What dog breed would you suggest?

[DodgeDog]

I have teen aged kids, dog friendly cats, mostly work from home, rural woodland walks to hand and a tendency to walk 6 or 7 miles daily off road. No allergies.

And this time, with photo.

An Airedale

Not if the breeds share health issues, which for example, labradors and poodles do with most of their common health issues.

OP, retrievers (I’m lumping them together) are popular for a reason, they’re fairly easyish dogs as long as you’re set up for dog ownership, biddable, usually easy to motivate with food so very trainable.

Samoyeds are adorable, so expressive, playful and fun! Although they're white, their coats are called 'Teflon' because they get muddy and then it seems to disappear almost - we bathe ours irregularly and send to groomers every 3 ish months. They tend to blow their coats x2 a year, but still need regular brushing. No trimming tho as their coats regulate their temperature so groom and bath/nails only (sometimes trim feet fur )
Good luck

Flat coat retrievers don’t live very long. 8-10 years. But they are amazing dogs.

Labradors can be really difficult in terms of training them well. You have to commit - IME labs are either perfectly trained or a liability.

Goldens are, IME, a good compromise between the flat coat and the lab. Longer life expectancy but less likely to be a liability.

Golden Retriever or Labrador. Labs are easier in terms of coat maintenance as they're short haired but both breeds shed a lot so do be prepared for that

If you're considering a flat coat do be aware of their short life expectancies. Many die of cancer before they reach the age of ten sadly.

Gymmum82 has an Australian Labradoodle offended you in some way? 😆
I'll be sure to let mine know he doesn't exist!!

Keep the cute dog photos coming! :)

OP, I have a working Bedlington Terrier. He's great. Doesn't shed, clean, walks for miles when we are out and lies like a lump when we are home. He's been brought up knowing next door's cat and he gives it a wee nose lick now and then.

And this, to refer back to the doodle argument upthread, is why crossbreeding can be a good idea. Obviously if you cross two breeds that share the same recessive issues and you don't health test, you'll run a high risk of the recessive gene doubling up in the puppies so they develop the disorder.

However, some breeds are riddled with genetic issues that can't be tested for - flatties are delightful dogs but notorious for dying of cancer relatively young and having a short lifespan (a dog that size should really live to about 12). Much the same can be said of eg wolfhounds. Immune issues are also common in dogs that lack genetic diversity, along with small litter sizes.

Livestock breeders understand all this and keep their coefficients of inbreeding down. They will outcross if they think they need to. I wish the KC would catch up with all this.

I tend to agree with@EdithStourton. I wouldn't be too put off by crossbreeds. The terrier crossbreeds I've had have been exceptionally healthy and lived until their 20s. Beware of show breeders, the genetic pool is tiny and show dogs are more fragile with more health dogs. There's a bit of snobbery involved too. You'd get a healthier pup from a 'new litter, working puppies' advert in a rural village shop!

More health problems, not dogs!

Rule number one, always.

Never choose a dog whose poo is bigger than you wish to pick up.

Our Border Terrier produced the neatest little torpedoes.

We've just got an English Setter, another endangered native breed. She will be a big dog with long hair eventually, but she's a cute little whirlwind at the moment!
I'd definitely recommend.

Crossbreeding only reduces genetic conditions when the dogs are genuine Heinz 57s, and even then it’s not guaranteed.

Crossing of two breeds basically doesn’t decrease the risk at all, particularly if they are both breeds prone to the risk of health conditions. Hardly any doodles are from parents which have been hip and elbow scored, and as a group of dogs they are as likely as pedigrees to have dysplasia and other conditions. Plus there’s the fact that decent breeders want to breed to a breed standard and produce the best dog they can - there is no breed standard for any doodle, so by definition you can’t breed a good one as there are no criteria. The motivation for breeding them is money as they are fashionable and for some reason people want a cross more than a Labrador or poodle, even though if you go to an established breeder of labs or poodles with a good reputation and who health-tests their dogs before breeding you’ll get a healthier puppy than you would with a cross. People who want a hypoallergenic dog should get an actual poodle. Production and purchasing of these fashionable crosses just encourages puppy farming, which is becoming more industrial and more sophisticated and therefore harder to spot. Just because you didn’t get a puppy from a filthy shed it doesn’t mean it didn’t come from a puppy farm.

And “Australian Labradoodle” isn’t a thing and is no different from a British, German or any other nationality of crossbreed.

