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.

Spaniels are working dogs, so need a lot of mental stimulation and physical exercise. Dachshunds are used for hunting - typically they would be sent down foxholes to drive out the animal. They are also very stubborn, not a typical lapdog. I have a Bichon Frise, but maybe that's too similar to a Westie? Have you thought about visiting a dog rescue centre? All of my dogs are/were rescues and all small breeds, affectionate and easily trained. I don't think there's any such a thing as a 'lapdog' - all dogs, big and small, like to sit on laps. I think we are complicit in that we want them to sit on us!

Just popping back on as I had a notification about the thread.

We got a Cairn terrier. He’s amazing but dear god he nearly broke me as a puppy 😂

VERY food focused and a bit more destructive chewing than the westie but that might also just be that we had blocked out the puppy days.

We didn’t consider rescuing as we’ve got 2 kids at home so that pretty much rules us out from most shelters, just to answer that question. Certainly wouldn’t be against it in the future when kids would be grown up as I’ve already said I couldn’t do the puppy phase again!