OH wanted a collie, not sure why, just think he thought they were beautiful looking dogs.

Flynn was my choice, he's a German Wirehaired Pointer x Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer. I decided I wanted a scruffy looking dog, wiry type with a beard etc. I was originally looking at Labradoodles but they were way overpriced and couldnt be guaranteed what coat type it would be (didnt want anything shaggy!) I just started looking at different breeds of dogs and took a shining to GWP's. I liked the look of them and everything I read said they had good temperaments generally. I came across Flynn's litter, liked the cross so decided i'd have a pup.

Before deciding on Flynn, i'd looked at allsorts, including Dobermans. I like shorter haired, deep chested breeds and we'd had Dobies in the family. I'm also a fan of big dogs with lots of energy and Kai came up in rescue.

This is a great thread loved reading everyones posts.

First family dog was a yorkie then a toy poodle then a wolfhound a ckcs and a lab cross, i got my first dog when i was six a yorkie along with his sister(my sisters dog) he lived til he was 17 definately my best mate.
Whilst we had him and his sister we got two more wolfhounds( litter sisters) then found an alsation cross wandering in our road no owner to be found so we kept him, then we had to have three of our dogs put to sleep in the same year that was hard so we got another yorkie to keep my old boy company but we missed having a bigger dog so wanted another big guy around but the wolfhounds lifespan was so short we didnt want to lose them so soon again.
I had always loved Dobermanns but my mum was scared of them so after visiting losts of dog shows to meet them she finally agreed to me getting one so madison came home and i am now smitten and will always have one from now on, extremely loving - willing to do anything for you -quick to learn - great with kids only problem is they take up alot more room on the bed compared to the yorkies but then again not as much as the wolfhounds!!
Oh and am hoping to get a small dog this year too just not sure what yet

I met my first Shar pei in 1992 and had never seen anything like it, from there I developed a real fascination for them as they were quite rare then and very unusual.

I met my now ex, in the beginning of 1997 and he also had a "thing" for pei's so, when we decided to get a dog there was no other choice, we had to have a Shar pei!

The rest as they say is history and we are now on our 3rd

Our first dog was totally unplanned. I mentioned at work that we were thinking of getting a dog and was pounced on by a colleague who said 'Would you like a setter?' I didn't know what a setter looked like But she assured me they were beautiful (true) and said there was a 9 month pup near her that was going to be PTS if it didn't find a new home soon. We went to look and you can guess the rest ..... love at first sight.

After he died 14 years later I said 'No more dogs'. We'd had a good few problems with him.

We had a 10 year old son who loved collies so we went to look and came home with the best family dog you imagine :lol
Then it had to be another collie after Sam died, hence Dale. We can't live without a dog The house doesn't feel right.

I've just read every reply, and quite a few have brought a lump to my throat.

I own a jack russell - this one's a parson, but they are all russells to me.
We own Missy because of Spot.

Spot belonged to our next door neighbours - they had her as a pup. The smallest smoothest whitest kindest jack russell ever. Bought as a present for the new baby!
The parents fed her when they could be bothered, the two older kids tormented her so that dad took her to work on the building site. He used to leave her locked in the van all day. One day he came back and she'd wee'd on his seat, so he hit her with the nearest thing to hand - a roofing tile. Split her head open to the skull.
They didn't want to take her to the vet because they didn't want to pay the bill - so I took her, I paid for her and I kept her. Vet who stitched her up said she had a 50-50 chance of living, but I was to keep her warm and if she made it through the night, she'd be ok.

I slept with her on the sofa that night, all wrapped up in a quilt. She lived. She stayed safe in our love for the next 16 1/2 years, and she died at 18 years old.

I never had a dog before Spot, but I couldn't bear to see any animal abused like that. So she was my first.

She would listen to my every command. She was the star of her training school - and for a jack they were amazed. Her recall was 100%, no matter what she was doing - I only had to call her name.

I was her world. She was mine.

Hubby would do if I wasn't about - but no-one else.

When she died, our home no longer felt like a home. Without a dog it was just a house.

Hubby and I talked it over, and we both felt that Spotty would have wanted us to give another dog a chance, as we gave her one.

So that weekend we went to Battersea, looking to give a dog no one wanted a chance.

Had to be another jack - hubby had GSDs when he was growing up, but after Spot he said he'd never go back.
We even had a stray GSD for a while - but jacks are our love. Because of Spot.

Other nice thing about jacks is there is such variety in short, smooth, rough, tall that we never had to pick one who looked just like Spot. So Missy was never compared to our darling Spot.

She is her own dog, and greatly loved - as all darling dogs should be.

