I had numerous puli dogs in my childhood, but once I will have a bigger house or apartment with garden I will definitely have a shepherd dog or labrador. I need a dog that can come with me on trips or long walks and enjoys adventures but smart enough that you can teach to come back and to not wander off.

Now that I think about it, both of my dogs had been gifted to me by my parents, they know I love animals and dogs in particular so they though it was a good idea. The first dog they got me is a German Shepherd that is almost bigger than me, then a few years ago they brought me a little Yorker, when you compare both of them it looks like you have a elephant and a cat laying side by side, haha!

My family got our dog from the pound. We visited the pound as a family, and when we went into the dog room, it was very loud, with all sorts of barking. Most of the dogs we saw looked very loud and possibly uncontrollable in this condition. But we saw this one dog who was very calm, and she looked very lonely. So, when we took her outside to play with her, she acted very friendly and happy, and we knew she was the right dog. So, that's how we got our dog, and we gauged her attitude and behavior from the pound, and that's worked out pretty well.

He was homeless under a building at a family member's work. He was covered in ticks and fleas and latched onto us after we rescued him, so we adopted.

My Whippet had loose-joints at birth so he was considered a significant health risk (plus he had only one functioning kidney) but he looked so afraid in the cage that I was willing to 'roll the dice' and adopt him. 14 years alter, he is still with us and is the oldest of our seven fur and human children in our family (one dog, three kids, three cats).

My forth grade teacher had a white German Shepherd and it was the sweetest dog. Ever since then I have always wanted one. But ultimately, I had to wait until I was living in a place where I could have a dog. Then I had to consider a dog that was in my price range, was a kid dog, and would protect my family from predators. I went through quite a few breeds before I found a breeder who was had some dogs for sell. It was simply right time and price. I've always loved German Shepherds and white ones are better for hot Californian noons than the dark black and brown ones.

I had a stupid reason one for picking out my dog. I fell in love with his photo online, and he was for sale at the age of 7 weeks. I couldn't get him out of my mind, and before I knew it, I called the seller to negotiate a price. Then I back out after a good night sleep, but the seller called me back. I then negotiate the price lower, and the seller still agree. She was asked for $150, and I said I can only afford him at $75 since I need to buy things for him if I got him like leash, collar, food.

Long story short, he was meant to be with us and for us.

I don't choose my dogs, I have adopted them. Usually friends and family had a flock of puppies sometimes and they gave me one or two as gift. I have adopted several dogs, and lost a few too due to life span.

I like to think my dog chose me. I was just out of college and didn't really want an animal but this stray little chihuahua mixed with something mutt just kept hanging around. He was the sweetest dog ever and it just broke my heart to think that he could be picked up by the pound so I adopted him. My other dog was my significant others before we married, so it became mine through matrimony 🙂

Both of my dogs are rescues. I have a little Chihuahua named Sampson and a little Coton de Tulear named BeBe. Many years ago I received a Coton de Tulear named Jacques (Jack) from a doctor I worked for. Basically he had gotten him for his wife and grew tired of caring for him They both knew I was crazy for animals, so Jack became mine.

I had never even heard of a Coton de Tulear - but I loved him dearly. I only had Jack for 5 years. Jack had a congenital kidney malformation and his kidney's failed very quickly. I tried everything to save him, and my heart just broke when I lost him.

I looked into getting another Coton and was stunned to find out how expensive they can be. I tried to find a Coton to rescue but at the time there weren't many Cotons in the US. I decided that in Jack's honor I would adopt any dog that touched my heart. I got a little Peek named Buster and a little Peek-a-poo named China.

I had both Buster and China for over 15 years. They passed away within months of one another. Needless to say I was devastated and my home felt so empty!! I saw a little dog on our local shelter's website that I was interested in, so I ran over to the shelter to adopt her. As I as standing in line, I realized the man in front of me was holding (and adopting) the little dog I was interested in. As I was turning to leave one of the shelter workers asked me if I would look at a little white dog they had. My heart skipped a beat when they brought Brea (now named BeBe) out to me. She was a Coton de Tulear! After almost 16 years I felt like my first little Coton had sent me a sign from the Rainbow Bridge. I jumped for joy and the rest is history. I have had BeBe and her Chi "brother" Sampson for about 4 years now.

I think I will always rescue - and as I get older I realize that I don't want to leave a little dog "orphaned" if I should pass first - so I have a will for my existing fur babies. I hope I have many more years to take care of my dogs - but if they leave this earth before me, I won't adopt. I will then begin my journey of fostering senior dogs.

I didn't know how we did it. We just had that feeling of wanting it. My brother-in-law is taking care of a friend's Pitbulls that later had puppies. Then we bought one of them. We called him Ziggy the playful dog. He "woof" so loud that some visitors are a little bit afraid because of the sound, lol. He is also a big dog compared to common dogs we see around us. So, how did we choose? Well, it's more of that feeling I had and my wife and son, all together we just got that feeling of wanting to adopt Ziggy when we first saw him.

We started taking care of our shiba inu under unfortunate circumstances, but we've loved having her around. A family member passed away last year, and our shiba has been in our lives ever since. We've heard of shiba's being referred to as "escape artists", but luckily she's very mild-natured and well behaved. As someone who is used to having cats, it was actually a seamless transition because shiba inus are definitely more aloof than your average dog!

My girlfriend at the time really wanted a boxer/shepherd mix. She used to have a boxer but didn't want a purebred because they tend to have trouble in regards to cancer. The dog was very smart and rambunctious!

I see where you are coming from. Its important to find a dog that is compatible with your temperment. For me it's all about whether or not the dog meshes well with my family, rather than it's appearance. I'm not into a particular breed of dog. I've always just let my dog choose me, if that makes sense. For instance, the dog I have now. He was supposed to be a foster dog, but him and I fell in love, so we ended up keeping him.