I already have 2 dogs, mixed breeds, rescued from death sentences.

1 is 14years old and is now retired from his lifelong career as watchdog and "put the kids to bed and sleep".

1 is 2 years old and hasn't figured out what his job is other than the world's greatest barking alarm watchdog.

The nephew-in-law has to find a home with a fenced in backyard for his Dingo because of changes in his life and because of where he lives (in a townhouse/no yard). I was considering taking on the Dingo but it would not work out for the Dingo, the house, the animal kingdom that already exists in my home, or with the family (including special needs).

I knew that I could get some realistic input here, as I did. The decision has been made and no, I don't need another dog, living fossil or not!

My thanks again to everyone for their input! Bo

I found a Dingo pup in the bush, it was wild and I took it home and domesticated it. It was the most loyal well behaved dog I have ever owned, she lived for 11 years and loved children. She did need alot of exercise and displine at first.
I also at the time had a Dalmatian and they were best of friends. It is illegal for us to own one but I would love another, so I still go bush regularily trying to find another.

There is a difference between puppy mills, ignorant backyard breeders, and reliable breeders who are working to produce good quality dogs. Granted, they are a definite minority, but they are out there. It took me two years to find a good one, but I did. Eight years later, I still think they're great.

A good-quality purebred dog, produced by someone who knows what they're doing, would be more likely to be a known quantity for someone who has a severely handicapped daughter, like Wildman does.

While I do realize that hybrid vigor is a big plus for health, mixed breeds can also be a real crapshoot, personality-wise, for a tricky situation like Wildman's. You want to know in advance what you are likely to get. This is not the time to get someone's castoff problem, caused by some fool who thinks a pup learns by ESP, has been fed the cheapest crap known to Man, and learned survival from a fast-moving metal-toed boot.

Not all Labs are stable. Not all Labs are healthy. But they do have a pretty good chance of being emotionally stable.... if you do a careful search and do your homework.

Rescue dogs can be great dogs. But some of them aren't.

Sue

All canids along with ursus and the third social pack hunter ( the really nasty one) have one major genetic variable for survival. That is a great range of personalities to adapt to the world.Breed generalisations are not much better than predictions on somebody who is irish ( and anyone who doesn't like my singing will get a punch in the mouth.) I had a female coyote adopt my ranch who thought ground squirrels and avocados were hers and everything else under her protection. 'Suzie' beat the stuffing out of a young male who came in one night to hunt the barn cats.On the other side of this story, one horseowner showed up with a Jack Russell terrier, currently very popular with the horsey set.A more inately nasty creature I have never seen, and one day a horse had enough and sent it flying like a frizzby to doggie heaven.I was stationed at Tillamok Bay LBS and this bosun decided to promote a 'OFFICIAL USCG BREED.' The fact of his Saint Bernard having a tryst with a Newfoundland and a resultant litter ahd no small bearing on his esprit de corpse. He raised the 3 survivors, and one day loaded them onto our 44' MLB 'for training' in water rescue. This was about the same time the CG was messing with birds in onboard cages to spot liferafts or something from air units.Well, we weren't 10 minutes out and all three 'Cape May Lighthouse Dogs' as he called them were soon vomiting kibbles in a slurry that defeated the newly painted nonskid.So ended a little known breed's brief history.I'll stick with my cat. He wakes me promptly at 6 A.M. every morning with amazing acuracy +- 5 seconds on my chronograph. Now if he could only hit the automatic cofffee maker button.

keep the cat as it is, and just buy an electrical timer ....