Which traits do you love and loath?

This is the first time I've had two dogs at once and I've found myself comparing their indivual personalities and behaviour traits.....so I was wondering which traits do you like in your dogs and which don't you like? Has something your dog does put you off having that type/breed again, no matter how much you love them?

So here's mine....

Tonks - Love her friendliness, her steadiness with all dogs (she can and does mix with anyone), her enthusiasm (well I like if some of the time), her cuddliness, her patience and tolerance with the children.....and of course her beautiful and powerful physique.

Ok, so what I don't like so much is her levels of excitement. Now we have Remus it's very noticeable how much more excited Tonks gets, for example when visitors come, and how much longer it takes her to calm down...bless her. The joys of being an adrenaline bound sort of dog. At 6 years old she takes four times as long to calm down compared to 18 month old Remus !

And the other thing is her desire to pull! She has a really really strong oppositional reflex and, despite so much work, she would still rather pull on a lead than not. It doesn't matter if it's a head collar, harness, flat collar she will find a way to pull on it. It's not helped by her high prey drive either.


Remus. I love that despite his terrible start and almost complete lack of socialization in his first 14 weeks that he is so laid back! He loves all people and all dogs. He's a complete clown and just wants to run and play with everyone. We chose him because he was a very calm puppy and he has had minimal training, the only things I've trained him to do is to sit, wait for his dinner and recall. I had Tonks pre children and did loads of training with her and she had 40 commands on cue, with Remus I've just trouble shooted really. I also love his cuddliness and his affection and tolerance of the girls.

What I don't like is his constant food pilfering! But funnily enough he never bothers us when we are sat at the table. He's also very vocal which can be slightly annoying....I say slightly.....both my girls have now learnt to say "Remus will you put a sock in it!!!"
I'd definitely have a sighthound again.

I wouldn't say it's a breed thing, with the Dobermanns I love the way they are instinctively protective but because they were well trained would look to me before acting on it. Syd and Rio were so steady yet Milan is Giddy and really easily hyped up and she's 7. She had a crap start in life and the others didn't, they were full of self confidence and she has none. When I had the others she fed off of their confidence, these days she feeds off the Pugs. She's very gentle yet prone to Aggression if she feels uncomfortable, she's a mass of contradictions but that's more to do with her early life than her breed. Like Remus she's always up for a bit of pilfering but again that's down to her previous life.

I think Remus' pilfering is previous life as well, even though lurchers are renown for it. I forgot that he also cannot resist drinking wee, toilet, potty, he doesn't care. I think he probably only had that as an option to drink when he was abandoned.

Where we used to live there were loads of staffies and five or six Tonks' age. It was very frustrating because none of the others pulled on the lead...and their owners never did any training with them! I tried so hard but she just can't resist it! I think she may have got it eventually if we hadn't had children but once the girls arrived I didn't have the time to persist as they didn't have the patience to keep stopping every time Tonks was pulling. Thankfully now I have a car I don't have to walk her to where she's going to be let off.

What about the pugs? What drawers you to them?

Their craziness

They are such little bundles of fun, up for anything and full of confidence. Absolutely nothing bothers them.

Jadey is a sweet girl. She LOVES to snuggle and cuddle, which is usually adorable but sometimes annoying. I love that she is old and low energy, she is content to relax on the couch as long as you're content to do so

She also doesn't bother the cats. She dislikes toys and stuff, which is great because it means I have no reason to buy them. Love how much she loves her crate, she is content to stay there with the door open for hours on end. Despite wanting to snuggle with people, if you convince her to ****** off, she does so and is content to go lie by herself in a random place in the house. Love that. I also like her size, a nice medium build with pretty ears.

What I don't like are her aggression problems. She has a deep rooted fear of children and must be muzzled when around them and we avoid them as much as possible. She does fine with most adults, though I don't allow people to pet her for obvious reasons. She also tends to dislike and feels threatened by larger dogs, but she does fine with most smaller breeds.

Because of this, as well as a lack of any recall, she must be restrained when outside to a normal leash at all times. She snatches hard on a normal collar, but a harness pretty much solves that issue. She also has this habit of marking (with wee) over things... even in the house sometimes. Given her history, some of those problems are to be expected... but still

Nigredo. I love how outgoing he is and how willing he is to meet other people and dogs. Love his confidence in public. HE LOVES OLD PEOPLE and is extremely calm and gentle when around them. Kids overstimulate him and he sometimes jumps/acts like a b*stard. I also love how smart he is and willing to learn. He is good with all people, all dogs, all cats, and all wildlife and is gentle and easy to get along with. Love his rich coat and curly tail, too.

