I (F 36) currently have 2 dogs (black lab F 10 approx 80 lbs, bulldog/pit/terrier mix, F 1 approx 40lbs.) They are both extremely good tempered, great with people and other dogs. I also have 2 school school aged children and a husband but he often travels for work so I’m mainly a stay at home mom and dog care falls to me almost exclusively. We live in a suburban neighborhood with a large wood fenced back yard (approx 1 acre just for the backyard) and an electric dog fence in the front yard. We have plenty of money for dog food and normal vet bills. I am in good physical health and take the current dogs for walks daily sometimes twice daily.

Today I went with a friend to drop off some donations to our local no kill shelter and they weren’t busy so they invited us to visit and play with the dogs. I fell in love with a 10 week old Newfoundland/ Rottweiler mix named Hugo. The shelter employee told me they are having trouble getting him adopted since people are (understandably) concerned about his eventual size and some peole are conerned about the Rotwieler mix part. I wasn’t seriously considering another dog but when I jokingly sent a Picture of me and Hugo to my husband he told me to go for it! I talked to the shelter employees and based on our home life they think we would be a good fit, and they had just recently reduced his adoption fee since he’s been there a little while.

I think we could give this dog a good home and a good life but I feel like I must be missing something. I’ve never had a dog this big and I don’t even know anybody personally who does. I trained both my other dogs myself and did a pretty good job I think for family pets but my instincts are telling me I would need hard-core professional training for this one. What do I NEED TO KNOW about this breed before making a decision? Any chance there’s someone out there with this exact mix who can give me an idea about temperament? Any advice or thoughts are welcome!