Good websites for choosing a family dog

[mintchocchick]

We are thinking of getting a dog, having finally settled in a house/area after a few years of moving around. So we are starting our research into the best breed of dog for us.

Our 7yr old has decided to turn this into a 'dog project' over the summer holidays and is going to start by finding out about old English sheepdogs, retrievers and spaniels and 'any others'! I thought I'd give him some websites to start off this project and hopefully get some good advice about what breed we'd be suited to.

Any ideas for websites or books would be great.

I'm reading Understanding Your Dog for Dummies (one of the yellow and black books) - has info about types of dogs but it's also got loads of really interesting information in it.

Thanks teacake- I'll look for that book.

please dont get a dog that barks or that will go up to the neighbours fence and bark at them whenever they go into their garden. Its very easy to be misled by information on dog websites. 'Good alert dog' = barks non stop.

Kennel club has a breed selector. You answer questions and it suggest breeds. Do you need/want a pedigree? If so try breed clubs. You can tell what I'm hankering after by the name... Or a lovely rescue greyhound!

Go to your local reputable rescue and be completely honest with them about what your home situation/lifestyle entails and see if they have a dog which will fit your situation. I would never have considered our whippet based on his breed (if I do any of those breed selector quizzes my ideal dog always comes out as a Brittany Spaniel), but he is the best thing that happened to us, so much so we got a second whippet lurcher a year later!

MN is good for this, although we will all pretty much start by saying, 'I have a Maltese Terrier x Cavalier King Charles* and they are great dogs'.

What are you looking for? Long walks? Dog that sheds/doesn't shed? What kind of lifestyle do you have?

You can then gently push him in the right direction.

*insert breed name of choice

Thank you for replying.

I looked at the Kennel Club website and it is good so will get my son on that one.

We might approach a rescue centre but what I noticed from my web searches is that there seem to be breed specific centres near us, so there is a Labrador rescue place and a springer spaniel one and an old English sheepdog one a bit further away. So I think we need to choose a breed then find the nearest specific centre.

We walk to school everyday - 30 mins and could walk home via woods with a stream. I work from home most days so would be around though I need a calm dog who would let me work! I also spend time on the phone with people who are often depressed and seriously ill so I couldn't have lots of barking in the background.

We have a keen 7 yr old and 12 yr old for afternoon/evening walks and a medium garden with a field behind (no animals in, public land). I'm relaxed about shedding, we are not a neat tidy family so a hairy dog would suit us! And a whippet/greyhound type might not.

We all also want a medium plus sized dog that we can cuddle!

Tbh, a quiet, calm dog who is big enough for proper cuddles = greyhound, a whippet or a lurcher :o

If you need a calm dog, then I would rule out a Spaniel then. We had one when we were kids and she was lovely but daft.

I have never spent time with a greyhound, lurcher or whippet- they don't look cuddly or calm - they look as though they needs loads of exercise. Are they the cuddly type?

I vaguely know someone who runs a greyhound rescue charity so maybe I should chat to her.

mint - come over to the "new cushion for pointies" thread - lots of very happy owners there of greyhounds, whippets, lurchers and iggies. Happy to answer lots of questions.

Straight away, I can tell you that greyhounds DON'T need lots of exercise. Most greyhound owners actually find this highly amusing since the default position for a hound is to be upside down on a comfy sofa, fast asleep with their legs in their air. Their basic minimum is 2 x 20 minute walks a day. They can cope with more, quite happily, but they are sprinters not marathon runners. Compared to say a spaniel or collie who will cheerfully run all day, a pointy will be contentedly exhausted after a nice walk of around an hour, with occasional off lead sprints. Mine are currently all in various comedy positions around the office on assorted duvets, catching up with their rest.

Running dogs like lurchers and greyhounds are very cuddly and loving despite their looks they are fantastic family dogs and they can get their excersize very quickly as they are built for short sprints. A rescue greyhound could be a perfect dog for you they are generally quiet and chilled and two half hour walks a day is plenty. Plus there are so many that need homes and get overlooked because people have misconceptions about the breed.

I have a wonderful golden retriever a breed which would fit your criteria. He wasn't calm as a puppy and goldies take a while to mature and calm down, but definitely wouldn't be barking while you're on the phone. He's extremely cuddly, and eager to please, and hairy.

