Which breed?

[HouseofGods]

Our westie very sadly passed away over a year ago now (he was only 10) and after saying we could never go through it again we're slowly starting to feel like we could have another dog. The problem is knowing which breed would be right for us.

Our westie was perfect. He was a great dog and exactly what we needed from getting him as a pup when it was just DH and I to then dealing with having noisy babies/toddlers/young boys in his space. We just don't think we can have another westie as it would feel too much like a replacement and wouldn't be fair to new dog to be compared.

We've got 2 young kids (9 and 5), own garden (not massive), would generally only need a dog walker on a Wednesday as out from 9-3 but someone would be at home the other days.

We've started to consider a spaniel (open to suggestions as to which would be most suitable) but would love other suggestions too please?

Dogs that are a definite no - anything big! Not necessarily because I assume they're bad with kids but I'd prefer to be in a position of knowing that I was fully in control no matter the situation (I'm small and wouldn't want something that would pull me off my feet for example - westie had a high prey drive with squirrels 😂) Also a no to anything like a lapdog - Lhasa, Dachshund etc - we enjoyed the personality of the terrier although he wasn't a noisy one.

Border terrier

Another vote for a border.
Spaniels are ALOT, and especially cockers tend to have a real proclivity to resource guarding which isn’t a trait I’d want around young children

Cairn Terrier.

Thank you, some terriers to add my list.

Interesting info re the spaniels, they kept coming up on searches for good family breeds. Would that apply to all spaniels? Cavalier King Charles are featuring quite high on lists and we have a friend that has an amazing one but he may be the exception as he's incredibly lazy and very greedy so easy to train with treats!

Cavaliers are great (caveat to follow) gentle, loving dogs. I’ve got two. They are happy with 45/50 minutes walking but also happily come with us in 8/9 mile walks in the lakes. Very calm in the house. Mine came as a rescue from a bonded pair and are the easiest rescues in the history of rescues. I don’t really count them as spaniels in the way cockers/springers etc are

Caveat is the genera health of the breed is poor, heart murmurs occur in something ridiculous like 95%. You’d need to really do your research on health testing, good breeders exist but are hard to find, even now so few bother with MRI scans for syrengomyelia. Which is a must imho. They do exist but expect waiting lists for a puppy and the puppy will not be cheap.
They are very popular with puppy farmers especially to help feed the cavapoo/cavachon trend so you’ll have to Wade through a log of dodgy sellers.

If you're looking at spaniels please avoid a working cocker. They are incredibly affectionate but extremely hard work, I found ours harder to look after than my own children at times. Somebody I know has two cavalier King Charles which are lovely but they got them when their children were teenagers. Spaniels are lovely and do make wonderful family pets but id only consider the breed if you've got plenty of time to train them x

Miniature poodle. We have an 11 month one and she’s amazing. We’ve had dogs before and knew that puppies are hard work but our poodle has been a dream.

A friend has a miniature schnauzer and he is very easy going

King Charles' are lovely dogs but they've been so overbred that they really suffer with their health. I really wouldn't take one on until things improve significantly in that respect.

It's such a shame as they're such sweet dogs.

We have a mini schnauzer after having had a Westie and like you, didn't want to compare, we love her dearly and she has a massive personality but is yappy just to warn you but otherwise we say she is the perfect size/temperament/ amount of exercise required for us and we can cope with the barking (mostly!)

If you like terriers then look at Borders, Cairns and Norwich.

I have a Border - it took us months to find a breeder we were happy with. We visited obviously puppy farmed dogs dressed up as 'home bred'. We finally settled on a slightly chaotic but experienced 'home' breeder who bred a specific line for health and temperament (parents fully health tested and pup was SLEM tested herself which is very rare). Met multiple generations. Spoke to people who had had previous puppies. Breeder wanted to know all about us and no question was too silly and they were very open with us.

They have become popular in pet homes so that is why I suspect.

It is getting harder to find a 'well bred' puppy.

Spaniels are working breeds, with the exception of King Charles. They need correct training and proper walks + stikulation plus preferably a job to do eg agikity/gundog work otherwise they often become destructive and anxious. So many spaniels in rescues for resource guarding and anxiety due to not having correct training when young and then boredom when older.
To put it into context my WCS is very well behaved and chilled at 2 and a half years but that's because she has had over 400 hours of training and is a working gundog.

Thank you so much for all the info, it's really appreciated and I think we can knock the spaniels off the list. We're an active family but certainly don't need a working type breed and would worry about it becoming destructive/anxious if our lifestyle wasn't enough.

The health problems are definitely a concern with the KC. Our westie was super healthy up until his lymphoma diagnosis which was sadly one of those things, I couldn't face watching them struggle through an illness we knew from the start would be likely.

Cairn terrier has shot itself way up the list. I say this after opening up the kennel club website and a litter of westies was the first result...taking all my willpower not to phone the breeder

Funnily enough DH just mentioned a miniature schnauzer! Years ago we met someone with a westie mini schnauzer cross called a wauzer!

Mini labradoodle... amazing dogs.
Clever, immensely trainable, fun and friendly.

Retired greyhound! I don’t have one due to cats but walk them for charity.

i have a lab and border terrier but still yearn for a greyhound!

Mini Schnauzer gets my vote. We have an 8 month old. Great temperament, house trained easily, very affectionate and quite a sturdy, agile dog.

I have a Westie who is old now and won't be able to have another for the same reasons as you.

I'm considering a Cairn or a Norfolk in the future.

After being used to the terrier temperament, a spaniel would drive me nuts!

@Tistheturkey again not a breed so no breed standard to judge characteristics against and yet again at the mercy of puppy farmers. As with all of these mongrels there is horrific in-breeding.

We have a Wheaten Terrier. She's a super-easy dog but also lots of fun. We have her groomed in a pet clip rather than the show style with the fall over the eyes. Just another option if you like terriers, but a bit bigger than a Westie.

This has been eye opening so thank you. I think I'd been so clear to move away from westie that spaniel sprung to mind without really thinking about it. It's clear now that's not going to be the dog for us.

I'm not keen on any of the more 'fashionable' cross breeds for the reasons mentioned above. We've got a few sets of friends with cockapoos and they're all such a mixed bag of physical (not as important although one is HUGE!) and behavioural characteristics I wouldn't want to roll the dice on that.

Cairns are definitely shooting to the top of the list

Plenty of other terrier options like you say. I know a couple of Mini Schnauzers too that are great with kids but not so much with other dogs (possibly lack of socialisation and training on the owners’ part though). Very barky!

A Dachshund definitely isn’t what I’d class as a lap dog! They’re traditionally a working breed and all the ones I know are feisty and love walking for miles. They might have the cute image but they were bred to hunt like terriers.

If you don’t want a lap dog then definitely don’t get a cavalier. They are the definition of a lap dog! They were even bred to be lapdogs! I have a dachshund now- historically they were interbred with terriers which gives them their feisty little personalities but I can see you don’t want one of those, which is fair enough. Think a border terrier would suit you well. Never had one but met many in dog training classes and their personalities always seem to sparkle.

Fair point on the dachshunds, DH worked with a woman who put hers in her handbag to take it on the train to work and I think that's put him off

Ah jeez no that’s awful! I hate it when dachshunds are treated like little toy dogs. They’re considered an aggressive breed by many, I think because they are treated like little lap/toy dogs due to their size but they need to treated and trained just like a bigger dog. They have such big personalities. I’ve had and been around dogs all my life and I’m completely converted since I got my daxie. Anyway, sorry, that’s not the point of your thread!