Which breed?

[househuntinginthesouth]

We already have a dog, won't be getting another for a while (probably years from now) and when we do it'll more than likely be a rescue but just out of curiosity wondering what breed would be recommended had I not said the above and I suppose interested to see if people say the same type of dog we have.

Must be good with kids, other dogs and cats, not needing loads of exercise, easy to train but not needing massive amount of mental exercise, mustn't moult loads, don't want a tiny dog but can't be a giant one (unfortunately).

French bulldog

That describes one of my Lurchers perfectly. The other one is super hairy, sheds enough to make another small dog out of his fur on a daily basis and is not very bright, but extremely emotionally intelligent, really loving and an absolute gent.

They come in multiple sizes, but even the tall ones fold up small and can be cat friendly, especially if raised with them. There are hundreds, including pups, in rescue in the UK every year and the short coated ones don’t moult much. Actually one of my long coats, that had the Bedlington type wispy fur barely shed as well.

Both mine were whistle trained and had/have fantastic recall and my non-shedding lad described above, was super bright, so easy to train, but happy to snooze the day away, so didn’t require massive input into mental exercise.

A good alternative if you were going for a purebreed would be a Whippet.

You'll just get people listing their favourite breeds, but I always have a Jack Russell (or two) with a pointer. I would advise against a gun dog for obvious reasons. If they aren't to small for you Jack Russell are fab, they are clever, loyal, fun. People can be stuck up about Staffies, but they are amazingly adaptable and fabulous family dogs.

Staffy definitely

Staffy, boxer, lab or even a Rottweiler. Had 3 and all marvellous with kids and family plus don’t need tons of exercise.

Lurcher, every time. Healthy, intelligent, loves exercise but doesn't demand it. Perfect with kids and doesn't chase cats. Best dogs ever.

Pug!

Our boy is all of the above

Whippet, if brought up with the cats. Very sweet, don't need much exercise, not usually terribly bright.

And a no to working line gundogs, like a PP. They mostly need too much brain-work to be happy with a chilled life. Ours have two walks and a walk/ training session this afternoon as well, and are currently playing bitey-face in the hall. Not big moulters, lovely affectionate dogs, fine with cats in the home if raised with them, love DC and people in general, fine with other dogs, but my God, are they needy of company, stimulation and exercise. Wouldn't have anything else, though.

Tibetan Terrier! Fun, not faced by much and very forgiving if you don't want to walk them for hours on end. They do have high grooming needs and definitely want to be in the centre of family life.

A couple of people have said the type of dog we have already but interesting to hear all the others

Every rescue we went to said no way to get lurchers as they chase cats and jump out of gardens. I had a friend with the nicest dog ever who had a lurcher that chased cats and she said it was like a horror movie to watch so without being dramatic, I am flabbergasted that people are recommending lurchers when you specifically mentioned cats and not wanting a huge dog. Lurchers are huge!!! (Sorry!)

Depends what you mean by not needing loads of exercise really

I can confidently say it's not a working dog, anyway!

@stayathomer

Every rescue we went to said no way to get lurchers as they chase cats and jump out of gardens. I had a friend with the nicest dog ever who had a lurcher that chased cats and she said it was like a horror movie to watch so without being dramatic, I am flabbergasted that people are recommending lurchers when you specifically mentioned cats and not wanting a huge dog. Lurchers are huge!!! (Sorry!)

Lurchers come in many sizes (they are sighthounds cross working breeds, so could be whippet cross terrier resulting in a nice compact size). One of mine was big (29” to the shoulder) but very slender and never felt like he took up a lot of the room. The other is only slightly bigger than a Labrador.

I would never put an ex worker with a cat, but many Lurchers can and do live peacefully with their family cats, even if they are not cat friendly to cats they don’t live with. This is obviously most successful if they are raised with cats from a pup.

Specific Lurcher rescues cat test and foster before homing to make sure they really are cat safe and obviously don’t home ex workers or those that don’t pass the test to families with cats. These rescues are really careful to match the right dog to the right family.

In my experience many non sighthound specific rescues are prone to perpetuating myths about them. Neither of mine ever attempted to escape the garden (even though one could really jump if he wanted to) or chase cats. Both would ignore my PIL’s cat, despite never living with a cat themselves. The only time either ever barked at a cat was when my neighbour’s daft cat jumped in through my living room window, then one barked with surprise and both just stood there looking shocked - neither chased it.