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

Sorry, haven't RTWT and I'm sure this will have been suggested but...

Lurchers/greyhounds. They are so chilled, rarely bark, very goofy, unbelievably affectionate, love a blanket on a sofa, don't need too much exercise......and rescues are jam packed full of them.

We have two (both rescues). One is about 14 but we've had her 12 years, and the other is 2 who we have had since November. Both were strays but they are the best family pets.

Don't make good guard dogs though 🤣

Also - a lot of people saying it's hard to adopt from rescues if you have children etc....

There are thousands of rescue centres across the UK, many who will rehome a dog with children (if the dog is suitable to live with children)

We have just got our second rescue, and we have two children. We drove 4 hours to pick him up, if you reach out to enough places you are bound to find the right dog from the right rescues.

Both of our rescue dogs are better behaved and well mannered than a lot of others dogs I know who were bought as puppies - just because you get a puppy doesn't mean you are able to shape their personality to what suits you.

Unfortunately it’s not just the kids thing. Some sighthounds rescues insist on dogs being kept on lead unless in secure fields; we don’t have high enough fences round part of our garden. I also don’t agree with blanket neutering of male dogs, and especially early in life - all of which is pretty unacceptable to rescues.

They have every right to decide the best possible home for their dogs, of course.

@Greyexpectations yes some rescues, but not all. We didn't get ours from a sighthound specific rescue though so maybe different.

We did have to have a secure garden with high fences though (which we already had). That makes sense though - those dogs can jump fairly high and end up lost/hurt if they get out

I don’t disagree it makes sense, but I’ve had a lurcher here for years. He is so bonded to our family that we don’t have issues - and I believe that is because we had him during the important early weeks.

Before that he lived in a flat with me - another living situation that would have precluded me from rescuing a pup from many rescues.

Again, I don’t disagree with rescues’ right to set their own rules.

We have a Mini Dachshund, definitely wouldn't recommend. She's so territorial and hates anyone who comes into the house.
Our last dog was a Cavi KC Spaniel, she was the most delightful natured dog.

Daschunds are some of the barkiest dogs around, I rarely come across a chilled one.

This is very outing but there have been a few comments on the doxiepoo breed.

It was a toy poodle who was the father!

There bark when someone comes to the door but not overly barky at other times.

And their cuteness makes up for it

It's not a breed 🙄

all breeds have been created by breeding different mixes of dogs.

The only difference is time.

Stop being a dog snob.

(although welcome back to the convo! I thought you were going to pass agg send me laughing emojis silently forever and I was sad for you)

Just a heads up that if you go for a lurcher I would go for an older one.

Ive owned an elderly lurcher who was a dream to own, quiet, loving and happy with long or short walks, a very easy dog apart from a delicate stomach. When she died we got a lurcher pup, I can honestly say he has been one of the most difficult dogs I've owned to date, and I've owned a lot, but at coming up to two he is maturing into a lovely dog.

Lurchers can be variable in the amount of exercise they need, ours is best with more rather than less

@Greyexpectationsyou’re right, but there’s a big difference between a cross/breed that’s been well established over multiple generations for a specific purpose, and a one-off mix that has no real purpose other than to look cute and make money.

I mean, what’s the point in mixing a poodle and a dachshund, for example? There’s no benefits to it other than to make money.

Right back at ya with French bulldogs, boxers, English bulldogs, Boston terriers.

What’s the point of a golden retriever in Surrey instead of the Highlands?

A whippet in east London?

The only difference between an oodle and a spaniel is generations.

I’m not saying this to defend backyard breeders, who are monsters, but the amount of snobbery around ‘pure bred’ dogs is ludicrous.

Bad breeding practices are not restricted to people who mix the breeds - and arguably the inbreeding of show dogs is far, far worse, health wise, especially when hybrid vigour is taken into account.

I think we can both agree that responsible breeding is key.

@SquashedSquid

lol. Back to not having anything to add but a tinkly laugh, I see.

Figures.

As for lurchers, yes, lovely dogs, but it pays to be aware that some are from VERY purpose-bred lines, e.g. coursing, fox control. They will be very prey-driven and those drives can be tough to handle.

