be honest - pros and cons of your dog's breed?

[tinymeteor]

Just for curiosity's sake, really. My theory is that picking a breed is all about working out which bad habits you can live with.

Our is a beagle. Pros: gorgeous to look at, no grooming required, amazing with kids, no issues with other dogs, very cuddly. Surprisingly, no real problems with recall and he doesn't bark, contrary to breed reputation.

Cons: steals stuff, all the bloody time. Obedience is temporary and only for food rewards. Will immediately break the rules once your back is turned.

What about yours?

Two Lurchers here.

Pros:
Incredibly placid, quiet and lazy in the house.

Very gentle and playful with the dcs.

Extremely loyal and loving. Love cuddles and planting their backsides - in order of preference 1) on your lap 2) on the sofa (where they know they're not allowed).
Absolutely beautiful to watch when running at full speed. (As long as you make sure you keep an eye on them, as you really know about it if they bump into you going full pelt!)
Incredibly calm and patient, even at the vets where I have been able to hold both of them at the same time while one had needle biopsies taken.
Ddog1 is highly sociable with all other dogs and also very gentle and sensible headed around them. (Not so ddog2 who is afraid of off-lead dogs, but that's due to bad life experiences and not breed specific.)
Both have excellent recall - although in all honesty this isn't a breed trait, but the result of lots and lots and lots of training, both when they were young and ongoing.

Cons are different for each dog, probably due to them actually being crossbreeds and having very different starts in life:

ddog1:
Is a total glutton that lives for food and will indulge in binnie-pigging (as it's known in our house) at any/every available opportunity, as well as stealing treats/food off ddog2..
Has a beautiful grey brindle coat, but sheds worse than any of the other dogs we've had over the last 25 years, including GSDs.
Has a tendency towards separation anxiety, although technically it's isolation distress, because he's fine as long as he has at least one other animal with him and he doesn't mind who/what that is.
Is an obsessive time-keeper. Knows what is going to happen when and is the most dreadful nag if he thinks his routine has been broken. That's when he employs his rather spectacular Wookie voice to make sure we completely understand how much trouble we're in.

ddog2:
Has seemingly intractable separation anxiety and being with ddog1 or anyone other than me is zero consolation for him. (We have tried absolutely everything and he has improved, but we're aware that he's never going to be able to be left for longer than an hour max.)
Is generally needy and anxious in character.
Seems to have extremely faulty brakes (not good for a dog that can run as fast as he can) and as a result is regularly sporting an injury of one kind or another, including several trips to the emergency vet to get him stitched back together. (This is fairly typical of the breed as the combination of moving very fast and having very thin skin is not a good one.)
Is a bugger for nipping when playing chase (this is common with Lurchers) and regularly pulls chunks of ddog1's fur out of his bum as he races past, so now has to be muzzled when off-lead, despite not being aggressive.
Has turned our back garden into a muddy race-track with his laps of honour, flinging toys all over the place as he goes.

As I said, Lurchers are crossbreeds and that does make a big difference. Ddog one has what I know know is actually Bearded not Border Collie in him and is a lot more thick-set and square on his legs than ddog2. He also has Deerhound in him and is ridiculously good natured, patient and gentle and less 'working type', not being all that interested in 'hunting' type behaviours. He's 10 next month and in his whole life I have only really seem him perk up twice - once when we walked into a field to find it literally covered in rabbits and once three years ago when a deer shot out of a hedge right in front of us. He was on lead both times, so didn't give chase, but was definitely excited.

Ddog2 has much more Grehound in his mix, with probably some Saluki as well and is generally more anxious and needy, but also much more comical and a bit of a fool - he makes me laugh every single day. He is also far more natural and game and hasn't as yet, but I feel has the potential to take off after prey animals far more than ddog1 (hence all the hard work on recall/whistle training.)

They are very different characters, which I think is partly down to their mix and partly to their very different starts in life, but the core stuff of being calm, quiet, loving, gentle and lazy are typical for Lurchers and they are both fantastic family members that fit very well in a house with 3dcs.

Some brilliant stuff on here, thank you!

Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten the consumption of cow shit sorbet on icy mornings... and oven-fresh cow shit on spring mornings... And the liking for rabbit maltesers.

