Breed advice please.

[Rainfallrainbow]

Hi everyone, I’m after some advice.

I have always wanted a dog. Always. It is something I have been researching for a long time and I’ve narrowed down potential breeds that would fit with our family. I’d like to see what you all come up with to see if I’m on the right tracks/there’s a breed I’ve missed:

Family of 4, myself, dh and 2 children aged almost 8 and almost 5. Eldest child is currently undergoing assessment for ASD.
We live in an average sized house with an average sized garden with lots of surrounding countryside. Due to our working patterns and shifts either myself or dh are always at home 5 days of the week. Monday’s and Tuesday’s are the only days of the week that everyone is out of the house. 8 hours each day in total so we would need to get a dog sitter/walker on those two days. Those days might change in future (ie might not always be a Monday-Tuesday we’re in work, but it’ll always be 5 days at home, 2 days in work but not necessarily consecutive days).
We need a dog that is good with children, ideally easier to house train/train as we are first time dog owners. There is a puppy class very local to us that we would attend but I know some breeds are harder to train than others. We’d also prefer a medium to small size breed that doesn’t shed huge amounts.

Would love to hear your sugggestions, thank you.

A Beagle sounds perfect for you. They're clever, but not too intelligent, so are easy to train. They are very happy, loving family pets and not too much to walk, like a Border Collie, or a Spaniel.

King Charles cavalier

In your position I might go for a cockerpoo or cavapoo. Minimal shedding, poodle cross so fairly intelligent and easy to train, smallish dog so satisfied with a shorter walk twice a day. You would have to budget for an 8 weekly trim though.

Always research health issues as well as breeds. Most breeds these days have something they're prone to which could lead to expensive vet trips further down the line.

I would also hit up some of your local rescues, yes a good rescue will rehome to people who work shifts and with people who have kids, as long as they have the right dog that would fit with your family - a good ol'Heinz 57 might fit just as well.

Spaniels are very high energy and can have a lot of FLOOF and need groomer visits, but can be great family dogs. As long as you enjoy a good run about every day and they love water so will jump in every river/muddy ditch they get the opportunity to ;)

Don't rule out the Staffy either. They can be amazing family dogs.

I think there is a quiz on the kennel club website to help narrow down some breeds that might be suitable.

You need to them decide which suits your lifestyle in terms of temperament, grooming and exercise requirements. I would also check out all the negatives of any breed you are considering (there are negatives with all of them) and see if you can cope with them.

What I mean by negatives is for example my cocker is a hunting dog and I have to manage that on every walk because if I ignore him and he gets a smell he will be off.

In terms of training a lot of that is what you put in you get back. However I did find a list somewhere that listed breeds by how many times typically they needed you to repeat a command before they 'got it' and how often you had to reinforce the command. Not sure where I saw that but you might want to google.

Miniature schnauzers are great....no shedding (need grooming) and good to train. Staffies too; very loving family dogs (and v licky!) Slightly baffled at the ‘beagles are easy to train’ comment and have 3 friends who own them who would be equally incredulous and amused by that thought. Perhaps they’ve just been unlucky.

Oh yes good point @biteyshark, typically Spaniels are not a dog to "walk to heel", they're often nose down in all the smells. Our office Spaniel often comes into the office covered in bits of twig and dirt as he's had a good squirm in the grass in the park on the way in.

Border terrier. Lovely little dogs. Mine are great with my kids, you can have them hand stripped twice a year which keeps shedding to a minimum, very healthy breed. They love company and don't like being left alone for long so day care would be important for your two out the house days.

We have a Bichon. Supposedly low energy (no-one told him that), bred as lap dogs. High grooming needs but a good family pet. Also hypoallergenic (I have lots of allergies so that was what decided me). Some say they can be a sod to train but mine isn't.

You need one of these

Do you definitely want a pedigree/puppy? Rescues will have options too. Border terriers seem like good and pretty easy family dogs from friends’ experiences and see lots of happy miniature schnauzers locally. Surprised beagles recommended as first dog possibility to be honest, they are often described as less easy to train/handle/cope with! Can be hugely energetic and bonkers. Mini poodles could be a good bet?

