Does this dog exist or are we asking too much?

[Jessforless]

We are thinking of getting a second dog and all getting quite excited about it. We have a very lovely and playful shepherd who does not stop playing and feel like a playmate would be ideal. No issues with house or garden. Our dog is so friendly.

We want a dog with a low prey drive, can play with a shepherd (so not too small)… isn’t a dog with a low life expectancy (my DH loves a mountain dog but I can’t bare the short amount of years you would get with it, would break my heart)

But huge deal breaker, we used to have a dog who was very barky. Were keen to go for a breed that isn’t known for its barking, we trained our previous dog to within an inch of his life but could never rectify the barking and it was a lot.

Would really welcome suggestions! 🤞

Australian Labradoodle

What type of shepherd? There’s many dogs that are shepherds (and the type of dog will definitely effect recommendations)

Labrador

Another shepherd type? Would you consider rescue? They would match your dog based on personalities and compatibility, and they would get to meet up on neutral ground first as well. TOOOONS of Shepherd and Shepherd crosses in rescue.

Agree a rescue would be a good idea as then you can match up with your existing dog in terms of size, temperament and play style.

Labrador. There are a lot of rescue labs out there that would be perfect. I have two 9 year olds and they’re still giddy.

I was going to say corgi... until you mentioned the barking.

By mountain dog, I take it you mean a Bernese ? The life span should be around 10 years which is in line with other large breeds.

What brings down the average life span is that they can get cancer at a young age which is aggressive and it's these dogs that bring down the average age but a Bernese without cancer should easily make 8 but more likely 10.

I would however point out that any large breed will be slow to mature in terms of growth and it may be that your Shepherd would be too lively during that time. What's wrong with another Shepherd ?

I actually would say a greyhound in spite of your ‘no prey drive’ requirement, because all dogs have some kind of prey drive, just some more than others and some are more easily recalled. Some of them can live with cats; the rescue will test them.

We have an European Boxer. Lovely family friendly dog. They’re said to be Peter Pans of all dogs as they’re very energetic and playful.
Our boxer very rarely barks (only when it hears someone knocking but as soon as sees who it is he calms down). He also gets along with other dogs but definitely not cats.

He’s 8 years old and so far no health issues.

I also came on to say greyhound.

Labrador or Golden Retriever.

Are you looking to get something from a puppy, or older? I get irritated with people constantly trying to push you into rescues when you say you’re looking for a dog, I’LL choose what dog I want and where I get it from, thanks! But in your case I would consider contacting a few, as not only do you have a specific list of traits, you’ve got another dog you need to match up with it nicely. With a rescue you’ll not only get to see them interact before you make a decision, the fallback is always there if it doesn’t turn out to be such a good match. Whereas otherwise you could end up making an awful mistake and going through years of hell, people can spend pages advising you on breeds, no one can say how an individual will be with your dog though.

We would want a puppy, we’ve trained our current and previous dogs from puppies and would want to do the same.

Thanks for suggestions, I’ll look into them.

Though I think a greyhound might be a bit low energy (which I didn’t realise!) We like to lead quite an active lifestyle with our dog and go to agility fields and bring her running. (She’s Australian Shepherd)

A corgi was the absolute breed of choice for the rest of my family until I researched the barking.

Another shepherd would be great, just wanted to see what else might suit. It’s never not fun to google dogs anyway 😂

Working Labrador 🥰.

My corgi is not that bad with barking. She’s a Cardigan corgi. I did a lot of research on both types and decided the Cardigan was best for me.
I would say she is only very vocal when she is trying to tell me something or ask for something.
A wonderful dog breed, I had a lab collie cross and an Alsatian lab cross in the past. But this little corgi has stolen my heart. A small dog with a big dog attitude and so clever but loves to herd and be a clown too.

Chesapeake.

Ah! I thought it might be an aussie but people refer to their CS or the GSDs as Shepherds these days...

I'd say springer or golden. Both are lovely dogs.

lab or greyhound /lurcher for sure

Standard poodle

We have a working black lab and although he gave up working before he even started he is everyone’s friend and is always up for a run around and a game

Seconded

Spanish Water Dog