Does this breed exist?

[PosiePootlePerkins]

Thinking ahead to a few months time when we will hopefully be in a position to get a dog. We would like a dog which is:
Friendly - we have two boys aged 7 and 12 and would like an affectionate dog
Not too big - can cope with a medium size dog but not a huge one
Doesn't need loads of exercise - could manage two walks a day but not long ones in the week. Longer walks at the weekends. We do have a large garden which we would dog proof.
Can be left for a few hours, up to 4 maximum. Would use a dog walker twice a week when I work until 4pm to break up the day. Other days I am in at lunchtime.
Obviously I know that each dog has its own individual temperament and personality but in general, do any breeds fit the above?
Thanks

I know someone with a cockapoo, she walks it three times a day for about half an hour, it is a large dog. Lovely, but large and I imagine a bit wet and smelly sometimes after winter walks.

If I hadn't got cats I would have loved a whippet, like a greyhound but can be quite a bit smaller. Lovely dogs. Also whippets are such short haired dogs, personal maintenance is minimal.

Cockapoos will need lots of exercise, especially if they have more of a spaniel side to them - cockers need a good hour run at least once a day, with another smaller walk as well. Plenty of mental stimulation to keep them happy, both spaniel and poodles are working breeds, and need a purpose and things to do with their minds or they get destructive and angsty.

They are a lovely cross, but I really don't think they fit into what you're looking for. It would be bar my by the weekend with just an hour a day! Plus puppies are so much hard work, can you manage 4 weeks off work to settle pup in? Taking outside every 20 minutes to toilet? Up every couple of hours in the night to let them out? Definitely can't leave a pup for 4 hours on their own. Training from the day they get home. And then just when you think they're settled and perfect, they have a teenage phase and seemingly forget everything you taught them! For a first dog, definitely look into rescues, pups are cute but are such hard work. Ease yourself in by missing that stage, and if you want another dog at a later stage,you'll have much more knowledge by then. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the speedy replies! Completely take on board what you're saying about a puppy. I work in a school so get the Summer holidays which would give me time to settle etc, but of course then am back at work and that would be a big change for the dog. I think after Christmas I will have a look at rescues. I would just hate to get it wrong with a rescue so of course I would need to find a really good one that knows the dogs, and like some have you have suggested preferably look at dogs who are in a foster home. We are in the South East, Hampshire, if any one can recommend. Thanks so much everyone you're all being really helpful.

Tibetan Terriers are incredibly loving, affectionate and also clever dogs. I have had two and such great family dogs. Very much medium size.

I would highly recommend looking at Shih-Tzus. We have a gorgeous 4 year old who is wonderful with children and equally happy to curl up on your lap for a cuddle or go for a walk. Very laid back and gentle and a manageable size.

If you want a dog which will happily walk up a mountain but doesn't need huge amounts of daily exercise (and may look at you like this if you suggest a walk in the rain) then ime a standard dachshund is perfect. They're variable in temperament though.

Re greyhounds - I'm curious because they (and whippets) are so lovely they're on my 'what would I look at if not a dachs list'- do they actually cope well with longer rugged walks? Its just occurred to me that I'm not sure I've seen many on hilltops, and they need coats more than other breeds.

Id say based on your specifications to definitely go down the resuce route - all puppies are demons, so even if there is the premise they will become a nice chilled breed, you've got to deal with 18months/2yrs of crazy puppy shit first!

framboise I would seriously consider the motives of someone trying to sell you a husky x pomeranian as a dog that " Doesn't need loads of exercise"

Indeed. And 'can be left', a cross of two very needy breeds. The Poodle crosses I come across, although very appealing, also seem to be very bad at being left.

Mind you, I'd seriously question the motives of anyone crossing two such incompatible breeds in the first place anyway. Trionic's post above says it all, if you wouldn't want any of the breeds involved in a cross, don't buy the cross.

OP, might be worth a look at the Boston Terrier? Smaller perhaps than you think of, but big personalities that seem to fit in very well with families.

Border Terrier?
Smooth Collie for a bit bigger?
Miniature Schnauzer would fit most, but again can be needy and not the best at being left.

I have a cairn terrier and we had them growing up as well. Brilliant dogs, very intelligent and affectionate. Great with kids.

They can carry terrier instincts for example digging and I wouldn't have any small furries around but they are great apart from that.

