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

Err LEM - sparechange said that my dog has a miserable life of torture, is starved of oxygen, has no energy and that he is mutated.

If anyone is being rude, I don't think it's me

I did a lot of research before choosing my dog - I know that there are breed problems but I know a lot of Bostons and none of them suffer breathing or skin problems. My dog is fine. His mother gave birth to 6 pups naturally.

And if we're judging creatures for their inability to give birth 'naturally', a lot of women fail big time.

Having said that, Trionic - you're absolutely right that these things should be considered by the OP

And your post proves that it's perfectly possible to make that point without being so absolutely horrible about other posters' beloved pets :)

I was with you until you said this Jiggly

And if we're judging creatures for their inability to give birth 'naturally', a lot of women fail big time.

Don't be so fucking offensive.

OP, I agree with pps about looking into rescues. Do you perhaps have to time to volunteer with one for a while? Many use volunteers to help with walking the dogs.

If you had the time to do this, it can be a great way of getting to know the dogs better and of course you may well be more in the loop when new dogs come in.

We got our boy from a rescue when I volunteered there for about a year. Wouldn't have picked him out from their website description but I got to know him a bit and knew he was the right dog for us.

Good luck.

I'm with the people who suggested a greyhound. We had the same ticklist as you, a greyhound is the perfect choice. We've had ours for 6 years now and he's brilliant. The greyhound trust are well worth a visit if you're interested.

Irregular - I am so sorry! I was actually talking about myself as I've had to have c sections to have children because my body isn't the right shape. Sincere apologies if anyone was upset by that comment - it was a horrible thing to say.

Going back to the OP, I also think a greyhound or a lurcher would be perfect - while they're not tiny, most of the ones I know are very low maintenance. But not if you have any small furries or cats in residence!

Can I make a suggestion? Go talk to the vet nurses at your local vets. They see breed after breed, day in, day out. They see the trends in behaviour but also health. Do a poll

As a vet nurse myself, I can tell you which breeds I would personally have and which I would never have. Agreed that huskies and collies are on that list, but I'd also personally avoid a cockerpoo (even the faux designer name makes me shudder). I've met SO many bad ones, from a behaviour and a health perspective. They are bred because they are currently fashionable and being hailed online as the 'wonder dog'. Same goes with a labradoodle, or any 'designer' mixture.

Greyhounds - yes. Beautiful natures, I've genuinely never met a bad one. Staffies - yes, with training. Lovely, misunderstood creatures. Whippets are a favourite among the dogs at my practice, in fact, I'm training one now and she's super (although don't make the mistake of thinking they are mini greyhounds!). Labs are generally great but do suffer joint issues so look for a breeder who monitors this in their lines.

Generally speaking, stick to the tried and trusted family favourites, grill your breeder (and don't go for the first puppy you see if you feel sorry for it) make sure you get involved in a decent puppy class that continues into adulthood. Insurance is also a must!

Go talk to the vet nurses at your local vets. They see breed after breed, day in, day out. They see the trends in behaviour but also health.

Well, except for the obvious point that vets largely see unhealthy dogs, while the healthy ones are romping around the park. I am one of those (many) wicked vaccine-avoiders, past the first booster at 14 months, so my vet hasn't seen my 10 year old for nearly 9 years - but I can assure you, she is very healthy!

As usual plugging Cavaliers here. Or greyhounds. They're both lovely.

A pomski? That really has to take the biscuit. So are we talking a full size husky with a tiny Pomeranian? Is that really what they're doing? That's a genuine question if someone can tell me, because I find it really hard to imagine who would ever think it a good idea to cross these two completely incompatible breeds.

Just hope the one giving birth is a husky.

Today at work (vet nurse) we had to administer eye drops to a pug as the owner was unable to do so. The dog had eye problems because it is a pug, because it is a pug every time it wriggled so its folds of skin would close over its eyes making putting the eye drops in really difficult. We had to admit the dog in the end to give it time to calm down as it was getting really hot in the consult room and the dog was struggling to breathe because, yes, it was a pug and we had got into a vicious circle of distressed dog. It was quite upsetting really. Why is this ok?? I commented that the dog was a victim of its own design, it seemed to go over the owners head. Poor dog

So are we talking a full size husky with a tiny Pomeranian? Is that really what they're doing?

Yup, and I've seen plenty of adverts for first cross litters where the pom was the dam and the husky the sire

It really doesn't surprise me any more what ridiculous crosses people produce these days. Most are just a bit pointless but some are genuinely horrifying. Current gems on a popular free ads site include bulldog x dachshund, GSD (sire) x staffy (bitch) and Irish wolfhound x ovcharka

I think I hit peak-shitty-crosses when I saw an ad earlier this year for a litter of French bulldog x GSD puppies. I'll give you one guess which was the dam and which the sire

wolfhound x ovcharka :( ....With the number of fuckwits breeding ovcharkas I guess it was only a matter of time. Mind you, a mere £500/£600 for an ovcharka pup and £1700 for a frenchie.
'Pomskis' are ten a penny round here. People think they are just smaller cuter huskies ...where do you start

I do feel worried about the poster on this thread who was waiting for a Pomski pup to be delivered-she had been told was a perfect family dog that didn't need much exercise......

