Looking for my next dog, any suggestions?

[Madame de Sousa]

Kiko_Niwa

This summer I am moving to Monterey, CA and I was hoping to get a dog. I will be moving to a fairly large house with a fenced-in back yard. I have cats, so it has to be sociable with cats. My dad has suggested that I look for something with little to no health problems and I want a fairly large dog, nothing under 60 pounds. I will be going to school so it has to be okay with being alone, and it should be okay with people. I was looking at a Vizsla or maybe an Utonagan. Any suggestions? (I am willing to go to a Shelter, but I have to have something in mind so I know what to look for.) I have looked up many breeds on-line, and the two I mentioned above so far look like the best fit for me. I also want it to have a fairly long life expectancy.

No such thing as a dog with no health problems. Maybe when they are young they would have little problems but elderly dogs normally have health problems.

Vizslas can have hemophilia A, CMO, and CHD.

[Latrans]

Madame de Sousa

No such thing as a dog with no health problems. Maybe when they are young they would have little problems but elderly dogs normally have health problems.

Vizslas can have hemophilia A, CMO, and CHD.

While that's true, you can certainly stack the deck by avoiding certain breeds/lines, and by being honest with yourself about what kinds of health problems you can deal with.

Dobes and Flatcoats average what, 7 years? That's not something I could handle. Even with their high incidence of epilepsy, tervs still average 12-14 years.

[Moth Feathers]

Latrans

Madame de Sousa

No such thing as a dog with no health problems. Maybe when they are young they would have little problems but elderly dogs normally have health problems.

Vizslas can have hemophilia A, CMO, and CHD.

While that's true, you can certainly stack the deck by avoiding certain breeds/lines, and by being honest with yourself about what kinds of health problems you can deal with.

Dobes and Flatcoats average what, 7 years? That's not something I could handle. Even with their high incidence of epilepsy, tervs still average 12-14 years.

Why do tervs have a high incidence of epilepsy anyway?

[Madame de Sousa]

Latrans

Madame de Sousa

No such thing as a dog with no health problems. Maybe when they are young they would have little problems but elderly dogs normally have health problems.

Vizslas can have hemophilia A, CMO, and CHD.

While that's true, you can certainly stack the deck by avoiding certain breeds/lines, and by being honest with yourself about what kinds of health problems you can deal with.

Dobes and Flatcoats average what, 7 years? That's not something I could handle. Even with their high incidence of epilepsy, tervs still average 12-14 years.

Another thing it could be a healthy dog but then catch something like Lyme which stays with them the rest of their life.

[Latrans]

Moth Feathers

Latrans

Madame de Sousa

No such thing as a dog with no health problems. Maybe when they are young they would have little problems but elderly dogs normally have health problems.

Vizslas can have hemophilia A, CMO, and CHD.

While that's true, you can certainly stack the deck by avoiding certain breeds/lines, and by being honest with yourself about what kinds of health problems you can deal with.

Dobes and Flatcoats average what, 7 years? That's not something I could handle. Even with their high incidence of epilepsy, tervs still average 12-14 years.

Why do tervs have a high incidence of epilepsy anyway?

I'm not sure exactly; doubtless genes (and it's very probably genes, rather than a gene) that cause epilepsy were isolated in the Belgian herding dog population when it split off from the landrace of 'European' dogs, and then hasn't been successfully selected out of the population. Since it shows up between ~2 and 4, dogs can easily be bred before it's known that they have it. :[

Cool article on epilepsy in Tervs! They're isolating the genes for it, which is going to be helpful in diagnosis.

[x-kazzy]

Latrans

x-kazzy

www.petfinder.com

But I recommend Pit-Bulls, awesome dogs.

How hard is it to find a couch potato pit? Zobby's half pit-type dog (as far as we know), and he's totally chill, but then again, he's half peke.

To me, it's some-what easy to find a couch potato pit. I'm fostering another Pit Bull, and she's so laid back and chill. She sleeps and plays for the whole day, she never barks inside.
Summer is on the right.

[Skeksis]

Latrans beat me to it; an ex-racing greyhound would suit what you're looking for down to the ground, based on the criteria you've posted here.
They are large, don't need tremendous amounts of exercise and they are dedicated loungers- most greys LOVE to spend their time chilling on the lounge next to their person. They also have very nice temperaments and many are perfectly fine with cats.

I've found ex-racing greyhounds to be very appreciative of any comforts and affection given to them. They usually get very little of either whilst in the care of their racing owners/trainer.

[Erin puppy]

lol you could look for a standard dachshund. :3

[Kiko_Niwa]

Every pit bull I have ever known has had very bad separation anxiety, tearing up the house, pottying all over the place, and barking till they're hoarse.

I am looking for something that lives (preferably) more than 10 years, closer to 15+. I want to avoid epilepsy, heart problems, and dogs that "snap," which I have heard that some mastiffs, Dobermans, and shepherds have a problem with.