And I love the snoring… it’s the most soothing little white noise sound… and I have it in stereo, with Mr. Drunken on the other end of the bed.

That said, boxers require a lot of ‘playtime’ and are very rambunctious.

My own boxer chewed up a $100 Yamaha* receiver remote before she became ‘acclimatized’ to me.

Once they get over that period though, they are very loyal and protective animals who’d sooner die than see harm come to you and yours.

Though I’ve often said that Haley’s sole job is to delay the SOB just long enough for me to open fire. :)

*Normal price was $190, but after I explained to the Yamaha rep that I wasn’t seeking a free warranty replacement, but rather wished to purchase one because of the dog eating it, she sold it to me for almost half off what I normally would have been charged.

That incident made me a lifelong customer of Yamaha WRT A/V equipment.

That said, smaller mutts are available from many sources and will (I know from personal experience) make loyal and loving companions.

Plus they carry the side benefit if you live in a ‘not so great’ area of being wonderful mobile burglar alarms that give you time to grab the .45 in the night table and ventilate said burglar.

um, jeez – is there ANYTHING people won’t blame Obama for?
(said as one who has been grumbling a bit about the man myself, lately. )

FYI, they got a Portuguese water dog because:

A. they are the most hypoallergenic of all dog breeds, and their daughter Malia desperately wanted a dog, even though she was allergic to them, and

B. Their dog came to them by way of Senator Ted Kennedy, whose two adored Portuguese water dogs the Obama girls had met and loved.

Jeesh – give the guy a break, OK?

re black cats being smarter – my darlin Edith, coal black and slender, now 10 years old – is not only a cat genius, she’s the most loving, talkative, snuggly girl you can imagine.

She is, however, obsessed with fetching. It took me 10 minutes to teach her the game when she was a kitten – and now, you cannot say the word “ball” in her hearing, or she starts jumping up and down and calling loudly, waiting for the promised game to start. She will fetch for HOURS, if someone will play that long.

Now that I’m back in NoDak, near my 87-year-old mom, I’m amazed at how devoted she and Edith have become to each other – it helps that they both like to talk, and the mom-cat conversations go one for quite some time!

However, if your mom wants a dog, I second the cocker spaniel suggestion!

I am sitting here still waiting to bring my “new” dogs home. I got all the way through the adoption process, only to find out that Dog One tested positive for heartworm, and Dog Two is recovering from being bitten by one of the other rescue dogs (not by Dog One). Foster mom is being terrific about it all – very fiercely protective of the dogs and of making sure they’re healthy before I come to get them – but it is frustrating when you’ve met your new canine heartthrobs and circumstances are keeping you apart.

Mind you, I have a huge soft spot for terriers in all forms (except for Yorkies—they ARE yappy little things.)

To second the most helpful suggestions above: By all means go through a rescue program, breed-specific or not, and pay particular attention to dogs over the age of two. Many rescue programs have discount programs for senior citizens—even if it’s not mentioned on their website, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Most of the breed-specific rescues also find space for ‘crosses’, and they can be very helpful with transport issues if the Perfect Dog turns out to live beyond the end of the subway line. The adoption forms can seem a little intimidating, as can the ‘home study’, but it helps to keep in mind that these people want to find the right homes for dogs who’ve already been “failed” by their original families. Also, every breed rescue I know of will take back a dog whose adopter can no longer care for it, so Grannie doesn’t have to worry about “burdening” a family member or having her new little darling end up in a kill shelter.

“Purse dogs” actually have a history going back to the Stone Age, and some of the modern breeds—Maltese, Italian Greyhounds, Shi Tzus, Chihuahuas—haven’t changed much from the pictures / descriptions of their ancestors a thousand years ago. They’ve survived because being a good companion, especially to someone with limited mobility, is just as real a “job” as fetching birds or herding sheep. However, part of that job frequently involved serving as a form of pre-battery-power personal protection alarm, so they can be yappy and they can be over-protective of “their” person, especially when they haven’t been exposed to strangers and new experiences. Also, toy dogs are notoriously hard to housebreak, partially because they’ve got relatively tiny bladders, and their relative ‘neotony’ means they don’t always outgrow the submissive-puppy piddling even after they’re physically mature. On the positive side, a tiny dog can be trained to use a piddle-pad or litterbox, at least for emergencies, so Granny doesn’t have to go outside late at night during a storm. Working with a good rescue group, breed-specific or not, will help you find the particular dog that’s quiet enough to live in an apartment and who won’t “resource guard” their new favorite person.

Much as I’ve loved every rescue Greyhound I’ve ever met, I would hesitate to recommend them to an older person. Yes, they are amazingly calm and wonderfully affectionate dogs, but they also have an ingrained, training-reinforced “prey drive”. Even the gentlest Greyhound is liable to leap after a running squirrel, cat, jogger, or fluttering rag at the worst possible time—their reaction time is SCARY fast and when they lunge, they can knock a healthy ex-Marine arse over tip. All that man sustained was a bruised hand & a nasty pavement rash on both knees & one hip. But during the years I worked with obedience classes, I saw a lot of older people who suffered much nastier injuries, from leash-inflicted wounds that required stitches to broken bones, because their beloved dogs forgot how fragile humans can be. When an older person is looking for a new canine companion, Smaller is definitely Better!

True story: A dear friend well past retirement age was bragging about how his rescue Lab was “absolutely the best dog in the world—I can’t believe anyone was dumb enough to give up such a great animal.”

“Marvin,” I said, “during the first few months after you adopted Sparky, he put you in a walking cast, and then he broke your wrist!”

“Yes, and also three of Lenore’s [his wife’s] ribs, when he pulled her down the stairs by mistake! But when you’ve been married as long as I have, you’ll know: Every relationship requires compromises.”

(Yes, Lenore was listening… she just rolled her eyes.)