Choosing the Right Dog Breeds for Your Family
There are a
lot of recognized dog breeds from which you can choose a new pet.
For a lot of people, only a documented pure breed will do. For many
others, breeds matter far less than personality, cuteness, and dogs
that just "feel" right.
When trying
to decide which dog breed is right for your home, realize that it's a
bit like rolling dice, no matter what the general traits of any of the
breeds are on paper. There are always exceptions to the 'rules,' and
individual dogs will exhibit characteristics that defy that breed's
typical traits.
Pure Breeds or Mutts?
If you prefer adopting a dog
without a clear breed (mutt), it's actually preferable in two ways.
Some breeds are prone to serious health problems. This is an
unfortunate result of narrow dog breeding over many generations,
which fails to weed out the bad stuff. With mutts, the genetic
combinations are much more 'natural,' which means you generally get
a dog with fewer potential issues as they age.
The other benefit
when you choose non-specific breeds is that you don't help promote
so-called 'puppy mills.' These insidious breeders care nothing for
the dogs - they're just out to make a buck selling the animals to pet
stores and unsuspecting individuals. The best way you can help end
this atrocious practice is to essentially boycott them by adopting
your dog from a rescue shelter or the Humane Society.
 Getting back to
pure dog breeds, an easy way to pick the ones that are most likely to
be excellent family members (especially if you have kids) is to look
at a rating of the most popular breeds year-in and year-out. Heading
the perennial list are the Retrievers - Labradors and Goldens. Both
are extremely loyal, kind, and love to play. You cannot pick a better
breed for family environments.
At the other end
of the spectrum, some breeds of dog tend to be very poor pet choices
for families. Among these are Pit Bulls and Rottweilers. Both have
an alarming history of individual dogs that "snap" and attack people -
even those they've been around for years. Most of them will be good
pets, but you never know if you got one of those who will snap until
it's too late. You will do your family a better favor by choosing a
dog from among the breeds with long histories of being great pets.
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