How did you decide what type of dog to get?

[MyOtherProfile]

That really. We love labs but maybe they're too boisterous for us now. How did you decide what dog would suit you?

Excuse the typos of short haired and smooth coated

I grew up with mongrels and Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Staffies are a great family dog and, if socialised well from being a puppy, really good with other dogs. I ended up with 2 Jack Russells when I left home and they were the love of my life. The second one died 4 years ago and only now am I ready to have another one. Sat on my lap is an almost 9 week old JRT (smooth coated) pup and she’s hilarious.

I chose JRTs as I wanted small dogs but with ones with big personalities and they definitely meet this criteria. My two old Jacks were brilliant with children and one was excellent with other dogs (the other was terrible if he was on the lead and met another dog) and loved nothing better than snuggling with me on the sofa. They would also always walk for miles so could have as much or as little exercise as I could fit in.

I wanted small but sturdy, easy to train, good with kids, friendly, portable and able to go on long walks.

We got a terrier cross (yorkie/jrt) he has ticked all the boxes although we are working on doggy manners with other dogs (he's prone to want to dominate but this may be due to being a teenager atm!!)

You have to think about practicalities ie how much space and time have you got? What do you want to do with a dog? How long will they be left for?

I chose one to fit in with my house and lifestyle. I have a large house and garden live rural. I walk everyday and am more suited to a working breed due to my long muddy walks. I have sled dogs. I don't work as I dont need to so spend my days hiking all weathers accept hot weather. My dogs love it. If I go on holiday its hiking holidays. Therefore sled dogs were a perfect choice for me.

Thanks this is all really helpful. Lots to think about.

I did months and months of research on what would suit our lifestyle and kept coming back to a rescue greyhound. I was highly disappointed as I really rather wanted a border terrier and wasn’t wild about the pointiness but the more I researched the more I became convinced. We did indeed get a rescue grey and she is a breeze. Best thing we ever did.

Temperament was the main thing. One that was easy to train, a family dog, loving and sociable. And I wanted a medium sized dog. A dog who would be great with the kids, one of whom was only around 8 at the time. I knew what I could commit to regarding exercise and wanted a dog who would fit in with our lifestyle, walks in the country, not too highly strung, who would be happy to curl up at my feet at the end of the day.

I chose a golden retriever and have never regretted it.

Have a primary aged child, older child with SEN and a cat so needed a breed renowned for being good with these. First time dog owner so needed one that’s easy to train. Not bothered about shedding. Got a golden retriever a couple of weeks ago!

We considered the work it has to do and local availability, narrowed it down to lab or springer, as labs are born half trained and spaniels die half trained we went for a lab.

How's the retriever @Retrievemysanity ? Love them. We did a lot of research in our dog encyclopaedia, made a short list and discussed the breed with several breeders.

@anon444877 absolutely gorgeous puppy, gets lots of attention when we are out and about. Very quick to learn commands, good with toileting, however, has been very bitey/nippy this past week but think it’s par for the course at the 10 week stage from the sounds of it!

I didn't!!
I went to a dog shelter and he picked me. Saw a little cutie in the corner, picked him up and he fell asleep on my lap.
He's a greyhound and has a great temperate. Sleeps all day long and loves to run at the beach

My retriever was bitey at this stage but he stopped doing it after a few months, I forget how long exactly as it was 14 years ago now.

I bet you get stopped all the time!

I volunteer dog walk at a rescue centre, just kept going until I met 'the one' who turned out to be a lurcher!

Always wanted a smooth coated chihuahua. A tiny dog really suits our small house and garden and doesn’t need much exercise, 2 x 20 min walks a day, perfect for us. He’s a lovely little companion and we adore him.

Silly oh took the kids to see a litter of puppies that his friend’s dog had just given birth to. Sealed his own fate there

DD did all the research with DH - they had an excel spreadsheet! High on the priority list was getting on with cats.

We got a Cockapoo after all this forensic research. And she does like the cat, unfortunately a feeling completely unreciprocated!

I looked at all the things I didn't want in a dog!
Like certain size, prey drive shedding, IQ (yes, some are quite dim others to bright), ... ended up with 3 Tibetan Terriers, now I have added grooming to my future dog list! 😉

Looked at what we wanted for our dog. Long walks. Medium/big. Friendly. Good companion. Happy with shedding and needing company as we have wooden floors and work from home.