u/Bootlegprincess

So I know this is a common question but I am currently at a place where I am ready to do my research and figure out what the best dog for my fiancé and I would be.

A bit about us:
We both work, he has a typical work day (leaves the house around 6:00-6:30, home around 4:30-5:00) whereas my job is more flexible and my days vary a lot more (usually leaving around 8:00-8:30 but could be home anywhere from 2 to 6pm, some days I work more in the evening, sometimes weekends, etc).
We are both experienced dog owners, he has mostly owned labs and I have had a variety of mixed breeds, a husky, a Brittany, and German shepherds. I’ve been around a lot of bully breeds as well and really love their personalities and stature.
We currently have a senior lab but no other pets and no kids currently but do plan to have kids in the future and have friends/family that come over often with small children.
We own our home and have a very spacious back yard, pool, nearby dog park, hiking trails, etc.

What we are looking for:
I prefer larger breeds, stockier dogs, protective, very intelligent but also a little bit Velcro. I do not want another long haired breed in my future. I like dogs that are a visual deterrent and can go from terrifying to baby friendly.
My fiancé has always had labs, loves labs, golden and Weimaraners. He does not use the dogs for hunting/sport it’s just a visual/personality preference. He wants a dog that can be good around children and aging parents. Very loyal, very obedient (we know this is largely due to training, but he wants high trainability).

We likely won’t be getting a dog for another 12-18 months due to the wedding and current plans but I want to start looking into breeders, breed-specific rescues, making plans for any changes that may come based on the individual breed we choose, etc.

All suggestions/help is welcome!!

I (29f) got engaged to the love of my life (37m) after 4 years together. We have always had different tastes in clothes and I’m absolutely more particular about what we wear to important events than he is.

From the beginning of our relationship he was adamantly opposed to getting a wedding ring if we ever got married and always said he wanted a tattoo. I’d be fine with that as long as it was something unique to us (a date, a symbol, something) and not just a black line across his finger. He seemed fine with me having an opinion.

Now that we’re actually engaged he has gone through several phases of not wanting any ring or symbol at all to wanting a plain band to wanting an oura ring. I’ve expressed that I wouldn’t be okay with no ring (he’d be offended if I didn’t wear a ring for him and I don’t feel like it’s too much to ask) or an oura ring (because I don’t want it to be an obsolete piece of technology or something he’d take off to charge and forget to put back on). I’m a firm believer that your wedding jewelry is something that should be of the quality to last for the entire marriage, I’m sentimental and I don’t want it to just be as replaceable as any other item.

The topic came up again tonight while we had two of his friends over who are also married (he was showing me some he liked and I pointed out a quality issue on one) and they think I shouldn’t have strong opinions on it and that I’m being “short sighted”. Mind you, the husband literally said he has 2 because his wife found one she liked better, i.e. picked it out for him.

So, am I the bad apple here for wanting my soon to be husband to choose a ring that is good quality and serves the sole purpose of symbolizing our marriage?

Also, not that it’s important, but he picked out my ring by himself, it is not a ring I would have chosen for myself but I love it and I will wear it because he picked it and it symbolizes our love. His input and opinion matter to me a lot. I figure mine should matter in the same regard too.