I had to put my 11 year old female retriever down February 14th. My 7 year old Male went into a shell and would not do anything, grieving I guess. Nothing we did could get him out of his little world.

Wife and I decided to get him a female to help out. We rescued a pup and brought her into the house. They almost immediately bonded and he has made a 180 and is acting like a young dog again.

The pup is almost more than I can handle, but is a sweet girl when she settles down. At 13 weeks she is 28lbs and has paws like a bear. At the first Vet visit, we told her the rescue group we got her from said she was half lab and half great pyrenees. Vet said nope, she's a pyrenees/ Anatolian Shepherd cross, and will most likely be somewhere around 90-110lbs. She should be a good dog to look after my wife when I go hunting. She's a holy terror right now, but has started to calm down quite a bit. Last pup I had was the male dog 7 years ago and he was chilled from the start, so I'm getting used to opposite now.

Just working now on getting her house trained, up twice a night taking her out and playing a little, while I lose sleep.

Should be great for that goat herd.

Yep, having a new pup in the house is a LOT of work. We got our current pup in late April '25. She is a little over a year old now and is a ball of energy from the time she wakes up until she crashes hard in the late evening. When she was younger we made her take mandatory naps several times a day in her kennel. It gave us a break and she needed the rest. Pups require ALOT of sleep the first year of their life, even though they don't know it and don't want to. She also learned to sleep at night in her kennel and she loves to go in it when it's time to go to bed. We don't even have to tell her most of the time. When we first got her our vet guessed she would grow to be roughly 50 pounds. She is currently at 58 pounds and I don't think she is fully finished putting on weight, although probably pretty close now to he max weight.

This pup was different than any of our other dogs as a puppy. She was / and still is a handful but we love her so much. At about 8-9 months she finally bonded with us and now she wants to be with us all the time.

This will likely be our last "puppy" as we are getting too old for this as well. Again, puppies are a ton of work but it is SO WORTH IT!

Congrats on the new pup!!!!

This will definitely be our last pup.

My wife and I just had this conversation. My dogs are 10 and 6, so the youngest will be about 11 when my son goes off to college.

When that dog passes my next dog is the laziest under 20 pound non shedding adult dog that we can find. No more pups. Pups are for the young.

agsalaska said:

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My wife and I just had this conversation. My dogs are 10 and 6, so the youngest will be about 11 when my son goes off to college.

When that dog passes my next dog is the laziest under 20 pound non shedding adult dog that we can find. No more pups. Pups are for the young.

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We just had this exact same conversation. Our current dog is a labradoodle, and is 13.5 years old.

When we got her, it was from a family who had an unexpected litter of pups...and it cost us very little to take her. She has been the most chill/calm/sweet/loyal/smart dog I've ever owned. She's just another family member, and fit in seamlessly from day 1. She learns everything immediately (potty trained from the get-go), and never caused any issues or had bad habits. I've never gotten too emotional, when we lost a dog...I think I prepare myself, knowing it's inevitable...but this one is going to get me when the day comes.

She has completely spoiled us with her calm demeaner and non-shedding. Inevitably another non-shedding puppy/mix will cost an arm & a leg and will not be as chill. Almost makes me not want to have a dog for a while, once she leaves us.

I love dogs, but we have been without since the kid's last dog passed. As someone said above, it's a job for the young.

I'm happy being able to live without worrying about a pet. I especially like being able to travel without care

"somewhere around 90-110lbs."
For those I've been around, this is probably on the light side.
I've seen them up to 150'ish.

Every time we end up without a dog, I make it about 6 weeks before I break down and get a pup.

We are Sheltie people and just cannot take being without one.

Have 1 miniature schnauzer pup left! Hypoallergenic, non shedding! Will snuggle on your lap ll day long!

You should probably post a few pictures of the new pooch.

Vegas-aggie said:

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"somewhere around 90-110lbs."
For those I've been around, this is probably on the light side.
I've seen them up to 150'ish.

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We have a 13 year old Golden Pyr (1/2 Golden Retriever, 1/2 Great Pyr). He has weighed as much as 130 lbs in his younger years. He's now around 110 +/-.

