What breed?

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

I have a rescue dog. He's utterly lovely but he is reactive to dogs outside the home unless he knows them, hates going for walks and is generally a bit of a wreck. I've fostered quite a few dogs now and they've all had issues that are a result of an unstable past.

I'd quite like a puppy I know that's not the done thing on here, but I've got one bonkers dog and I'd love to have one I can take for proper, relaxing walks.

Any breed recommendations? Nothing small, nothing enormous. Low-mid exercise requirements, low shed and a calm demeanour would be my top requirements, however unrealistic! Oh and a good capacity for recall.

All suggestions gratefully received :)

[LumelaMme]

A smooth-coated lurcher or a whippet? That type of dog seems quite happy with a quick whizz round the park (not calm) and then sleeps all day (very calm). The recall might take a bit of work, though. Mind you, a friend of mine had whippets who would do anything for food, including come back to her.

I tried using your requirements in an dog breed selector, including the 'not much exercise' bit (agh, it's lunchtime, I'm bored) and the suggestion included a harrier and a foxhound. Are they MAD? Did the person who devised that quiz have any idea how far a foxhound can go in a day?

[tabulahrasa]

"I've got one bonkers dog and I'd love to have one I can take for proper, relaxing walks."

You do realise that that's only likely to happen if you have two separate lots of walks? Walking a puppy with a dog with behavioural issues isn't likely to get you a well behaved dog...

You might know that and be planning two sets of walks and training, but I just thought I'd double check.

[mistlethrush]

The lurcher charity I got mine from seems to have a lot of young pups available at the moment...

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

I've got a lurcher. He actually has excellent recall but I don't like letting him off in case another dog appears, and I don't know many others that have a solid recall. There's no guarantee if the puppy could learn it and I would like an off-lead dog.

And yes, I will definitely be doing separate walks. Mine actively detests going outside and will refuse most walks. It's ridiculous. I got a dog so I could go for walks with it!

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

I have the pup you describe, she is an Irish Terrier and apparently quite atypical for her breed . I found her by chance - I was looking for an Irish Terrier but they are quite unusual then I got to know someone who had one and it all went from there. Sometimes when you are looking serendipity steps in to help.

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

I LOVE Irish Terriers. Are they not usually quite...er...energetic? I really rate my lurcher's ability to sleep at my feet all day whilst I work!

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

It has been suggested that there may be a little bit of princess in her somewhere
Apparently they are energetic, mine loves a good walk then will sleep at my feet all day.

[CornflakeHomunculus]

I second the suggestion for whippets, they fabulous little dogs. I will admit to being a little biased though as I've got three of them

It does sound like they'd be perfect for your requirements though. Super chilled in the house (aside from a mad five minutes here and there) and very flexible with their exercise requirements. They're happy enough with a short blast across the fields when we're dodging bad weather but equally will go for miles given the opportunity. They're generally very trainable in terms of recall as well. All mine spend the majority of every walk off lead with no issue, although I am careful where I let them off as they are (unsurprisingly) very prey driven. They also shed pretty lightly and are very low maintenance, even when mine come back filthy from a muddy walk a quick rise and they're spotless again.

They're incredibly sweet, very loving, playful, mischievous and ridiculously comical. Mine haven't been out yet today (I'm waiting for a break in the weather, they're definitely fair weather dogs) and they're quite contended just snoozing away on the sofa.

I absolutely adore mine, they're perfection in canine form as far as I'm concerned

(Any links appearing in this post other than those marked as my own have been inserted automatically by advertising software and may link to companies or products I would neither support nor recommend.)

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

I do love whippets. I love hounds. I think I'm just worried I'll get prey-drive issues - I have an overly romanticised view of rambling through the fields and having a dog that doesn't fuck off at speed the minute it sees a squirrel.

I love Bedlington whippets but you can't get them from a legitimate breeder obviously and I don't want any issues with that.

[CMOTDibbler]

I have two lurchers (well, three atm as I also have a foster puppy) and they have rock solid recall and don't go after things. Foster puppy is also cat safe and recalls nicely. We go for idyllic walks in the woods and by the river sort of thing
There are lots of lurcher puppies in rescue - some born there like ddog2, some come in as tinies. I know Hounds First had a litter this week that they are hand rearing for instance, and in the spring there will be even more puppies in.

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

...tell me more of this puppy, CMOT! You helped me out with my first lurcher, who is much improved but still an arse outside

[CMOTDibbler]

I don't think she'd work with your dog as she seems to need someone to play with lots and is going to be biiig, but is gorgeous.

How would you feel about Perrin? Not going to be too big

[VaginaSuprise]

Another vote for a whippet here. Perfect dog for you. Here's mine looking after my new baby

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

Is that a Burmese blue? Another weakness of mine...

Okay so whippet is winning currently. Who wants to find me a lovely whippet who has recall, is good with other dogs and has a calm demeanour? G'wan.

[VaginaSuprise]

She's a blue Oriental.
Off On a tangent I know but look at her eyes
Didn't you want a puppy?

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

I want a dog that doesn't have the ingrained issues I've encountered in all the rescues I've fostered.

I know a puppy will have those behaviours at some point but they're usually phases.

So either a perfect rescue whippet or a whippet puppy, it seems.

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

Those eyes 😻

[CMOTDibbler]

I'm a sucker for blue animals too - this is ddog2 as a puppy with some of his sibs. We weren't going to have a puppy as a second dog, but he was just so gorgeous.

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

He's beautiful! I love blue animals. Thinking about it, a nice blue whippet would go very well with my colour scheme...

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

(Lighthearted, obvs)

[mistlethrush]

I'd go for CMoT's foster puppy... who could ask for more - a puppy that's used to recalling with other dogs off-lead...

My lurcher has a prey-drive and, indeed, when we got her we didn't know whether we'd ever be able to let her off the lead as she was probably a failed worker.. (In the pound 3x before the rescue got her and 2.5 yrs). However, she knows exactly what she's after (rabbits) but also knows that she wants to stay with us so keeps a careful eye on where we are and hunts rabbits within sight and keeps going in the right direction. The terrier (terrierist) (adopted at 7.5 yrs) on the other hand....

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

Alas CMOT didn't think she'd be compatible with my dog, but I'd love to see a picture even so!

[ImBrian]

My mam has a blue whippet, he's a lovely dog. Very chilled out and calm 95% of the time. He took a long time to get recall and does like squirrels but the long walks in the wood are possible.