Crossbreeding only reduces genetic conditions when the dogs are genuine Heinz 57s, .

Actually, no.

Some breeds have a lot of dogs that carry one or more recessive conditions. A carrier (one copy) will show no symptoms. But if it is mated with another dog that carries the same recessive, on average a quarter of the puppies will get a double dose and develop the condition. This why responsible cocker and springer spaniel breeders will test for PRA and only mate carriers to non-carriers, and if all else is equal, elect to breed a dog who isn't carrier rather than one who is.

There are also a couple of conditions which are pretty much breed-specific, like wolfhound rhinitis.

You could breed a carrier wolfhound to just about any dog on the planet that wasn't a wolfhound, no health tests, and pretty much guarantee that no puppies would be affected.

Similarly with PRA: quite a lot of breeds don't carry PRA (or only vanishingly rarely), so you could mate the dogs without health tests and not worry about the puppies going blind in later life.

There will be illnesses that are genetically mediated that we haven't spotted yet or have spotted but can't test for. And then there is the whole issue with the immune system: the narrower a genetic pool an animal is drawn from, the more likely (likely, not guaranteed) it is to have a compromised immune system. It may be this that underlies the issue with cancer in flatties, or that maybe written into their genetics - there is research on this underway. In any case, a poor immune system will predispose to allergies.

There are no guarantees and even a fairly random-bred dog can have issues (terriers are known for itchiness, and our not-sure-what's-in-there-call-it-a-JRT was on the itchy side) but you up your odds.

But yeah, if you cross-breed dogs from breeds that are both known for PRA or bad hips without health tests, you are taking a big punt with the welfare of the puppies. But they'll probably at least benefit from decent immune systems.

A rescue

If you want to run with your dog consider a pointer. The German short (and long) haired pointers are lovely.

If you want something a bit different take a look at "Braque d'Auvergne" a sort of French pointer. Our girl is beautiful. Currently curled up next to me on the sofa, but will run for miles. Really lovely dogs.

Our previous dog was a Gordon Setter. Also fabulous dogs but you need to be prepared to groom as they have a lot of hair.

Braque d'Auvergnes are gorgeous - I know one and she is a love.

German pointers are also gorgeous but they can be very full on. Anyone who wants one for a pet is best advised to avoid lines full of working test winners and field trial champions. Or any German imports in the preceding few generations - wonderful dogs but wired for work.

I'd say much the same about any of the HPR breeds tbh. Fabulous breed group (which is why we've got them) but they tend to need an outlet.

Sorry Edith, you disagreed with me but I think we’re basically making the same point? You missed out my next part which was “and even then it’s not guaranteed”. I was trying to say that the risk is reduced with a wide gene pool like a genuine Heinz 57 but as I said, not eliminated. And certainly not with a first cross, or doodle to doodle so there’s still only two breeds in there.

I think we're agreeing on some of it, but I disagree that the risk is not reduced at first cross. It's less reduced with crosses like doodles where both sides are prone to a lot of the same issues, but the immune system stuff should still hold. And for a breed like flatties, crossing them with almost anything should be expected to massively bring down the risk of cancer.

Totally agree with this.

@DodgeDog Don't necessarily restrict yourselves to the obvious choices. There are so many and many that haven't fallen victim to being bred purely for commercial reasons.

Can you get to Crufts in a couple of weeks time? If so, they have Discover Dogs there where you can meet all the breeds and chat to their owners. VERY worth it!!

My niece has got what I think she called a "double doodle" whatever that is. Smallish really friendly little dog.

English Setters! They are the sweetest dogs, and I say that after having a show cocker. Very similar to golden retrievers in personality but not as big and don't shed as much. They don't bark much, are not super needy either but do love human company (rated one of the best dogs for children) and are happy to chill in the house but also love a long walk/run. I can't understand why they aren't a more popular dog in this country. My two are both rescues from Italy.

Do you have any experience with dogs?

Labs are perfect first time dogs imo. Generally biddable and easy going as long as you are on top of the training.

HPR breeds are a lot of dog, I know lots of lovely ones but they've all been fairly hard work.

I know a few English setters and none can be trusted off lead in areas where there might be deer.

We went to crufts discover dogs as @Learlyjam mentioned and came across English Setters there. Did a lot of research and visiting breed shows and picked our puppy up last week (photo up thread). I also don't understand why they aren't more popular, they're beautiful dogs and all the ones I've met have been really quite chilled - although have heard recall is a bit of a problem!