Recommendations from our dog whisperer

We met for our dog consult today, including a home visit.  Our Dog Whisperer (DW) recommended that we start with a puppy and work to socialize it with lots of kids/activity.  She said it would be much more work in the short run, but we would have a much better chance of ending up with a great dog.  With a puppy, we would have a much greater chance of shaping its environment so that it would be comfortable with our family and our busy lifestyle and home.  Also important, according to the DW, was that even if the dog grew to be large, the girls wouldn't develop fear as it would obviously start out small and gradually get bigger. 

While the DW didn't say we shouldn't adopt from a shelter, she recommended a breeder or rescue so we would know what the dog's history was-- foster shelters would be ok, provided that the puppy spent 8 weeks with its mom, and then was fostered.  Apparently sheltering is very stressful to puppies and can change their behavior in the long run.  Puppies that traveled in planes to get to us were strictly prohibited--because of the stress on the puppy and because we would not be able to pick the puppy-it would be chosen for us.

One interesting thing the DW mentioned was that if we wanted to try to find shelters with puppies, we should seek out shelters in rural areas.  In urban areas, she said, since there is a much higher percentage of spaying/neutering, the animals in shelters are more likely to have been bred from street dogs or dogs raised for fighting (i.e. pit bulls) and were not as well suited to be family pets (speaking VERY generally).  Apparently, farm dogs or their offspring are a better bet, even if sheltered and there are more of them, because of less awareness/support for spaying and neutering in rural areas. 

As for breeds, because we are on the go and Dan would like to run with a dog, she recommended the German Shorthaired Pointer and the English Springer Spaniel.  Another option, depending on the dog itself, and its temperament would be a Whippet. Other breeds which would be great with the kids but less energetic (still recommended) were the Basset Hound and the Corgi.  Also the Poodle, which we all vetoed immediately.  She also mentioned the Golden Retrievers, but they were out because of the shedding.  My dream of a Dachshund was dashed immediately, as we were told that doxies were responsible for more bites than any other breed in the US.  Terriers were also vetoed as notoriously difficult to train.

So we're on the lookout for puppies in these breeds. Starting over, but are MUCH more confident that we'll end up with a great new member of the family.

Unfortunately, the neighbor dogs weren't out today, so our DW didn't get a chance to meet them but it is clear that we're going to have to have a difficult conversation with our neighbors about socializing our new dog and theirs.  We're committed to a greeting with our dog, a trainer and their dog (provided our neighbors will work with us on this). The DW seems to think that the relationship will be better starting out with a puppy from the get-go rather than a full grown dog.  Thankfully,  all of the dogs she suggested would be unable to jump the fence and would be more easy going with the kids than a shelter dog would likely be. 

All in all, a great home visit and we are looking forward to next steps.