Please recommend a dog to us!

[NeverGotMyPuppy]

DH and I are thinking we may be soon ready to take the plunge and get a dog. I have wanted a dog for about 25 years (no exaggeration) and I want to get this right.

About us:
I work 3 days a week, DH often WFH. I am a private school teacher so I get a lot of holidays. We would get doggy day care or a dog walker as appropriate.
We have a baby and would like a second within the next 15 months or so. We only plan on 2 children
We have a cat.
We have a three storey large house with a reasonable sized garden. There are parks and woodland very close by.
We are an active family.

My only real concern is shedding - I'm afraid I don't like labs because of the sheer amount of hair. I'm asthmatic- not badly but I could do without having to hoover 20 times a day.

So hit me with suggestions please!

I haven’t RTFT but re non shedding, some of those breeds do require intensive grooming, we have a wire fox terrier and whilst she looks beautiful after a groom she is VERY high maintenance, regular stripping or clipping to avoid her coat matting etc.

Also, remember, the bigger the dog the bigger the poo 😂

If you don’t mind big poo then what about a retired racing greyhound?

Oh goodness.
I had forgotten the poo thing.
A greyhound's is going to be big isn't it?!

Whippets should be on my list too. That was the worst shortlist ever!

Hahaha poo size was number one on our criteria for getting a dog 😂

Just don’t go so small that you can’t see it lol

If I were a first time dog owner, with young children then my number one would be a whippet, they are adorable, loving and imo don’t need hours of exercise per day.

Raw fed poo is small.

@fucksandflowers that's good to know. I tried to get our cat on to raw. She looked at me like I was trying to poison her

Sorry to ask and apologies for asking but what’s does the feed have to do with it?
If you have a dog with a little anus then surely it’s going to have a smaller poo than a dog with a mahoosive anus?
Does a raw fed diet dog’s poo suddenly go from sausage to chiploata?

I’m laughing whilst asking this!

Most dog foods contain a percentage of carbohydrate like rice, grain, potato etc and dogs don't digest it terribly well and poo most of it out undigested.

When you feed a dog raw meat they digest it much more efficiently so the poos are much, much smaller and often much harder with very little smell.

another vote for raw poo being small.

A lot of standard dog food is composed of filler which is poorly digested so lots comes out the other end. Raw is much more bio available and easily digested so they need to be fed less of it and what they do eat is better digested. Reduces poo size by at least a half. It is also firmer, easier to pick up and smells less.

sorry cross posted with Fucks

Reduces poo size by half.....

I assume that you mean length rather than width?

How do you know that it smells less, you can’t be doing what I’m imagining?!?

Raw food people do you have photos and evidence to support this, if you do then I’m going raw tomorrow, if not then I’ll remain sceptical

Actually, let’s start a new thread, this conversation is not relevant to the Op.

I mean, let's hope they don't?!

But it stands to reason that they would be correct. Think of a breastfed baby - some dont poo for a week and it's perfectly normal because they are using everything they are ingesting
I can only assume a dog would work the same.

Reduces poo size by half.....
I assume that you mean length rather than width?
How do you know that it smells less, you can’t be doing what I’m imagining?!?

Well, my collie isn't fed raw anymore.
I struggled with it financially and finding space but I can tell you that when she was fed raw her poo was roughly the same size as the poo produced by my in laws (conventially fed) jack Russel.

Certain dog foods, pedigree is notorious for it I find produce poo so unbelievably stinky you gag bending down to pick it up.

Raw poos have virtually no smell at all.

before my lab was raw fed I would gag at the smell bending down to pick it up. On raw I don't really notice the smell. I'll happily take pics of his raw fed poo for you, but am not putting him back on normal for the before shots. If you Google there are plenty of examples.

To be accurate it is more it halves the volume than the size I suppose. I used to get a proper handful, now a few small solid bits. Not measured length and width though...

I know you seem to have moved on from the timing of a puppy/young children, but I just wanted to go back to it. I have a 15 week old puppy (lab/pointer cross), and 3 kids of which my youngest is 3. It's actually really hard work. My 3 year old often can't or won't carry out specific instructions about handling the dog, & he still wants a lot of input from me during the day, meanwhile the dog needs a lot of input from me during the day too. You can't initially leave a dog for very long which is a pain if you want to e.g. take your toddler to the playgroup, or to the park with friends. I would wait till your kids are all school age, or re-home an older dog.

Thanks, that's a really helpful insight. Hope it gets easier for you!

We manage fine the toddler 2 and a half). He loves the walks, he actually listens to instructions about the puppy and we’ve never had an issue leaving her to go to toddler groups etc. I suppose it’s the luck of the draw on the toddler/puppy personality combo. During the day the toddler plays with me with the puppy or pup amuses herself for a while. She learnt quickly not to jump into our games and take the toys we’re playing with.

