<p>lol… you ask parents for advice, so you get parental advice. I don’t see the connection between the scholarship and the dog. Congrats on the scholarship. (Give it to someone who needs it? There’s a big LOL!!! Yes, to each according to his need, from each according to his ability… but that’s another topic) </p>
<p>I felt very deprived growing up in a home with no dog, so during the summer after my sophomore year of college I got a puppy. Mostly golden retriever, small female, turned out to be the best dog in the world. I was going to live in the basement of a house with 5 other people that I did not know upstairs. There was already another dog in the house (Doberman). Everyone got along great. A big plus for me was having taken an excellent psych course in behavior modification the previous semester so I trained my dog very well. I trained her to not go in the street without my permission. I could ride my bike and she would run along with me on the sidewalk and wait for my signal at intersections. She was an insatiable retriever and I could give her a great workout in 15 minutes with a tennis ball and an open field. I’m not sure I even owned a leash back then. She really was under voice control. By the time I graduated and got a fulltime job in Washington D.C. she could curl up in my bed and be fine from 8 am until I came home at 6pm, with a good walk/run fetch in the morning and when I got home. </p>
<p>So the trick is to get a really good dog. 
Actually, not kidding. I have since learned there are vast differences between breeds as to “trainability.” The golden retriever personality lives to please its owner. The dog we have now (Westie) lives to please herself! Much more of a challenge to train - even simple things, like “come”… she goes, “huh? what? me? maybe later…”</p>