Breed suggestions for hiking and running

[brownbear201]

Hi all,

I'm starting to think about a possible breed for my next dog. I'm curious as to what suggestions everyone has. I currently have a small terrier. Please bear in mind that all the exercise I'm about to describe I will only undertake with an adult dog, not a puppy.

We're an adult only household and work from home, so someone is around most of the day. I do, however, want a dog that can cope on its own for a few hours whilst we go for a meal or to the cinema or something. I am very active- I enjoy long hikes of up to 15/20 miles across the Yorkshire Dales or Lake District fells. I am also very interested in Canicross. I run with my current dog. I'm a fairly average runner- 26 minutes or so on the flat and 29 ish on hillier trails for a 5K. But with a young dog (once it is fully grown of course) I would be interested in doing some speed sessions and longer runs to get (hopefully) faster. I'm only running once a week at the minute but I would like to increase this with a new dog to around four times a week. On a daily, non-running and non-hiking day I can commit to 2.5-3 hours of exercise, mostly off lead.

I want a dog that is not going to be too tricky to train to be off lead and one that has a prey drive that can be controlled. I live in Cumbria so avoiding livestock is impossible- they're everywhere! Obviously, I'm not expecting to walk the dog off lead in a field of sheep or something but it needs to be able to stay calm in their presence when on lead.

Ideally, the perfect dog would also enjoy playing fetch and swimming. It's not 100% necessary but I would love it if the dog did enjoy fetch and swimming.

I trained my current dog in agility, but I've lost interest in agility tbh. I might take it up with a new dog for fun but I certainly won't be competing. I'd be interested in training scent detection/tracking for fun. My main interest is Canicross and long distance walking and I would like to be able to race with the dog. I'm not serious and have no interest in coming first but would like the dog to enjoy that sort of sport and enjoy pulling.

The main 'issue' I have is that I would prefer a smaller dog. I don't drive and thus, I rely on public transport to get about. I'm very good at navigating it and I've done hikes and runs across the country using trains and buses. I need my dog to be able to cope with that sort of environment- often busy and noisy and stopping in urban areas sometimes. There's not much room most of the time and a larger dog wouldn't be able to comfortably fit in trains and buses. I also prefer smaller dogs. My neighbour has a working Labrador that is lovely, but I don't think I could cope with the drool. I could probably go up to about Border Collie size. Grooming doesn't bother me.

My main contenders so far have been a Working Cocker Spaniel or Border Terrier. On paper, the cocker sounds ideal. Perfect size, usually likes running and hiking (and pulling!) and likes swimming/fetch games. But I'm a bit concerned about the potential for separation anxiety in the breed. Resource guarding is another concern, albeit more minor as we are an adult only household with no kids in the future planned. The Border Terrier also sounds ideal but I'm a bit concerned about the potential for high levels of prey drive. My current terrier has little prey drive, he doesn't even chase squirrels! But I know that's fairly abnormal for a terrier. I'm also a bit concerned about the potential for reactivity and general feisty-ness towards other dogs.

The only breeds that are a hard no are bull breeds like Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Bad experiences with them, I'm afraid.

Any other suggestions that I've forgotten about?

Thanks!

German short haired pointer - bitch, as these are slightly smaller, ours, at 4 years, is 22kg, slightly bigger than a b/collie, but no grooming required! copes with everything, inc being left alone now and then.

They are fantastic family dogs, easy to train, highly intelligent and love exercise, my DD takes her on 10 - 15miles runs, hill reps etc, her prey drive was curbed with some gun dog training.
I take her on off road cycle trials, she has done over 20miles and loves playing ball.

Portuguese podengo.

Working cocker.

My lovely girl is 13 this year but before she started slowing down she was super active and ran with me up to 10 miles.

what about a vizsler, love running
and a pointer?

but you want something small?
a jack russell - go on and on

Dalmatian. It’s what they were bred for. They aren’t difficult to train like PPs imply

I used to run 10 miles a day with my lab off the lead by my side. She was quite slight and never darted off and I am a terrible dog trainer. No joint problems in later life and she lived to a ripe old age so I would have expected some but they never materialised. She was from an excellent breeder which may have been relevant.

Don’t get a working cocker. There are lots of undesirable behaviours manifesting in the breed - particularly over the last few years. A good chunk of the behavioural issues people are going to my DP (vet) with, atm, are not curable and are quite frankly awful - both for the dog and the owners. Issues surrounding the brain are increasingly common. I LOVE the breed. But after what my DP and I have seen…I wouldn’t recommend a WCS for anyone. People on mumsnet who have WCS, tend to have older ones, where these issues, whilst present, are not as prevalent. Even good breeders are struggling to cope - and the issues are not ones which manifest early so WCS are routinely getting to 5/6/7/8/9 and then the issues appear - because it’s not clear whether the parents have the issues when they are using them for breeding (because they are so young when they are bred from).

I’d recommend a Collie or a Springer. Both relatively healthy breeds (although these days that doesn’t say much tbh!), robust, intelligent and need decent exercise. Avoid dogs that are prone to joint issues (dysplasia and early arthritis) as runs will exacerbate that.

I have a working cocker. She is 3.5. I read several books about separation anxiety before I got her, and she's been absolutely fine. She's rarely left alone, but can be left for up to six hours. We also had to train her to settle in the living room, which took a while, but she's perfect now, and very relaxed around the house.

