Having been at least tangentially involved in the rearing of two highly adequate children and with retirement looming, I think now I am adequately mature for the awesome responsibility of being au pair for a mutt of my own...
And a mutt is what I want (because of the "hybrid vigor" thing)--but I do think it important to have some sense of the nature of the underlying breeds.
As usual, I am beset with conflicting criteria for choice. I want an intelligent, easily housebroken (or fait accompli), easy going, medium to large critter who won't eat kitty cats (daughter is likely get one when she comes home), or our invalid shi'tzu, who won't go haring off after birds, or hares, for that matter; who will compel me to take moderately long walks several days a week, but who doesn't need to be entertained by herding sheep or hunting boar; who will stand fast if there's an intruder, who won't yap, whom I can leave alone for much of the day during the week (at least until I retire.
A lot of these goals are in conflict. Lab & retriever mixes may be a tad too active and too prone to separation anxiety. Terriers like to kill small things & I think they tend to yap. Greyhounds, when they're not running, are excellent couch potatos, but they do have a need to hare quite a bit and can't be off leash unless you're an incredibly skillful and compelling trainer.
I'm not really a couch potato, per se, but I am sedentary much of the time. I do work my butt off out at my "hobby farm" for several hours once every week or two & I do some light gardening in the back yard every week or two also.
It seems the best dogs for me, according to the online tests, would be mixes involving the following: Great Pyrenees, Mastiffs, Newfoundlands, Bernese Mountain dogs, Neapolitian mastiffs...but DAMN--they're HUGE--and they, well, not to put too fine a point on, they SLOBBER. I'm not too easily grossed out, but there are other humans that live in the house. Maybe Teresa could work overtime, or something, so we could pay for the steaks. But one good thing. The internets (as G.W. Bush would say) caution against exercising those breeds too much.
Oh, well. Knowing me, I'll probably choose something completely different on impulse and be as happy as a (non-Gulf-dwelling) clam.
R.
http://gg9-tto.blogspot.com/ 
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