Getting another dog

Question
Hi..I have a 8 year old black lab. I also have 3 little kids. I want to get another dog, small to medium size, but I want to find a dog that mixes well with our black lab. Do you have any suggestions? Pure bred, AKC papers, none of that means anything to me...

Answer
Hello Noel, Since your lab is getting on in years either get a calmer breed or an older puppy or dog instead of a just weaned puppy...the lab doesnt want a tiny hyper terrier biting its heels and neck while its trying to sleep. There are so many breeds out there but for smaller clamer breeds I can reccomend the;

Basset hound...long and low and also loud bark but very sweet and loving and not overly active

A bichon/shituz X or pure shituz.... a small long coated dog that does like to bark at passing strangers but is loving thou slightly independent and isnt a very hyper dog long slung dogs and the crosses are proen to getting overweight.

Toy or miniture poodle, long curly hair should be clipped every 6-8 weeks...loving great with other dogs tends to bark alot and more active the the dog above.

English bulldogg one of my fovorite dogs but they are very expensive...can be dog agressive but I persoanly ahev two dog agressive dogs living together with my labrador reteriver without many problems, they drool/burp alot and eat alot prone to getting overweight but are extremly loving even possibly moreso then the labrador reteriver, great with children and max out at 43-55 pounds

Maltese, small active dog ok with kids ok with other dogs, doesnt need to be walked much as they max out at 5-8 pounds, come in white only hair is long and strigh needs daily brushign and possibly clipping several times yearly....may bark alot.

Cockapoo, american cocker spaniel X toy or miniture poodle curly to wavy hair likes to bark great with other dogs moderitly active should have daily walks...good with kids.


Whippet or italion grey hounds are very slender dogs without much fat on there bodies bot resembile greyhounds the italtion grey hound is maxed out at 10 pound weather the whippet maxes out at 25-32 pounds, both great with kids/other dogs/very loving dogs but cna be stubbarn and hard to train need about the same amount of exercsie as a labrador reteriver....the italion needs less its a small toy breed....you can not let the lab be rough in play with the italion it is prone to leg fractures..the whippet is abit stronger.

If your lab is an active older dog without any joint problems you may want to look into a Beagle a small hound that is great with dogs/kids and is loving to its family they are genrally easy to train but cant be trusted off leash as they like to followthere noises they have a baying bark and can take alot of training to pervent the dog barking too much while outdoors and disturbing neighbering people.

Also the American or english cocker spanile are both great small/meduim dogs but are also energtic and if your lab is getting joint or hip problems a bouncing active puppy wouldnt be a great idea....you could always try an older more mature puppy(8+ months) or an older dog thou  i perosnly think it would be a hassle to get two odler dogs to get along i always buy puppies when adding to my extended family.

Assuming your lab is active and without problems a Boston Terrier or Pug could be a wonderful dog both however dog snort/snore and burp alot....dont get me wrong there great dogs, My 7 mnoth old boston terreir is much more affetionet then my labrador reteiver and is always happy to give kisses, she is great with my neices and will lick them to death if youd let her, she is ok with other dogs thou they are noted to being dog agressive and I see that flare up between her and my jack russell terrier some times it got her a bloody eye amonth ago when my Jack russell tryed taking her rawhiee after he finished his...she had to be taken right to the vets to flush teh eye and was given an ingection of pain meds...and we got eye ointment to take home, Thou I reccomend a male dog if yuors is female or a female if yours is amle it seems to wrok better that way thou i persoanlly have never had problems with my female lab and female boston terrier I think that sicne both are fairly submissive thats why tehre are no problems my jack russell terrier runs the show! hes the only male dog I've ever persoanlly had.

There are some larger dogs that would work well also such as some springer or welse spaniels or brittany spaniels or golden retreiver....but most of those are also as big as your lab.


I persoanlly would love to get a Labradoodle, a labrador retreiver poodle cross they come in assorted sizes depending on what the bitch lab is bred too either a standard/mini or toy(Yes its possible!) they are very low shedding can have curly or wavy hair and tend to be very very itlegent dogs from what I've heard and of course good with children and other dogs...they also can come in black/grey/white/silver/gold/fawn/chocolate/yellow or cream.

