Please recommend a dog for us

[jumpyjan]

Bit of a role reversal going on in our house - after 3/4 years of me working part time and staying at home with the kids DH is going to do it while I go full time - which means its his rules and the first change is he want a dog.

We can't agree on a breed and would love a recommendation. We have 2 DC who are 4 and nearly 2. We have a medium sized garden and live in the sticks. Someone is home 4 days a week but we are at work for 3 days (short days). We like walking and I run so wouldn't mind a dog to jog along with me occasionally.

I would like playful, gentle, some character, not too smelly.

Am I asking too much?!

well I would say spaniel but I am biased and it really depends on how long your 'short days' are.

I would say a doodle but then I am biased

I'd say Staffy but I am biased.

And goes without saying...please think of Rescue.

With a 4 and 2 yo and first dog I would think very carefully about a rescue if you have no idea of its history/early life.

so you need a spaniel x doodle x Staffy rescue

you could give it a designer name
A spoodaffy?

I love these threads.

Generally speaking, you will receive about a gazillion answers from MNetters who will disregard your requirements and recommend the breed of dog that they have.

:)

So, in that spirit, I would say a Maltese Terrier x Cavalier King Charles.

Ours is the most incredibly loyal, sweet natured and non-smelly dog (well, she doesn't shed at least).

A cockerpoo...don't have one but the ones I meet are all lovely in a bonkers-mad-as-a-box-of-frogs-full-of-life-wanting-to-play way

And our Daphne's "designer breed" is Maltalier. say awwwww

Yep It's true.
We'll recommend nearly every breed of dog.
FWIW though My annoyingly bouncy ball of fluffDoodle is a lot more hard work than my Staffy.

If a rescue near you will rehome to a family with small children, try that first - a greyhound might fit your requirements, and an older dog would probably be easier than trying to cope with puppy training with two young DCs as well.

But if a rescue doesn't work for you, the three breeds most often recommended for families (at least when I was researching it) are labradors, staffies and border terriers - all very friendly and patient with children.

to Clarice about your views on rescues. Reputable resuce charities will provide a homecheck for you first, to ensure you are the right home for the dog, then will carefully match you with a rescue dog whose temperament has been carefully assessed. The dog will be neutered, microchipped, vaccinated, flea treated and up to date with medical/worming/dental treatments.

An adult rescue dog who may well have come from a family home through no fault of its own (divorce, family breakdown or redundancy being frequent reasons that are unrelated to the individual dog's temperament) will make a wonderful pet, while a cheap, unsocialised pup from a puppy farm could be years of behavioural and medical headaches.

Further, rescues provide ongoing advice and support for new owners during the life of the dog, and all reputable rescues will be happy to take a dog back if at any time in the future (say ten years) the new owner is unable to care for it.

Not all rescues are cross breeds - most breeds have their own rescue organisations/websites and many work nationally. You will also find all breed rescues in your neighbourhood - there is undoubtedly a wonderful family pet out there for you if you are willing to do a bit of homework.

Some rescues will not home dogs to families where children are under 5, so you will need to check this out. Rescues do not do this because we are child hating weirdoes but because sadly having small children is the NO. 1 reason for rehoming dogs (usually lack of time) and it is important to remind you that a dog is NOT a toy. Your children must not be allowed to be alone with it, and must be taught from day one that it is not acceptable to poke, prod, tease, sit on, or otherwise hassle the dog. If you genuinely cannot sign up to this level of supervision and this would not sit well with your style of parenting, then you should probably wait until your DC are older.

You haven't mentioned it, but it is also worth making sure that all the adults are signed up to dog walking, poo patrols in the garden and you have done your budget forecasting to include food, vets bills, worming, vax, grooming, and insurance.

Personally I wouldn't recommend a greyhound to this family. With children this young, a greyhound might find them a bit loud and stressful. The OP also said she wanted "playful" - greys do a bit, but this is not reallly their strong point. DH goes running with ours but again, another breed might be better if OP gets into Cani X etc.