Greyhounds are the laziest dogs going, they don't need hours and miles of excercise, mine is 5 yo so not particularly old and he sleeps a lot, I think Whippets are more energetic than greys, I know someone who has 1 of each and she says the whippy has a lot of energy compared to the grund. My grey is a big tart, he is currently occupying 90% of the sofa and myself, he looooooves his cuddles, same as a lot of other hounds of the pointy nosed variety. Lurchers are greyhound crosses so they come in all shapes and sizes.

But of course a retriever / lab would need more exercise than a greyhound/lurcher

Should also mention we got ours when DD was 7.5mo, she is now 13mo today and Sprocket is wonderful, he acknowledges her but leaves her alone mostly, (he hoovers up around the highchair though) she is allowed to stroke him (heavily supervised) and she is very gentle with him, I think she just loves the feel of his baby soft snuggly fur. They really are wonderful and fascinating creatures.

We already had our dog before I heard about greyhound/lurchers or I would have had one of them instead

'Mumsnet, the home of pointy hound lovers' . We have a whippet and he is the softest, snuggliest, most good natured dog I have ever come across. He loves his home comforts and is happiest asleep with his nose in my armpit . He has a 30 min run in the morning, sleeps on and off for about 5 hours, has a 20 min walk in the afternoon and then pretty much sleeps until it's time for the morning run again. He gets longer runs at the weekend where we all stare in awe at how beautiful he looks in full flight but he will refuse to go out for an afternoon walk after this, I am completely in love . Oh and he doesn't shed and even if he gets muddy on a walk it magically falls off again, he appears to be self cleaning!

I'm finding this whippet/greyhound/lurched idea quite intriguing! But I just can't get the cuddly thing with these dogs - they look too thin to cuddle.

Maybe I need to visit a greyhound rescue centre but I'm a bit afraid of doing that as it must be heart breaking to see dogs without lovely homes.

Are they not too spindly to cuddle? We are quite a big family - not out of choice I should add but we're all tallish and me and DH are 'solid' which is why I have always thought an old English sheepdog would suit us and a greyhound would look incompatible. I'm thinking of it though -

Can you run with a greyhound? I run about 3 times a week, just for 30 mins so maybe we could run together.

Both our dogs are definately cuddly. Whippetty comes up and kind of digs his head into your lap for a cuddle, whilst lurchergirl rolls over and shows her belly at every opportunity for a tickle! Both dogs are very gentle with the dc's (7 years old and 4 years old), in fact whippetty tends to follow ds2 around the house - they kind of have a special bond. Whippetty likes a good walk, but is also just as happy with a couple of half hour strolls if that is all there is time for. Lurchergirl is a bit older and does tire more quickly, but she is still up for a decent walk if she is offered one, but again will be happy on less if that is all that is on offer.

Both walk beautifully on the lead - you rarely see pointies walking their owners (even more so with greyhounds, who are taught to walk well from being very young).

The only thing I would say is that neither of ours is cat friendly (lurchergirl in particular is not), but you can get sighthounds which are cat/small-furry friendly, if that is an issue.

:o spindly!

Yes, at first glance they look to be weedy, skinny things, but look closer and you'll see the muscles, the big, bulging Thor Hushovd thighs the elegant bone structure, and those big brown melty eyes. They are such kind dogs too, surprisngly robust, pretty strong and enormous flirts. They love nothing more than to cuddle upto/on you on the sofa :) there's a lovely poem about them on the OP on 'A new cushion for pointies'. We call ourselves a cushion as opposed to a quiche, cushion seems much more apt for pointy hounds :o

Oh wrt running, Scuttles DH goes running with one of their greyhounds, my greys brother infact :)

DH runs regularly with one of our greyhounds. DH does shortish runs of around 5K with him, and he loves it. The only thing he avoids is running when it's hot (but that's not been a problem this year!!). He's keen to have a go at Cani X with him, they do a 5K run which would be perfect, but there aren't that many events near us.

Believe me, they are incredibly cuddly. They are total love sponges. They have a way of coming up and leaning gently against your leg - the pressure on your leg is gradually increased until you start tickling They adore being stroked, will nestle on the sofa with you (and then stretch out) and can often be found snuggled up in bed with us.

Oh and their fur stays really soft like puppy fur, mine is 5 and is sooooooo soft and snuggly :)