I don't like how boisterous he can be at times, mostly at home, running all over the yard and jumping up on people. I don't like his occasional chasing of a cat, either. I don't like how bossy he can be with Jade. He takes advantage of her age, size, and meekness, which is naughty.

I DON'T LIKE HIS SIZE! He's WAY too big (I like my dogs about 65 lbs or less and he is 84 lbs and not done growing).

I love him to shreds and wouldn't trade him for anything... but I could not see his size coming. The shelter said he'd be about 60 lbs. and was a BC/LAB which was NO. Everything costs more, and I'm just not used to accommodating a bigger dog. He barely fits in the car... (he barely fits into anything)

All in all, love both dogs and try my hardest to give them the individual care they need and desire. Extremely hard because of their vast differences (in both age and needs), and I admit sometimes I can be lacking in certain areas because of it... but it's a daily thing and we stay afloat.

ADDED:

Nigredo likes to lick people all in the mouth and teeth and everything and it's totally disgusting and horrid. Jade rarely does this and never did it before HE got here.

The only pug I know really is my dog walker friends. I don't see the dog very often because she does to get walked. She an ancient rescued ex brood bitch with lots of health problems, of course, and she just follows Nikki around, bow legged and snorting, waiting for her to sit down so she can climb on her lap (well actually be picked up because she can't climb or jump) and lick her trousers. Lol.....she might be a bit special.

Funny you should mention size because that's another thing that got me thinking about this because a friend asked me if I could go back and change things would I get a different sort of second dog because of how Remus has been....possibly smaller because he can reach everything. But I wouldn't change him, despite separation anxiety (which now seems almost cured) he was a very calm puppy, never chewed or nipped the children. He only started the chewing when his big teeth came though. Although being bigger does cost more like you say.

What a fun topic thank you!!!!
My dear Sophie, neurotic basket case that she is. When I first met her she was being trampled by the other barking, charging dogs in her kennel. By the third time in the day I went back to see her she recognized me and did a pirouette above the heads of the others. The first year she alternated on leash between pulling me over and pancaking on the sidewalk. Eventually she learned to walk off leash and did so for several years. I so enjoyed hiking with her in the woods. Her fears kept her close at all times.
Then earlier this year she attacked a puppy. She had been on leash the puppy no. Then I realized her dog aggression, and aggression towards cats other than our house cats, and her fear of humans other than family had overwhelmed her. She's still my special girl, graying muzzle and never more than five feet from Mami...but I realize she will never be totally socialized.

Callie on the other paw is my joy and sunshine. His only fault is not knowing his own strength. Those paws that dig craters in the yard hurt on your ribs. But for the most part Callie is the perfect dog. Submissive to family yet he would guard us with his life. Watchful of strangers but if someone approaches him for petting they'll be drowned in happy slobber. Sophie is more finicky with food than any cat we ever had. Callie has a dish set in front of him and snort snort every food molecule will be sucked up in the time it took to put the dish down.

Compared to Sophie and her fears Callie is bomb proof. He can sleep in front of a running vacuum. Other dogs, cats, humans, children especially all have the potential to be his new best friend. Thunder and lightning? He sleeps right through it. Except for his overly enthusiastic welcomes that can knock you off your feet just because he's so muscle bound and his habit of digging craters in the yard. Get him a job as an excavator and no problem. He walks easily on leash, the first thing I noticed before we adopted him. I was used to Sophie being a nut. With him if I even stumble he freezes and comes back to see if I'm okay. Don't tell Sophie but he is the best dog I could ask for.

As I'm really glad you think so as I was a bit worried people might think I was just criticising my dogs.
Collie sounds like Tonks, although Tonks doesn't have a guarding bone in her body... Not that I've seen and she's six now. I've had her since she was a tiny pup,she's my only non rescue, and really thorough with socialising her. The only dogs she is scared of are rough collies as one attacked her when she was a year old. Even now if she she the outline of one in the distance she will lower her head and ears, licks her lips a lot and tries to hide behind me (she's about 50lbs so it looks quite funny). She's very suseptable to picking up on emotion and hates any stress, shouting, crying or screaming...hard to avoid with 3 and 4 year old children in the house. But she can sleep through Remus or the girls snuggling right up to and on top of her for a snuggle, she doesn't bat an eye lid and seems to sleep more soundly.