Which dog fits this criteria?

[Scoobydoobydoobydoo0987]

Family with 2 small children are thinking of maybe ( still on the fence) of getting a dog. It must be compatible, so here's the criteria. If anyone has any suggestions, please..

1. Good for children
2. Good with cats
3. Not too much exercise is needed ( Alstians need 2 hours walking a day, so big no no)
4. Nothing too yappy
5. Nothing too big that DH couldn't lift, if it was ill and had to pick up and take to the vets ( We like bull mastiff but they are around 90kgs!)
6. protective of family but not a guard dog
7. Nothing prone to medical problems

I think Cavalier King Charles Spaniel would be a good fit

Them and the Staffordshire bull terrier are the only two breeds actively recommended with kids. You definitely aren't suitable for a Stafford but I think your lifestyle would suit a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, they are pretty layback and easy dogs to deal with.

All dogs can bite, even well behaved ones if pushed, scared or spooked by something and for that reason I would never pick a family dog that could do severe damage with its jaws.

Bull Mastiffs, Rottweilers, XL bullies etc would definitely be off my list due to their powerful jaws. Instead I'd be considering a placid Labrador, Golden Retriever, German Short Haired Pointer, Spaniel, labradoodle, Boxer etc.

Only 1 hour of exercise a day does rule out many breeds suggested.

I would never consider a bull mastiff for a first time owner. My grandparents had two, one after the other as they were shopkeepers and in those days the shop takings were kept in the home. The first one was well socialised within the family only because my mum and aunt and their future husbands were with him and trained him in this way. It took a lot of training. The second one did not get this as he lived with only my grandparents. One day, he pinned my uncle to the floor and caused horrific injuries to his chest. - a grown, healthy young man. A child would almost certainly have been killed. As it is, he still bears the scars to this day, over fifty years later. The dog was immediately destroyed and my grandparents had labradors afterwards and they made much better pets as well as having a loud, deep bark so good guard dogs too. With the setup you describe, I think a labrador could be a good choice.

It rules out most breeds I would have thought.

My small dog - 5.5 kilos - still enjoys around 50 minutes some days and she's almost 12 years old.

An hour a day would certainly not have been enough for her when she was in her prime.

Thanks everyone, it looks like I was a a little naive with thinking an hours exercise would be enough. For those of you that have dogs, what breed do you have & how many walks/minutes per day do you take?

I have working-line gundogs and they get an average of about an hour and half a day. And sometimes lots more if we go on a picnic or a serious hike. Almost all of this is off-lead.

That time almost always includes some one-to-one training time, because if you don't keep their brains busy they become utter pains in the arse.

What I am saying is, don't be persuaded to get a working-line dog if you don't want to put the time in.

We have a cockapoo. He gets about 50 minutes of walking per day during the week, much more at weekends.

However, he goes to dog creche once a week to give him socialisation and stimulation, and comes back shattered. On the other days, although he only gets one walk, there are countless times during the day where we play with him fir a few minutes - either in the garden, where we throw his ball as he loves fetch etc, or in the house where we hide a toy and then get him to go and find it. We don't feed kibble in a bowl but in various treat dispenses so that he has to work for it.

He's a very happy dog.

Boston x staffie. One hr in the morning, 1.5 approx in day plus a shorter walk in evening.

Not suggesting this is you @Scoobydoobydoobydoo0987 but the dog requirements for many people seem to be one that doesn't shed fur, needs very little walking and has no problem being left alone for extended periods of time.

We have a Golden Retriever. I was pleased not to notice a comment about hair on your list, so given they're hairy (and wonderfully cuddly) I think a Goldie would be a good fit. But you'd need to up the exercise a bit. Mine gets a 1.5-2 hour walk a day. One long one. Then pops out into our big garden for sniffs and wees at other times. But here's the thing - if for any reason he doesnt get that exercise he doesn't react badly. So you can have the odd day when you're busy with a little less exercise.
He is fabulous off lead and has great recall and has those walks off-lead so gets loads of exercise.
He barks when people approach the house (we're rural), but wags too. Not an aggressive bone.
Very trainable if you put in the hours in the early months. It always helps that Goldens are food driven so will do anything for a biccie!

We also find that the exercise needs drop if we take him to do something interesting that stimulates his brain. So a walk to the nearest cafe (where he gets lots of fuss but essentially just lies around waiting for pastry crumbs to fall on the floor) gives his brain a workout and tires him.

A lot of people do two walks a day but we are lucky bc of our big garden that one long one generally does, and the rest is taken care of by him popping in and out or 'helping; us do the gardening.

I probably wouldn’t recommend a Rottweiler if you have no experience with dogs.
They are absolutely amazing dogs, and extremely clever and trainable. But they are also big powerful dogs, and can easily become unruly if they are not trained or given enough stimulation.

My breed doesn't fit your criteria but he's very small and needs at least an hour of exercise a day. Most days he'll do 2 and at the weekend he's non stop all day.