I thought a puppy would be best, as with rescue dogs you can’t be 100% sure of their history?

When I’ve researched the following breeds have stuck out as being good matches for us, but obviously every breed has slightly more negative points:

Cavalier King Charles - good family pet but lots of health problems in the breed

Bichon Frise - difficult to House train

Labrador/ golden retriever- shed a lot

Cross breeds - potentially healthier but can’t guarantee good/bad traits

Does anyone have any experience of the daschund? Or miniature daschund? From what I can gather, they’re not meant to be great with kids but then I know of a couple of people who have lovely ones?

April What is THAT?! apart from very cute looks a bit like mine as a pup

I have a lab and yes they are fantastic family pets, but my house is always awash in fur!

She needs loads of exercise too. DH and DD1 have bike attachments for her so we can be sure she's getting rid of excess energy.

Som Rescues have dogs in foster families so you would know pretty well if the dog gets on well with children, cats, other dogs etc. You kind of could see the family pet you are getting, whereas with a puppy even if you meet the mum and dad there’s a chance the pup may grow up with a completely different temperament.
We got a pup for our first (and only so far!) and he is the love of our lives but we do feel like we have been exceptionally lucky with how easy he has been to toilet train and bring up in general. Puppies really do need SOOO much attention and most are not as easy as mine was. There can be sleepless nights for months, lots of painful biting/teething, accidents, damage to possessions.
I’m just wondering if a gentle grown up dog with a known easy goung nature may slot in easier to your family (would your child with possible ASD find a puppy stressful?)? Grown dog would certainly be less work and stress. However, if you are set on a puppy and are prepared for the massive work load, of course they are wonderful! Lovely one pictured above!

PS ours is a labradoodle... aka expensive Heinz. Lab like traits- loves food. Poodle like traits- smart and easy to train, doesn’t shed. Met some completely bonkers untrained ones however!

I can not recommend a Labrador enough. Soft and gentle, good natured, easy going, great with children, very easy to train. Only downsides are can be biggish, moult so need brushing (but not professionally), and very into food (although this does make them very easy to train).

They are quite simple in terms of brain power in my opinion. So generally they are very easy going, tend not to be neurotic and are very biddable.

Do go to reputable breeds with hip, elbow and eye scores though.

I think beagles are beautiful but the ones I know are very difficult to train- and two are owned by very experienced dog owners who love them but dispair at the same time!

I wouldn't have a Beagle as a first time owner. Recall can be very challenging!
If your children are younger then Dachshunds are prone to spinal issues. Kids could fall on them or drop them.
I personally wouldn't have a poodle cross. Very likely to come from a puppy farmer and no guarantee what you will get.
How much walking would you do? What about grooming? Would a dog that needed trips to a groomer put you off?
I get what you say about rescues it if they're in foster you have a good idea what any issues may be.

I volunteer for the RSPCA and I really recommend a rescue. Most of our dogs are strays, or have been given up for other reasons, so they come from a home and have already been house trained etc.

You might even get the breed you're looking for. I've only been a volunteer for just over a year and we've had a lot of labs, amazingly.

We had one pair of six month old Labrador pups, the owners got them as puppies and then decided they couldn't cope. Just gorgeous dogs.

Also, as said above, Staffies are heavenly.

I would avoid the Dachshund - as well as the health problems, definitely not with small children and are a big dog in a small body, can be a bit shouty too, they like to make their presence VERY well known. Remember they were bred as a hunting breed not a lap dog.

Don't rule out rescue - some actually do come in with full histories and are only reluctantly given up due to change in owner's circumstances. They're not all strays or abuse cases at all. Rescues get a lot of puppies in too, sometimes born at the centres.

Grown up -my girls!