I have a Japanese Chin! My old lady belonged to my grandmother who I was very close to-she had and bred dogs for over fifty years an d was primarily involved in border collies although she seemed to have owned every other breed at some time. Her dogs were all part of the family and if you didn't like that, you weren't welcome in her house! I think that she's responsible for my love of all animals (she also had cats, sheep, goats, cows and chickens!) but dogs in particular and really encouraged me in pursuing my career with animals.
As she got older, she became involved with Chins as they were a breed she could manage more easily and she loved their unique, quirky personalities! When she died, we were faced with finding homes for 6 Chins, 5 went to live with friends of my grandmother and Kindly was due to go and live in Cornwall with another friend. I just couldn't bear to part with her though, she was the oldest at 6 years and I felt like she was the last link I had to my grandmother. So I persuaded my mum that we should keep her and I'm so glad we did. She's such an amazing little dog, who went from a quiet existence to living with me in London and travelling into work every day on public transport-she'll walk through Victoria underground station during rush-hour without batting an eyelid! She's my constant comapnion, shadow and endless source of amusement with her crazy antics and I hope my grandmother would be proud of everything we've coped with together.

Ohh I love this thread!

I have always wanted a dog but living in London in a rented flat made that a little difficult.

I went to Discover Dogs and was looking at all the breeds! It was between A Chihuahua or a Doxxie!

I saw a Long Coat Chi and that was it! Within days I had Vixie and I was over the moon!

Along came Beni 6 months later as a companion for Vixie!!

Then a year later we saw an add for a one eyed Pug! Of course being the push overs we are we went and got him!

Then a freind online had puppies and Bauer blew me away with his looks! so he is now a member of my family!

Im so happy I chose Chihuahuas (oh and Pugs) People think they are little annoying barking things but they really arn't! They are BIG dogs in very small packages!!!!! and they totally complete my life!!!

Growing up I was very lucky to be surrounded by many animals, Dogs, cats goats all types of small animals. Dog wise, firstly a male Golden Labrador (Jack), big as a house and soft as anything. Also had a West Highland White Terrier (Jolly), who was my hero as a young child as he once chased off two damm great dogs that wouldn’t let me off the rocks I was sitting on at the beach.

Sometime after we lost both the above, thankfully to old age, my brother came home one day with a black and white Jack Russell (Jasper). He kind of changed everything for us, though he was 110% my brothers dog, he was just the most fantastic dog anyone could want.

From there we got Tasher (small broken coated JRT). Tash was mine and I loved her completely. I was about 10, she was the first dog that was all mine, we grew up together, she lived till she was 17 and I miss her to this day. Also Norbert who we bred, was Tasher’s son and naughty as a dog could be. Next came Herman a JRT that was an accident between mother and son. A friend owned the mother and Herman was to be destroyed as nobody wanted to buy him. He was an acquired taste to look at and terrified of rats but we loved him dearly. The last JRT was Pippi who had been kept in a rabbit hutch for the first two years of her life. Apparently, she couldn’t be let out because she tried to bite the owner’s daughter who was dragging her round by her ears.
Again one day my brother came home with another dog, this time a rescue lurcher called Fly. She was huge, big and gangly and just lovely. Totally white except a black head. She was one of those special dogs that when she’s gone you never quite get over. I can’t tell you why she was so different, she just was.

I moved out of the family home around then and unfortunately was unable to have a dog. For the next 15 years I had cats only and was perfectly happy with them. I never really thought that I would ever have a dog again until my partner started saying that they would like a dog. I always said no as we both work and it wouldn’t be fair, end of. They wouldn’t give up as so we looked at possibilities of how we could get around leaving the dog. A year later we got another JRT called Jess. She was crate trained as a puppy, didn’t like the idea at all at first but it is great and she loves it. She gets an hour walk before work. We found the most wonderful neighbour who comes in mid morning for half an hour. We come home for lunch now and she get another half hour, the neighbour again for half an hour mid afternoon and we give her another hour in the evening.

She is 18 months old now and I cannot believe how much I have missed having a dog (without even knowing it). She is just amazing, we take her everywhere. Bizarrely we now know all our neighbours (in a good way) and I see my brother and family more now than I have done in years. My brother continued to have dogs and now has two lurchers (Taz and Weasel) and a Border Collie (Lucy). They all love running together in a big pack. I know I was unsure at first but she has made what was a good life even better and would not be without her for anything.

I grew up with poodles, but I have had labradors for the last 20 years and only yesterday we rehomed a 8month Chihuahua crossed lapso apso which the rspca had. My Lab had been boarded at the kennels and when we went to pick her up I just see the face on this little dog had to bring it home. we had to wait 5 days because the little one had a broken leg and the stitches had to be removed. Every thing is fine with the two dogs apart from my lab wanting to play a bit rough, but its fun

Well done for giving her a happy ending, sounds like they will be having lots of fun together, brilliant