We got Rahab, our first dog, last August after our apartment was robbed. I told my wife, who didn't really like dogs, that we should get one to act as a burglar alarm and deterrent to any more thieves but I really just wanted a dog anyway and that was just my excuse to talk her into letting me get one.
We were thinking about what breed to get and thought about Dalmations, Bull Mastifs and AsPins. We were about to just go to the dog pound and adopt one when an acquaintence of ours talked us into getting a Doberman. He said theirs is just great with his 4 year old son, he's the sweetest, gentlest dog, but that everyone's afraid of him because of the Dobies' reputation for being fierce dogs (they aren't really, though they're naturally very protective).
We looked at the ads on Istorya.net and found a 6 week old female in Talisay (she was actually 7 weels old as the ad was a week old). The owner still had her so we went the next day to look at her. We'd already stopped and bought dog food, water and food bowls so we'd be ready if we bought her.
Within a month my wife couldn't bear to be parted from Rahab. When she comes home from work she kisses the dog before she does me.
When Rahab was 5 months old we took her to the K9 Kare puppy kindergarten clicker-training class in Labangon, and her behavior really improved: no more dragging me along on her leash, and she sits and lays down when told to. They had play sessions for all the pups there and after seeing how gentle Rahab was with the other doggies even though she was the biggest one, we started thinking about getting another puppy so she'd have a playmate and wouldn't be as lonely when we go someplace. I wanted to wait until Rahab was older, and until we had our own house and lot so they'd be able to play in the yard whenever they wanted, but after seeing how much my wife wanted one I said OK. We found 3 month old Joshua (originally named Paksiw but we decided to change it) here on Istorya.net also.
Here are our doggies: