Recommend me medium size, active dog breeds to consider?

[brawhen]

Could you helpful people recommend me dog breeds to consider?

We will be first time dog owners. We would be open to rescuing/adopting a young dog, but I don't think our inexperience puts us in a great position for this. Thus probably looking at a puppy.

There is me, DH and two teen boys. Dog idea is really being led by me, but they are all amenable; DH would definitely get stuck in.

We live rurally (in a small village, national park, direct access to miles of trails). We have recently moved to a large(ish) house, big garden (nearly an acre).

Between DH and I, we work from home 4 days/week. Both of us are full time. 1 day per week dog would ideally come to the office with us (it's our own business, so we are in charge of saying this is fine!). We can cover a fifth day at home for early puppy days, and there are local dog walkers if we wanted to change our mind and use them for the fifth day.

I trail run ~5 days/week and would VERY much like the dog to become a running companion. We can offer lots of weekend walking time, likely including bigger expeditions/hillwalks on many weekends. Definitely 2 good walks/runs per day during the week (and probably additional short ones). I know that the running & long walks will take at least a year to build up to.

Dog would need to do an hour's car commute & back once or twice a week.

I very much like the idea of investing in training the dog. Obviously I've never done it before, but I think (hopefully!) I'd quite like the process. Training good manners and good recall would be high priority. I quite like the idea of gundog-style training, and there are agility classes & similar locally too.

To counter my inexperience (a bit!), I have lots of friends with dogs and a highly recommended trainer very locally.

We're looking for a medium sized dog. To give you an idea, these are breeds I think I might like (though not all for good practical reasons!)

• Cocker/Springer/Sprocker Spaniel - they are good runners, you see lots locally round here, they are beautiful. But reading about them puts me off as everyone says crazy...
• Border Collie - my grandad had one (as a family pet, not working) and I have fond memories. Very trainable. Next door have a super-chilled, well behaved, 10 month old collie - I had assumed he was an adult dog, no puppy madness evident! My dog-owning friends also suggested a collie. But reading about them the advice says not as a first dog.
• Labrador - this seems to be a sensible choice? But probably on the big side of what we imagine, and you see lots of chunky labs that don't look like they'd like to go on a 10 mile run with me...
• So I thus started to google collie / lab crosses ??

Breeds we are not keen on

• Anything 'toy'
• Anything enormous
• Anything that cannot (with practice and as an adult) run 10 miles or hike up a munro

I don't think I'm bothered about boy vs girl (we would spay/neuter anyway). Don't mind a bit of hair, but I guess lower grooming maintenance would make it easier.

We have enough £ for vets, food, etc.

Collie lab cross? I wouldn’t.

working labs can make good running companions. Not what I’d term medium size though. Good hip scores are a must (and the other health tests too)

miniature poodles can also be good for running. But require trips to groomers. Will need a lot of mental stimulation though.

border terrier. Bit smaller but they can keep up on a run and hike. They can go for miles! Not much grooming but will need stripping as new coat comes through.

Imo you need a Lurcher.. We have 3 sighthounds. No better family ddog ime.
Ours have been found to be very easily trainable - even the ex working ddog now lives with 2 dcats. All have amazing recall and have never brought me anything furry back. Great in the car.. Hardly shed. Can walk miles or be sloths.
Here..

Sounds like a Hungarian Vizsla would be one to look at - see lots at Canicross and they are smaller than labs/Goldies (Goldens would by my usual recommendation since they are the best dogs on the planet 😄)

Vizsla link

Smooth or Rough collie (the older type of rough collie with longer nose and less stop)

Soft coated wheaten terrier- beautiful dogs

I’ve got a sprocker, I cannot tire him out as more exercise just makes him fitter. But he’s very chilled, very cuddly and very clever. He’s also a bit of an antisocial dog, not interested in other dogs, just in me and his ball to be honest. He’s a one woman dog and almost perfect. Apart from yesterday when he stole anew plant I’d bought from the Nursery, and ate it.

The chunky labs you see are probably from show lines, working labs are slimmer and lighter normally.

Our working lab is super chilled round the house but very energetic outside of it.

We considered Vizslas but ruled them out as they tend to be a bit more of a one person dog and advice suggested they're a bit more difficult to train esp. with recall and as first time owners we decided something more straightforward was sensible. Size wise our lab is the same sort of height as a Vizsla but a bit broader/heavier.

