be honest - pros and cons of your dog's breed?

[tinymeteor]

Just for curiosity's sake, really. My theory is that picking a breed is all about working out which bad habits you can live with.

Our is a beagle. Pros: gorgeous to look at, no grooming required, amazing with kids, no issues with other dogs, very cuddly. Surprisingly, no real problems with recall and he doesn't bark, contrary to breed reputation.

Cons: steals stuff, all the bloody time. Obedience is temporary and only for food rewards. Will immediately break the rules once your back is turned.

What about yours?

Labrador: pros - very placid, easy to train, calm, beautiful, amazing with the dc.
Cons - sheds. (Doesn't bother us but listing anyway)

Springer x cocker: pros - very cuddly, playful, beautiful, doesn't seem to shed much, loves the dc.
Cons - bonkers, eats socks, can be a bit nervy (had to be careful to socialise etc).

Working line pointer:
Pros: beautiful, elegant, can go for miles and miles, loves us to death, v short fur so barely sheds, great with kids, gets on with our cat very well, cheap to feed, so far no health issues (middle-aged and looks about 2), cheap to feed, excellent recall unless barking at another dog (see below), or chasing a rabbit.
Cons: must go for miles (every day), scared of unknown dogs so sounds hideously aggressive and will chase (but not bite) or cower feebly if there are two or more of them, deafeningly loud bark, drools when food is in the offing, wipes his slobbery chops lovingly all over me at inopportune moments.

I don't think the fear-aggression thing is due to his breed: I think we had him neutered too young: current evidence seems to be that if you leave de-nadding until the dog is fully mature (18mo-2) they're less likely to grow up as total chickens. And I love working-bred dogs, but they are not for everybody.

Labrador too pros : beautiful temperament, calm, great with kids and dogs, easily trained.
Cons : shedding, insatiable appetite, scavenging and eating of poo (own and everybody else's !!

Springer and a cocker (both working)

Pros - Lovely looking, friendly, gentle, loving, playful, brill recall as stuck to your side ALL the time, happy, cuddly, clever, energetic, biddable, wants to please.

Cons - They would walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk.....
And the mud, they are mud magnets.

Rottweiler...

Pros
Really trainable, literally will pick up a command in a day.
Hugely enthusiastic, he's excited about literally everything.
Rarely barks.
Doesn't shed a huge amount.

Could be pros or cons depending on how you look at them...

He's funny and playful...but he's usually funny because he's got no common sense and has just done something stupid.

He's into everything you do, I like that, but I can see a big dog following you round trying to join in everything would annoy some people.

They're a lot more active than people seem to think they are...they are a working breed and do need a fair amount of exercise and mental stimulation.

Cons

He has faulty brakes, he quite often uses me to stop...it hurts, lol

Hugely enthusiastic, he's excited about literally everything. lol

He's not good with people or dogs - it isn't a breed thing, it's because of his individual circumstances, but because of his breed, firstly other people aren't happy about him (for example) freaking out because a dog is too close and because he's large he's physically hard to manage sometimes.

He has nearly every health issue that the breed is prone to and won't live to be old because of them

I should have added poo eating/rolling! Beagles are bloody disgusting

Thanks for the Pointer info Lumela, have been wondering about those as a future dog (when we have more garden and bigger kids)

Oh I forgot the big pro and con.

Massively affectionate, if you let him he'd literally sit on your knee all day licking you, lol.

I have 2.

Weimaraner
Pros: stunning looking, will always be admired by people when we're out on walks, loves to run with me, very little grooming needed.
Cons - very hyper, can't cope with the stresses of running where there are other people, cant stand bicycles, or high-viz clothing, has a VERY loud bark which causes anyone nearby to jump out of their skin.
Proandcon - very sensitive to emotions of his owners.

Cocker spaniel
Pros: easy to train, good at running and happy to do so in large groups, great company.
Cons: Whinges and whines in the car, can be a bit barky when people approach her (she prefers to do things on her own terms), needs a bit of grooming.

Pros: doesn't need much exercise, quiet, makes no mess, food easily obtainable, can fend for itself for a couple of day when we go away. No poo rolling, chasing rabbits or dragging nasty things in to the house
cons: kids say it's not a proper dog and moan that I promised them a cute puppy.
breed: Goldfish with 'Rover' label on the tank

I'll get my coat....

Ha! Nice try, Momb

Samoyed (I have two)

Pros: every single person I meet stops me to tell me how lovely they are.
Only shed once or twice a year so hair isn't a big problem really.
Beautiful smile, so intelligent, playful and loyal.
It's VERY rare to get an agressive one, and very unusual.
Love to follow you around, but also independent so your not hassled to fuss them loads.

Cons: can bark on occasion, luckily mine only do this when it's someone they know pulling into the drive.
Can be destructive if left alone, mine arn't but it's what I heard.
They have high grooming requirements, think 15 mins brushing every day, and a bath once a month. (I find this relaxing though)

Miniature Poodle (she is only 16 weeks so this list may change).

Pros: Smart, trainable, affectionate, happy, calm (for a puppy), she like doing whatever we are, non shedding.

Cons: she uses her intelligence in devious ways, crying for attention, grooming.

A poodles coat grows and grows, not just on the body but between her toes and in her ears. I'm having to trim her face so she can see and her feet every 2 weeks.