And that he hates all bikes except DHs, until he has established that it is only a bike.

labrador x golden retriever:

pro's, trainable, inteligent, great with kids, very adaptable.

cons, sheds, everywhere, but he has a lab coat and has inherited the labrador prepensity to shed.

The lab retriever cross can make for a highly strung/sensitive/stubborn dog. Food obsessed, although this has its benefits if you want to achieve something.

ARightOldPickle the manager at the branch where I got my guide dog had a dallmation, sp? and he was telling me that when he went to look at them the breeder warned him about the shedding. He said he looked at these dogs with such short coats and laughed and said "ah, I work with labradors, there's nothing you can tell me about shedding." the breeder just grinned at him apparently and a year on he was eating his words.

Basset Hound

Pros; Affectionate, great quirky character, solid and huggable, great with children, lazy, beautiful.

Cons: Stubborn, hard to train (not because they aren't clever, they just CBA), steals food, rolls in fox shit, addicted to warmth so you have to battle to be in front of the fire, and loves to be comfy so loves being on the furniture. My current basset does not steal food though this is atypical IME.

Also she has a rare genetic type of epilepsy, which also occurs in Miniature Wire Haired Dachshunds.

Would always be my breed of choice.

Sheltie puppy (only 18 weeks, so this is the story so far...)

Pros
Sweet nature - friendly to all people, dogs, cats
Clever - like to learn new tricks
Clean - avoids mud, walks around puddles, and washes herself all the time like a cat. Also has a kind of non-stick coat which is a huge benefit compared to our now sadly departed lab who was the exact opposite... a mud magnet!
Pretty - literally everyone tells us how gorgeous she is, like a tiny Lassie
Quite calm... for a puppy!
Conveniently small - a travel sized collie

Cons
Has the kind of high-pitched bark that literally goes through my ears and bounces around in my skull in a way that's almost painful. She does it whenever I leave a room, just me not DH or DC. I drives me mad! She stops after about 30 seconds but I can't bear the hideous noise. We're working on it, clicker training, practising lots, so I hope it will eventually go away before my head explodes

Whippet

Pros:
Doesn't shed or smell doggy, very clean dog.
Loyal, Velcro dog, great companion, quiet- not yappy
likes comfort, sleeps a lot, covers herself under a blanket.
gets on well with other dogs
loves people, so gentle, esp with children, likes it to be calm.
clowns around and playful, loves running just for the joy in big delightful loops.
Clever - will watch you and then copy- IE can open some draws and doors- normally in search of treats. does a few tricks, (sit, stay, wait, seems to know family names too, knows where she is not allowed)
Was easy to house train as a pup.

Cons:
Recall is terrible on walks you shout she looks and then carries on buggering off would say it's about 65% of the time she recalls, so I shout once and then stride off purposefully in the opposite direction without looking back and normally eventually she comes.
High prey drive- if something runs she is straight after it, OK with our cats as long as they don't run off.
bit of a thief- will steal all sorts, food and random objects found both an earring and pair of vari-focals in her bed. (robbed GM's hearing aid once- major panic!)
Bin diving and has un-stuffed several beds and loads of toys.
Car Sick and a bit anxious/nervous in new places.
Reluctant to go out in bad weather.
sulks- if told off she will take the hump and then not look at you, turns her back and puts her nose in the air. makes me laugh

The best bid of having a whippet is what we call the 'Whippet Welcome' every morning/day when she sees you, or with visitors she knows, you get a mad minute. She brings a gift, normally a slipper or toy, she zooms round and between your legs in a circle, wags her tail, jumps up and down on the spot. Sometimes it's even after half an hour if she hasn't seen you.

Labrador (Fox red working strain)

Pros
Amazing temperament - calm, patient, great with kids but plenty of fun when you wind him up.
Good recall, eager to please.
Convenient size - can stroke without bending, fits in footwell, can just about liftif necessary, big and tough enough to cope with rocks, undergrowth etc.
Likes long walks, climbing but copes with irregular shorter/no walks if necessary (illness/injury)

Cons.
Sneak thief. Been caught once, learned to check more carefully before stealing any more pizzas!
Must have something in mouth when greeting - water bottles a favourite!
Sheds - more or less an entire dog's worth.
Eats poo/scavenges rotten dead things
Likes water outside, hates being washed!

