BehavioRx Case of the Month
for October 2005

Choosing a Dog by Breed

This month's short case is really about family relationships. Many clients consult us about what breed of dog might be best for their life style before they come to a
decision. The family; mom, dad and two children, 9 year-old boy and 12 year-old girl, had lost their 11 year-old Labrador-Golden Retriever mixed breed spayed female to cancer three months before calling us. They wanted to wait until the children seemed to have "gotten over" their sadness and, wisely, waited until both kids approached them about another dog.

Since their late pet, "Molly," was adult when the children were born, neither had enjoyed living with a puppy. On our advice, they held a family consultation with us
to we could explore everyone's opinions about what breed, sex and age to obtain. We wanted to be able to act as moderator in the discussion, providing information about the behavioral "tendencies" of various breeds of interest to them and guiding them to consider everyone's feelings about them. They all agreed that, since the puppy has a "best age" to make the transition from its litter into the human fold, it would be best to get the puppy when the children could be home to participate in that process. However, they also brought up the possible problems that might arise when the children went back to school and Mom was left alone with it in the daytime. Since it was then May, Dad came up with the idea that they could have some discussions at home about it and use our book, "Behavior Problems in Dogs" as a guide.

That said, we agreed to meet again when school vacations started in June. In the meantime, they also enjoyed perusing "Legacy of the Dog," 343 pages of pictures and information about more than 200 dog breeds to help everyone agree on which breed from which to pick a puppy, using the Puppy Selection test from Behavior Problems in Dogs.

Thanks to a well-motivated family, their choice was unanimous. Mom, Dad and the children visited and tested four litters over two days before deciding that a female from the first litter tested was the puppy for them. They actually took videos of their tests and reviewed them together. During their 6-week program which attained their goals for housetraining and teaching their puppy to Come (to a special code word for those real "must-come" situations), Sit, Stay, Heel, Lie down and Go to its bed. Five years later the family is still enjoying life with their precious Miniature Dachshund, "Rachel."

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