Elaina is allergic to over 120 things we've diagnosed, but luckily dogs aren't one of them!
I don't mind medium sized dogs, in fact fender seems like a great size. I looked into Xolos a bit and it seems they can't be alone and can't handle a bustling household. Steve, Have you found all the negative attributes listed about Xolos to be accurate?
Fender is fine being alone. He prefers being with people, but he just sleeps on the bed 8 hours a day while we're at work. He doesn't love a crazy, bustling household, that's for sure. He's fine with up to 5 people, but when there's a party he goes and sleeps on his bed for some alone time. Xolos are also extremely intelligent, which means you have to be the alpha dog consistently more than with a traditional breed. You have to stay on them and really train them for the first 6 months, or they'll test your limits. If you're on the ball, they'll be the best dogs ever. If you drop the ball for a month or two, they'll make you work to get some structure again. They're fiercely loyal to their pack (one or two people), but they are wary of strangers and new people. He takes a while to warm up to people. Fender took 3 years to warm up to me to where he wanted to be pet for more than 30 seconds.
Fender can sleep on the couch all day for a week, or he can run a marathon every day. He has the perfect amount of energy. He doesn't tear stuff up, chew furniture, or act out. He doesn't lick (though Tess' sister's Xolo licks), shed, or slobber. Coated Xolos, the ones with fur, are pretty different between dogs. Fender's fur is super soft, but his cousin's hair is like a lab (and I'm allergic to his cousin). Fender is an intermediate size xolo (medium). Small Xolos are 10 lbs, intermediate are around 30-35 (fender is 30 lbs), and the full size xolos are 50-60 lbs (his cousin is full size). As far as I know, there are only 4 xolos in Utah. They're pretty tough to find here.
If I don't give him boundaries and rules, he stresses out, because he's not sure if I'm the Alpha dog anymore and he takes the Alpha role and starts stressing and worrying about things like boundaires, strangers, food, etc. I hear greyhounds are similar in that they can be couch potatoes, but run 30 miles the next minute. Most dogs with a lot of energy/endurance (like huskies) can't sit still and either end up running away or tearing your house apart if they don't get a ton of exercise.
You're smart to be researching breeds, that's super important. Xolos definitely aren't for everyone. If Fender died and I weren't on the road full time, I'd get another Xolo in a heartbeat.