This is what a female working lab looks like

Dalmatian. They were initially bred to run alongside carriages. Such a lovely breed too, so loyal and just love you

Take a look at many tears rescue. They have quite a few puppies at the moment that may suit. I think I saw a collie cross puppy recently on their website.

Welsh Springer spaniel. Everything you like about cockers and English Springers but a bit less mad.

Collie cross pup at many tears rescue.

Working type cocker spaniel would fit but try and find a pet home bred as opposed to full working home bred. I have seven and they are a mix of busy and idle. Lovely dogs, yes a bit crazy but they are fun.

Not a show cocker.. lots of energy while very young but more years being less so.

Great with families though and easy to train.

Bearded Collie. As trainable as a Border but not as ‘work’ driven.

A pointer of some sort would suit. Vizla, Weimaraner, German Shorthaired pointer...

We have a Braque d'Auvergne who meets all your criteria but are not easy to find in the UK.

A working cocker spaniel sounds a good match, and another that came to mind is a German short haired pointer.

Beagle! I canicross and do agility with mine and they're brilliant. Will do 10 miles up a Munroe (and 10 miles down, and 10 up the next...) Bond to a family and generally love everyone, so will be fine at your workplace.

There are two types of labs, show type (chunky look) and working type (lean look) the working type would be for you.

we have a working line golden retriever. Very easy to train, require a lot of mental stimulation.

I've had many working springers who have all been trainable and incredibly loyal. Exercise their brains as well as their bodies and they will flip down and chill out when you do.

Currently have my first working Lab. He will get there (currently 1yo) but at the moment I could quite easily put him on eBay 🤣. He's bright, but strong and determined!!

Next time, it'll be another spaniel!

A Vizsla or German shorthaired pointer from the smaller end of the size range would be a good call. Not the easiest as first dogs but feasible if you have a good gundog trainer nearby with experience in those or related hunt point retrieve (HPR) breeds. They can be nightmare puppies so be warned.

Vizslas are on the whole very handler soft, GSPs in general a bit tougher. Both make great running companions and will go for miles (just watch out for livestock - IME national parks are quite sheep-heavy).

Other HPR breeds might be worth investigating - Brittanies are smaller than either Vizslas or GSPs, and as a PP says the Braque d'Auvergne is a lovely breed, but rare in the UK.

If you go down the HPR route and want a calmer dog, be aware that there isn't the show/work split in the breeds that you find in spaniels and retrievers. A lot of them are very prey driven, insanely energetic and really benefit from a lot of training and brain-work. If you want a calmer one, stay away from field trialling lines (FTCh and FTW denote FT wins on a pedigree) and, in the case of GSPs, puppies with recent German blood in the pedigree (IME, lovely but really full on and often quite big).

Think hard before you get an HPR of any sort. They are lovely, affectionate dogs but not for the weak-willed or fainthearted.

Spaniels are great! You do have to put the effort into teaching them to chill at home but as others have said you will never tire them out with physical exercise they just keep going!
one thing to note for the breeds your looking at really until they are 1 you wouldn’t be able to cover significant distances running and even walking you need to be mindful when they are younger

Thank you!

Springer spaniel stays on the list. One of our employees has Springers who appear to have spent the whole of the pandemic asleep at his feet - I know he does lots with them outside of office hours, but his do appear to have that active/office mix we need. Will go and have a read about Welsh Spaniels.

I'll have a look at dalmations & pointers - they are labrador sized I think?

Will also go and have a look at the wider range of collie breeds. Smooth collie was already on my radar. @YellowAndGreenToBeSeen I have just googled Bearded Collie - how much maintenance would that coat be?!

Lurchers - I confess I am not drawn to the looks but maybe I need to meet some. You know how they say dogs look like their owners? I am the least lurcher-looking person ever 😁

@EdithStourton thanks, that's really helpful detail. There's a gundog trainer near here, I might give them a call and see if they would just have a chat through ideas with me. I think the gundog & working breeds seem attractive because we live in quite a rural working environment - though that's not what we do as a family.

Beagle! Our is very active. Absolutely fine on car journey very easily trained as long as food is the reward! She a beautiful loving dog.

Alas I was once a Lurcher... Now more like a greedy Labrador!!