Tell me what dog to get!

[CabbageLooking]

Hello - I am an aspiring dog-owner. We are about to move into a dog friendly house (good sized garden, floorboards rather than carpets, lots of great walks nearby) and I am at home all day and myself DH and DS really want to add a dog to the family. Before you ask: yes, we can afford it; yes, we are willing and able to give it the time and attention it needs and no, we haven't had a dog before.

It's not going to happen immediately, we need to work out what we want, research it and get the house ready before we do but, on the basis of the following, what would you recommend?

1. We are new to dog ownership.
2. We want something soft and gentle rather than barky and/or aggressive (I realise that some of this may come from nuture rather than nature).
3. We want something from puppy rather than kennel (we're not experienced - we need to know where it comes from, we wouldn't know what to do with a dog that had a difficult background).
4. It may need to be left for around an hour each day (for a walking school-run, I might be able to take it with me but I can't be sure).
5. Dh and DS both have a tendency towards allergies - neither have been noticeably allergic to dogs but ones which are heavy shedders might not be ideal.
6. I am fond of: golden retrievers, old english sheepdogs, springer spaniels and west-highland terriers. This is not an exclusive list. I don't like muscle dogs (I know, I know, they're misunderstood. I still don't want want one).

Go on wise MNers - tell me what you recommend.

I am not wise at all OP. If I was I wouldn't have chosen a wolfhound as a first dog! She's bloody enormous and having a puppy has been almost more than I can handle. (There's a long running puppy survival thread on here!) But today we finished training and lots of owners took their dogs off to wear them out and big girl came home to sleep! I couldn't cope with high energy.

I have lurchers - both rescue - and foster lurcher puppies for EGLR. And unfortunatly we have a never ending flow of puppies coming in.
I'm biased, but adopting a lurcher puppy would seem to be perfect for you, but you have to really seriously think if having a dog is right for you - they take up a lot of time and energy, they restrict what you do, and if you like a perfect house and garden that can go down the drain too.
But, otoh, they are such a source of love and fun you can forgive them a lot imo

Maiden, did you plonk the cat on top of her? cat looks nonplussed

OP, thinking about this, if you like springers, you might want to seek out a breeder of non-working ones, or introduce yourself to breeders of workers and explain that you want one that just has very little drive. A friend of mine has one that no one even attempted to train to work (the dog was just not very hunty) and she is a delight: sweet, sociable, lovely manners, intelligent without being demanding about it.

OTOH I know a working springer cross who is a fabulous dog but Bloody Hard Work.

Oh my goodness, german pointers are my weakness. We had to have our girl pts a few years back and really miss her. V high energy though!

Second what a PP said, even non shedding breed will go for people with allergies. Be careful of "designer breeds"; a mutt is a mutt - and I love mutts - but no need to try and make your dogs accidental pregnancy sound classier by calling it a puggle or a jackapoo or whatever. Can often be a way to try and get more money for a puppy. Similarly very popular breeds can be too closely bred and have problems. I have a mini schnauzer who I adore but he has so many health problems I don't think I'd have another.

One piece of advice whatever breed you go for is make sure you see the pup in their own home with their mother, father if poss and litter mates if still there. It will give a good indication of the way the pups are brought up and mum is often a good guide for the pups temperament. Also you will be able to make sure everyone is healthy.

Just a suggestion - do you have a Dogs Trust or similar rescue near you? My local DT always wants volunteer walkers so if you do you could go and walk a variety of dogs to get an idea of breed/size etc. I am quite an allergic person but my Greyhound doesn't cause any allergy problems how ever I find dogs with an oiler coat, such as spaniels, labs etc can set me off it's more the oil than the hair if that makes sense. I understand your preference for a puppy but rescues do have puppies too and good rescues will always give you loads of support for however long you may need it. Good luck and hope you find the right dog when you are ready.

@Therealslimshady1 no he'd been trying to sleep and I'd disturbed him. That was his 'Do you mind' look

Oriental cats are not open to being plonked. They both liked the heat each gave off and would often sleep together.

You should NEVER plonk an oriental. (Used to have Burmese!) That way mauling and a slow torturous death lies!

My pointer is high energy when out for a walk but he's pretty low maintenance in the house tbh. His only real issue is that he pulls on the lead. Have tried everything to stop it. The breeder did warn us that the kids might never be able to hold him on the lead! He's very slim, but he weighs more than my 11 yo dd - solid muscle! He's also a massive wuss about all sorts of random things. He used to be frightened of cardboard boxes .

