Mumsnet Talk

DH wants a dog, his only spec is large! bigger the better in fact. can anyone recommend a breed from their personal experience to get us started?

That posted before i had finished, oops.

We have two young children, Im home ALL day, house can take a large dog, average garden is just for the dog, (have a seperate one for the children,) DH will do a walk a day and i will do another. Have a scottie dog at present whos 3 months, we are not going to be getting another dog for a while yet, but are starting the search early so we find the right one. Have been trawling the net but really wanted some views of normal people who own large dogs, or are we being stupid?

Just personal preference but I have a GSD as well as a Lab cross. Labs are generally loving to all, my one isn't because he was abused as a youngster, before he came to me, although he is wonderful with my DC and I.

But my German Shepherd is, well, perfect. He's my second and I have fostered a couple too. I wouldn't ever want not to be owned by one and find them THE most loyal, clever, funny and affectionate of dogs. Surely every decent dog owner should have at least one!

We have Lab too. He is lovely, big enough to be a deterrant to someone who shouldnt be near the house (sounds impressive behind the door) but up close he loves everyone and would probably lick a burglar to death!

He is so tolerant with the dc's too.

Only thing is he needs alot of exercise as he's pretty hyper and he CHEWS everything (Valhalla, keep an eye out I may start a thread on this - am at my wits end having no shoes left).

DH's friend has a Dog de Bordeux. Now that's really big, but he doesnt seem to need as much exercise as our lab. Not as clever either but again he is very placid and great with kids and other dogs.

In saying that, I'm a great believer that ANY dog can be a wonderful pet - it all hangs on how they are raised. BIL had a rottweiller that was so placid it would try to sit on your knee! He used to let the dc's lie on top of him to go to sleep and was never once agressive.

I really love Bouvier des Flandres. But dh doesn't, so we are getting a Golden retriever instead.

We had an Akita they are lovley dogs v.v.big but I wouldn't have one with children, teenagers yes but children no.
Even though ours never hurt anyone and would be very gentle with children big dogs are soo strong (he could pull my 6'2 dp over with ease) all it would have taken was one snap to do some serious damage his jaw was soo big.
Your scottie dog is much safer!

We also had a golden lab when I was growing up again very dosile soft dog, but he did knock my tooth out when I was 7 years old by knocking me over in the garden when we were playing.

Labs are great, provided you get one whose parents have had all the necessary health screening. Same goes for all pedigrees really, but labs are very prone to hip dysplasia and it can be a very expensive proposition,

Whatever you go for, I'd hold off for at least another year. If you bring another puppy in before then, your Scottie and the new pup will bond with each toher rather than you, and training will be much more difficult.

Good luck

each other

Second what Bella says. My lab has hip dysplasia. We bought him without papers so he wasnt hip scored. Thank goodness he's insured and they will cover the cost of treatment which will run into £000's.

about your lab, sb

Just to clear up a small misunderstanding that always comes up when we talk about labs and hip scores and papers - having papers or being KC reg is no guarantee that the parents will be hip scored, and certainly no guarantee that the parents will have good hip scores.

Perfectly possible to buy a pedigree lab from a KC reg breeder with papers and for it to have awful hips. Similarly, you can get a non-pedigrees, non KC reg with good hips.

Finally (before I jump off my HD soapbox!!!) the hereditary element is only one factor in determining whether a pup will develop HD - just as important are limiting its exercise until the growth plates have fused and feeding a specialist large breed diet to allow steady growth during puppyhood.

As you were, ladies

OOh I love Akitas Bogie. My mum and Dad have one. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him with my dd's, but he wasn't raised with children. He is exceptional with cats and kittens though, which he was raised with.

I don't see why, with proper training and being raised with children an Akita wouldn't be suitable. Labs are great though.

I have a great big old english sheepdog and he is just lovely - very calm and very affectionate.

We got him when DD was only 2 and he was fabulous with her ( and still is) and he has always been fantastic around my easily spooked DS2 who has ASD and needs his space. Angus is kind of protective from a distance IYSWIM.

Love the breed. Gorgeous dogs.

My dad has two Leonbergers and they are rather large indeed

I don't like them, but that is just my personal preference. They are however, really good around my boys and have always been good around others dogs when we have been out.

Leonbergers are fab. My Mum has one and he is fantastic with my boys and he is so cute too.

We have a poodle/retriever cross: huge, affectionate, playful, calm, quiet and non-shedding.

shiny, I don't think a well traind akita would ever purposly hurt a child, it is just the sheer muscle and strength that would worrie me, our Akita once knocked my aunt flying onto the floor just because he was running through to the kitchen and she was in the way.

A friend's Akita recently bit a child that it knew very well and wasn't doing anything to it, on the face and had to be put down.

akitas are more for the experienced dog handler and need a firm hand from the minute it is bought home and they are not good with young children usually.
i have a boxer and he is gorgeous. but like many pedigrees does have health issues but a good heart literally!
is a great dane big enough for your dh?

Hully, many years ago my uncle had an akita. She was a lovely dog and fantastic with his dd's BUT 4 dogs from the same litter went on to attack children. Not just bites but mauling. In the end, he made the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep as he wouldnt take the chance not just with his dd's but other children as well. In the end the I think the breeder agreed to take her back.

Bella - didnt' know that it wasnt just hereditory until my vet said that she suspects he developed it due to him being so big and growing so quickly. He really is bigger than most, if not all labs I have seen (apart from his dad).

Apparently, our breeder had bred from his mum and dad before and registered the pups but didnt this time as he wanted to sell them quickly (have since been told previous pups also developed hp - do you think he couldnt register Zac's litter because of this).

I love hounds. Used to have an Irish Wolfhound - is that big enough for you?! He was gorgeous, so soft, although lots of exercise needed (and space) of course. Now have a Greyhound - very lazy, only 2 short walks a day, and again very soft with all.

Ohhh, Great Danes are lovely. My petsitter is due to get 2 pups this week I think. They are supposed to be really placid, easy to train and you cant get much bigger!!

Off to google Leonbergers???

ooh she is brave taking on two littermates! i had two boxers from same litter (one passed away suddenly two years ago) and it is literally double trouble and not advised but i went against the advice but dont regret it though it was probably harder to get them to listen to me as they bonded with each other so closely iykwim?

Recommend standard poodles. Ours is great with children, great with anything he is told to be great with actually.
Easy to train as very intelligent, really affectionate and playful - loves it when we have a house full of children/teenagers to run around with!
When their coat is not shaved into ridiculous styles and their muzzle fur is left longer, they look very similar to a labradoodle, and in fact I am constantly asked if he is a labradoodle when I take him out.
Best of all they are completely non-shedding.

She is pretty experienced bethoo. Used to be a trainer and when petsitting it is normally "problem" dogs who no-one else will take and by the time the owners come back she has sorted them out!!

When I first used her, my dog was only a few months old, really boisterous and would run around the living room at 100 mph. When I got him back he was so calm in the house and DS can actually walk him on the lead which he couldnt before - in the space of a few days.

that is good, sorry i thought you said babysitter in the first post! had i been more vigilant i would have noticed she was actually a pet sitter!