Hair/ fur isn't an issue for us. We have 5 cats, so I'm used to cleaning up after them anyway!

I have the worlds laziest spaniel and he really needs 2 x one hour walks a day, despite the laziness. Plus, about another hours worth of interaction, such as games or training.

As others have said, one hour is on the very minimum end of the spectrum and I would still expect to have to give about another hour doing something else with the dog.

I’ve got cavaliers - they get two walks a day in the week - a longer one of 45 mins- 1hr and then a shorter one of about 20 minutes.

At the weekend usually one 2hr walk on both days.

They also get likimats, chews and training in the home, they are not lapdogs. They would be very restless on less than an hour a days walking.

Most people don't want the coat care that comes with the Rough (although it's not as bad as it looks) - but a male Smooth Collie would suit your criteria. Great family dogs, very trainable, and a male will be substantial enough with a decent bark to give you that bit of sense of security you're after.

We'd be able to walk in the morning, a short walk at lunch time and then a longer walk in the evening ( Mon - Thurs) and the other 3 days wouldn't have any restrictions as I don't work those days

Collies of any type are working dogs and could be off-lead all day (as they are when herding sheep) and still not be tired. They can easily cover up to sixty miles in a day. They are highly intelligent and can be destructive when bored. They are really not suitable for most families as a pet.

We have a ten-year-old Cairn Terrier. He has one good walk a day and mooches in the garden at other times. Cairns, in common with Westies, are not big dogs but have a deep, throaty bark which makes them sound much bigger than they are. They are people dogs - ours prefers humans to other dogs on the whole, and tend to be lovely with children. Ours has helped several of my pupils who have been nervous around dogs to the point where several have gone on to get dogs of their own. They are real characters too. With all you have posted, I could highly recommend a Cairn to you.

Collies of any type are working dogs and could be off-lead all day (as they are when herding sheep) and still not be tired. They can easily cover up to sixty miles in a day. They are highly intelligent and can be destructive when bored. They are really not suitable for most families as a pet.

Working type sheepdogs do indeed fit this mould, but as someone who has lived with many Roughs for the best part of 40 years, I can assure you they make excellent family pets. Smooths are a bit livelier than some Roughs, but still make excellent pets.

Dog threads on here really are bizarre. The same breeds trotted out every time as being the ideal family dog and my personal bugbear, a fixation that all 'collies' are sheepdogs and not fit for any home that won't exercise all day every day. It is absolutely not true.

@Whitney168 I share your feelings. Rough collies are not working sheep dogs. It's like people saying poodles are gundogs. I know or have known literally dozens of working gundogs (as in, do the job they're bred for) and exactly half of one is poodle (crossed with working spaniel). You do hear of the odd poodle working on a shoot (just ad you also hear of the odd staffie or similar) but they are essentially a show/pet breed with gundog ancestry.

As I said upthread I bloody love cairns, they’re fab little dogs and ideal for most family homes. Desperately unpopular at the moment as everyone is taken with the poodledoo craze.

good news is you likely won’t find a cairn in a puppy farm- because they’re all breeding poodledoo’s. So find a KC breeder and contact a few.

I have a yorkie currently and it’s the same with them. Finding a yorkiepoo or a morgue is easy, hundreds in puppy mills. Unless you want a “teacup” abomination. For a pedigree yorkie I had to research the show circuit and the KC.

some breeders are going back to the slightly older, bigger style, my friends is similar to a border/cairn size. Advantages are only one short walk a day, refuses to go out in the rain or bad weather, but will potter around all day checking under fridges and in the garden for mice.

i had to teach mine to alert bark, he is not yappy at all. Now it’s only if someone approaches the house/knocks on the door. Suprisingly many people seem more worried about small dogs as they have a reputation for biting ankles 😂 although a yorkie would probably break their teeth.

I own German shepherds & Italian mastiffs (cane corso) Most working breeds and "protective" dogs requires a lot of correct socialisation and training or they can quickly become out of control / dangerous.

Mine are both perfect around children however neither dogs like cats. You can raise a dog to get along with cats if they are socialised from a puppy however lots of these breeds suggested have high prey drives so you'd have to be careful.

It sounds like you have the perfect house for a large breed dog but I'd definitely look into a golden retriever with small children.

Most people who say their dogs are protective actually have reactive dogs who I wouldn't trust around children or outside family members. I have to put my mastiff in the kitchen when others come to visit as he gets too overwhelmed.

If you have the money and resources to raise/train a dog then join some Facebook groups for breeds you like the look of and ask for advice.

I'd personally steer clear of any poodle type mixes (cockapoo's etc) but that's my personal preference. I find small dogs incredibly frustrating and yappy😂.

Our black labrador is a great deterrent/alarm raiser. I have never heard him bark, but the alarm would like be raised when the burglar tripped over him in the dark as he invisibly and silently moved in to see if he had any food!