What big dog breed should I get??

[YoMrWhiteYall]

I’m looking into getting a dog but it must be a big dog. I want a big safe friendly breed. Something with enough energy to go on a 4 hour walk but not so much energy that it can’t settle after a 1 hour walk (long walks will be weekends).

I want something that can be let off lead (with training!) in the woods/on the beach so no greyhound types.

I don’t care about hair, I love grooming.

what breed would you recommend?

A mutt from a good rescue centre.

There are so many lurchers out there that need homes. Fab breed.

I also think retrievers are a great choices.

Huntaways are lovely too but need a lot of exercise and training

Paradoxically large dogs tend to be more fragile health wise, especially when growing. Get a corgi and keep it fit. A corgi at the correct weight is an athlete, just a short one. The "chunky loaf bois" you see online are sadly obese. This message brought to you from Wales 😉

Dogue de Bordeaux, ours wouldn’t do a 4hr walk though, maybe 4 hours a week 😂. Big, cuddly, friendly giant

There would be 0 chance of my leos walking 4 hours a day 😄 Not without many naps and a picnic in the middle. Plus double the walk time for all of the sniffing.

My GSD would but then she also would need more than an hour a day through the week. I wouldn’t say GSD fit the criteria.

Standard poodle.

Once grown can do long walks. Great family dogs. Needs proper training (as with any large dog).

Whichever breed you go for, don't take them on long walks when they're a puppy. I see people doing this and it makes me so cross - it's really bad for their developing joints. Long walks in this sense is much less than 4 hours!

A standard poodle... on days when shorter walks are necessary, stimulating games can keep them occupied.

Definitely a golden retriever! Ours is two he's super chilled out at home. Could walk all day but equally on the very rare occasion we haven't been able to walk him at all (isolating with covid etc) he's not been fussed. We take him on two walks a day as standard. A brush every other day and a monthly bath keeps him looking and smelling good. Malting not as bad as you might imagine, a couple of times a year it gets worse for a bit but his fur doesn't really stick to clothes and our robo hoover more than handles it.

Super friendly let's our three year old climb all over him. Wants to be friends with everyone. He's 38kg so big ish.

I can't understand why anyone would want anything but a golden retriever! He's so lovely.

Sorry I said ours is two, he's actually four! My mistake.

Rough collie? How big is big? My grandparents used to have a rough collie/German Shepherd cross (probably - rescue dog). He was a big goofy dog with bags of energy, and lived to be 17.

a springer?
boundless energy

Labrador, they will go for hours but perfectly happy ( and lazy) to do shorter walks.
As others have said many larger dogs have joint issues. Despite 40 years of careful breeding techniques to reduce the risk of hip and knee problems there are still many dogs who succumb to joint problems. This suggests that it is not just genetics involved. On the advice of our old vet all of our labs ( we’ve had 3) we’re not walked until at least 6 months old. They were allowed to run around in a small area of the garden. In addition they were not allowed to climb stairs.
So don’t expect to be doing much walking for the first 6 months.
The kennel club has a fantastic resource (K9) where you can look at the genetic risks in the actual dog you are buying. Obviously it is only a guide but worth doing as part of your research. A low breed Co efficient is always good since it is an indication of how inbred a dog is which increases the likelihood of genetic problems.

Regarding exercise in the week, we have about 15 years experience of one of the breeds mentioned as not being able to handle only an hour a day during the week...

Pre-Covid, during the week ours tended to get 35-40 minutes in the morning, and about 20-25 minutes fairly structured training time in the evening. Up to about age 2 they also got a very short lunchtime walk. Keeping their brains busy is just as important as physical exercise, which is where the training did its job (we learned this the hard way with our first one). The mental load of a 5 minute sit stay seems to be the equivalent of a 10 minute jog.

40 minutes off lead every morning and some off-lead time each evening should give you a dog who can go for several hours at the weekend.

Bullmastiff every time

I've had 4 now and each one has been a wonderful family dog . The only thing to be aware of is walks in heat , big dogs struggle .

Old English sheepdog
Bearded collie

Both fairly vulnerable native breeds and gorgeous friendly dogs, brilliant with children, and intelligent. (I am biased though, had OES growing up and love them 😁)

I second this. My lovely dog passed away recently. I’m not ready for another just yet but have been looking on all the rescue centre website (there is over a thousand rescue centres in the U.K.). They are absolutely inundated atm, especially large dogs and these often get overlooked. Please consider a rescue.

Eurasier. Ticks all the boxes and v healthy breed.

^^ This corgis (mines a Cardigan the Queen has Pembroke's) are the best dogs; big dog personality (total clowns) on short legs, no neurotic hang ups, mine is usually walked 2-3 hours a day over all terrain but will happily tolerate less so on Saturday only he got an hour. The only downside God they shed like nothing on this earth.

@Ilovecorgis our last boy was the same, could go all day or happily relax at home, absolutely rock-solid temperament, never ill in his life until cancer got him at 16. Unfortunately with the popularity of Pembrokes bad breeding practices are creeping in so you have to be a bit careful now. I know an absolutely stunning tricolour Pembroke, multi-gen pedigree, cost a fortune, one of the most beautiful males I've seen in my life. He's neurotic. Affectionate, but neurotic. He wouldn't last a day working in the field, his nerves wouldn't stand it.

Bernese mountain dog.
my absolute dream dog, unfortunately me and my husband both work full time and we have two young children. My mother in law has had 3 Bernese and they are just the sweetest, most gentle dogs.

St Bernard. But don't expect them to walk four hours each day. They are stubborn - not going to happen 😂

I've had three Great Danes, four hour walks would have been far too much for them. My stepdaughter has a Vizla, they keep going for hours but need a firm hand.

How much dog experience do you have? How many kids and what ages are they? Any SEN? An Anatolian is a VERY specialist breed. They tend to have bugger all recall, are huge and mostly dog aggressive. They require someone with casts amounts of guarding breed experience. They aren't a guarding breed in the sense of a working dog either like a Rottie. They've been breed to work independently of humans and therefore take their own decisions!

How about a Greater Swiss Mountain dog?

It would be a standard poodle every time for me, though that won't give you much grooming fun, but they tick ALL the other boxes. Failing that, a leonberger because they can take more exercise than many large breeds but are very adaptable and keen to please stop good to train, low prey drive.

Golden retriever every day of the week.