An acquaintance has a pomsky. They have 3 year old twins, neither has ever owned a dog, and are far from an active family. The dog was bought from a puppy farm unsuprisingly, and I had to defriend them on fb as I couldn't bear to watch it all fall apart

littlefrenchonion I'm going to massively generalise here, but I think the reason so many poodle crosses have behavioural problems is because too many people buy them thinking that they look like cute teddy bears and treat them as such.

I have a cocker/poodle cross and honestly, the number of posts on the various cockapoo FB groups where people laugh at the damage dogs have done in the house drives me nuts. So many owners also seem to be reluctant to do off lead walking for fear of getting them all dirty etc- little show dogs. They aren't stuffed toys!

I'm also in a local walking group for poodle crosses and the difference between the dogs who have had consistent ongoing training since puppyhood and those who haven't is astounding. Mine is 2 1/2 now and he's a fantastic dog, but I'm home all day and he gets to run through the fields and woods for at least an hour in the middle of the day as well as a couple of short walks round the block first and last thing. He's very very well behaved and chilled out dog (spends his indoor hours snoozing) but my God, it took a hell of a lot of training to get through puppyhood!

I'd second the advice not to get a dog from working lines unless you're prepared to put the hours in, because they need lots more exercise and mental stimulation than show line dogs. Working line labradors are completely different kettle of fish from the show line ones, for example.

OP mentioned a neighbour having yappy Westies. My neighbour has yappy Westies too: cute dogs, but big on barking.

Working line labradors are completely different kettle of fish from the show line ones, for example.

Absolutely 100% untrue
If you are tempted to get lab or spaniel, please buy a copy of 'The Pet Gundog' from Amazon which will explain far more eloquently than I can why this statement is bullshit

Working lines are generally easier to train but will also train you given the chance

But no gundog breed should be on your shortlist if you are weighing up which strain is the 'easier' option. All gundog breeds have 100+ years of being bred for energy and stamina, and maybe the last 20 years of being being bred for 'show' for lazy Fickes wjo cant train or exercise their dogs properly
You can't breed out those innate traits in 20 years but you can breed in some terrible health problems to create a dog that is mentally energetic but physically incapable thus frustrated

That's not why breeds with a working and show type split are different though, it's because the drive is lost as soon as you stop breeding for it...even within working types it's not there in every dog.

So it's not that the traits are different, it's that that extra bit just isn't there when it's not being bred for.

Even in breeds without a split as extreme as that, there's a difference between working and show lines in terms of drive - and that does make a difference to how suitable they are as pets for an owner who isn't going to channel that drive as well.

Thanks for your reply Trionic. Those poor breeding bitches. This sort of thing just gets worse and worse. It's so depressing.

All the time you've got people willing to buy what they see as 'cute fluffy toys' these vile puppy farms will continue to find a market and will continue to come up with more and more inappropriate crosses.

Unfortunately, in our throw away world, there are plenty of buyers out there to keep the puppy farms going.

These dogs are not cute, they are the product of horrendous suffering endured by some poor living creature that nobody gives two hoots about other than as a money making machine.

As Bubble says, where do you start.

I'd go for a greyhound in your position op, try get a rescue one though as there are sooo many lovely greyhounds in rescue centres through no fault of their own.

Now where are the posters that own the Bassett hounds? I must see photos - I absolutely love them!

Even in breeds without a split as extreme as that, there's a difference between working and show lines in terms of drive - and that does make a difference to how suitable they are as pets for an owner who isn't going to channel that drive as well.
Yes, precisely.

sparechange, as for 'mentally energetic'!!! One of the stupidest dogs I know - lovely family pet, but as thick a plank, trainable but with no drive and not at all alert (and not a great physical specimen either) - is a show-line lab. Obviously that is only one dog, and one dog isn't data, but I see the same thing when comparing farm-bred terriers kept to hunt rats with my friend's fox terrier: no drive.

We own a working line gundog. He's hard work and needs a lot of exercise and mental stimulation. We love him - we have in him the sort of very active, alert, intelligent dog we want - but he is not a dog for the faint-hearted or inexperienced, whereas a lot of families start with a show-line lab as their first dog.

What are spitz type dogs like? I know there are large breeds but something like the japenese spitz or German spitz. They are supposed to be very loyal and clever so can be trained well.

Spitz type dogs are anything from a Pomeranian up to dogs like huskies Arandco.

They're generally dogs with a thick double coat - most of them originate from the colder parts of the world, pointy ears, longish muzzle and a long plume like tail curling over their backs.

They tended to be used as sled pullers and herders and are usually full of energy - a pack of Huskies can pull a sled for hours and just keep running, which really makes them pretty unsuitable as pet dog unless the owner is a sledding hobbyist.

They come in various sizes the German Spitz is a medium to large size dog and of course the tiny Pomeranian has been bred down to be small.

Just seen Artandco I missed the 't' from your name in my previous post. Apologies.