What breed of dog wouldn’t you have again?

[PizzaSophiaLoren]

We have a little Beagle/Poodle cross and my word she had the worst characteristics of both. Stupid, disobedient and scent driven like a Beagle. Fussy with food and snappy like a miniature poodle. We do love her despite this.

This evening she pushed us to the limit by chasing rabbits for two hours in the local tiny park. Her recall goes out of the window when she is scent triggered. We thought she’d got better. But no, she’s still a dick.

What breed or cross of dog would you never get again and why?

Our rescue chow was like this when we first got her. She would just flump down and flatly refuse to go any further. Four years on and she loves her walks, but she still doesn’t like to expend any excess energy 😂. Apart from her walk, she spends her entire life lying in the garden or on the landing. She’s the least sociable dog I’ve ever met.

Again, a well bred Poodle is not anxious and certainly not neurotic 🙄

Well I have had Standards and Toys over the last 24 years and know several who breeds and show them. Given that, I have probably known many, many more than you and I have never met one with those traits. I’m not questioning your experience, but it seems you have met badly bred (probably puppy farmed) members of the breed.

In any breed you can get outliers or poorly bred individuals. Sometimes it happens for no apparent reason.

Schnauzers are supposed to be confident, personable, assertive dogs. They should have watch dog tendencies on home turf, but not be aggressive.

They are reasonably intelligent, so can be problematic if they don't get enough mental stimulation.

Yep, my Misty would have done the same thing 🥰 to me they are the loveliest little things. She was extremely affectionate and loved kids. She loved everyone really, absolutely useless as a guard dog of any kind, she would lie on her back and let strangers stroke her tummy.
That's amazing that you fostered that many dogs, I struggled with 2 never mind that many! Inspirational. Your shih tzu sounds absolutely adorable x

Keeshonds have the loveliest temperament, pretty bomb proof so not fazed by kids, cats or a house with lots of comings and goings. We usually had more than one but my grandparents had one at a time and they are happy as solo dogs too. They are loyal and obedient and need minimal training. Friendly but not needy.

They have very fluffy coats so need a good brush especially during a moulting phase (this was in the days before dogs went to the groomers so we did it ourselves). When they are puppies they are just balls of floof and absolutely adorable. One of our dogs had a litter so at one point we had 10 Keeshonds (and 3 siamese cats). I was 10 years old and it was one of the best times of my life, helping with the puppies!

I just googled Kooikerhondje. What beautiful dogs!

The coat was probably my biggest "turnoff" with Keeshonden! The summers here have been getting a lot hotter in the last few years, my Kooiker has an undercoat, but is not as fluffy, and he still suffers.

Tbh some scent hounds never really develop reliable recall. I have a Basset Fauve, bred for similar purpose to a beagle. Our breeder warned us that they cannot be trusted to come back and we never let her off the lead unless we are in a completely enclosed space. One of the most common cause of death in these breeds is road accidents. In these dogs, the need to pursue a scent outweighs everything, and that sometimes means running across the path of an oncoming car to chase prey....

Same with Livestock Guarding breeds but for very different reasons. They rarely have reliable recall. Their instinct to investigate a speck in the distance that may pose a threat, means they often ignore the owners commands. They've been bred to largely work alone for centuries, so the owner has to work around that. Likewise, getting onto roads is a big risk. They need an enclosed space, secure fencing and a lot of lead walking.

I’ve had a real mix of dogs in my adult life as they generally come to me rehomed as adults and I’ve only ever ‘chosen’ one dog. A Spanish rescue sort of spaniel who is my heart dog ❤️

The only ones I wouldn’t have again are a Patterdale and a springer. My patterdale lived until 18 she was deaf, blind and had dementia and arthritis and only really calmed down about 2 weeks before she died. She would fight literally anything and was lightening fast!

I currently have a springer who is 5 and we’ve had him since he was 1. He’s very very clever, has boundless energy and is quite unpredictable with both people and dogs, so needs very careful management.

This thread is an excellent study in how dogs are individuals & even if you do your homework and pick a breed that is suitable for what you can offer they can still upset all your well laid plans!

My Mini Schnauzer was the case study for this. Our first dog, I was really anxious to do everything right, I was told terrier looks without the terrier temperament, but apparently no one had explained that to her 😅

She was a fabulous dog, so confident, so friendly, but one sniff of a squirrel and she was on a mission.

So many people on this thread have such differing Mini Schnauzers it really goes to show that there are no guarantees & that is obviously true for all breeds, never mind crosses.

