erman Sheperd/ Rottweiler mix

[kiskyler]

Hello everyone!

I wish to get my friend a puppy for christmas. His dog was stolen some time ago, and he is so sad about it, he still has his dog food! It is time for him to get a new dog.

I saw an ad for German sheperd/Rottweiler mix puppies. Is this a good mix, or should I stay away from it?

Thank you for any advice you can give me!

[prechrswife]

My word of advice would be to check with your friend first and make sure he wants a new puppy right now. For example, when my father-in-law had to have his elderly, well-loved black lab put to sleep, my husband and I considered getting him a new puppy once a little time had passed. However, we brought the matter of getting a new dog up with my father-in-law in the course of regular conversation, and we found out that they did not want another dog. (My in-laws are retired and travel a lot.) We never told him that we were considering getting him a dog, but we still were able to find out his wishes.

As for the type of dog, I think the personalites of the parents would have a lot to do with how good of a mix that would be.

[wolfsoul]

Definatly talk to your friend first!

GSD/Rotti mixes are great, but wouldn't you rather get a puppy from a shelter? Backyard breeders are one of the last places you should get a puppy.

[stacwase]

I have a GSD/Rottweiler mix. I would never forgive somebody if they gave me such a handful of a dog without checking with me first. I love Max to pieces - but he is extremely rambunctious and needs TONS of exercise. He's not one of those dogs you can just forget about and have a day for yourself. He's not a pet - he's a lifestyle!

As a matter of fact, I'm sick as crap today and I was trying to spend the day in bed. Instead I spent the morning driving around town in the freezing rain trying to catch Max. He got loose this morning when I was letting Jake out.

Also - he's huge. He eats a LOT. And of course his poops are big.

As for getting your dog from the "backyard breeder" - I doubt they bred their dog on purpose. Nobody with half a brain interested in making $ would breed mutts (other than the designer mutts everybody's paying big bucks for). If the dogs aren't taken from the newspaper ad then the people will put them in the shelter. So what's the difference between taking the puppy now and taking it after it goes to the shelter?

[Shelteez2]

Originally posted by stacwase
As for getting your dog from the "backyard breeder" - I doubt they bred their dog on purpose. Nobody with half a brain interested in making $ would breed mutts (other than the designer mutts everybody's paying big bucks for). If the dogs aren't taken from the newspaper ad then the people will put them in the shelter. So what's the difference between taking the puppy now and taking it after it goes to the shelter?

And why reward someone who had an "oops" litter? Maybe if they have a difficult time selling their litter they will be a little more careful about their dogs in the future...maybe even get at least one of them altered.
And the people who do this rarely have more than half a brain. So many people think it'd be easy to just throw 2 dogs together come up with some cute puppies and make a quick buck.

[stacwase]

Yeah - but were they selling them, or giving them away "to a good home"? I'm not saying it's OK to not alter your pets or anything, but people like that never learn their lessons.

[Shelteez2]

Originally posted by stacwase
Yeah - but were they selling them, or giving them away "to a good home"? I'm not saying it's OK to not alter your pets or anything, but people like that never learn their lessons.

She didn't say. And people like that do sometimes learn their lessons when it's not as easy as they thought it would be to unload their puppies.

[wolfsoul]

The people who bred Timber were looking to make money...

[stacwase]

Jeez.

I've never heard of charging for mixed-breed dogs. That's just dumb! There can't be that many people willing to pay for them, can there? My mistake anyways - sorry! I guess you just can't assume anything about people.

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by stacwase
Jeez.

I've never heard of charging for mixed-breed dogs. That's just dumb! There can't be that many people willing to pay for them, can there? My mistake anyways - sorry! I guess you just can't assume anything about people.

I'm charging money for the puppies lol.

[tikeyas_mom]

in the local petstore here they sell mixed puppies, the smaller they are the more money they are. . in the news paper their is a pick a pup breeder, they will breed two dogs together *even if they are two different breeds* and then sell them depending on the demand. stupid backyard breeders... they suck

[Shelteez2]

Originally posted by stacwase
Jeez.

I've never heard of charging for mixed-breed dogs. That's just dumb! There can't be that many people willing to pay for them, can there? My mistake anyways - sorry! I guess you just can't assume anything about people.

Here's just an example of some classifieds for my area:

MINIATURE DASCHUND
CROSS JACK RUSSELL
20 WKS OLD, LIGHT TAN
APPROX 5LBS, GOOD W/KIDS
$350


PUPPIES
3/4 BICHON 1/4 SHIH TZU
WHITE W/TANNED EARS
$300


Jack Russell Australian Terrier cross pups, 1 male, 2 females, 7 weeks old, first shots, dewormed, Vet checked, $250 ea,

Boston Poodle Pom Puppies, born Oct 13th, 2003, 1st shots, ready to go, $350

SHEPHERD/COLLIE
7 Shepherd/Collie cross puppies, Mother purebred Shepherd, Father Border Collie, ready to go Dec 10, $75 each

[clara4457]

To go back to the original post. I don't think getting your friend a puppy for Christmas is such a good idea. At the shelter I volunteer at, January and February are the worst months for strays and surrenders (as are most shelters). People get kittens or puppies for Christmas and after a couple of weeks realize how much work they are and turn them into the shelter (if we are lucky) or just turn them loose on the street.

A better idea might be to make up a card with a dog gift certificate of some kind. Then after Christmas you can both go to your local shelter and let him/her pick out a dog that he/she chooses. Then you can pay the adoption fee for them. Also, if your friend still lives with their parents, they would definitely have a say in the decision.

And Shelteez is absolutely correct - if you pay for a mixed breed pup (even if it was an accident) you are advocating irresponsible behavior from the pet owner. or even worse a backyard breeder. Dogs should not be breed by anyone except responsible breeders that take the responsibility very seriously.

[Rio and Me]

As presherwife said you could find out if/when and what type of dogs he wants (like out of coreousity (?sp) and go from there!

God forbid Rio got pregnent, before I got a chance to spay her, and I got mix breed puppies I would deffentatly put a price on them say £50 - £100, so that people "hopfully" would think about it before buying them.
I'm sure its different over here because in any of our papers there are never any "expensive" mix breed puppies, just accident puppies for sale with a small price, heres an example in this weeks paper

German Shepherd x BC puppies for sale,
Ready Dec 20th, boys and girls, mum can be seen,
To good homes £75
That price range is comon! we rarely have signs of BYB and puppy mills! (they are there but not many)
Ky and Rio

[pit chic]

I would listen to the great advice all of these folks are giving here.

I'm not passing judgment because I don't know your friend or the circumstances to which the dog was stolen. If he left his dog out 24-7 or if it was a preventable situation, then a dog might not be a good gift for this person, because you don't want to get him a dog and it happen again.

The classified adds usually aren't the best place to shop for a puppy either. Find a responsible breeder or a reputable shelter/rescue organization. If he knows what breed he might want, do your homework on that breed to make sure it's suitable for this person's lifestyle. If a mutt is all he wants, the shelter is the #1 place to go save a life instead of giving an easy out for a careless dog owner. Use the internet and do your homework. There are sites out there geered towards giving good advice on finding responsible breeders and there are countless numbers of shelters on the web also. The AKC's website is one place to try. They have lists of breed clubs in your area that give referals on breeders as well as breed rescues.

Plus, a shelter dog will most likely have all of it's medical work done, including the most important, being neutered.