I'm another voice saying greyhound. Our grey is just lovely and the easiest dog I've ever owned, she basically sleeps, has a little potter, sleeps, sleeps, sleeps, eats, sleeps. They really are lazy dogs. (She's basically a cat in a dog suit! ) It did feel like we had a small Shetland pony in the house when we first got her but you soon get used to the size and they curl up small.

However ours does have a very high prey drive so the only time we can let her off the lead is in our garden or if we rent a secure field to let her zoom round for half an hour. She goes nuts if she sees a squirrel or a cat so you do need to have a strong grip and she is always muzzled when we're out. Not all greys are like this though. My neighbour has a failed racer and he is never on a lead. He just mooches along beside her and doesn't react to anything.

cavalier king charles spaniel.....i am on my fourth and fifth...absolutely wonderful family dogs , very very low maintenance, my current pair often will not go for a walk at all..they run and hide if i wave the leads at them..they get a big walk at weekends and during the week sometimes 20 mins a day sometimes none, they have a dog flap into a reasonable garden though.
docile, good with kids of all ages, funny and cute and loving.

I used to have a rescue greyhound. She was fine with cats and small dogs, she was retired for not having much chase instinct. I could walk her off lead and she would come back 99% of the time. But if she saw a hare or re was no chance of getting her back. One minute she would be beside me and then I would see a dog a field away disappearing fast and realise it was mine. I just used to have to sit and wait for her but it could be 30 mi s before she would come back. Had a few mornings running across ploughed fields screaming for her with no idea where she was and came home without her once but she turned up later.

Must admit that and the manky teeth tendency put me off another, she cost me a fortune in dental bills which are never covered by insurance.

I wanted another sight hound and got a Portuguese Podengo Pequano who was fabulous.....my best dog ever. Apart from the fact he hated my husband and attacked him and bit him frequently. However that was very much the individual dog, it's unusual for the breed. Great recall, small, lazy enough but up for good walks when offered. If he hadn't been an unsocialised, possibly ill treated rescue he would have been perfect.

I now have a cavalier bichon frise cross who is the most horizontal dog going, very cute and loving.

I have had a rescue greyhound for about 18 months now. She is, as others have said, incredibly lazy, easygoing and affectionate on her own terms - a bit like a cat. Sheds very little, needs a coat when we go out and a jumper at night-time but that's no problem.

She had a pretty successful racing career before she came to me and it showed when I got her - she'd get very excited when seeing a squirrel or a cat, but she's a lot calmer now - her ears go up and she does this prancing trot while staring at them, but she doesn't bark.

I never let her off lead on walks as her recall is still terrible when she chooses it to be. She loves the odd mad yomp round the garden, and goes to a dog daycare place once a week where she gets a proper zoom about.

She's very quiet - barks maybe once or twice a week. Sleeps most of the day, is very happy with short or long walks.

I'm still working on socialising her with other dogs as, I'm assuming, she'd never seen anything other than greyhounds before so she's still learning how to cope with other dogs.

She's got great teeth, which is not always the case with greyhounds but it's not a given that they'll have terrible teeth.

She fits my lifestyle perfectly - that's the most important thing, and it's the thing you need to be really honest about with yourself, and any rehoming places.

OP, we have 2 retired greyhounds. At first neither went off the lead.

Now, the older one does, and generally comes back (but when she's ready - she just does typical 'dog' things like chasing birds half heartedly and sniffing in the leaves). The younger can only go off lead in a secure space as she still VERY much has the racer instinct and once she knows she's free, she doesn't know which way is up.

Both do have a strong prey drive and love barking at squirrels, but for us, them wearing muzzles and only being off the lead in safe conditions were less of an issue than the general loveliness of the breed.

It does depend on the individual dog - if you visit a rescue centre they should know the dogs very well and be able to advise which dogs are fine off-lead, or have the potential to be.

Both are beautiful around children and babies, are very happy at the prospect of a ride in the car or a day on the sofa, and enjoy cuddles to a ridiculous extent.

A friend has a cross between a terrier and a poodle. It has nipped her dad twice, her several times and another friend once. It is not good with her 10 year old son, was v jealous of another friend's baby when we went to visit, and barks frantically at horses, bikes, people on crutches etc. Talking to a vet a few weeks ago I mentioned this and he cringed at the mixture of breeds. So I suppose if you go for a cross (even a posh cross, like an 'anything' poo) check whether you'd have been happy with either of those dogs to start with.

