Positive stories of lovely family dogs

[newpup123]

Hi.

I've been doing way too much internet searching about puppy / dog training and now have the impression that all dogs have some behaviour issue or another.

Please can we have some positive stories about nice normal balanced family dogs (and maybe even some tips about how to raise one!)

We have a lovely basset girl and a 7 year old daughter, they are fantastic together. Dog is gentle and we chose the breed because of their reputation for being great with children, she's brilliant.

She loves lying on DDs bed while she reads and being read to and DD walks the dog (with an adult) and she never pulls on the lead.

Bassets can be loud but I think we are lucky as ours rarely barks in the house, only when playing with other dogs.

All my friend's dogs. Labs and doodles. Absolutely perfect dogs, but she does work really hard on their training and is a very patient, consistent person generally which I think helps. Her first lab, honest to god, was the best dog in the world, I miss him so much. He would lick your feet and put his (huge) head on your knee when you were sad. No slipper was safe mind you.

She would absolutely second a pp's comment about breeder, she gets her labs from one specific breeder and would always admit that her doodle was much harder work.

Whippet - who is now 10 years old. The most devoted doe eyed boy in the world. He is not the smartest but he loves me like no other. He knows when somebody is ill or anxious and is so attentive. Memories of him glued to DS2 on the sofa (complex seizure/abdominal migraine) will never leave me.

This boy is absolutely no trouble at all. He is a quiet, loving presence and we all adore him.

Labrador, no recall whatsoever, but very placid and good tempered dog around children, babies, people and dogs. Probably the only dog we’ve had that is excited to go the vets.
Zero anxiety around fireworks or general noises or activities. Can take him absolutely anywhere. Best dog we’ve ever had.

Downside

• Had to get rid of the coffee table due to tail sweeping action.

Nosey- will stick his face in shopping, hand bags etc. Quite a handful to train as can be high energy and big. Depends on the dog though, my friend’s was very placid throughout and had good recall. The hair!

We have an old staffy rescued from free ads as a five month old. He has been an amazing dog, so easy to train and eager to please; a heart as big as ocean. He is on his way out now and will be missed by six children who grew up alongside him.

Mines a rescue.
Downsides:
1.has to sleep in my bedroom and won't be shut away from me, this applies in other people's houses too - which isn't always popular. (I've grown to live having her in my bedroom, she's a good sleeper and doesn't smell/fart/moult. I am very lucky!

1. She's very barky if anyone comes to the door eg postmen/visitors.

To be fair that's a positive too as I don't have a doorbell and I feel very safe in my home!

1. My cat hates her - even though the cat is king
2. She needs grooming every couple of months, but she's a pretty fluffy thing so that's to be expected.

No many downsides (a lot less than my dc )

Retired greyhound (not retired from being a greyhound - she still is one, just retired from racing). Lazy as all get out, incredibly low maintenance, doesn't shed, doesn't pee in the house, spends a lot of time asleep, food obsessed. Not wildly bright, but I never wanted a dog who could outsmart me (and it wouldn't be hard) so I'm fine with that.

Poetry in motion when running round a field. Bloody diabolical recall.

My dogs are lovely family dogs. Yes they are quirky and needy... but absolutely fabulous with my DC.
I think to give you the best chance of having one, ensure you take your dog to training class for the first 12- 18 months. The KC good citizen scheme is good for ongoing training. The class is run by local dog training clubs- all dogs will be welcome, including rescue if you decide to get one.
Involve your DC in training and caring for the dog. Close supervision is essential. DC and dog need to learn how to interact with each other.

Be aware of the traits your chosen breed has. Tap into them, don't supress them. It will make for a much happier dog.
And don't forget, like us humans, dogs have personalities, they have preferences and dislikes. Just be aware of that and respect it.

We rescued a staffie. She is the best dog we've ever had, having had a yellow lab and border collie in the past. Our staffie is amazing with the children, she is good on walks, recall etc very good (but took about 3months to train her on re call) never barks, friendly with anyone. People that hate dogs absolutely love her, mainly because she doesn't jump at people, never barks just sits near them. Downside is she is stubborn, so took a while to train her. But she is amazing and I would trust her fully with children. She is very friendly, and never leaves our sides even on walks if she is off lead, and can't see us she gets very upset (possibly abandonment to how she ended up in rescue)

We got our puppy from family who are not breeders! Scandal!

He is the most perfect dog! He slept on his own from day one without a bit of a cry. Learned commands from 8 weeks, was out without a lead from 12 weeks. He is the friendliest dog and will go gently to any dog and human for a cuddle.

He is now 8 months, doesn't bark, never growls, is good in the car even on long journey, has excellent recall wherever we are, is the most affectionate dog and just a gem. He is also very cute!

