Sorry for 2 posts-coffee hasn't kicked in yet.
Tell us about your dogs--what do they like to do?
Are they family pets or working dogs?
Are they hard/soft in temperament?
How'd you end up deciding on TM's?
This is so sad, I just wrote a long reply and I guess the page timed out and I lost everything I wrote!
Its funny that you asked how I decided on a TM. I did not have a choice. I had a relative who used to live with us and he decided on them. I didn't even know we were getting dogs until he told us he was going to pick them up. I admit if I was by myself, I would not have decided on them at all. At the time 1. I had never owned a dog in my life, and 2. I was scared of dogs, and these guys do get big. I remember the first day they came home, I was sitting with them outside, and all three of us had no idea what was going on. We were all staring at each other very suspiciously.
But my relative has owned dogs in the past so I learned from him and the kids themselves. It was a very steep learning curve for me, but it was worth it. I now really love this breed, and now that my relative is gone, the kids are mine by default.
My kids are family pets. However my girl likes to work by protecting the home. Every day she would walk the perimeter of the property (I call it "doing her rounds") to see if everything is okay. No one ever taught her to do this so it must be an innate ability. My boy certainly would not do this.
As to temperment I would say in between, with the girl leaning more towards the hard end, and the boy towards the soft.
They like to go out, whether it is for a walk or sitting in the car and looking out the window when I do errands. They also love to play, and destroys toys fairly frequently.
They also play with each other by racing around. It always surprises me how fast the two of them can run.
