How to get a dog that is:
Thoroughly Manly;
Emotionally Self-sufficient;
Low Maintenance;
Spatially Manageable;
and Potentially Namable
We've been debating our options for some time. We open the floor to commentary.
A few things to know as you contemplate the options and possibly suggest others:
1. We both have full time jobs.
2. Our yard is small.
3. I grew up breeding dogs and am highly suspicious of newer hybrid "breeds".
3. Long Hair isn't an option.
4. People who like toy dogs deserve a nail in the eye.
The Contenders:
Rated on scales of 1 to 5, 1 being low, 5 being high.
Bull Mastiff:Manliness Quotient: 4
Emotional Neediness: 4 (Needs people and is WAY overprotective.)
Energy Output: 2
Spatial Compatibility: 4
Namability: 2. (No thoroughly defining characteristics which jump out to suggest a name. A good candidate for the name we had already agreed upon, "Raold Dog".)
Great Dane:Manliness Quotient: 5
Emotional Neediness: 3 (Needs people but not overprotective)
Energy Output: 1
Spatial Compatibility: 4 (Only slightly problematic. Even though he doesn't need to run, where do we keep him?)
Namability: 5 (You can either go the realistic route, with "Thor" or "Gibraltar" or "Zion", or you could be tounge in cheek and name it "Precious" or "Petite" or "Nancy".)
Puggle:Manliness Quotient: 0 (The only way this dog is allowed on here is cause of the beagle half.)
Emotional Neediness: 2 (Although hard to tell with a hybrid.)
Energy Output: 4 (But can be expended mostly indoors.)
Spatial Compatibility: 5
Namability: 5 (If we went with something like this, I could only tolerate naming it "Thor" or "Gibraltar" or "Zion". But we'd also never refer to it as a puggle. I'm leaning toward renaming the breed as a Chinese Hunting Hound.)
Rhodesion Ridgeback:
Manliness Quotient: 4
Emotional Neediness: 3
Energy Output: 5
Spatial Compatibility: 3
Namability: 2. (No thoroughly defining characteristics which jump out to suggest a name. Again, perhaps, "Raold Dog".)
Really not a good fit for us, but I included her cause Rach fell in love with the dog while watching Jane Austen Bookclub.
Boxer:Manliness Quotient: 4
Emotional Neediness: 3
Energy Output: 5 (Really the only drawback to this dog.)
Spatial Compatibility: 5
Namability: 5 (Sky's the limit. Maybe "Brewster"? Or "Owen Meany"?)
This has been our longstanding fave since our days down in Grad Hospital. We could never remember our next door neighbors' names but their dog "Madison" was AWESOME. We pretty much looked forward to coming home every summer day and seeing her peer out the the screen door at us as we went inside.
Basenji
Manliness Quotient: 3
Emotional Neediness: 3
Energy Output: 5 (But mostly expendable indoors.)
Spatial Compatibility: 5 (In addition to the size being a plus, apparantly they don't bark. They ululate or yodel... Interesting. They also clean themselves like a cat.)
Namability: 5 (With a dog that weird, there are a lot of options. Like naming him "Umlaut" or "Quinine" or "Ululate" or "Zanzibar" or "Ebola".)
Please give us your opinion, keeping in mind that in reality, we can really only afford to go to the SPCA and pick up whatever adorable dog they have for us that week...
