Hardest work small to medium breeds

[Doggieconfused]

Please tell me what they are so I can avoid them when choosing a breed! (I know all puppies are hard work but I’ve heard some are worse than others...)

Working spaniels. They need a job. I mean, they really NEED a job. Because if you don’t give them a job, they will find their own job, and it will be three fields away from you, probably in a pheasant pen. Which the gamekeeper will not appreciate. They can be fab little dogs, but they are not for the faint of heart…!

I have a cavachon who’s been a total dream. Happy to be left alone, perfect recall, I can walk her off lead through a crowded city and she is glued to my heel, friendly, happy with long walks, happy to snooze on the sofa if it’s raining. Does roll in fox poo though.

I never did any training with her either. Just walked her off lead from day 1 and I walked and expected her to follow.

I feel I've been so lucky with my working springer (so far...touching wood...!) he's 14 months old, amazing off lead, can be left for the morning/afternoon while I go to work & when I check is just snoring upside down on the sofa & ready to go when we get in. He's great with my son (9 so not small & grabby) the only thing I'd change about him is his apparent inability to walk. Which makes any on lead time tricky as he feels he should be galloping everywhere. But I'm sure if I put the work in instead of driving to a field/beach that would improve as he's quite bright & does want to please

Ha yeah, unfortunately she's not very food or toy oriented either so she never listens to or does anything for us 🤣. I'm exaggerating a bit as she is definitely improving bless her. And my son adores her.

@Catsdrool I am NEVER getting another puppy 🤣

I was coming on to 2nd Patterdales, but see I’m about 25th now!

Mines a delight in the house, utterly chilled, clean, lovely with children and visitors - but as soon as we go out the door he’s on high alert for anything he can murder, and he really does mean business. Consequently there are few opportunities for sociable walks, sitting in beach cafes enjoying the view, my life consists of walks on rainswept moors.

I fantasise about my next dog, but fear I’ve a good few years to go with my psychopathic, robustly healthy beast.

Funnily enough though, he’s absolutely fine with dogs belonging to friends and family. Then it’s kind of “oh, you must be Maureen’s dog, I’m Molecule’s” and there’s never even a growl.

God, yes. This.

@Threebutterflies just take her out really regularly and have the door to the back garden open ideally.Our youngest is 7 months and she's getting there

Anything bred to dispatch vermin or go down holes. So terriers, basically

i have a yorkshire terrier and he’s been fine. He does very much see his role in life to rid the world of anything rodent shaped, and will spend hours in the garden with the cat hunting.

it’s not really a problem, in fact as we live fairly rurally he’s found a few mice trying to move in that we’ve dispatched back to the field.

otherwise he’s pretty easy. Yt are easily trained, only issue is many people don’t bother.

I grew up with 3JRTs and they've all been wonderful dogs. My dad's English Bull was a sweet boy but stubborn as, and selectively deaf! He was a nightmare off the lead.

We are getting a jrt in a few months. I'm excited, but I'm used to their quirks. (One of mine cried literally all day, another was the laziest barrel of a dog)

Long haired dachshund’s are generally calmer then their gobby smooth haired little mates!

Alas, my friend’s long-haired dachshund is an exception to the rule then — he’s nervy, stubborn, possessive, and thinks he’s a Doberman on attack mode around bigger dogs.

Adult whippets are delightful but they make for devilish puppies.

Surprised at some of these answers. I have a terrier (border) and she is the easiest dog ever, so very chilled. All the cockerpoos/cavapoos etc I know are bonkers and high energy so personally I would steer away from those.

A chihuahua /Jack Russell mix is hell to the ears of anyone close by. Pea brains and mad barking.

I know 2 people with BTs - both report them to be like grumpy old men! One in particular (friends with our cockapoo) is a belligerent little sod, but he is incredibly cute. I think a lot of it comes done to luck really.

Anything with collie in the name. You will be working against hundreds of years of breeding. You wont stand a chance.

Our 1st family dog was a Tibetan Terrier, he was 8 when we rescued him. He completely ignored any attempts to correct him and did exactly as he pleased. He was gorgeous, don't get me wrong but I was mightily relieved we missed the puppy phase of his life!

We've now got a working cocker who really is hard work - training is constant and ongoing, and the little bastard is 9 he is constantly at the vets having ripped a dew claw/got grass seeds in places he shouldn't/torn the end of his tail. He literally is like a dementor in pheasant season and he has the worst separation anxiety I've ever known. He is currently led on my feet at work as they come with me. I adore every single ounce of him but even as an experienced owner he's been a constant challenge. Our sprocker on the other hand is a bag of nerves but so kind and gentle.... walks a few feet in front of you and keeps checking that you're there. I rarely put a lead on her, and she's a beautiful soul.

@SirChenjins
I know 2 people with BTs - both report them to be like grumpy old men! One in particular (friends with our cockapoo) is a belligerent little sod, but he is incredibly cute. I think a lot of it comes done to luck really

Yes it must do. I guess like us they're all different. I sometimes look after my neighbours cockapoo, he's a lovely boy but much more needy than my girl, he has to sit right on you rather than next to you and needs the attention on him all the time. Borders can look like grumpy old men, but so far my girl is of cheerful disposition but then she's only young. I'm sure she'll get grumpy at some stage, whether it's before or after I do is anyones guess but I hope we both grow old together.

@DayreeMilk

A chihuahua /Jack Russell mix is hell to the ears of anyone close by. Pea brains and mad barking

But they're so blooming cute they can get away with it.

If, despite all this, you still fancy a terrier, then the ones to consider are Borders, Norfolks, Norwiches, and maybe Cairns. They're still not exactly biddable compared to say retrievers, but are typically very good natured and are definitely at the less stubborn end of the terrier world. Good all-round dogs, pretty heathy and robust, can go all day if you want them to but small enough that they don't have the exercise requirements of bigger (and dare I say cleverer) breeds

Also the toy breeds - still terriers but generations of being kept more as pets than working dogs has also taken the edge off

I have a Cavalier and he's just brilliant. Really easy to train as he's so eager to please!

@Floralnomad agree; we have a 4 year old patterdale cross (known mum rescue, unknown dad) and he's absolutely delightful. We walk him a lot off lead, ball retrieval etc, he gets a lot of exercise and attention and is happy snoozing the rest of the time.

He is, however, a little anxious around some other male dogs, has no road sense despite training, and his recall is pretty sound unless there's a squirrel around in which case, no chance.

My neighbour has one. Maybe cute from a distance, if you are hard of hearing and have a second home to retreat to 😂

I'd second this - we had a much loved Border terrier, who was an absolute darling unless he saw a cat and put up with many bunny ears/santa hats/reindeer antlers over the years when he wasn't yelling at birds and sometimes other dogs. I miss him very much, but have vowed to get a puppy next time, so I can micromanage the socialisation process. Ddog's tetchy temper around other dogs might have been the result of a bad experience before we got him (benefit of the doubt) rather than him just being a bit of a 'what you lookin' at?' terrier arsehole (more likely).