had already been suggested LOL

Another idea was a Standard Schnauzer...or heck even a Giant one if they would rather go that route

The Golden staying with me is a great guy. He isn't hyper. Compared to my dogs he's actually pretty lazy. In my mind he is everything a Golden should be: he LOVES to play with other dogs, he adores people, he is SWEET and doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body. He comes from a great breeder and he's beautiful to look at.(his big smooshy face charmed a cop and got me out of a speeding ticket yesterday actually )
The thing that comes into it for me is all the typical retriever stuff-- things to think about if your parents are used to living with border collies and a pap. They are very different. Bear in mind herding dog people aren't often sporting dog people and vice versa.

I'll give you a couple of examples of stuff I meant:

We are hiking along the trail and encounter a huge mud puddle. My herding dogs walk around it in the dry spot, the Golden dives right in and his facial expression says "YAY!!! A MUD PUDDLE! MY FAVORITE!" I don't have the heart to keep him out of it because he's having so much fun and I am laughing my buns off watching him.

My kiddie pool flipped over in the wind a few days ago and filled with old leaves and Mud. My herding dogs wouldn't touch it. The Golden says "What a great day! LOOK Ma! I found somewhere to DIG!" I call his name, he looks up and his muzzle is dripping with mud again, don't have the heart to ask him to stop-- it's the cutest thing ever.

This Golden mostly doesn't wreck stuff- he is past the chewing pup stage- he is 15 months now. But if he's bored and finds something, he might very well chew it and if he does it will be completely destroyed in 2 minutes. His jaw strength and love for chewing is different than a herding dog. He can pop a tennis ball in two bites. He has a wet mouth.

His love of all people and his happiness to see them means given the slightest provocation (and you know how people are-- they looove to rough up and love on a gorgeous retriever) so it's quite often that he jumps up or mouths mittens or sleeves when he gets excited. He is learning, and most dog people don't mind, but non dog people freak out. If you aren't a dog person a 90 pound dog jumping up on you can be scary.So that's a situation that has to be managed.


He also sheds more than double what my bc and aussie do.

Don't get me wrong,this is in no way against Goldens. I adore this dog and I don't think you can find a better family pet in many ways. I personally just don't find them LESS work than a herding dog- I just spend time on different things like cleaning mud and vacuuming hair and making sure things don't get chewed up, whereas with my bc and aussie I spend more time giving them a job to occupy their brains.

Wally is a champion sitter. I did not teach him how to sit, he came to me already doing so comfortably, I just named it. All Greyhounds CAN sit, but not all can do so comfortably.

Also, I know of a handful of Greyhounds who can swim. Granted they had to be taught, but now you can't keep them out of the water (even during our winter walks on the beach!!!)

A sitting Wally:

The two Goldens I'm watching right now are hilarious. The younger one spent most of the afternoon just laying right on top of me. The older one is a chow-hound extraordinaire and the two of them give a new meaning to the word "shedding". I will never say Sawyer "sheds" ever again, lol!

Other than that, great dogs.

I meant to add that I think the idea of a greyhound is really good. I quite like whippets too.

If size isn't a huge issue, and they are set on a puppy I would definitally say whippet. They are all around great family dogs, they love to play but will wait patiently if you're not available or willing to play at the time. In my experience they are also more willing to follow commands than most other sighthounds (especially the salukis ).

The majority of the dog-sitting jobs I get come from sighthounds (and my trainer is constantly trying to convince me to get one, lol), and whippets are by far my favorite. One house I sit for has 5 salukis, 2 whippets, and an IG. If I throw a stuffed toy the older salukis look at me like I'm nuts, the younger salukis chase then wander off, but the whippets (one is 3 the other 12) will grab it and run laps around the yard before bringing it back so I can throw it again .

Sis, that second picture is hilarious. I wanna go out and get myself one right now just because of that picture.:lol-sign:

Yeah, my boy's got attitude and I love it. LOL!