I’d reiterate the advice to wait a few years before getting a puppy. I’ve recently got one and had forgotten just how much hard work they are to start with. The constant taking them out in the garden. The watching them like a hawk and still they manage to wee three times in three different places the moment you turn your back. The needle teeth shark attacks when they launch themselves at your Achilles in a frenzy, or at your nose! That, combined with babies, particularly when they start to crawl, just sounds like making everything way harder for yourself as both a dog owner and a parent.

I’d definitely wait a few years or get a young dog now rather than a puppy. You can always get a puppy later and be a two dog home!

I understand how it feels to really want a dog, I have done for ages. Three to four years ago I started researching breeds, Discover dogs at excell London was a great information source on that, think it was on around October time? Now, the time is right for us to get a pup, I am beyond excited because I know the timing is right, (my youngest child is 6). I would just enjoy the planning, the prep and the anticipation until you are 100% sure you can devote the time to raising a well balanced, happy, family dog, also reading puppy training books are a real eye opener for how much time and attention is needed.

Dogs are like babies...there’s never a perfect time to get one

But The best time to get one is when you are being realistic about the ‘reality’ of one (which it sounds like you are) rather than the dream and have the energy to give it your best self (hence we don’t have a dog right now! I’m
Permanently exhausted and only want ‘the good bits’ 😖)

If I was getting a dog, I’d get another Cocker Spaniel in a heart beat - my girl was amazing. She was, on paper, a perfect show dog, but she didnt have the temperament (not an issue as neither do I, I didn’t get her to show her) but people used to stop us and marvel over her ‘show perfectness’ (well until they realised she was nuts and wouldn’t stand still!). Friends had English & working cockers and they were all great family pets. Loved being with you. Love love loved walks & playing but also happy snoozing and snuggling.

Greyhound owners/lovers might want to scroll past the next bit...

Personally I think Greyhounds make the best dogs for people that want ‘a pet’, not particularly a dog. They’re so UN dog like, they remind me of cats on stilts!
It’s cute how they get up next to you then slide down until they’re lying down and keep stretching and pushing against you until you’re on the floor! Cute the first time. Bloody annoying quite quickly and a PITA when they do it to the kids and the kids cry that ‘Daisy pushed me off! Again!!’😢😭

No thanks. Plus I like ‘fun dogs’ on Walks etc & I don’t find them enjoyable with gh’s

Beagle (only known two well) loyal , affectionate but both needed the legs walked off them Daily or drove you mad

Collies all my friends ones HAVE needed a lot of exercise and a lot of ‘entertaining’(I read what Flowers and Fucks wrote, but that’s not my experience of them)

Another friend has the most enormous black standard poodle - he’s amazing, but he really is huge so you can’t walk two steps before getting stopped again!

Another friend (in their 70’s now) have had about 6 King Charles spaniels they’ve all been great, all rescues/rehomes the last 3 have all had serious health issues though.

My good friends German Shepherd was a fabulous family dog and wasn’t overly hard work in any aspect. Except for taking up a lot of space!

The Jack Russel next door will be lucky to see his next birthday, yappy little fucker! I’ve never know one that doesn’t yap jncessantly and nip/bite frequently. I assume they exist but FFS THEY MUST BE like the proverbial golden needle in a hay stack to find!

Oh and cockerpoos/labradoodles etc are an ‘unknown’ but to be honest, all dogs are individuals and are ‘unknown’ so far as which traits they will /won’t have

I think you’ll get good & bad stories about every breed.

Yes, on paper waiting until the kids are 6+ makes things easier in some ways, but not in all ways (you’ll be 10 years older and in some ways it’s harder work getting a 7 year old to go for a walk than a toddler you can shove in a buggy etc) and who knows what else will have changed in 10 years 🤷🏻‍♀️

Which breed have YOU always wanted?

Another retired greyhound suggestion here! Dh and I have rescued one and neither of us owned a dog before. They really are low maintenance and non shedding! So lazy which will be usful when you have ypur hands full with a baby. They (well mine) are also very tolerable so tend to be good with kids.

DH and I are so grateful that people have taken such a time to write such great advice.

@JustForThisFred honestly? A westie or a working cocker. I think they are both fab dogs. But I dont know much, which is why this thread has been really useful as a starting point.
I wish I liked GSDs more. Its something about the angle of their backs - i just have no desire to own one.

I wish I liked GSDs more. Its something about the angle of their backs - i just have no desire to own one

The working breds and some of the pet lines are straight backed.

Though in my opinion a well bred GSD is very very difficult to find now.

In my experience, they are either nervous and neurotic, often fearfully aggressive or they are super duper friendly and cuddly.

Neither is actually 'correct' for the breed according to the original breed standard (the breed creator Von Stephanitz standard not the Ksnnel Club standard)
They are supposed to be aloof but not aggressive and confident.