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?

I would never .have a collie again we had a rescue and it was such hard work and we made a mistake getting her, she was loved and well looked after,but she was nippy and unpredictable,

We have a spaniel now he is our last dog due to our age, he is a delight but my god he is a busy boy 😀

We had a pointer/viszla cross. Never again! She would have climbed up inside of us if she could have she was that clingy and she hated other dogs invading her/our space. Lost count of the amount of times I’d have arguments out on walks because my, completely under control on lead dog who just wants to be left alone, would react to impolite dogs right up her ass. Other owners just couldn’t grasp the concept that their dogs were undoing all my hard work with reactivity etc. because ‘they’re friendly’. Lockdowns definitely escalated her issues plus she had epilepsy so all round, she was a lovely family dog within our 4 walls, but I’d never take on either breed again as I can’t be sure whether it was just her or breed traits.

Content Warning (added by MNHQ)

Staffordshire bull terrier.

I LOVED Bella. She was loyal, sappy and soft, and I thought she was the best dog in the world.

Bella had lived in peace with a cat and another small dog for over 10 years. They were all the best of friends. I was 12 years old and one day, when I came home from school, I smelt something a bit funny.

I will never get the image of those rooms from my mind.

Our smaller dog had been ripped to shreds in the living room. Literal shreds. He was everywhere. It looked like the cat had tried to get away and ran into the kitchen up onto the table. She was torn into two pieces and the blood was spattered up the large kitchen window.

I could never look at Bella the same again, and she lived for another two years. I was sad when she died but I think I saw something else in her that day as she wagged her tail, jaw covered in blood.

I'll never have another breed that has been bred to be aggressive to animals and seemingly have a hair trigger that goes nuclear when pulled.

Beagle. Absolutely horrific.

Chow Chow…not mine but my cousin’s dog, and we house shared for a couple of years when younger. Meanest dog I’ve ever met! Totally unpredictable (in a dangerous way). I hated that dog, and I’ve had dogs all my life. Definitely not family friendly!!

Miniature Dachshund.
When i looked into which breed i remember seeing ''vigorously alert'' in the description. My god. Bark. Bark bark. Never again. Plus naughty - used punish us for going out briefly without her. One example: pulling all the cushions off the sofa and peeing on them 😳

Favourite breed - Great Dane. Easy-peazy and so laid back.

I've never owned a Boxer but based on the only 2 i've known i wouldn't 🤪 One ate their way through a wooden dresser to get to some easter eggs and ate the choc plus 90% of the packaging !!!

GSD… They are the best dogs ever and I adore them, but they’re just not the same at all. They look different now and they have physical and neurological issues. So heartbreaking.

Can I just give a shout out for retired racers...
Yes, some are very large, but they're gentle and sweet hounds. Love ours 😍

We lost our gorgeous mini schnauzer in April and we won’t even consider any other breed. They’re just fabulous. X

We’re on our second beagle 😂, so obviously I don’t share the ‘I’d never have one again’ sentiment. Both of ours have been absolutely great dogs, once trained. Neither have been barkers, and both incredibly intelligent. The food obsession remains a challenge but really that’s the only negative for us.
On the other hand my mum has had 2 cocker spaniels and I’d never, ever have one of those.

French bulldogs or pugs (cruel)
Dachshunds (never known one that wasn't yappy)
Border collies and spaniels (too intense unless they are working or massively exercised / stimulated at all times)
Any poodle cross breed

Ditto border collies. Especially people who get them and treat them like a much smaller, less active dog. Not their fault as they are working dog breeds but winds me up so much when people get them and give them one half an hour walk a day.

A cockapoo- needy & anxious- requires a lot of mental stimulation from the working cocker in her & has all the anxiousness of a poodle.
Got a show type cocker spaniel as the 2nd dog and although she steals food, she is so chilled out in comparison.

@TheWisePlumDuck that is a truly horrific story. I'm not usually one for 'Trigger Warnings' on posts, but, honestly, I think yours might fit! I can't believe your family kept the dog for another 2 years! Baffling.

Back to the OP - my non-choice is an Italian Greyhound. Sweet, tiny, terrifyingly small. So vulnerable, I was in constant fear of treading on it. Every time it so much as tapped a leg or a tail, it would scream. I would never have such a little, fragile dog again. Plus, really hard to toilet train.

