Serious puppy advice needed. Which breed to go for?

[puppyluvv]

So after many years of knowing we will one day get a puppy, we think in the next year we will go for it.

We have 2 primary school kids.

I work from home almost all week, would be home alone once or twice a week for 3 hours while mine and DH office days crossover.

I've always had the idea in my head that I want a golden retriever and am imagining long country walks with a lovely well behaved dog. However I now need the reality check and advice on to a puppy years and if there are perhaps other breeds more suited for us to look in to.

My husband ideally wants a dog with little malting and not overly destructive in the puppy years.

Walks would be twice a day and sometimes longer (1-2 hours) a few times a week.

Advice and thoughts welcome please.

While I’m not 100% convinced you and your husband are ready for the emotional terorrist that is a puppy I would say that when it comes to their destructive behaviour there’s a big part of that side which is more their personality than breed. Only other thing I would add is puppy’s have sharp teeth and it does hurt (and when they are playing they don’t understand until taught) so you would need to teach the kids how to appropriately behave and react in advance. x

We were advised to join the fb groups of every breed we were tempted by and leave when we’d heard too much. The last group we were in was for Australian labradoodles. We got a miniature who is about 12kg and an absolute joy. Barely sheds, will run with me but if he doesn’t get walked the odd day he doesn’t climb the walls. Has barely destroyed anything and is really clever and easy to train and he’s great with our primary age kids.

This.

Adopt, don't shop, as the expression goes.

A friend got a gorgeous poodle from Poodle rescue, 18 months old. Was going to be used for Doodle breeding but wasn’t for some reason. I don’t understand all the doodle love when you can just get a poodle instead?

I agree puppies are insane for at least the first year.

This is what I was going to say. Something small like a sausage dog or shitzu or pekinese or pug will be happy walking for 30 minutes twice a day, with an occasional longer walk of 1-2 hours. Anything bigger than that is going to want MUCH longer walks!

Dachshunds and pugs are riddled with health issues, and both other breeds are brachy and should also come with massive warning signs.

There are so many other breeds who would be happy with 2 short walks a day and that aren't going to collapse or need spine surgery by four years old.

The thing about shedding is that there is no perfect coat type. Double coats like Goldens, collies, etc shed a lot year round, but require little in the way of grooming. Non-shedding dogs will shed less (never zero) but require upkeep such as frequent baths and trims because, of course, the coat won't shed! And hairless dogs might seem the perfect solution, except like our skin it requires care such as sun screen, exfoliating baths, etc. So very much a pick your poison situation.

Puppies will bite. Just like babies will pick everything, puppies explore the world through their mouths. They could all do with some bite inhibition training, and obviously breeds bred to bite will be mouthier than others. This includes police dog breeds but also herding breeds that will bite stock.

You don't necessarily have to buy a puppy, although that is how it is usually done. It might be worth to reach out to a few breeders once you decide on a breed, as they often hold back dogs to show/breed who don't mature as nicely as they hope and are made avaliable at around 1 year old. There is also the chance of adopting a retiring breeder dog around 4-5 years old that should come fixed and trained.

Double coats like Goldens, collies, etc shed a lot year round, but require little in the way of grooming.

Nonsense. Just because your dog sheds doesn’t mean you don’t groom it. Dead fur matted into coats, which happens to shedding breeds, is painful. Goldens 100% require grooming.

Thanks for all the replies! Lot of info and so much to think about.

Lots of poodles mentioned as potentials, how about labradoodles/cockapoos??

Also wondering whether to just wait 5 years or so until my boys are bigger and then have my golden retriever dream
I'm not sure whether their size and potential hyper ness and mouthyness would realistically work with younger DC.
Thanks for the link to the rehoming site. Will look in to that.

The thing about shedding is that there is no perfect coat type. Double coats like Goldens, collies, etc shed a lot year round, but require little in the way of grooming.

They absolutely do require grooming - not in terms of getting a trim, necessarily, but they should be brushed regularly to prevent matting and damage to the skin. The amount of fur that comes of the collies and golden I walk is crazy. And they get brushed weekly at a minimum!

Lots of poodles mentioned as potentials, how about labradoodles/cockapoos??

Why would you want to ruin a perfectly good poodle by mixing it with another breed? Poodles are excellent dogs as it is.

Mumsnet tends to hate poodle crosses but I have one and she's fab. She was 10 weeks when I got her and she was the easiest pup I had but she's crossed with a small terrier and toy poodle so pretty small! Loves her walks though and can go for miles

We have a pug and he actually has a decent nose.
He has no breathing problems whatsoever, has literally never had a days illness in his life. He is now 7. He can run for miles, never gets tired.
Not sure how we got so lucky with him but we did.

I would say, whatever dog you get, expect you will be the one responsible for looking after. The novelty with children will wear off after 2 weeks max. This is what everyone says. I knew what I was getting into as I grew around dogs. And I walked them hours a day sometimes. (But this was before video games and social media). I started by posting on school Facebook if anyone needed a dog to look after on occasional basis. We got a couple of replies. So my 12 years old son got the experience and enjoyed it. 6 months later I caved in and got my son a dog. It wasn't even a month when he realised the dog requires DAILY WALKS, DAILY FEEDING ETC. The tears started "I don't walk a dog anymore!". Fast forward a few months - our son is playing videos games/going out with friends whist my husband and I look after HIS dog. Can you maybe join BorrowMyDoggie group and find a local golden retriever you could look when the onwers go on holidays/visit in-laws etc?

