Which dog breed?

[Headbandbrigade]

I know this has probably been done to death, but all the online quizzes are producing ridiculous results. We’re considering getting a dog in the next couple of years. This is us -

House with small garden
Have loads of countryside walks on our doorstep
Two children who would likely be aged 6 and 4 by the time we get one. Always been around dogs and they’re respectful of animals
WFH so someone always at home with the dog but would need to be able to left for short periods of time occasionally
Regular visitors and children to the house
No other pets
Not a big drooler or shedder or barker
Occasional very long walks, daily 1 hour walks
Would like a people dog, can be like Velcro

I’ve always had dogs growing up and had a dog in adulthood. He is wonderful but became dog aggressive as he hit puberty and he was too strong for walks with small children in tow, as letting him off lead was no longer an option at all. He was trained to a high standard by me and would be muzzled, but if a dog approached us (‘it’s ok my dog’s so friendly!’ people), he would almost remove my shoulder from its socket. He’s now elderly but has been living with my parents for the last few years and they have acres of land for him to roam on risk-free.

We’ve ruled out staffies as our previous boy is a staffie mix and I’m sure that’s sadly where the dog aggression came from. Definitely no flat-nose dogs.

Any suggestions?

🤦🏼‍♀️🤣 Well. Honestly.

Another suggestion of miniature poodle. I had one growing up and our household kind of matched your criteria. Ours was a rescue, I loved her but she didn't like men until they'd proved they were ok.
We now have a velcro Weimaraner, don't get one. They are amazing and I adore our gorgeous boy but I couldn't have done it when the kids were pre-teen and dependent.

@Suzi888 point taken and something that we’re aware of. I guess the hope is that with careful breed selection, then careful breeder selection, then careful socialising and training we could mitigate the risk of some things developing. The majority of dogs we know have crap quirks, eg. terrible recall, escape artists, food snatchers, barkers, chew all the furniture to death etc. I guess those things we know we would handle, and that’s what we went into dog ownership as adults expecting. We were handling the dog aggression, though it was difficult, but when it started to become human fear aggression it became much harder and we couldn’t work on ourselves and our anxiety about it at the same as him.

And we’re familiar with puppies and puppy behaviour. The children are familiar with many breeds, some more boisterous than others. I’m not new to dog ownership. I know the dog would require socialising and lots of work. I spent 20 minutes each day training my dog and doing agility, on top of walks. He can fetch the letters from the letterbox, do scent work and walk to a heel. It’s like some replies want me to be someone who would buy a dog off a dodgy website and then put it up for sale for £50 because my working hours changed. Not me.

But you've got to pick your main problem that you can't cope with and focus on that - if aggression is the main thing you can't get past, get a setter/retriever/lab and make sure you get the most submissive pup.

But the extra requirements - mustn't shed, mustn't drool, mustn't chew, must have good recall etc - to some extent all dogs are going to make some mess, shed some, chew some, have issues with recall when young.

Sorry to hear about your history with your old dog.

@Spring23 thank you, that’s the best advice we’ve had and makes perfect sense for a starting point.

A lab 🥰 except for the shedding. Mine is perfect in every way, except the shedding but you won’t care once you get one.

A lab, though they can get fat and they steal food too.

A vote for the ultimate cross-breed pointy-nosed big hearted dog; the Lurcher!

Be warned; once you fall in love with this dog; that’s it; you’re BFFs!

all the best! X

It's what I always do when I'm struggling - good luck!