German Shorthaired Pointer

Pros: beautiful, affectionate, chilled out around the house (except first 5 mins that visitors arrive!) bright, fairly easy to train, short hair means he almost always looks clean, has never destroyed stuff in the house (but that might be just our dog), great with kids, fine with cat

Cons: big, strong and fast, pulls like a train on the lead unless he has a figure-of-8 on, needs plenty of off-lead exercise (not a problem for us though). Is prone to cannoning into you when hurtling through the woods. He took out dh and dd in one fell swoop once.

GSPs are supposedly 'velcro dogs' i.e. stick to you like glue and don't like being left, but ours is fine being left.

Shih Tzu -Pros: so baby-faced that we get stopped everywhere by passersby to tell us she is lovely (I know!), is permanently warm so is lovely to cuddle, doesn't take too much walking as she likes napping more but will comfortably go on a hike with us if she has to. Flops on me and moulds herself against me like a bean-filled toy so fantastic to cuddle.

Cons: really, really, really stubborn. Takes ages to learn anything (she is like an owl - those big eyes take up a large part of her brain cavity). House training is hit and miss still and at this rate I will never get my new landing and bedroom carpet Very greedy and begs constantly, although this is probably because a. She is a rescue from a puppy farm, poor thing, and b. DH loves sharing with her.

I also have a little terrier of unknown origin who is clever, agile and so well behaved indoors. Despite being a rescued pup, she has never ever had an accident, or chewed anything, or played with any thing that wasn't her's. She sits on my lap sensibly and sweetly, and is amazing.

Until we get outside, and she has to be carried past all the passing dogs, while she snarls and scrabbles to get at them, sigh.

I adopted 2 huskies.

Pros - they are the most loveable things going.

Cons - excercise is hard on me, thank god we have big grounds, and I cant get them to follow a bloody command except sit, and down.

I know we would never have been paired up on a dating site but I love them and they love me and thats it.

3 yr old Mini poodle x yorkie
Pros
Cute, looks like a teddy!
Little (small house/car couldn't do big dog)
Great with kids
Very trainable tricks etc
Eager to please
Never runs off
Good recall

Cons
Untrainable (as yet I'll keep trying!) at:
Barking
Digging
Jumping up
Rolls in anything smelly in the fields
Grooming (but I do it myself so not expensive & its bonding)

Staffie

Pros

• gentle
• obedient
• very cuddly
• silly and funny
• lazy around the house
• loves long walks/runs
• brilliant with dd
• fab off lead

Cons

• very sensitive stomach and a tendancy to eat things she shouldn't
• doesn't like being left
• slightly nervous of other dogs
• jumps up when people arrive
• pulls slightly on lead

Labrador - Pros - big softie, great with children and other animals. Very intelligent - easy to train,
Cons - smelly, sheds and needs a lot of stimulation (fine for us but could be destructive and disobedient if not done properly)

Miniture Pincher - pros- friendly, loves people, loyal, small, doesn't shed.
cons - prone to being bossy, and a guard dog so can be noisy

Mini pincher x chihuahua - pros - really small and everything similar to min-pin
cons - yappy.

English show cocker spaniel
Pros: very loyal to owner/ or who ever feeds him
Likes walks whether long or short
Stunning dogs to look at when in full show coat
Very cuddly
Good with children

Cons:
Full show coat needs a lot of attention
Lives to roll in the stinkiest things imaginable
Velcro dogs
Barks at anything that dares to walk past "his" house.

I have two, a collie and a Little Bastard Brown Dog (a spaniel, a working cocker or a sprocker no-one really knows)

Collie

Pros: She is clever
Cons: Far too bloody clever. And she has hair...lots of it which she likes to leave EVERYWHERE. She has no "Off" switch.

LBD

Pros: Errrrrrrrrrmmmm...he loves life, he's very loving, he can keep up with a collie
Cons: He's stoopid. He acts first, thinks second. He runs, everywhere, endlessly unless he can swim in which case he swims instead. He has a coat like a sponge, he absorbs all moisture (which isn't good as he is the skinniest runt going). He has no "Off" switch.

Dalmatian.
Pros - Beautiful to look at, very loving and cuddly (think 4 stone lap dog), always making us laugh with the idiotic things she does, good with other dogs, never been destructive, happy to be left, very active (see cons) so good for our fitness levels

Cons - very active ... the more exercise the more her stamina increases. Can be a bit barky to strangers and likes to meet them in her own time (but once a friend always a friend)
Shedding, OMG do they shed. All the time. Non stop.

Dogue De Bordeaux
Pro;
He's easy to train
He watches the house when we're out
He's happy to see you when you return
He is actually quite intelligent
Con;
He sheds a lot
He barks at most things
He thinks that all 13 stone of him is a lap dog (he's all muscle)
He's dominate
He doesn't like other dogs and isn't fond of people.
He's quite independent, if he had human hands he wouldn't need me!
He's stubborn
Even with all his cons I love him to pieces honest

Him being dog and people aggressive isn't anything to do with the breed its just that he got attacked by quite a few dogs when he was a puppy so has always been funny but just turned protective when fdog was added.

Eric a poodle shih tzu cross
pros, he's small, very cute, non shedding, intelligent, bomb proof, friendly, calm, sociable, picks up good and bad habits in no time.

cons, demanding, diva, naughty, climbs and jumps which means that even though he's 9 inches tall nothing much is out of bounds, attracts children like Fagin which means wherever you go you have little ones wanting to pet him and he loves to be dirty and stinky.

Bichon Frise

Pros: Very even tempered, very tolerant of kids, small but willing to walk long distances, equally happy to sleep all day, very cuddly and affectionate.

Cons: expensive to keep groomed, prone to skin conditions/allergies, tear stains, stubborn, wakes up incredibly early (this might just be mine)