German Shepherd
Pros
Lovely nature, very affectionate, easy to train and intelligent. Good, gentle and patient with children herds them. Great to walk (especially when I'm on my own at night). Beautiful looking girl.
Cons
Is of the longer haired variety so sheds a lot.
Costs a fair bit more to feed (is quite large) and insure (breed is prone to hip issues but thankfully parentage has good hip scores and of the straight backed variety).
Can be a bit too demanding of cuddles and sofa space.
Good with any other dogs but seems to dislike greyhounds can't say I blame her, scrawny reptilian looking things.

Black Lab:
Pros: very intelligent, picks up commands easily.
Extremely sweet natured, happy to see everyone.
Loves to chase a ball.

Cons: Eats her own poo
Rolls in fox poo
Sheds quite a bit
Rips up paper if she gets some
Runs upto other people and dog's and sometimes jumps up at people.

Golden Retriever/Lab Cross.
Pros: Adores the bones of all the family
Very clever, picks up commands quickly
Has good recall
Loves water.

Cons: Highly dog and people aggresive when on a lead. Much better off lead.
Sheds hair like it's going out of fashion.
Is petrified of hot air balloons and the moon. Will do a runner if he sees any of those.
Grumpy around other dogs if he has a ball.

Greyhounds are beautiful and graceful, not scrawny or reptilian looking.

I say that as someone that has had a long haired GSD and now has a Greyhound cross. They are both very beautiful is entirely different ways.

Rough Collie
Pros - very good natured. Loves people and dogs (a bit too much sometimes)
Gets on well with our cats
very cuddly - likes his backside massaged and will sit on my knee if he can get away with it!
Likes exercise - but doesn't mind too much if he doesn't get it on occasion.
Very, very good looking!!!!

Cons - leaves long hair everywhere. Needs a fair bit of grooming and is a mud magnet. Dodgy recall (but I think this is down to us, not him. Trainer says breed is notoriously stubborn though). Scrounges food and will steal it if he can get away with it.

Staffie

Pros
Lazy
Great in the house
Great with kids
Always happy

Cons
Dog aggressive - rescue staffie with a story
Staffie farts - she should come with a toxic warning sign

My old boy is a Basenji

Pros - not hairy little shedding, lots of character, dont bark (but def not mute), very pretty loves snuggling up on sofa

Cons- Wont go out in the rain, not easily trained, will only do it if he wants to, can be very wary of strangers (breed characteristic) has been known to eat his own poo but wont put his little white paws in a puddle or mud! No recall at all. Climbs, have come down in the night to find him tip toeing along the kitchen worktops!

Seem to have more cons....but generally he is fantastic and as a breed I love them!

Pomeranian- cute , cuddly, cheap to feed, never poorly, doesn't chew! Loves fireworks, no separation anxiety.

Cons - loves fox crap (to roll and eat), quite unpredictable and really hates lone joggers, toy possessive, still occasionally toilets inside, whines for attention.

Staffie - very cuddly and loyal, loves kids, very gentle, easy coat, keeps clean.

Cons- hate walking her she is dog aggressive and I can't trust her off lead Ever or unmuzzled. She spends whole walks stressed, snarling and lunging (constantly yanking my arm). She didn't used to be as a puppy. I get quite embarrassed . Worst farts ever.

Whippet

Pros: sweet, loving cuddly, beautiful to look at (and come in a vast array of very pretty colours ), breathtaking when in they're in full flight, pretty trainable for sighthounds, endlessly entertaining, easy to satisfy as far as exercise goes, gentle, quiet, they shed but the hairs are so tiny it's barely noticeable, next to no grooming requirements (a quick once over with a Zoom Groom once a week is more than enough other than a bath when they roll in poo), dry in minutes after a bath, don't smell unless they've rolled in poo, don't need masses of mental stimulation to be happy, being surrounded by sleeping whippets is very relaxing, they sleep loads, they'll happily stay in bed as long as I do

Cons: they're addictive, they can (and will) get on the kitchen worktops, they're terrible thieves, surprisingly good problem solvers (DWhippet3 is perilously close to working out how to open doors......), they have a penchant for rolling in poo, no concept of personal space, they lay claim to all comfy furniture

On the whole they are completely fabulous and most of the cons (other than the poo rolling) just make them more entertaining to own

Bah, stupid strike through. You get the gist anyway!