We have two Beagles and a Jack Russell Terrier 😂
Beagle Boys are really easy - one longish sniffy walk each day and then they just chonk down and sleep - only irritating thing is the "woo woo woo" at feeding time, Youngest one is tall enough to counter surf so you need to remember to put stuff to the back.

Terrier girl is the pack leader - boys both love and are terrified of her in equal measure, she tends to get a red mist if someone dares to walk past the house and is convinced every parcel delivery is for her but is the sweetest most faithful dog ever (we remain convinced both boys would eat us if we expired in the house!)

Only reason for not having another Beagle is they are strong buggers and as I get older I probably would want something smaller and - husband is wanting a Cairn or a Westie but then he is a Scot!

This is our pack after this mornings walk

Both my beagles have been lazy gits too. A good walk and then they spend most of their day snoring!

We lost our 15 year old standard labradoodle at the beginning of the year, she was the calmest and most loving dog you could come across. She hardly ever barked and when she did it was generally once and very quiet. If I really had to think of a negative about her it would only be her constant want to be stroked, she used to nudge your elbow continually when she wanted a fuss. Miss her loads.

Oh bore off.

I think you’re right. However, my family have banned me from choosing our next dog when and if we should get one…

Agree with that - one retriever who was a total food pest who’d eat anything at all, but on the upside ate any dog biscuits, have a setter who never ever steals food, scavenges or approaches anyone that doesn’t regularly give him a treat for food but he’s a super fusspot who’ll starve for days if he doesn’t get meat for dinner.

one was a terrible shedder but never drooled or slobbered, one doesn’t shed but slobbers etc etc.

Pug. I fell in love with their personality and stupidly bought a puppy. She was an amazing, fantastic dog but I am now completely against breeding brachy dogs. She had so many health issues, particularly eye problems and went through far more than a dog ever should. She never bore a grudge against the vet though, they have absolutely outstanding characters. She developed degenerative myelopathy and then had a horrific eye injury and we had to put her to sleep. She didn’t deserve it and I’m heartbroken and devastated. I really think the breeding of these types of dogs should be completely banned, it’s very cruel. If you’re ever tempted to buy a pug, peke, or french bulldog, for fuck’s sake, please don’t.

I didn't know that Patterdales were stroppy and reactive. Our late (black) greyhound used to mooch over to a pair of offlead (black) Patterdales and he would sniff them gently and they'd look up and sniff back. I always reckoned he thought they were greyhound puppies and they thought he was an oversized Patterdale!

Much as I love my chihuahua I probably wouldn't get one again. She's a total lap dog and devoted to me which I love but she definitely has small dog syndrome and will bark at any other dog that comes near her and attempt to shoo them away. She does calm down after 5 mins or so but it's getting through those 5 mins..... I have to walk her early in the morning or late at night so she doesn't get stressed seeing too many dogs which is limiting.

Love her to pieces though!

Every dog (not even necessarily breed) has their bad points, but it’s so easy to focus on “I wish s/he didn’t do XYZ” and miss out on the fab things they do or don’t do.

With my sausages, I would wish they weren’t on-lead dog reactive and could easily be left home alone…but then I’d remember mine never chewed anything other than their toys (even as puppies), never snaffled food (you could leave a steak at snout height and it would be safe), never resource guarded, never blah blah blah

I was out walking and saw a beagle yesterday, what a gorgeous dog but I did feel even more sorry for the owner than I usually do after reading all of these.

We have a 7yo Sprocker, who is actually pretty good to be fair. He is well settled in the home, unless someone comes over, then he just will not settle and will obsess over trying to get whoever has come over to play with him and he can't have many toys in the house otherwise he get over stimulated. He would literally die for a ball! Probably wouldn't get another as my friend has one and it is neurotic, so feel we got lucky with ours and wouln't want to risk it.

Our nearly 2yo Mini Dachshund is a See You Next Tuesday... but she is the most hilarious and loving dog I have ever met, I just have to look at her and she brightens up my day. She loves a cuddle and is clingy but I love it. She was an absolute nightmare to house train, stubborn, barky (but we are working on it and it is getting better, she's not as bad as some sausages i've met), she not overly fond of kids but that's going to have to change as my wife is pregnant. But honestly, she just makes my heart so full, however, I would never get another one, training her nearly broke me!

I grew up with working GSD's, would love one when one of our duo crosses the rainbow bridge but our house is too small, small child, all the hair etc! Also had labs, wouldn't mind another small/working lab.

Spaniels..they are always so busy and smelly.
Cockerpoos...all the ones that I know are yappy with zero recall. Also couldn't be doing with the clipping and grooming required.

My parents had a Westie growing up, I never saw the point. Their labs and retrievers though… loved them.