Family dog

[bobstersmum]

We are a family with 3 young dc, we had our very old jrt pts 2 years ago and we miss him terribly still. We have decided we would like another dog and have been looking at jrts again but I am aware that some are a bit snappy and might not be suitable around children. So I wanted to ask advice, in your opinion, what is an ideal family dog?

Depends. How much time do you want to spend walking and grooming? Adult or puppy? I wouldn't get a pup with very young children.

Labrador.

If you like the terrier nature then border terriers are great wee family dogs. We have two and they are brilliant with our young kids. Are hardy as JRTs but not quite as "terrier" (I've had and loved both)

We recently lost our rescue collie cross who was the most amazing dog, so gentle - hoping to get another one in due course.

As someone who has a much loved JRT cross, I would have to agree that they're not necessarily the most tolerant family dogs.

How much time can you dedicate to exercise? (As a former JRT owner, I'm sure you'll know the importance of it for everyone's sanity...)
Grooming requirements?
Ideal size?
Would you prefer to go down the minefield of finding a good puppy breeder and dodging the numerous puppy farmers, or down the rescue route?

Thanks for the replies. Dh was thinking pup, but I am going to have a look at our local rescue this afternoon. I would prefer an adult dog, the only thing that puts me off is you can't tell what they've been through so unsure about safety with kids?

A good rescue will thoroughly assess a dog's behaviour and be able to tell you whether or not it would be suitable to live with children. I know Dogs Trust are particularly thorough with this sort of thing; sadly some of the smaller local rescues have no professional behaviour input so things can be missed (though the flipside of this is that they are often more flexible with who they will rehome to). I suspect that very often the question of whether or not they're ok with children is made on the basis of whether or not they've lived with children before and how they coped with it.

Go along and have a chat to them and see what sort of dogs they have in, and their policies around rehoming to families with young children. Many dogs come into rescue for reasons like their owners divorce, eviction, change of working hours, death, illness... lots of things that have nothing to do with the dog's behaviour. Only a minority come in as abuse or neglect cases.

Do you work? Greyhounds are usually happy being left during the day as long as they get a walk in the morning.

I have lots of friends with greyhounds (mainly ex racers) and as long as they get 2 shortish walks a day (about 20 minutes each time) they sleep almost all day.

There are loads of greyhounds looking for homes and some are quite young. They make excellent pets

Retired greyhound. I have 3 rgt centres near me, and all are very good at assessing which dogs will work well in a family home. They are happy enough to occupy themselves when you're busy, love cuddles/playing, and require a lot less exercise than people think.

Failing that, a border terrier or similar? Tin my experience they are nice, cuddly family dogs (you would need to factor in time/cost of grooming though)

We visited a rescue last week and nearly every dog had a notice which said “children over 12 years only.” They were pretty strict on it, too, as we have an 11 yo and they wouldn’t agree to letting us take one for a little walk.

To those saying greyhound, is that the same as a lurcher? There seem to be loads of those near us. I am a sahm so am home most of the day but the dog could come with us in the walks to and from school

A lurcher is a sighthound cross. A greyhound is an actual breed. Greys can be tall.

Would you only be walking them on the school run (depending how long that is) or other walks during the week?

I think all dogs are just so individual, you can't really generalise about breed. For exampe, I've had two stafies. One was vv protective of us as a family and would grumble like mad until I told her a stranger was ok. the other rolls on her back for anyone and everyone who she meets. One loved her walks and runs, the other was knackered after a walk around the block. A good rescue centre will know a dogs personality and will be able to advise you on their suitability for your family set up

Yes I know you can't really generalise. It's difficult isn't it. The centre I went to today every dog said not suitable to be homed with children, there were none that did not state this. A lot of bull terrier type breeds which we do not want either. I am going to look more at greyhound type dogs I think. Our dc are 1,4+5. The school is half a mile away so would get a 2 mile walk for definite Mon to Fri but longer at weekends and on Wednesday and Thursday because dh is off work then and we usually go for days out while the kids are at school /nursery. We also have a huge garden which is ideal for dogs to play fetch etc.

We have just got a rescue lurcher with 3 children under 8. So gentle and calm apart from crazy zoomies every so often. There are lots of greyhound/lurcher rescues that are flexible on rehoming rules.

I’ve always had Golden Retrievers so I would obviously say that’s the ideal family dog - if you can cope with a muddy hairy big strong dog
I’m generally not a fan of terriers but my friends Border is ok, if very gobby.

Greyhounds are lovely but my God the farting. I wouldnt/couldn't live with one (my sister has 3). We have a Lhasa Apso, who has grown up with the kids and is so perceptive, he knows our routines and fits in perfectly, even taking himself off to bed in the evenings. They are quite sturdy for their size, very long lived (do you really want the kids grieving in 7 or 8 years time), and non shedding. But then I'm biased.

Lots of friends have greyhounds and most of them are fed raw food. They don't seem to fart. The ones fed on other food do.