I’m going against the grain - the get goldie! I didn’t grow up with dogs, have no idea about them and our first family dog is a goldie. My kids are older but he is amazing with all children including very little ones (we highly socialised him)

he actually doesn’t malt as much as I was led to believe he would, his mouthing was very very brief, he’s only ever destroyed things he’s allowed to (bitter apple spray on everything in the first weeks helped), he can be satisfied with two short half an hour walks or has done 15miles in one go with me (I rest him after)

obviously it’s luck of draw but it’s the same for any dog, I think as a breed if you’re happy to have a bigger dog and get a robot hoover to deal with the floof you can’t go wrong - especially if you go for show line rather than working.

we’ve always adopted cats so it felt very weird/wrong to go to a breeder but as a first time dog owner I wanted ti leave as little to change as possible and now feel more confident to get a rescue next time - which will 100% be a Goldie.

there’s a Facebook group called reputable breeders of golden retrievers U.K. where we sourced our boy, no puppy farms there as they’re a tight knit community. Our breeder shows dogs and breeds her girls once to have a puppy to keep her line, so our boy’s mum only had one litter

They said little grooming not no grooming. We brush our goldie when the grass stick or to get dried mud off him, otherwise it’s once a week if less to stop matting - it’s not the same as breeds that need a full on proper groom

Doxiepoo all the way. No malting. Super smart - toilet trained in 4 months. Longer legs than a daschund but still small. Super fast and loves long walks. Playful and a little stubborn. Super soft. You can scoop him up whilst he is sleeping no problem and also will let you scoop things out of his mouth. Only damage is to a few sylvanian families who were left on the floor.

@Citygirlrurallife brushing once a week is a lot when many breeds never need to be brushed at all.

I wouldn't get any breed that needed that level of grooming personally.

I don't hate poodle crosses but I'm not sure what they do that a normal poodle doesn't?

Poodles are fantastic on their own, they don't need to be mixed with every other breed under the sun to make them into good pets.

Fair enough. We sit in front of the telly and he has a chew, we brush him for 10mins and it’s nice bonding time but horses for courses

@Citygirlrurallife I guess I just think it's a bit misleading to say breeds like goldens don't really need grooming - yes, it's not on the same level as, say, a poodle but it's still much more than many other breeds.

A rescue dog is likely to be either very old or not trained as well as you could train a puppy.

Golden retriever puppies are very easy to train. They are also placid as adults if properly trained and walked.

But they shed like no tomorrow.

Have you considered a greyhound!

Yes, I would say goldens require a medium level of grooming. It's why I prefer a lab because I'm very lazy when it comes to grooming!

@sunsetsandboardwalks my point was PP said they need little grooming not no grooming - my personal experience which true is anecdotal supports this. We brush ours once a week max (often less) I know some who don’t do it at all - I’m sure like many breeds their coats vary widely so some will need more and some less. But you don’t have to book a groomer every 6 weeks like some breeds

if you’re someone who doesn’t want to groom every day then a Goldie is a good choice, if you want to spend £££ on a groomer every month then sure get a poodle cross!

Not all pedigree breeds have inbred to a stupid level. One of the benefits of a standard poodle is that they're freer from breed-medical issues than most pedigrees (including toy & miniature poodles).

Poodle mixes such as doodles etc: the market for these dogs is totally unregulated which means its a free for all. There has been no discernment in selecting which animal is suitable to breed from or not, which might be fine if oops your pet got loose & ended up with puppies before you could get them fixed, but it's not fine on this scale.

Consequently, the market is flooded with puppies who have ended up with the 'negative' traits of both breeds to create health & behavioural issues. So, it's a gamble as to whether you get one of these or one who's benefited from the best of each breed.

Multiply this by X times to match the size of the marker for poodle crosses and there's a huge pool of dogs(and bitches) out there who are bred from willy nilly down generations with no eye to what this means for the pups.

And yes of course we know that inbreeding of certain traits in pedigrees has caused terrible problems for the animals (flat faced dogs & cats for example) and this needs addressing too. But, owners have the benefit of knowing what they're taking on and what negative traits they're supporting the market for.

Mongrels may be commonly known for having better health than pedigree dogs, but specialists are beginning to see numerous issues occurring as a result of the demand for poodle-crosses so it's something to be aware of.

I’ve had a Goldie and they shed fur all the time. Lovely dogs but the dog fur drives you crazy. They are also quite big and bouncy, for a long time.

Our current dog is a miniature poodle. No shedding! After the Goldie it’s amazing to have a none shedding dog. She’s also much quieter than a Goldie and she’s been a dream to train. She was housetrained in three weeks. Recall is solid, in fact it would be impossible to lose her. Lol.

The crosses are unnecessary. You can have everything you need in a dog with a poodle and you know what you’re getting. I’ve seen so many poodle crosses that are nuts. There’s also no guarantee they won’t shed. Everyone thinks ours is a cockapoo or a cavapoo and they look astonished when you tell them she’s an actual poodle. They often say, she looks like their cockapoo. I point out that their dog actually looks like a poodle. 😂

We clip our poodle about every six weeks. It takes us about an hour. She gets brushed three or four times a week.