My other non-choice would be any kind of terrier. For the barking.

Agreed. We have one and he is the best dog ever 😊Massively obedient, no issues off lead ever, really friendly with all dogs and people, loves running and exercise but will just chill and sleep when we get home. Never chews or destroys anything. His only issue is that he is quite needy and likes to know where you are at all times (I believe separation anxiety can be quite high in GSP) but apart from that they are a brilliant breed.

BUT he does need a lot of off-lead exercise (which we can provide) and I think that is key to many, many dogs being good examples of their breed. No point saying "oh I wouldn't get a spaniel again as she chewed everything in the house" if you're taking them for a short walk and then leaving them in the house all day! Likewise with huskies, border collies, German Shepherds etc. They are working, active dogs. If you give them what they need they are generally pretty happy and content!

We have a cavapoo and he is an absolute dream. From a family breeder and bred for temperament, not from a puppy mill. He is perfectly happy to be left, lazes around all day quite happily and calm, and then on a walk he runs like the blazes after a ball, sniffs, chases squirrels, but never more than 30 yards from me and he has dream recall. He even stops at certain points of our walk for me to put his lead back on. He is his dog Walker's favourite as, she says, he never gives her a moment's trouble.

On the downside he is prone to itchy yeasty ears and a bit of a fussy eater.

I can’t believe Bella wasn’t euthanised. She could have done the same to a child!

We had a beagle. He was the most intelligent dog I’ve ever encountered. I used to think he was a human in the body of a dog. He was also extremely stubborn, and obviously he was highly driven by scent.
He loved us and was loyal to us, but didn’t like strangers at all, even once he got to know them. He always remained aloof and unfriendly.

I was just coming on to say beagle too.

I have never owned one under strict warmings, because 2 family members have had a beagle and they’re beautiful dogs but a complete and total nightmare, they were untrainable, difficult, stubborn and totally disobedient, never ever responding to their name and not suitable as pets. They would be the absolute worst dog for me and my personality.

My MILs beagle made it into the national newspaper with her antics. She was a holy terror.

My chow is the easiest laid back dog ever. She's fab

My beagles have both been so food obsessed that they were ridiculously easy to train… they’d do anything for a morsel of food! Our current beagle was the star of training classes.

Patterdale terrier. Perfect in the house, loves people, never snaps, doesn’t steal, shares his dinner, no resource guarding, lovely deep bark and is very handsome (think of a very fit mini Labrador).

As soon as he goes outside every muscle tenses as he sniffs the air for a victim, and he focuses on finding something to kill (not people, they’re just ignored). And he stays in that mode until we get home, whereupon he slobs out on the sofa again.

Thankfully he’s small enough for me to stop him from full scale murder, but I dread the dogs, off lead, who “just want to say hello”.

I fantasise about my next dog - cuddly, happy and delighted to sit beside me in a cafe whilst I meet friends for coffee. I fear it’s sometime away, my boy is only eight and super fit, and they tend to live well into their teens, still displaying their delightful Patterdale traits.

I do accept it’s entirely my fault, I hadn’t realised just how concentrated a terrier a Patterdale is, and I guess if you’re bred to actually kill foxes and badgers you are going to be pretty full on. And he is very loveable.

I currently have a miniature poodle and she’s an amazing dog. She doesn’t shed which is an amazing! She is the easiest dog I’ve ever had. She’s an extremely healthy dog and we are never at the vets. I have literally nothing bad to say about her.

Previously I had a Labradoodle. I adored her but she wasn’t easy. She was very active, you could never wear her out. She would eat anything, which resulted in some trips to the vets. Although sold as non shedding we lived in constant tumble weed city. If she brushed past you, you were covered in dog fur.

I would never have a poodle cross again. It turns out that if you get an actual poodle, they are fantastic dogs.

Cocker spaniel. Lovely but too needy and highly strung for me. I'm a terrier person but may switch to something a bit more laid back when one of our current duo goes over the bridge. I think it depends on individual preferences, lifestyle and what you can put up with!

Poodles aren’t anxious dpgs. There’s a lot of misinformation on here about poodles.