Searching for the perfect mutt.

[Guest Anonymous]

I am searching for a wire fox terrier toy poodle cross. The puppy is not entirely for myself. My sister lost a dog about 6 months ago and he was a wire fox terrier/ poodle cross. He died of a seizure and it broke my sisters heart. To try and bring some life back to her we bought her a purebred Doberman Pincher. Although she does love this dog, she does not have that special relationship she had with her other dog. My thought is we bought the wrong breed for her and that a dog of the same breed will make her much happier. If anyone knows were I could find such a dog it would be greatly appriciated(sp?).

[kendalyn]

Well you can search petfinder.com to look for a mutt looking similar to your other dog. I doubt you'll find another dog like the one you're talking about though. Even if you find a similar mix of breeds, it's not really fair to expect a new dog to live up to the memory of your old one. Sometimes there is just no replacing someone so special. :(

[Guest Mutts4Me]

I agree and believe that it really starts the relationship out on a bad note -- a lie, even -- when you get a specific kind/color of animal in order to remind you of another animal. You expect it, because it looks the same, to be the same, and if it doesn't, the consequences can be quite bad. You'll always have this little look-a-like running around the house, and you could wind up resenting it for not replacing your other pet, as you expected to.

If you are indeed looking for the [i]perfect[/i] mutt, or dog, then I would suggest you take your sister to the local shelter and let her meet a bunch of dogs and see if she bonds with any of them. Then, provided the new dog and Doberman will get along, take that dog home and form a new relationship with that dog instead of trying to resurect an old one.

I'm sorry if any of that sounds rude, but I have first-hand experience in the matter. When my kitty of 15 years and a wonderful relationship died, I wanted another kitty who looked completely different because I knew the problems a look-a-like could create. My best friend at the time, however, got a me a look-a-like kitten as a Christmas gift!!! (I don't approve of gift pets, either) I love that cat, but she's not the same at all, and I used to get so mad when family members would slip and call her the old cat's name!

Your sister didn't bond with her last dog because it was a terrier/poodle cross, she bonded with that dog because they had a connection. So her best bet is to find another dog she has a connection to based on an in-person meeting, not pictures or a breed listing.


(I did just meet a terrier/poodle cross rescue dog yesterday who was about to be PTS because he was 10 years old and thus "unadoptable." They pulled him and he is a really cute dog.)