Hope you manage to make a decision soon :)

If you want a really lazy sod, get an adult bulldog! Obviously varies from dog to dog, but most are real couch potatoes and 2 x 20 minute walks a day would be ideal. A lot of them don't even want to go for a walk if it's raining, haha. Very child- friendly (people - friendly in general). They do like lots of company, but with an adult one, if you tire them out with a short walk they will sleep for a good few hours!

Petra - the prancing trot!! Causes much hilarity in our house!

Here too, DailyMailFuck - she spots a squirrel and morphs into a dressage pony

We love the prancing trot our does. We always say she's auditioning for Strictly. Especially when she sees a squirrel and spins 360 degrees in the air.

Wow loads of replies, lots to think about thank you. Interesting re the greyhounds, we do have a large garden which it could zoom around as long as we properly dog proofed. I would feel much better walking on a lead, with muzzle on if necessary. I am going to research all the breeds you have suggested, lots of good ideas.

theredjellybean I love the look of the King Charles Cavalier. The exercise element sounds good! Are they yappy dogs though?

I have lurchers, both have great recall and are fabulous dogs. They don't bark a lot, aren't smelly (well, apart from ddog2s regrettable love of fox poo), and are happy with very little exercise some days and lots on others.
I'm currently fostering some 14 week old greyhound x puppies as the rescue is a bit overwhelmed at the moment, and they will both make wonderful family pets. EGLR have all their dogs in foster and can rehome all over the country. Alas, they almost always have puppies in (my fosters are Kiki and Tiny in that list)

King Charles Cavalier spaniels have such endemic health issues that unless you really know the breeder, then that is an idea I would never recommend. The risk of getting a dog with brain or expensive terminal issues later when you and your children are really attached to the dog would be too high.

A gundog, per se, of whatever breed would be great with your lifestyle and children.
Except for labs who are designed to eat and eat and eat some more. If you aren't going to exercise much, I predict you'd end up with a very fat role poly one which would be cruel to the dog.

A dog is like a teenager and comes to expect a certain routine as the benchmark standard. That is, if walked for three hours, they expect 3 hrs every day. Ditto meals, so if the "30 mins" is off lead and stimulating (had the battle is wearing out their minds by walking in different places each day so they don't go onto plodding auto pilot) then your plan is fine.

Except don't get a husky anything, despite how cute they may be - the most muzzled, bad tempered and miserable dogs i regularly encounter walking my setters are husky breeds who the owners coop them up all day while they're out at work and then the owners wonder why they cannot let them off lead or why they attack other dogs.

They, like dalmatians, are designed to run and run and run.

Rescue greyhounds run for very short periods and then crash out all day. They'd be great, but perhaps not cuddly or as affectionate as a spaniel or a pointer would be.

Hounds run off and have no recall and are more food orientated and eat poo so I don't think, reading between the lines of your lifestyle, that they'd be suitable either.

You will find that a pure bred KC registered dog from a proper KC approved breeder will be "only" £750-800. These cross breed something-poos or trendy types will be four figures for a dog that really has no traceable health line. And that is risky and upsetting in the long run.

I expect to be flamed about Cavs, but hey, google to or ask the Animal Health Trust for their opinion on the inherent conditions in the breed.

Lots of useful advice soul thank you. Interesting about the risk of health issues with the King Charles, it would of course be awful if the boys got attached and then had to cope with a poorly dog. So many of you are so positive about rescue greyhounds that I really do think they are worth looking into. The website a PP pointed me too had lots of information about each dog, I think that if I found a rescue that really knew the dogs then they could successfully match us with the right one, even if that took a while as we are in no rush and I would rather wait for the right dog. I am going to have a chat with DH about greyhounds. And still researching all the other breeds!

Do be extra careful if you consider any breed which is 'trendy' at the moment - proper breeders cant just increase supply, so inevitably many will be from puppy farms or illegal imports. Apart from the obvious welfare issues, you run even more chance of health problems.

I'm sure you'll find the right dog, you're going about it the right way asking for and taking advice!

I just had a look at our local Greyhound rescue website - 90% of the dogs for rehoming are under a year old