What breed?

[RainCloudsInTheSky]

We lost our dog about 6 weeks ago and are starting to think about potentially getting another around spring time.

We would ideally like something medium sized, non moulting, good with older kids and easy to train.

many ideas? We think a golden retriever would be lovely but so big and moult. Labs are fairly naughty if my friends labs are anything to go by. Any ideas what may suit us? Thanks.

Cavapoo
Cockapoo

Both non maulting and not too big. We have lots of friends with these breeds and they seem a good family dog. We have a dog but not a non maulting breed (sadly 😂).

We have 2 Lurchers.. Very underestimated family ddog... And we have 2 dcats.

Seconding lurchers, you don’t see many and they’re fantastic family dogs. Calm at home but still love a good run. Or hounds, not as difficult as people think, perfectly trainable with the correct hound mind set.

Cockapoos are crazy, well all the ones I know are! High energy and I wouldn’t say easy to train. I would never own one. Cavapoos equally crazy but at least you can pick them up.

I would say a Lab ticks all the boxes apart from moulting. They’re very easy to train. Especially if you get a show Lab rather than a working Lab. Golden retriever’s seem to moult much more than Labs. Their hair just sticks you whereas Labs hair doesn’t.

You could get a doodle cross lab or something but I don’t really like these crosses as you never know what you’re going to get and they still might moult.

Thirding lurcher , ours is crackers but lovely

Another vote for a lurcher, hard work as pups but make good family dogs when trained. Fold up like flat pack furniture, enjoy a snuggle, cast very little hair and tend to avoid mud and puddles, where our labs would plough through. Cleaning them up takes minutes too.

Any crosses eg cockapoos etc aren't breeds, they are mongrels and therefore you can't claim they have a certain behaviour trait as there is no breed standard
Plus they are the dogs of choice with puppy farmers, therefore very poor breeding practices with multi generational in breeding and no health tests etc.
So you pay over the odds for a mongrel with potential health and behaviour issues.

Miniature poodle should tick all your boxes but may be a bit smaller than you want.

Labs shed a LOT.

I would go for a mini poodle or a whippet.

Ta da...

Are labs, retrievers and lurches not large dogs as opposed to medium sized? What dog did you have before op?

I'd never get a poo, you have no idea what they will be like as they're a cross breed. I know several that are really, really clingy and a couple that are just crazy - and cavs have terrible breeding issues. Lurchers are crosses too though.

I'd go for a whippet.

I'm going lurcher too. Lots of rescue puppies around, and though they are tall, they weigh much less than a golden/ retriever (my 28" to the shoulder lurcher weighs 27kg). Mine are lovely dogs, and go off lead, live with cats and chickens and adore a cuddle. No moulting or drooling too

Miniature poodle (the medium sized ones)

Lurchers come in a whole variety of sizes depending on what breeds have been crossed. Something like a whippet/beddy/collie is going to be much smaller than a deerhound/greyhound/collie. There are so many possible mixes. How adorable is this fella?

I have always had Labradors and I would not describe them as naughty. Late-maturing, intelligent, excellent sense of humour and generally the best breed. But the do need training.

Whippet? They're generally lovely and low stress. Look at show lines rather than working.

A lot of lurchers are purpose-bred for particular jobs and can have sky-high prey drive, so be aware of that.

My whippet is lovely but not what you’d call easily trained. He’s really not terribly smart, bless him. Then again as a first time dog owner I take some of the blame.

He adores children of all ages, is very cuddly and low mess and maintenance.

Yeah we were looking at a poo but think they are too small (for us). Yes retrievers and labs seem too big too. We had collie before so a bit smaller but don’t want a collie again as we don’t want the two dogs to be the same breed as it’s a fresh start with a new dog if you see what I mean. It would remind us of our old dog too much.

Gorgeous!

Very adorable

Whippet or bedlington terrier are amazing dogs.

Staffie? Bedlington terrier?
If you don’t want hair, don’t get a lab!

Lurchers are fabulous. Bedlington terrier/whippet crosses are gorgeous, laid back dogs.

Other possible purebreeds...

Smooth collie
Spanish Water Dog (as long as you're happy to do gundog training as they're essentially spaniels)
Airedale

I’m really heading to a golden retriever but the moulting and size put me off. A friend has one and he is huge! So friendly though.