Oh and forgot to add, despite the inevitable bitty stage, which wasn't bad at all, he hasn't destroyed anything, even leaving things, like earphones or shoes in his reach at night!

We have a miniature schnauzer - 6 months so still early days but other than being quite jumpy because he wants to be friends with EVERYONE, he’s absolutely perfect.

We have an absolutely brilliant Irish setter. He is inclined to pull a bit on the lead but is otherwise perfect. Gentle, athletic, beautiful and just wants to please.

Our Springer Poodle Cross is adorable, funny, great with kids, cats, other dogs etc.
She is part of our family.

Miniature labradoodle here. Brilliant with any child follows you about wagging and is the best companion unbelievably cute. However he rolls in fox loo at every opportunity and raids the bin🤷‍♀️.

Rottweiler very obedient, good with children could leave him indoors alone all day and would not make a mess or have an accident. However he tries to eat the vet and flattens people when over excited.

I don’t think any of them are perfect 😂

We have a terrier mix (jrt/yorkie) had him since 8 weeks and he's now 16 months.

He's the perfect family dog, he absolutely loves people especially children, he's been easy to train and is really clever and wants to learn.

The only small downsides have been he's okay with 75% of other dogs but for some reason takes issue with the other 25%. This isn't really an issue as dd and I just put him back on the lead when a dog he doesn't know appears (his recall is fine.)

He's been a brilliant unofficial therapy dog for dd who has MH issues and ASD and also for me if I ever have a down day.

Our girl, (Basset Fauve de Bretagne) looking after me through COVID. We've only had her a couple of months and she's bonded with us tremendously in the time. Could never be without her now...

@Emeeno1 your post made me tear up a little, how lucky for you all you found him

I'm lucky to have two dogs. Our Doberman though is the perfect family dog, she was so well socialised as a pup that she is chilled with anything (not squirrels I'm afraid). She enjoys long walks, thinks she is a lapdog, soppy as anything and will do anything for a treat. She comes to comfort you if you are sad, acts as a hot water bottle no matter what time of year and is completely responsible for curing me and my son of our dog phobia. Couldn't recommend anything other than a Doberman

My mini poodle is fantastic. He loves us all and is very affectionate. He was a dream to train and we have had no problems with him at all. He's definitely added to our family hugely. My youngest child can be quite stressed and get loud but he will fuss round her when she's upset and always works his magic on her.

He still pulls on the lead (our fault) but otherwise he's perfect. And at only 2 he's amazingly calm but can switch on his playful nature too.

Yorkie. Has an amazing sense of humour, brilliant with kids, playful, snuggly and very friendly.

Stinks if not bathed once a week, very licky and needy, steals socks.

Love him to bits!

1 year old Jack Russell. Sleeps all night in his crate and always has done. Extremely friendly to people and other dogs. Very loving. Very good recall, he will come running if we have gone too far. Super easy to house train. Barks at the door. Fussy with food. Grumpy when tired. Doesn't like front paws being touched but is getting better.

This is my first dog who was perfect in every way 💖. We never knew anything about dog training when we got her but she turned out great basically trained herself. She was very good with my dd and everyone round here loved her, brilliant with other dogs too. Sadly she died age 13. Our new dog is a rescue also a very nice dog and good with dd but a few behaviour issues most probably due to being a rescue dog. She is sitting with her head on my lap being adorable at the moment though!

We've got a border collie.

She's a very relaxed, chilled dog, always makes me smile and laugh, super affectionate and loves cuddles.

We don't have kids, but she loves chasing bubbles, which amuses children and she has lots of kids demanding to play with her, and she loves it. She's even very good with older babies/toddlers (eg between 1-2). I don't entirely trust her with small children who don't understand ''don't pull her tail/ears or poke her in her eyes), but if the parent asks if their child can stroke her, I'll say yes, with them closely supervising their child and me keeping the dog on a short lead. So far, she's not shown an ounce of aggression with kids, and not only will she let them stroke her, she'll roll over for a belly rub!

Yellow working type lab.
Male.
One Year old.
Intact (unneutered)

Young puppy stage was challenging, as it always is but he’s an absolute delight.

Calm 90% of the time (he is still only a teenager, so a bit of giddiness is forgivable and his giddiness is predictable),
loving all of the time,
friendly with other dogs,
aloof with strangers,
easy to train,
loves the cat,
patient with small children,
rarely barks,
zero aggression,
doesn’t scavenge,

The only minor issue we have (we are working on) is pulling when walking on lead. Other than that, he’s amazing for a teenaged working breed. He can also be clumsy due to his size but there’s something quite charming about that.