To ask for your dog breed recommendations?

[766j]

I have only ever had one dog who was a terrier, and he was a typical terrier in that he would bark all the time no matter how much I tried to train him. He hated cats, would bark any time someone walked past the house and would bark at the TV a lot. This was despite extensive training and getting a behaviourist round. I am wanting something a bit quieter (!) and more affectionate this time around.

I work from home, and want it to be good around children. Ideally one that only needs less than an hour of walking per day and is low/no shedding. I have a pretty good sized garden if that helps too. A friend has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who I adore, she is so sweet-natured and gentle and I would put up with the shedding for one of those, but the breed has so many health issues that it concerns me.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thank you

German shepherd, great family dogs, loving and easy to train

Agreed. I got my rescue when she was 5. She was used to breed Cavachon puppies repeatedly. She was very tubby, scared of everything and never learned how to play. She had been kept in a conservatory and very rarely walked. (We soon got her used to the harness and she gets so excited when she sees it) However she is the sweetest and most beautiful doggy ever. I feel strangely guilty that we didn't have her since she was a pup and that she'd been forced to have 6 litters in 5 years. She's 11 in April. I hope she lives a lot longer as I genuinely don't know what I will do without her. 😔

Yes, I know all this. My posts were in response to the ‘it’s not a breed’ crap.

Any breeding, done poorly, can result in unsuitable dogs and to pretend it’s only a problem with mixed breeds is nonsense.

I have met oodles who are lovely, and several KC dogs who are bonkers.

Trends are as harmful to pure bred dogs as crosses. Look at all the brachycephalic breeds.

I completely agree re poodles. They seem like such graceful and smart dogs. If I ever get a non-lurcher, I’d be very keen on a poodle.

Just to make it clear, I’m not against crosses in the slightest, and there are plenty of pedigree breeds I would never touch with a bargepole - the brachycephalic breeds being top of the list.

What I am against though, is this trend of mixing every breed under the sun with a poodle and charging a fortune for it, even when there are no benefits to doing so and it often causes more issues than it claims to solve.

That doesn’t mean I’m against poodle crosses per se, but what’s the point in NewfiePoo? Or a DaxiePoo? The whole point of crosses should be to make things better, not for some idiot somewhere to make money because their less popular breed now has some poodle in it.

Can't understand why people are suggesting a Labrador for your specifications. They certainly need more than an hour a day exercise, and are heavy shedders. Great dogs, but not what you have asked for.

My mum has a cockapoo, he is happy with less than an hours exercise a day and does very well with longer walks should you decide to, and doesn't shed, is very friendly and so gentle when taking his treats.

I can’t understand why people are suggesting cockapoos. They could be imported or from puppy farms. You have no idea what you’re actually getting and many of them have behaviour problems.

An actual health tested, poodle is a far better option. I get asked every day whether ours is a cockapoo or a cavapoo, when you say poodle they look surprised.

Ahh lovely. We had 3 growing up. Great dogs. Stubborn as hell though ( my parents didn't really train them. One ate our arm chair lol. Great guard dogs though. You don't see many now do you

I'm with both @greyexpectations and @biscuitsandbooks. There used to be a lot of random mongrels where someone's nice dog had puppies by someone else's nice dog and so on for generations. Those dogs were generally healthy and stable - I walked one who was mostly lab when I was a kid and she was a wonderful dog. One who was ?rough collie x ?? x ?? would say hello to every passing schoolchild. Now there are lots of first generation crosses who are churned out solely for the £££, in goodness knows what conditions.

There is bad breeding on both sides of the fence - too many show dogs are exaggerated (short legs, squashed faces, too much coat) or too closely related to be good for their health.

Poodles can be very cool dogs. I've some lovely standard poodles (and a really nice dog who is about 3/4 poodle plus a bit of lab) - they're a big breed I'd consider if I ever find my current (batshit, high maintenance, demanding) breed gets too much.