We have had quite a few mixes and purebreds from the time I was a kid up until now when I have my own kids, one in her early teens the other is eight.
As a kid, I have had an irish setter, a toy cock a poo, an accidentental irish setter toy cockapoo mix (mother was the setter, father was the toy cockapoo ???)parents were fixed at that point, ugliest dog you ever saw, her back end stood higher than the front, always looked like she was walking down hill, she was so loyal to us kids would have never thought twice of jumping into harms way if she thought we were in danger. We had a few more mixes growing up, they usually proved to be very loyal and obedient, one mix was a shepard, retriever and collie mix I loved him to pieces, but he was a very timid nervous dog when it came to strangers. More recently we have had a bichon, George, he was a present for my daughters first birthday. Excellant disposition, intelligent, trustworthy, much like a kid trapped in a dogs body. He passed last year. I would have considered another, but they are prone to cancer and melanomas due to their lack of pigment.
We currently have an old black lab that we took in at 10 months. My brother was getting a divorce so we brought him home, he is 12+ this year, spends most of his days sleeping, sweet old boy, then we have two small mini aussies. I was amazed with the first one Macy, she is now two, we bought her a friend, Zoey who is now almost 11 months old. INTELLIGENT like you wouldn't believe, sweet, love to herd the chickens, they have that same head tilting trait that border collies have. You talk to them and they cock their head side to side listening. Macey is the sharper of the two. She is extremely vocal, not barking, but a series of vocal sounds and pitches, she will have a 5 minute conversation with us, usually when she wants us to get off the couch and get her some treats, even going as far as climbing onto the back of th e couch,trying to push you out of your seat, then once your up, she with walk on her back legs and push you in the direction of the treat container. They are amazing, small enough to be content, exercise and play with in the house, large enough and sturdy enough to know they won't break, and they love the kids. Macy weighs about 13 pounds and Zoey now weighs about 15-16 pounds.
Below are two photos from around 2004, the kids with the old lab and one of my daughter in the pool with our dearly missed bichon George. The other is from 2011 when we first got Zoey.
We have been fortunate enough that all of our dogs have had somewhat full lives and have passed any where from 11-14ish years of age. Even George with the multiple tumors he developed in his last two years lived to be almost 13.