Wow - lots of suggestions.

I am bias too, in that I used to be petrified of dogs so any dogs I had a bad experience with as a child are out including spaniels and staffys.

I was quite interested in labradoodles but DH is not so keen (think its the £700 price tag!) A friend has a cockerpoo and they look adorable and I have heard good reports so thats a maybe.

We had also considered a greyhound but I did think that a Greyhound may not be very playful for the children.

Does anyone have any experience of lurchers as this is DH current favourite.

We are undecided about getting a rescue. Not completely against the idea or anything but my parents in law had one and it did behave quite erratically at times due to things that had happened to her as a puppy which I would be a bit concerned about with the children.

Am off to google some of the suggestions - many thanks.

As an experienced dog owner and harassed and harrangued mother I'd make it a requirement that the dog is short haired. Yes long haired dogs look lovely but they make lots of work, trail mud everywhere and tend to be more smelly. A standard smooth haired dachshund or perhaps a whippet or two?
( I won't mention the S word this time, in case I appear too biased in their favour!)

Yes good thinking Higgle. I think I would be happier with a short haired smooth coat. I have just seen some 5 month olds lurcher pups on the blue cross website that look lovely but they don't mention anything about children so not sure whether they are suitable for kids or not.

My dog! She's medium sized, lazy, and the nicest tempered dog I have ever met. She loves kids and is happy to be climbed upon/fussed. And she's nearly 9 so by the time the novelty wears off she'll be dead!

She's the perfect dog for you apart from the hair. All over the house. Even in the fridge. Constantly. Everywhere. And the smell. But that's not as bad as the hair. Dear god, the hair... So when will you be in to accept delivery?

I would probably not think too much about breeds etc at the moment, and just go to your nearest good rescue and see if they think any of their dogs would be suitable for you, then you can meet the dogs and one of them might just be your perfect dog. I know everyone has their favourite breeds and ones they're not so keen on, but dogs really are individuals and you might just be surprised by a wonderful dog of a breed you wouldn't have previously considered (this happened for us anyway!).

Obviously this only applies if you are considering rescue (and if they're willing to consider you!). I think in some ways the best dog if you have young children is a rescue dog who has already lived with children in a previous home or foster home, I would feel more confident about that than a pup where you can't know how their temperament will develop . A rescue shouldn't let you have a dog with unknown or problematic history anyway.

Arf @ Spoodaffy

I wouldn't think a labrafdoodle would be a very good choice for a first dog. They are far too full on.

I'd go for rescue if I was you. But if you'd like a certain breed I can highly reccomend sighthounds or SBTs.

My sister has a Lurcher pup who'd be about five months old now and he is brilliant, but can be a bit jumpy. Add the jumpiness to his size and you've got a recipe for much crying and wailing from a more sensitive toddler. DD2 thinks it is great and is happy to roll around the floor with him or let him dive all over her and he is very gentle with her. My sisters dc, otoh, get hysterical if he so much as looks at them.

He is a very sweet, gentle, lazy character and much fun to watch with his toys and when he drags himself slowly inch by inch off the sofa.

Good point Ephiny about dogs having different personalities regardless of breed - am hoping we can go to the rescue centre this weekend to have a chat with them.

Dooinmcleenin - the lurcher pup you mention sounds perfect!

Another one saying my one. A lurcher, I have a collie cross saluki, he's 11 now, but he's been the perfect family dog, I run and he used to run for an hour a day with me.

He grew up with my 3 boisterous children, he's always been very gentle, even when a friend's toddler recently jumped on him while he was asleep, he just gently pushed him away.

He has never growled and has always loved children. He's never played with toys or balls, just wants to be with us.

Also, he has longish,silky hair, does moult but never ever dirty or smelly.

We also have a jack russell cross, got him when kids were teenagers, he's great fun, very bright but smelly, dirty and possessive over food and toys. He's killed chickens, hedgehogs, rats (lots) and a pigeon. I think sight hounds are far more suitable for small children than terriers. I don't even let him in the same room as toddlers.