Which breed of dog for first time owner

[MollyHuaCha]

I would love advice on which breed of dog would suit someone who has never owned a dog before and has absolutely no doggy experience at all. I am thinking of getting an older rescue dog rather than a puppy. I mainly work at home but would have to leave the dog by itself for two to four hours each day. Also, I could walk him/her for 20 mins each morning and 30 mins each evening. Would that be enough? Thanks to anyone who replies.

[CMOTDibbler]

How about a lurcher? Mine would be totally happy with the amount of walks, and are happy to be left.

There are unfortunatly lots in rescue. Mine both came from EGLR who have all their dogs in foster so really know them

[Ylvamoon]

Any toy dog types, whipped/ greyhounds or crosses (yep mongrels), should be ok. It depends what you are after & how much time you are willing to spend training the dog. You should consider some training classes to help you bond and understand the dog.
AND don't re-home a difficult dog (oh, he hates other dogs, humans and rabbits- otherwise he is a real softy and won't harm a fly!) leave them to the more experienced dog lovers.

Good luck, my first dog was a lovely rescue mongrel- 2nd choice, hid under a chair at first meeting (and for about the following 2years), kept digging holes under the garden fence and had a hatred of cars and men! But she was fun, loyal and and always up to some mischief!

[llangennith]

Cavalier King Charles spaniel.

[luckylambchop]

We adopted our first ever dog about 10 days ago, a 2 year old ex racing greyhound. Like you I work from home but do have to leave him on his own for an hour or so and so far it's been fine, and he is a lovely lovely dog who has been very quick to learn that he goes to the toilet outside and that the cat is not his dinner.

One thing I would say. I have found that my years and years of thinking about it and researching dog ownership have not prepared me in the slightest for the reality of having a dog in the house and we are finding it to be a huge learning curve which is extremely stressful at times. I considered joining Borrow My Doggy for a while before committing and I really wish I had because I think my expectations would have been more realistic. So I'd recommend finding a way of spending time with dogs before getting one if you can.

Good luck! And enjoy the search :)

[MollyHuaCha]

Thanks guys, really helpful replies. Have a great weekend, Molly