| Getting a pet dog is really a Zen process of | | | | - Basenji |
| self-discovery. You can't know the right dog for you | | | | - Borzoi |
| until you know yourself. For example, a jock would | | | | - Chesapeake Bay Retriever |
| prefer an active dog. A lazy slug would prefer a dog | | | | - Greater Swiss Mountain Dog |
| that doesn't require much exercise. | | | | - Whippet |
| A touchy-feely person would prefer a friendly dog. A | | | | Friendly dogs |
| tightly-wound person would probably prefer a dog | | | | - Brittany Spaniel |
| that doesn't bark or shed too much. Think of picking | | | | - Bichon Frise |
| a pup like choosing a mate; you have to find one | | | | - Old English Sheepdog |
| that compliments your personality. | | | | - Bearded Collie |
| Here are some very general guidelines. Of course, we | | | | - Golden Retriever |
| won't list every dog breed on the planet, but they'll | | | | - Labrador Retriever |
| get you thinking in the right direction: | | | | There are dozens of breeds and dozens of traits to |
| Intelligent dogs | | | | sort them by. You get the idea. |
| - Poodle | | | | Again, these guidelines are EXTREMELY rough. Picking |
| - German Shepherd | | | | a dog based on these lists is like getting a phone |
| - Australian Sheepdog | | | | number off a bathroom wall. There are no shortcuts. |
| - Belgian Sheepdog | | | | You can try going to a dog show or talking to a vet. |
| Dogs with little exercise | | | | In our opinion, though, the absolutely best way to |
| - Dachshund | | | | research is to talk to friends who have dogs. Believe |
| - Brussels Griffon | | | | us; they'll give you more information than you care to |
| - French Bulldog | | | | know: Sometimes even more than what we know. |
| - Manchester Terrier | | | | In case you didn't realize it, all of the breeds we listed |
| - Toy breeds (such as a Chihuahua or Pekingese) | | | | above are purebreds. This means that they are the |
| Good with kids | | | | product of parents of the same breed. To get a true |
| - Pug | | | | purebred worthy of being in a dog show, you often |
| - English Cocker Spaniel | | | | have to pay thousands of dollars. |
| - Beagle | | | | Most people get mixes of some sort (the |
| - Basset Hound | | | | "cockapoo," a combo of a cocker spaniel and a |
| - Brittany Spaniel | | | | poodle, is quite popular), because rumor has it that |
| - Old English Sheepdog | | | | purebred dogs can have personality problems |
| Good city dogs | | | | because the gene pool is so small (think of people |
| - Pug | | | | who marry their cousins). As a result, many people |
| - Basenji | | | | choose to go with a mutt, a mish-mash of different |
| - Boston Terrier | | | | breeds. |
| - Bulldog | | | | Mutts can combine the best of two or more breeds |
| - Lhasa Apso | | | | in a one-of-a-kind dog. Having a mutt is like the canine |
| - Welsh Corgi | | | | equivalent of owning an original work of art. Benji |
| - Scottish Terrier | | | | was a mutt. And who doesn't like Benji? |
| Quiet dogs | | | | |