I intentionally stagger my two dogs by age. Oldest is 8 and the youngest is 2. Been doing this for 20 years. Dogs are pack animals and are just happier when they have a companion.

Oh my wife's threatens me with doing the vacuuming if I get a shed dog so a poodle and one of jagdad's mini schnauzers.

jagsdad said:

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Have 1 miniature schnauzer pup left! Hypoallergenic, non shedding! Will snuggle on your lap ll day long!

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Call me in 5 years.

She's already decided she wants to try being a lap dog. We'll see how long that lasts and if I can take it.

I found a thread on here about a dog like yours. Cool story with photos of their ranch dog.

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3538765

Thought we were done with dogs. The wife and I started looking with no intention of getting another but not opposed to it either. We went to the shelter and fell in love with an adult dog. I'd say she is 3-7 years old. Has energy but tires quickly and does have a little cloud in her eyes. She was a turn key dog. Can't believe someone got rid of her. Sweet, behaved, completely house broken. She filled a little hole in our lives I guess we didn't really know was there. We've had her for a couple of months and I am smitten. She is a little gun shy with quick movements and loud noises. I don't think she was abused but she may have had some issues with her previous owner.

I'm all on board with no puppy ever again.

We went to the pound a couple of times, more or less to see if we really wanted another. This dog, she just took to us right away. It was almost as if she was waiting on us and was confused why it took us so long. So far, she has been the perfect dog for us. Great personality. Great disposition. Walked in the first time, took a look at the cat. They touched noses and now even play together. Had the grandkids come and stay with us for about 10 days. 1 and 2 years old. 0 issues - she was paitent - not even a lick of aggression when they toddled over and bothered her when she was eating.

We lost our old dog first of June last year. Got this one in February. Kind of funny. I convinced my wife to go to the shelter the first time - just to look. I was on the fence about getting one. None of them seemed like a good fit. Same with the second time. The third time, it was my wife's idea. The pup just seemed to fit immediately.

All this to say... don't decide right away. You will know if you want one at the appropriate time. Be patient and find a dog that fits. Don't force any decision or settle. We weren't looking for a specific breed or size or anything. We did know we didn't want a dagerous dog mix - pit bullc chow, doberman, german shepard etc. . That was my only rule

Now that's a lot of dog right there. Good Story!

Quote:

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...Vet said nope, she's a pyrenees/ Anatolian Shepherd cross...

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Had/raised Labs for 30+ years. 6 years ago, I rescued an Anatolian Sheperd, and had never heard of the breed, but she was the sweetest, most loyal dog ever! Sadly, lost her in an accident. Months later, rescued a Pyrenees from the Permian that protects me with her life! Truly blessed and impressed with both breeds!

Doc...I feel your pain. We were in a similar situation in January 2025 when a sudden bout of kidney failure caused us to put down our best dog ever, a full sized tri-color Australian Shepherd.

Our 7 year old mutt went into an immediate funk. It was as if he and I were sharing our collective grief. I swear, the older I get, the more difficult it is to say goodbye to man's best friend.

We now have a 10 1/2 month old Yellow Lab. Yes...he's all pup, and we are dealing with the frustrations of raising this guy. But every day that goes by, I look at him and know I'm going to crash and burn the day I have to let him go.

God knew what He was doing when he created the dog. As such, till the day I die, I'll always have a dog or two (or three).

SteveBott said:

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I intentionally stagger my two dogs by age. Oldest is 8 and the youngest is 2. Been doing this for 20 years. Dogs are pack animals and are just happier when they have a companion.

Oh my wife's threatens me with doing the vacuuming if I get a shed dog so a poodle and one of jagdad's mini schnauzers.

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This is good idea, stagger the dogs, thanks for the advice. they look relaxed on that doggy mat

My idea solves the Alpha vs Alpha problem. The plan is always Alpha in home and new dog is the Beta. Once the Old Alpha passes the new dog is new Alpha.

Dogs are pretty simple. One is king and the others wait their turns.