Lab cross Vizsla ('Vizslador')

Gorgeous, gorgeous mix in looks but mostly temperament. Just the loveliest dogs. I love dogs. I am dog mad, but for us as a family, our pup (now nearly two) has turned out the be so much more of a gift than I imagined. Very easy to groom. Low maintenance. Low key but also highly intelligent, highly affectionate, playful, fun, obedient, a great, great friend.

Sian Canning in Wales is your woman, if you're interested.

Just a little warning OP. If you look at mixes
A) no breed is hyper allergenic. Poodle mix or not.
B) a cross breed can be an awesome thing BUT they are hugely popular and many breeders puppy farmers see them as a way to make a quick £££ Almost impossible to find a reputable breeder. They would need to health test parents for everything each breed is prone to. They CBA.

Goldendoodle or Labradoodle.

Check out Kizzabella Doodles.

For instance. Cannings k9s. Multiple cross breeds on non reputable selling sites. Puppy farmer.
Don't buy from the Internet. Just don't.

French bulldog?
Ours is great. Brilliant with children, quiet, doesn't shed a lot.
Food obsessed, brilliant vacuum cleaner.
Douge de Bordeaux?
Ours passed away not long ago.
Gentle giant, but did shed quiet a lot.
Even for their size they don't require a lot of walking. Brilliant guard dog too.

I'm a huge terrier fan and have an Irish Terrier who I do consider to be the best dog in the world! But they take a bit of management -this is an interesting read if you want to understand terriers.

Sian canning looks like a puppy farmer as wolfiefan says. Definitely avoid.

Maiden, that is so lovely

Your pets are gorgeous

Good idea about going down to a rescue centre. Even if I don't buy there, it's still good to meet some different dogs.

Can I ask about food? There seems to be many different options. Are these dependent on the type of dog or is it just what's fashionable?

I second a lurcher (grew up with one - beautiful in my eyes, not everyone agreed, well trained, slightly dense, loyal, affectionate, did really well off and on-lead) or a greyhound. We have just adopted one and are getting to know each other but she is lazy and food obsessed (how she keeps her svelte figure I do not know!). She is adorable, sleeps all day bar when we take her for walks, which she loves but doesn't bother us for. I'm not sure about her recall yet, it was fine the one time we let her off but I'm suspicious it may be very patchy.....

There are loads of lurchers and greyhounds all needing "rescuing". They make lovely pets and are very calm around the house generally speaking.

We have a 10 month old lab.

He's just lovely! They only tend to shed once a year during spring. My minds gone blank and all I can say is how lovely he is. He's fabulous with my DS who's 6 and he loves the cats too. Only down side is he eats everything, but I think most puppies do! He was very easy to train, can be left alone for a few hours and I've only ever heard him bark once.

You'll get lots of different opinions on food, some say raw feed only, some say only dry food some only wet.
We feed mix dry and wet working dog food (Skinners dry, Wainwrights wet). We tried others but they gave him a bad tummy.

Just look at him
(This was a few months old, he's now 35kg and about the same size as me)

Only down side is he eats everything, but I think most puppies do!

I thought that was a Lab thing! We have a greyhound who is similar, which I'm sure is not supposed to be a "thing" with that bread!

He is beautifulAlletrix

I've just been through this process :)

Please no "doodles", pugs, or anything with a name like morkie, shi poo, jug, or a cross being passed off as a breed.

They are not hypoallergenic, and the fashion for these dogs is driving puppy farms and irresponsible breeders.

If you want the non shedding, intelligent qualities of a poodle, buy a poodle.

Rescue wise, look at sighthounds- whippets, greyhounds etc, or staffies. There are quite a few staffie pups in rescue.

Staffies are actually fantastic dogs. I seriously considered it but they are just to big and bouncy for my small children. But do please look, there are so many need homes.

We ruled out sighthounds as we have small furries and like to go for 2-3 hour walks rather than short fast runs.

Other types of dogs are actually very hard to get hold of via a rescue. I was filling in 3 application forms a week for nearly a year, country wide, and got nowhere.

Manytears often have rescue puppies from puppy farms.

In the end i went to a kennel club assured breeder- and to my point above a kc reg puppy is often lower price than a chipoo or schnoodle. I went for a yorkshire terrier, a breed i am familiar with, i know it can go for long walks, or is happy with a turn in the garden, that they are intelligent and trainable, and that the coat is non shedding, but needs care.