Youve heard me mention my Jack russell terrier but I can not reccomend one to you yes they are cheap little dogs but are very hyper/very active and very driven they are very active indoors and slightly distructive and dont fair well in crates all day at work, I can run my 2 year old male aroiund the block 3 or 4 times and he still isnt slowing down! they are bad with oher pets or unless they are taught to like them wehn young, mine cant stand to see stray cats or sqiurls or magpies/birds while on a wlak he will try pull towards them, he is a brave little dog and will stand up to anything he trys to go to huge 2+ foot tall dogs while on walks because there barking or growling at him and shows sign s of aggression with both my dogs even thou he Is neutered, he can play frisbee all day even thou his tounge is almost touching the ground, he is fine with my neices but he does snap if his hair is pulled..he doesnt enjoy having his nails clipped and must be muzzled even thou I hae persoanlly never cut them too short..adn never had anyone else do them, I jsut thought I'd let you know about these dogs since they are very avalible and you might be tempted to buy one but for having an odler dog and children I dont reccomend them and they are also very dog agressive 5 out of 5.

Chihuahuas are very cute and tiny but Are snappy with children my sister has a 3 pound amle with he 2 year old daughter and he is snappy with her and was a very mean little puppy trying to bite your fingers with pure rage when you played too roughly with him...he would snarl and snap at 2 months of age!, they arte dog aggressive and not reccomended to familys with other dogs or children.


Pomerians are indpendent and dog agressive not great with kids and bark alot they are cute and fluffy but not reccomended.

A reitivly new breed the Havernese is a very nice little dog great with kids/other pets/other dogs/ok with strangers also they are about 10-12 pounds full grown long and low the the shituz and have a ild frizzy hair they come in many colors and are coming more avalible, they like to ahev walks and are not couch potatoes they need hair cuts every now and then and daily brushing to pervent matts.

border collies and blue heelers are Not reccomended they are both very very active to the point of being called hyper the blue or red heeler or aussie Cattle dogs are dog agressive/stranger agressive and dont like small animals they tend to nip or bite heels/ankels in attempts to herd people or other animals and are very driven, Border collies are very active as well almost hyper need daily runs lie the heeler and arent very dog agressive they are ok with larger animals some are good with cats and small animals but are very very active dogs that shred the house when left alone bored for hours and hours they are cheap which might lure some people in but they are a really big handful.


Miniture pinchers are active/hyper liek teh jack russell terreir and are dog agressive thou one could fit into yuor household if you buy the oppisite sex of the dog you have I am persoanlly considering one of these next year but think there will be alot of dog fights in the household.

Lhasa Apsos are long coated long slung dogs, long sleek hair and are fairly popular they are slightly barky buut my brother has a lhasa cross and he is wonderful and very playful he is about 9 years old now and was having slight seziers over the summer they are normal to older dogs i checked it out and he had taken him to the vets, he is crossed with a american escamo.

Any spritx type dog or dog that looks simaler to the poerianian and is larger(same coat type./hair sytle) are all barky dogs we had a mini american escamo a few years back that we put down for parvo(he was 15 years old), and he barked all teh time wheil uotside at everyone and everything even on walks.


Dacshunds are nice littel dogs slighlty dog agressive and like to bark and dig fairly active and really would enjoy palying frisbee/fetch and walking everyday, they can be good with ids if brough up with them.

There are little dog crosse breeds such as: yorkiepoos, pekeapoos, shi-poos, chi-poos that might e good with your other dog and children. Whatever you do find a quaility breeder dont buy from a backyard breeder or petstore espesilly the puppies are likely to have more health problems later in life then if bought from a quaility breeder.

I hope this helps you out somewhat if you need more breeds or more info in genral I'd be happy to help you out, I have done alot of reserch on alot of breeds tha i perosnally would like living with and would be very happy to help you pick teh right dog or puppy for your household, Best of luck tracking down a breeder,   and herean awsome site for information: www.dogbreedinfo.org