I have a very similar living situation as you and we recently got a Lhasa apso puppy. He's very easy to looks after in my opinion. Haven't quite got there with the toilet training yet but everything else is brilliant! Gets on great with the kids and with my cat.

If you're going to be out of the house for two days a week I definitely wouldn't get a puppy - you need to be totally on it for the first six few months to make sure they're socialised properly and house-trained. You couldn't leave a small puppy for hours at a time, even if a dog walker was coming in - and a decent breeder wouldn't let you have a puppy on those terms either. I'd be wary of a breeder who thought it'd be fine, to be honest.

An older rescue dog could be ideal for you, if it's already house trained and used to a routine of some kind. PPs are right - there are plenty of perfectly amenable and friendly dogs who are given up because of divorce, job changes, house moves, allergies, etc, etc.

In terms of the rescue/puppy debate it's worth remembering that lots of dogs are surrendered for reasons that have nothing to do with the dog and it's not unheard of to know their background. e.g. we have two JRTs that were rescue and were a year old when we got them. They were surrendered because the owner was moving and couldn't take them and - as it happens - we knew the old owners (the dog's came through a charity but it was a small town) and so could talk to them about where the dogs came from etc. Even without knowing the old owners, the rescue is likely to have got as much as info as possible so they can give you a good idea.

It's also worth noting that not every dog from the same breed behaves the same, so you could not guarantee personalities with a pedigree. Obviously there are trends in breeds but you could still get an odd one that doesn't behave like the others. Bitey's suggestion about carefully considering the negatives is a good one. ALL breeds have bad traits that are no more guaranteed than the good ones, but worth being prepared for.

As an example, my springer is mouthy and chews anything, he is hyper attached to me, chaos on the lead and loses his head if he smells something good. They are all typical traits to his breed and so were something I was prepared for. He is also (true to breed) ultra friendly with anyone he meets, energetic, playful and fun loving, relatively easy to train. Untrue to breed, he shakes anything soft (toys and socks) like he's trying to break it's neck. I blame the JRTs for that

A puppy will need pretty much day-round care for a few weeks and not all sitters accept young dogs so it's worth considering the practicalities of this before committing to a puppy.

How much exercise you want to give the dog (and what kinds) is key.

Higher energy breeds you might want to research are...

• Keeshond (friendly, smart, easy to train, barky, requires shit load of grooming)
• Labradors (energetic, easy to train, tend to be patient and gentle, bigger than you wanted, can be powerful dogs)
• Airedale terriers (energetic, medium sized, relatively easy coat care, a good all rounder, barky, strong willed)
• springer (show type, not working), have already said a bit about them above, also very energetic and bring mud into the house!
• podengo (energetic, escape artists, friendly, tend to be good with kids)
• Portuguese Water Dog (energetic, friendly, easy to train and smart, can bond with one person more than others, chews)
• Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers have massive fans (friendly, energetic, easy to train, barky, can be destructive if not entertained)

I am not recommending any of those, just giving some options that might be suitable.

Lower energy breeds tend to be companion breeds like the Lhasa recommended above which is a good choice but does take a bit of grooming and are not always great with strangers.

Dachshunds do have delicate backs that need care and can be tricky to toilet train. They don't need as much exercise as those mentioned above. Can be tricky to socialise, barky and dig.

In all honesty, if there was a small/medium dog with average energy requirements, easy to train, minimal grooming, not shedding and great with kids... every family would have one . In fact, there was the Cav you mentioned which fitted much of that but the health issues have all but ruined it which is a travesty.

Most dogs shed (especially with central heating) - get a Staffie or Staffie Cross - they are LOVELY. I've had a dog Staffie (pure bred) and now I have a bitch Staffie Cross. She does not pull on the lead (unless she sees a squirrel/cat/other exciting thing) and is very loving and eager to please and be everyone's friend. My first Staffie pulled a bit (I think you can largely train them not to but I was 11 years old when I got him and he was my first dog so I knew little) and was stronger but also really affectionate and friendly. Get one as an adult from a reputable rescue.