So which is the best dog around children ?

[Heswall]

DH won't have a rat on a lead, his words so it needs to be medium sized. I do not want to be covered in hair so one that doesn't molt too much would be ideal.

Any advice ?

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, hands down best dog with kids but can have a lot of health issues as have been irresponsibly bred over the years.

Retriever/Lab cross or some sort of Collie cross.

thank you from Mouse, Flat

we have a weimaraner (sp) and she is amazing with our kids. She would lie next to DS on his baby gym and watch over him. When he was toddling she would nudge and lick him if he fell over to stop him crying. They have great fun now. She's never shown any aggressive tendencies towards any human of animal imcluding my DSis cat.

she is a lot of work and needed LOTS of training. Also a lot of walks and mental stimulation. She is a consumate food thief, no worktop is safe :)

great family pet if you have the time and energy.

Staffs making piggy noises is a good point.

I used to mind my friend's, long time staff owner, various staffs (over 20 years) and the only downside was the noise that they made, which got worse as they got older. This may have been because they were not in their own home, though.

I have always had GS's but never a female and she whines a fair bit. Not good if you have a low noise tolerance.

There are lots of different factors to find the breed that suits you.

We have 2 Tibetan terriers, they are fabulous dogs but not particuarly easy. We have a rescue bitch who is about 8, we keep her in a puppy clip so she has short, easily brushed hair and doesn't moult - they are supposed to be non shedding dogs but she leaves little curls of hair round the place! Our other dog is a show dog so he is in his full coat which does take some looking after but it is beautiful. If you are looking at TT's, be aware that what they look like as a puppy can be completely different to how they will look at an adult as they "blow" or lose their coats at around 1yr to 18mths when their adult double coat comes through. They can be stubborn and independent and some can suffer from seperation anxiety if you don't train them right but they will also make you laugh every day. I take the bitch to agility and sometimes she says "I'll do that in my own good time" but I love her to bits! I wouldnt necessarily recommend them for first dogs if you have no experience whatsoever

There are no assured breeders for cockerpoos, and you're not guaranteed to get a non shedding dog. If you want an intelligent, handsome, non shedding dog, why don't you just get a poodle? You don't have to clip its coat into weird clips (I'm assuming your DH wouldn't appreciate it!) If you do go for a cockerpoo, remember that just because its a crossbreed doesn't make it automatically healthier than a purebred dog and make sure its parents have had all the relevent health tests

I know everyone says don't use the Internet to source dogs, but when we went for our cavapoo we did, mainly because we wanted an approved breeder. I didn't realise there wouldn't be one becos it's not a breed.

We found a woman who had a website. She used to show cavaliers and was a Kennel Club approved breeder but she moved into the x breed. She has all health certs, breeds very infrequently...we had to wait ages, but she was lovely and pup is gorgeous. Not hypo-allergenic. Little bugger still sets off my asthma, but that's what Piriton and inhalers were made for :) And to be fair, the breeder said that she wasn't guaranteed to be hypoallergenic. These are dogs, not earrings! And she offered to take the dog back at any point ( like that was gonna happen!).

Good luck with your search.

My dog :)

but really, get a rescue greyhound.

Lol @ think of dog hair as a condiment. So true so true

A cavalier king charles spaniel. Pretty much bomb proof around kids in my opinion.

What about the hair shiny
I am 99% sold on a cockerpoo - i love saying that !
Followed by a wemimaran when the cat dies of naurtal causes.

No hair in my house! Seriously.

I have a Miele Cat and Dog hoover plus she is groomed. They do not shed much

Cockerpoo. Two rude words in one name!

what would you expect from a cockerpoo that could not be got from a poodle or cocker?

There are very few good breeders out there....even fewer good breeders of crosses - though of course no reason not to search out a rescue if you can!

Whippets! Every time!

I've had a jack russell and a westie,both were very unpredictable with my DS.

The whippet adores him and sleeps at the bottom of his bed every night.

I've heard whippets are good and don't need much walking.

I have a whippet. Whippets are not dogs. I'm not sure what exactly they are, but they're not dogs.

She is very sweet, though, and has her very own fan club at the school gates. She would also sleep on the end of a childs bed if she was allowed. She will walk for hours unless it's 'weather-y'. She does not like weather other than mild or she will be happy with 20 minutes twice a day.

She doesn't do play. She doesn't do much, to be fair, other than sleeping and snuggling and wagging. She wags a lot, she wags everything, not just her tail. Oh and smiling. She does smiling too. She's very amusing, but not a dog.

My Dad has a whippet and a whippet cross. I luffs the whippet cross. I am going to steal him. He lays accross your body like a fluffy, hairy blanket and goes to sleep.

I know a few whippets, they're all lovely. Although there's one I would describe as 'entitled', she is a bossy little madam!

Whippets are basically cats disguised as dogs, aren't they? :)

As others have said you need to work out what your life will be like with a dog to have an idea of what you want. When we came to choose DH wanted a springer (over my dead body) I wanted a poodle ( over his dead body) and low shedding was a factor as we have two cats already recarpetting the house. We did settled on the cockerpoo as a compromise dog there are responsible breeders out there, but you need to ask questions about optigen eye testing and hip scoring.
He has becoming a fab family dog, but this is mainly due to the huge amount of effort I have gone to with weekly training classes for over 18months first obedience and now agility.
He is a dog who needs people, but then both dockers and poodles do. He is a great office dog and snoozes beneath the desk all morning.

As heswall knows, I too have a cockapoo. I highly recommend them as a mutt (not pretending for a moment that he's anything other than that - stuff the "designer" nonsense).
But I'm not sure they need any more training than any other type. We went to puppy classes for 10 weeks when we first got him (and he's certainly quick on the uptake - possibly the poodle in him?), but haven't done anything more since (number of reasons) but he does everything we want him to at this point in time.

Our Cavapoo (which also sounds as rude as cockerpoo and is just as mutt-like) is delightful, even without her long curly fur which had to be shaved off recently due to matting (I was neglectful and she got matted up after I broke my right wrist - I am right handed - and poor DH had all on looking after house and dd and me). She is currently brushed every night by dd as penance.

She was really slow to toilet train, but really quick to do 'shake a paw' and 'sit'. If she'd just come back occasionally when you called her name, I'd be thrilled but other dogs are too big a draw for her!!! As it is, she's due to start her second lot of obedience training after the Easter holidays and has done really well with her first lot. The poodle bit makes her clever (I'm led to believe) and the cavalier bit makes here very, very soppy.

We have a Cavachon and he is just adorable. He is a cross between a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel and a Bichon Frise. He is a fluff ball but does need brushed. We are always asked what kind he is as he is, as my DD says gorgeous. He will do everything she tells him to and sleeps a lot. We bought him from a breeder in Reading.