First time dog owner

[Aisten]

Can anyone recommend which breed/temperament to choose for a first time dog owner?

I definitely don't think I'd handle a puppy and I 100% want a rescue dog.

I did look after a friend's greyhound for 5 months while she was abroad and I had a very reactive collie cross rescue for 2 years when I was 12 until he was sadly given back due to his reactiveness, my parents were afraid he'd bite me or my sisters.

Apart from this, no experience! I LOVE greyhounds/sighthounds now after looking after my friend's but being able to be off lead, and have recall is a priority.

Have a lurcher then :-) there are plenty who will be able to recall with training. EGLR are a rescue who foster theirs, so people know how likely they are to be trainable. If you look on their FB, Parsnip is rather gorgeous

I have had two lurchers and adore them. Both are off their lead when appropriate and have excellent recall. Depending on their history you absolutely can train a sighthound to come back. Check out the book The House Lurcher by Jackie Drakeford for more about this wonderful, sensitive breed. They do have things that are different about them from other dogs and she explains this beautifully. Once you get this I would absolutely recommend them as a first dog. Mine was!

Meant to say cross breed, not breed of course.

Both my Lurchers have been whistle trained with excellent recall, so it’s perfectly possible - depending on the individual dog, breed mix and whether or not they’ve worked.

Look for a rescue that has their dogs in foster and they will be able to guide you as to which ones will be able to go off-lead.

(Have to agree with CMOTDibbler - Parsnip seems like an absolute sweetheart and EGLR are an amazing rescue.)

My big tip for finding a rescue dog is patience. Especially as a first time dog owner. A good rescue will match their dogs with the right owners, their priority is the dog not the people applying, so if you're not right you will be passed over to the next person. There are a lot of dogs signed over for behavioural reasons (the pandemic has not helped this), so they may well need a more experienced owner.

The "easier" dogs may well have a queue of people and the rescue can pick and choose the best applicants. To make sure you're a glowing example of a perfect home, it would be good to make sure you have basic things like a secure garden (if you go the Lurcher route, some of those guys could even clear a 6ft fence), a dog-proofed home, you know your nearest doggy vets, you know where your nearest doggy day care or dog sitters are (some of these may even have waiting lists as dog ownership has sky rocketed over the pandemic) etc etc.

3 pointy hounds here.
And 2 dcats.
All perfect recall.
All just perfect all round tbh!!

I have a whippet and this beautiful Bedlington x Whippet . Both wonderful amazing dogs and very chilled.

I felt bad leaving my scrumptious whippet out

Lurchers sound perfect for you. But recall and being off lead is down to training; not the breed. So that’s you, not the dog!

But best wishes and hope you can give a hairy pal a lovely home!

Oh these pictures make my heart full!

Thank you so much. A lurcher it is!

I forgot to attach photos of my dogs earlier, so you also get one of a pair of my foster pups from a year ago

One of ours as a dpuppy..

@vicliz24 I also have a Beddy whip! My best friend, and he looks just like yours 💕

[quote Mairyhinge]@vicliz24 I also have a Beddy whip! My best friend, and he looks just like yours 💕[/quote]
They're such wonderful dogs aren't they ♥️

Beddy Whippet. They're a lurcher with the added advantage of being low shedding. What's not to like?!

Love the Bedlington x whippet! I've never seen them before and I am in love! I love whippets anyway and I think Beds are cute,but together just lovely.
My first dog was (is) a show cocker spaniel. I am hoping the decision to what we have next is a long way off, but I do think about different dog breeds and up to now it has either been another spaniel or a whippet.

My two boys together, plus one of my old boy as he is now at over 16 years old and one of my other lad in his prime.

Mine is an adopted greyhound who has no recall whatsoever and so will never be off a lead unless in a securely closed area. But we go to a pointy hounds meet-up group and plenty of his friends there are off their leads with great recall. I definitely recommend greyhounds, they are the best!

Another beddy whip here. Our last lurcher was a Dalmatian’s greyhound and he was a beauty.

I want a tatty lurcher now!!
Mine are smooth!!

@Easterbunnyiswindowshopping hee hee I thought that too, but I keep forgetting I have to actually brush her !

Tbf I do have 1 tatty saluki /deerhound but I am greedy!

I have to groom my old boy a lot, I’m surprised he’s not bald the amount he sheds. He’s part Deerhound/Saluki, with Greyhound/Bearded Collie.

My other lad barely shed at all. He had very wispy, super-soft fur over his back, head and tail, but barely there velvety greyhound type fur over his legs and stomach. He just needed going over with a soft brush very occasionally and his beard combing.

@longtompot

Love the Bedlington x whippet! I've never seen them before and I am in love! I love whippets anyway and I think Beds are cute,but together just lovely. My first dog was (is) a show cocker spaniel. I am hoping the decision to what we have next is a long way off, but I do think about different dog breeds and up to now it has either been another spaniel or a whippet.

I have a Cocker X bedlington (although we suspect that there is a little bit of whippet in the mix too). Look up #cockerton on instagram.

This is my boy Egon.

Oh gosh! They are gorgeous @RIPWalter

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