The reason some pedigrees need 101 health tests prior to being bred is that deleterious alleles (faulty bits of genetic code) are concentrated in the offspring when related dogs are bred together. Often the illness won't show up in a dog because it needs to copies of the messed up genetic code to develop the disease. All it takes is a popular sire to spread some dodgy genetics far and wide for a recessive disease to really take hold.

Things like hip dysplasia are fairly widespread, and no single genetic cause has been found (and environmental factors probably play a big part), but some genetic illnesses are concentrated in specific breeds or in related breeds.

Inbreeding also decreases genetic 'fitness' - general health, quality of immune system, litter size, longevity. A dog having a low coefficient of inbreeding doesn't guarantee good health, but it ups your chances. This is called hybrid vigour and is very well recognised in the livestock industry.

So I am with @greyexpectations on this one.

I wonder if any of the dog snobs feel the same about inter racial marriage or support cousin marriage?

Genetics are genetics, whatever the species.

What the fuck are you on about?

Re: Labradors

As an adult I have become allergic to them, (perhaps it’s the lanolin referred to by a PP), so we had to rule them out, unfortunately.

With regards to Eurasiers:

My son wanted one a few years ago and we joined several groups/got in touch with breeders. We were on waiting lists for ages before giving up as they are quite rare in the UK.

Basically, we’d have had more chance getting a unicorn!

I agree that UK rescues are the way forward if possible. Many people adopt from abroad because overseas dog dealers, (which is what the vast majority of these ‘rescues’ are), don’t care if you’re working/have kids whereas UK rescues can be a bit too fussy. Of course some of these overseas dogs are lovely, but many aren’t.

A miniature poodle, miniature schnauzer or bichon friese might suit the OP.

We are on our second UK rescue dog btw. He’s extremely hard work: ridiculously high energy, sheds year round, has huge separation anxiety and is a very weird animal generally, but the family love him and he’s living his best life!

I love mini schnauzers, but it’s worth pointing out they are often very barky if that’s something OP is really concerned about.

Genetics.

I’m not saying dog snobs are eugenicists or anything, but I can’t get the cognitive dissonance it takes to believe inbreeding for generations is better for the species than making labradoodles.

Well, precisely.
Look at the screaming about LUA dalmatians. The current LUA dalmatians are indistinguishable from non-LUA ones, other than with improved health, but they have a teeny tiny bit of pointer in them so oh noes...!

I'm not anti pedigree dogs (I currently have two) but I'm very aware of the issues that inbreeding can cause.

I'm always surprised at how recently some dog breeds came into being. Golden retriever, for instance, as a spaniel/retriever cross.

One of my favourite breeds came into being between about 1850 and 1900.

My last dog was a grippit - greyhound x whippet. She had been rescued by a friend who was convinced that the dog was going to end up being used as a bait dog in a dog fighting ring.
Previously, I had owned an extremely carefully bred German Shepherd Dogs but didn't want to have such a large, time and money consuming dog again. I was working shifts at the time, and she had lovely dog-walkers and could stay overnight with them if necessary. She was quietly pts at 13 when her back end was becoming unsteady. My vet still remembers her now, and it's forty years ago.
Grippet was wonderful! She was trainable (via a lot of patience, dog training classes and closely-managed treat-giving) and she would whirl round in mad circles in our fields when the horses weren't in them. She would snooze in their beds when I went out for a hack and was loved by all.
Now I have a few physical disabilities, I have my cat and my last retired horse. Both cost a fortune, but they're definitely worth it.

The current trend is to cross anything with a poodle and then charge £££££ for a dog that could be anything and could come from anywhere. This has resulted in money grabbing people getting involved in the dog trade. Many of these crosses come as imports or from puppy farms.

The other problems with these crosses are a lack of health checks and not knowing what you’re getting. Our local park is full of cockapoos, most of them are completely bonkers. Crossing a very intelligent poodle with a highly charged working dog like a spaniel, doesn’t result in the best dog.

Poodles are a healthy, long lived breed. You can have everything you’ve ever wanted with a poodle.