Running/hiking wise, we are near the Peak District and I have done two marathons since owning her. She absolutely loves running with me, and managed my long training runs much better than I did.

Her recall is excellent - I found the book Total Recall really helpful. She was a bit dodgy for a while when she was about 1 - we had to go back to basics.

She was my first dog, and it was a bit of a baptism of fire, but I wanted a trainable, active, friendly dog, and that is absolutely what I have got.

I have a GSP and a working cocker. They are wonder dogs to run with and better than walking off lead actually. When walked off lead in summer they are fine with livestock but the GSP can run after a deer. This is not a problem when we (DH or I) run with them as they tend to stick with us.

They can both go miles and miles and miles.

However, they both need a fair amount of mental stimulation on top of/instead of the physical exercise.. especially the cocker who does not tire simply from running. He needs a job.

The GSP is 3 years older than the cocker (they are 6 and 3) and was fine left for a couple of hours on his own (not destructive or a nuisance barker/whiner) but I felt super guilty about it. Which is why we got the cocker to keep him company.

Edited to add that the GSP is EXCELLENT with children, other dogs especially puppies, and is incredibly loyal. The cocker is fine but grew up with the GSP and learnt from him so I can't comment as to what he would have been like on his own.

I only really run a maximum of 15K anyway and long runs would be with the dog off lead if possible. I’m also certainly not fast!

Most dispiriting thing about running with my dog is looking down and seeing them doing nothing more than fast walk beside you, staring up at you with a look that says "when are we getting started?"

Heat tolerance is also worth considering, not just for running but walking as well. I'd not have something hugely fluffy in the UK if you want to have active days out. My labs are comfortable walking up to about 23/24, a friend has a much fluffier dog (a rescue, some sort of husky mix) and he really doesn't cope with much exercise above 18.

get a jack russell and if they tire you can pop them in a back pack

Haha! Absolutely! Seeing them walk beside you looking up as if to say come on then I thought we were running 😂

😃 Although a JR will never tire before you do. They are tiny machines!!

I used to see a guy out running with 6 dogs attached to him. A mixture of pointers and vizlas from memory. I often used to wonder what would happen to him if they all started running very fast at the same time. They were all beautifully trained though and I was always very envious as I pottered around with my stubborn spaniel.

I hope
The huskies comments wasn't off the back of me saying Samoyed 🤔 @Branster

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever! Not easy to come by, but a Toller could be the whole package you describe!

I'm not sure if a border would be active enough for what you describe and they can have keen hunting instinct and not be good with other dogs.

Until you said you wanted a smaller dog, A German short haired Pointer sounded ideal! They will run forever and ours was easy to train. No trouble.

Do you mean herding instinct?

Borders aren't bred to hunt.

I meant border terrier not border collie.

The HPR - hunt point retrieve - breeds, like German wirehaired pointers, visas etc, are excellent running companions. They can go forever (DH used to do 8-10 mile runs with ours). They might be a bit big for you, but some individuals (esp bitches) and some lines run to the smaller end of the breed standards.

On the whole, they are bright, friendly confident dogs (obviously there are exceptions) but they do tend to need some mental stimulation, but 10-20 mins a day of heelwork, basic obedience and retrieving should cover that. They can have sky-high prey drive which can take considerable training to control and channel, so for your purposes I'd avoid top-end working and field trialling lines.

Bloody lovely group of breeds.

Ah, my bad!

We got an American akita. Apparently a high energy dog that needs 2 hrs a day and lot of running. What we actually got was the laziest dog ever who now, 7 years in, has a dodgy cruciate ligament so was never any good for the purpose we got him for which was jogging and hiking. If you're adult only household, can I recommend a rescue that's already proved its personality and will fit with your lifestyle?

Agree that any hunting or prey driven dog, such as Akita or husky would be an absolute nightmare off lead around livestock. I would get a running lead anyway as you can't trust other dog owners to have trained their dog.

I’m going to back up the Samoyed suggestion.

Mine will go for miles and miles but doesn’t /need/ the work like spaniels/collies in my experience. She will very happily have a duvet day!
The only thing she chases is squirrels but is very good with livestock including sheep.

They don’t drool and honestly she has the best temperament. I will never get another breed now. So gentle with kids and smaller animals but is a sasspot at the same time.

She isn’t mad keen on swimming though. She loves a puddle and will swim after a stick if you persuade her but I’ve read they instinctively don’t want to get soaked through which makes sense because they would freeze to death in the climate they come from.

We do get a lot of attention though if we go to busy places. People swarm to her. Also took a while to get her to accept being left but now she’s fine (if slightly unimpressed). They’re known for being vocal but ours doesn’t really bark that much unless she’s super excited. It’s more chattiness when she knows it’s dinner time or she wants a treat.

We had a lurcher (possibly crossed with a border collie). She was border collie sized, maybe smaller. Her recall was great and she hiked with us and came mountain biking. Loved camping and water, but was also quite happy to be lazy! Played fetch/hunt the ball. She was super gentle and whilst wanted to chase sheep when young, we trained her not to do it. Non drooling, wiry haired so no smell and dirt dropped off her. She also dried really quickly. I could leave her for a good long while if I needed too. I miss her she was the best dog. 💔

I was thinking a border terrier even before I read they were on your list.
They are great dogs who will run for hours.

Either that or a springer.