German shepherds-
Loyal, protective, obsessed with owner, trainable, intelligent, playful. Very happy dogs that love to please. I think they are gorgeous and I like how they have proper noses and limbs and can breathe properly unlike some breeds.

People either love them or hate them. The people who hate them tend to give me a wide berth which suits me fine.

Cons- Sometimes too protective! The hair and the cost. Prone to lots of genetic problems too which is usually leads to heartbreak!

Border collie is much the same as a shepherd but 100 times faster and more driven!

This thread so useful! We are currently researching dogs, top on the agenda would be low shedding and cuddly/ good with kids. Any suggestions?

Newfoundland

Pros:
Giant lovable bear dog
Very affectionate
Eager to please
Amazing with children
Easy to train simple tricks (sit, stay, roll over etc)
Loves to swim
Doesn't need loads Of exercise

Cons:
The filth. I was warned but nothing could have prepared me. So much fur, everywhere.
Love of water = love of stagnant muddy puddles
Also means bath time is the best thing ever - splashing and jumping everywhere until the entire room is coated in a soapy muddy film
Messy eater - yet more filth
Can be stubborn and is clever enough to know that lying upside down makes lifting impossible - especially when trying to get out the car and into the vets!
Frightened of loud noises and difficult to control when running scared from eg. Bird scarer

tibetan terrie

Pros; hilarious personality , talk to you in strange vocal way, very friendly and loyal , apparently easy to train , non shedding , look adorable, nice size (mine is small for breed but usually med size) don't require loads of walks, confident , loves other dogs

Cons; apparently easy to train :/ , have to groom regularly ,or keep trimmed,too clever for their own good

Great Swiss mountain dog.
Pros - big hunk of love! Gentle, the most amazing family dog, devoted to us. He just wants to be with us. Fantastic with other dogs (even though ours is entire) .
I would never worry about being burgled as if you don't know him, he is incredibly intimidating.......

Cons - so stubborn, I have invested so much time, energy and money into recall training and it is nowhere 100% .... If I call him and he doesn't want to come he gives me this look - I call it his " I'll be there in a minute"......I have a really good trainer who has said he has never failed before...... But I think gave up when he refused to come out of a pond and he realised he was going to have to wade in to get him out, and which point the little darling was like don't you just love me......he is walked on lead most of the time because of this..... If only we could reason with them!

Greyhound - Pros - good with children, walk on the lead beautifully, calm & laid back in the house, loyal, no shedding, no obvious doggy odour, mine has fantastic recall & is obedient, loves cuddles, willing to please, take up less space than you think.
Cons - sensitive tummies, terrible teeth, farts can clear a room, prey drive very high, mine dislikes small yappy dogs running up to him & will vocalise his dislike!

Labrador (we have 2) - show bred type. Aunt aged 4 and niece 16 weeks.

Pros:
LOVES everyone. New people are friends we haven't yet met.
Obedient (the big one).
Desperate to please you/get it right.
Thrilled to bits with life- everything is "the best thing ever!"
Gentle with small people
Very chilled out at home- pretty much sleeps or follows me room to room- big one.
Adores the children
Good recall
Little grooming
The older bitch isn't interested in fox poo and will drop disgusting things she's trying to eat whilst out if you tell her too.

Cons:
Sheds everywhere!! Oddly enough we previously had a dog, and found he shed more often than the bitches who tend to blow all at once in relation to seasons. But my god, when they are at it, i could stuff a mattress a day.
Loves water and muddy puddles, especially smelly ones.
VERY bouncy as puppies.
They will chew anything when young. We have lost kitchen floors (ddog1 and ddog3), Skirting boards (ddog2 and ddog3), toys (all of them!). Takes a while for them to grow out of it... maybe 18months before they are reliable.

But i LUFFS them and wouldn't swap them for the world.

Oh mine have all been useless as a burglar deterrent... very rarely bark if ever. Anyone new in the house gets a v warm welcome... fairly sure intruders would be shown where the valuables were whilst being offered tea and biscuits...