Hi Iris!

Thanks Sharon and Bargoo for the recommendations! I found a few that look good on trip advisor. I like to plan. Dh would prefer to just stumble upon a place and try it, so we'll see.

Dh and I might go visit a Doberman breeder in a few weeks. We've had two dobermans in the past and they've been amazing dogs but neither lived that long (around 7-8). I think we just had bad luck though so we want to consider the breed again. Our first one died of osteosarcoma (bone cancer)-- she was the best dog we've ever had. Found her as a stray, full of heart worms and BBs and super skinny. We had her a few years before she got bone cancer. The second one was the dumbest dog we've ever had but he was the runt and I don't think everything formed properly. Sweet as could be though-- he died of a heart attack suddenly.

My dd is in Tucson. She said one of her classes is cancelled and she's crossing her fingers for the other one.

Michele~there are several breeds of dogs who's life span is short--less than 10 years. Boxers, Great Danes and Dobermans are some of those. I don't quite understand why (except for size in the case of GDs).

And while I, too, like to fly by the seat of my pants at times, there are other times when planning is the better way to go. For example, one of the restaurants we wanted to try in the Napa valley was fully booked for all the "normal" dining times. We could have had a 9:30 reservation but we prefer eating at around 7 PM.

I walk mostly purebreds and have had one purebred and one mutt of my own.

I will never own a purebred dog again, unless breeders start breeding for health and temperament, rather than a special "look". I have witnessed the premature deaths of at least 15 purebred dogs (all the same breed though from different breeders from different countries) from cancer, seen others with deformities encouraged, weakness in hips, eyes, elbows, horrible allergies, etc. etc.

All the dogs I've walked who have lived to 14+ (including my girl) have been mixed breeds who have enjoyed mostly good health until the last year or so of life. This speaks volumes to me.

Dagmar

Our Ginny is a golden mixed with who knows what and she is the best dog ever. She loves everyone, she's super smart; plays when you throw the ball but chills otherwise. It's really a good thing that she will live forever.

I have a Doberman from a rescue - my first purebred anything, all the rest have been mutts and mixie cats from shelters. This current Doberman was sufficiently traumatized from three years in a crate that I didn't feel guilty for adopting a purebred. She was clearly not going to get adopted otherwise due to being a tiny runt with health problems. Four years and a lot of work later, she's a healthy happy sweetie who has mostly overcome the behavioral damage. She'll never be smart, but that's ok.

As far as health issues go, certainly the average mutt lives longer than the average purebred dog of comparable size, but in practice I saw thousands of exceptions in both sides of the equation. My favorite dog ever (a mutt of highly mixed parentage according to her DNA test) died at 11. I was crushed - everyone knows mutts are supposed to live to 14. You just never know. Of course the dogs that die of malignant cancers at 3 years or younger are nearly always purebreds.

JZJ-- my inlaws have a Flat Coated Retriever-- less than 2 years old-- currently undergoing chemo for melanoma.

I plan on asking quite a few questions when I visit the breeder I've located. Working for vets for over 15 years has made me pretty astute about reading between the lines, asking the right questions, etc. I am 100% concerned with temperament and health over looks. There are breeders out there who feel the same. Certain breeds just don't live as long as others, but like JZJ said, there are exceptions. I've seen many dobermans live to be 12-14. My dachshunds have lived to be 15-16.

It's funny because I've always had purebred dogs and mutt cats. However, I had the worst string of luck with cats-- they all died by 7-- cancer, brain issues, heart issues-- the weirdest illnesses that vets had "never seen before". After losing quite a few cats, we opted to get our first purebred cats-- we now have two tonkinese kitties named Charlotte and Wilbur and they are 12 and look and act like youngsters. You just never know. They are sweet, playful, and smart.

Our pure-bred Australian Shepherd lived 14 years - 13 of them healthy and frisky. Perhaps she was so healthy because she was a working dog. When a pup, she would try to herd us into a tighter formation when we were standing around.

Yes, Bill I have heard that they will try tio herd bag of oranges.Don't drop that bag !

Well, the business change that has been in the works for over a year is finally coming to fruition. We got notification this morning that our new contractor's license number has been assigned so now we need to close escrow and go on from there. The payroll company is setting things up for the new company. All the new bank accounts are set up and ready to go. I've filled out most of the applications for city licenses (can't finalize until after we've closed escrow). Now the only thing I'm concerned with is our monthly taxes which should be paid before we close, but we don't have all the info to pay them (typically it takes a week or so from the time we get material for us to get the bill on which the taxes are based). I'll have to inquire about that. Once escrow is closed, then I need to reapply for lines of credit with all our vendors and change our credit card information. Yep, still a LOT of work to do, but at least it's getting done.

I wonder what we'll do once we lose Misty. She's about 9 now and perfectly healthy so I don't think it'll be any time soon. But we'll have Bogey for a long time still and now the three cats. I never thought I'd have three cats! But secretly I hope to get a kitten! My DH would kill me though! But I've decided that cats are a lot easier than dogs so I don't know if we'll continue to have dogs as our current ones leave us. It's hard to say.

My parents last dog was a purebred rottweiler, and he was about 7 when he passed from some kind of heart cancer. It was a pretty sudden and swift downward trend the last year of his life.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!