To Get a Dog or Not to Get a Dog...?!

Hello Everyone, especially all of you dog lovers and dog knowers,

Andrew and I have been considering for quite a while whether or not to get a dog. We go back and forth and back and forth. 3 months into our marriage, we brought home an adorable little puppy named, Hudson, a lab vizsla mix. Unfortunately, after a week we had to take him back. He was a dog that had been rescued and it turned out that he had been fairly heavily abused, causing him severe separation anxiety as well as soiling himself and his cage constantly.

I loved every minute with Hudson. He was such a people lover and loved nothing more than to snuggle up with me, but for the long-term, keeping him and having both of us humans sane was just not an option. So, we took him back.

It has been my lifelong dream to have a dog, but there are a lot of factors to consider.

Andrew and I set out and made a list of the things we wanted in a dog:

- not a lap dog (apparently that's not manly enough! :0) )
- does not shed
- family dog
- medium amount of exercise
- intelligent and easy to train
- not a constant barker
- not a lot of health problems
- needs to be able to stay at home while we are at work

I've taken several tests on-line to see what kind of a dog we should get and nothing satisfactory came up.

I love Hungarian Vizslas! I know that is not a very common dog here in the United States, but in the past week, I was overjoyed to see two in Wheaton. Of course, I had to go right up to the owners and ask them if that's what they were. They would say "yes" and I would just stare at the dog and smile. Creepy!!! I know. :0)

Anyway, the only problem with Vizslas is that they do require quite a bit of exercise. Websites say that you should take them out for at least an hour walk every day. That's a lot, especially when the days get shorter and the temperature gets colder.

Here are a few pictures of what Vizslas look like:





Aren't they just the most beautiful dogs in the whole entire world?

Ok, so here is the question to all of you out there...

1) Do you have a dog breed that you would recommend to us?
2) What should we know before getting a dog?

One of us tends to be rather spontaneous and the other a super planner and needs all of her ducks in a row before making a decision like this. It's a big commitment and we just want to make sure that we do the right thing.

What do you think? Any thoughts? Suggestions?