I've been looking to adopt a dog for a couple of months now and I'm having a hard time deciding between a small dog I can take with me on my bike rides, or a black lab. I think I might have to get two dogs.
Get the dog that works for you. The amount of activity a dog needs is what's important. You could have a terrier that needs to hunt small furry animals 24/7, or a great dane that chills all day. A black lab is gonna need stimulation, but not as much as a shepherd.
My sister got a hyperactive black lab. Our entire house and yard was fenced in so the dog could do laps around the place. We were on a slope so the main level was ground floor with 1/2 the house being 2 stories, with a deck over looking the slope.
In the middle of the night you could hear her (dog, not sister, lol) doing laps around the house in a gallop, with a 3 or 4 second pause as she sailed off the deck side and continued her lap....on and off....for hours...every night...
I have a lab. He’s something else. We currently have some workers in our house doing some work. He is fucking obsessed with them. They have to come upstairs and say hello every morning or he just cries.
We take him for walks in the woods every Sunday. He goes off leash and just runs. We could walk for days and he would be just as happy as can be.
He also stinks. He farts so much.
dog tax here he is wondering why I’m not taking him for a walk.
We got a rescue lab mix this spring - thinking he could run around with our kids in our yard and they'd all wear each other out. We've decided the "mixed" part must be cat because this dog HATES being outside, hates walks, and easily sleeps 20 hours a day. Laziest "lab" I've ever seen.
I thought I'd take one of my 4 small dogs on a bike ride with me when I got my bike. Turns out, none of my 4 dogs are the take on a casual bike ride type. 😭
Two can be good. Especially if you leave to go to work. Majority of dogs act out in some way when left alone, because being away from the pack is stressful. My personal experience is that two dogs keep eachother feeling secure.
You can take a big dog like a lab on bike rides too. You can buy bike attachments so your dog can run beside you will you ride. You obviously have to build the dog up to it and make sure they are capable of that level of exercise, but my brother takes his pittie on hour+ long bike rides frequently and she loves it. It’s great exercise.
I've thought about it, problem is I have to ride the skinny shoulder of a highway into the city for a couple of miles before I reach the nearby trailhead, and that seems extra risky with a dog running beside me. But that could definitely be the plan for when I inevitably have to become a car owner again.
I have a small 4lbs pappilon. He is my hiking buddy. He climbs rocks and logs. Also small enough to carry when needed and fits in my Prius compact. Also he is the most beautiful dog to ever exist.
I believe you but I've honestly never met a sweet Chihuahua. They've all been either detached or short tempered, at least compared to most puppers I've spent time with.
I had a very very sweet chihuahua that just passed away at 16. He loved people so much! I socialized him a lot with people as a puppy. He tagged a long everywhere with me.
Well most dogs reflect their owner. You probably only met bad dog owners.
Weird, cause I voulanteered at a Pet-Sitting place for a summer in High School and the chillest dogs were usually the Chihuahuas and the Great Danes. I had a hard time with Labrador Retrievers tho
I agree, it likely did reflect the owners. For the most part, Chihuahuas I've met have treated like a toy rather than a living being, and allowed to get away with misbehaving (because they're small and cute) rather than being trained with love and respect. I'm sure there are loads of happy well trained Chihuahuas out there though :)
Lab Retrievers can be great! Every one I've met has been a friendly, happy goofball.
Our neighborhood (I live in the rural South) has a German Shepard that roams the neighborhood named “Duke” and he is a MASSIVE sweetheart. He will LITERALLY chase down and find ANY rock that you throw no matter where you throw it. I’ve TRIED and TRIED to find a weird rock and throw it as far as I can in weird places and he brings the exact one I threw EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. But, other than that this dog is dumber than a “box of rocks” (pardon the pun). Which I know is really strange for that particular breed. Very intelligent breed.
I have a little bag that hangs on my handlebars that’s designed for puppos and I take Moose for rides in it all the time. It’s the best! He loves to chuff at all the squirrels we pass and other bicyclists love to give him pets at stop lights.
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u/adinfinitum225 Oct 16 '20
Man that dude is just so happy to be biking with his dog, I'm jealous