I'd suggest checking at your local humane society, or with local rescue
organizations. Breed doesn't always matter; not ever border collie wants to
herd, not every lab loves to play ball. At least at a shelter or in rescue,
there should be people who can tell you what they know about a dog's
personality. Chances are, if you're patient, you can find a dog that's
already lived with cats, possibly one that's already crate-trained.

I do say "dog" instead of puppy intentionally. There are a lot of strays and
even surrendered animals out there that need a good home. So please, don't
simply deny the possibility of an adult. Besides. At least most adults are
completely housebroken. ;P

In article
<de25454e.0307221133.467a92da@posting.google.com>,
daykaty@hotmail.com says...

Your local humane society probably has lots of dogs that
would suit you perfectly well.  Personally, I like mixed
breeds (fewer inbreeding health issues).  You'll probably be
able to find a dog that has lived with cats before, but in
any case the introduction should be slow and careful; dogs
sometimes kill kittens and cats.

We had a mutt (he was a terrier cross, we never knew his
ancestry) who we took in because someone left him tied to my
sister's porch.  At about four months of age, he was easy to
introduce to our cats, and they got along alright (some of
the cats actually liked him!).

By the way "mellow disposition" and "won't bark too much"
are crap-shoots no matter what kind of dog you get, from my
experience. I also agree with Megan, that you'd be much
better off taking one of the many kittens available at the
humane society; if you can't get your deposit back, consider
taking a second kitten from the H.S. anyway - I've always
found that cats socialize better when there's more than one
in the house.

Hope this helps,
Deb

Adopt an adult. Puppies can turn into anything. Adopting from the local
rescue, especially if the animals are fostered in homes, gives you a
very good idea of what the personality is like. You can get some great
dogs, already house trained and already used to cats.

http://www.petfinder.com

I really appreciate the replies! We actually do check petfinder quite
often, and are interested in getting a mixed breed, but I just
wondered if there is any breed I should search for as part of the mix.
I also check the shelters and petfinder quite often for cats. I have
tried to adopt one from a shelter but the woman told me that she
wasnted to put the cat in a household with another cat. I thought this
was stupid since she had already adopted its siblings out and she said
that the cat missed its siblings-duh. I also work at home all day so
my cats dont ever get lonely. Both of my previous cats  (one from a
shelter , the other a siamese) died last year at age 13 and 14. They
never got along. The shelter kitty picked on the Siamese his whole
life although she was super sweet to us humans (I dont think this has
anything to do with breeds, just the way things came to be). When she
died of heart problems my Siamese was so much more relaxed and happy.
Unfortunately later we found out that he also had heart disease and he
died 9 months later.
 I must actually disagree respectfully with a couple of statements
from all of the replies, though.
First, I think breed does matter. I grew up with siamese and mut
cats, and I have always found that siamese had very distinct
personality traits that I liked. I always found them to be very deep
and intelligent. All of my american short hairs were smart, too, but
there was just a difference I cant explain. I have been looking for
cats at the shelters and havent found one I quite connect with.
I do think dogs retain their breed characteristics for the most part
as well. I think a herding dog will always be restless if not given
tasks and a lot of excercise. Its in their blood. I am not at all
interested in appearance, I am looking for personality and that's it.
I also find that sometimes kittens do not socialize well with their
owners of another kitten is adopted with it. When I was growing up, my
family adopted two brothers. They only played among themselves and
didnt have much interest in bonding with humans. When one of the
brothers was killed by a neighbors dog, the remaining brother became
completely wild. He hunted for all of his food, never wanted to come
inside, and never socialized with humans until he was much older (he
then became a lap cat).
These are just my experiences, but I am still really interested in
hearing all of your opinions, so this is by no means intended to be
antagonistic, just my 2 cents...