First time family dog, what breed might we be missing?

[IesuGrist1975]

We are finally in a position to get a dog within the next year due to my father-in-law moving into our granny(dad) annexe meaning a pet dog will be a companion for him on my 2 work days. Our youngest children are 6 years old and 10 years old and we have a medium sized garden and live in an urban area but have access to a good few large parks and spend the weekends at kids sports, usually in muddy fields with loads of other dogs so a dog being happy around other dogs is important.

It will be our first family dog, we have a 9 year old cat and while my parents occasionally bred my father’s working springer spaniels when I was growing up, they lived in kennels rather than indoors so this is a first indoor pet dog. Another thing to mention is that this dog is going to be a bit of emotional support me (my mum is terminally ill) so a dog that is happy to be loved by me would be excellent.

Having done quite a lot of research on here and other online resources I’v got a shortlist of,

• Miniature (or standard) poodle,
• Rough collie
• Border terrier.

These have made it onto the list for being either side of medium. Intelligent, happy with a couple of 30- 60 min walks a day, being good family dogs, happy to relax after a good walk. I’m wondering if we’ve missed any other obvious breeds off the list? Or if any of those don’t really fit the bill? We’ve been in contact with a couple smooth collie breeders and they’re currently what we’re leaning towards but happy to be swayed.

That’s even worse!!!

Not worse than cages 24/7

Still a puppy farm though.

"It’s hard to get a pedigree unspade. "

Economic protectionism, to the deteriment of the pup that either gets ovariectomised at a ridiculously young age waaay before physical and mental maturity , or, according to google "tubes tied" ...(WTAF, what ethical vet would do this) - securing the economic protectionism aka resource guarding by the breeders but no other benefits - the bitch will still need a second operation at a later date to reduce the risk of mammary masses and abolish the risk of a pyometra.

Forgot to add pic!

Miniature Schnauzers definitely get on well with cats, as this picture demonstrates. It also demonstrates quite well the hierarchy within the household 🤭

We had a beagle. She was adorable. Very very gentle with our then toddler.
was a bit wilful on walks (recall was terrible if she smelt something lovely) but was such a loving dog.

Do you mean unspayed? Interestingly enough all my cocker spaniels bitches I grew up with were left intact, all of them ended up with cancer bar one. When I got my own dogs, sighthounds, the 2 vets I went to, one is the best vet in central London (who also owns whippets) were adamant I should spay them before their first season to prevent cancer. I followed their advice because who am I to question 2 very established vets. I don’t mean to say you are wrong but why would they say that?

It very much depends on breed @ACavalierDream Early neutering is definitely not recommended for giant breeds. The recommended age for spay of a giant bitch is 18 months - 2 years. Neutering before a giant is fully grown can increase the risk of orthopaedic problems. Our current pup has just come into season for the second time. She's just under 18 months old. We won't even consider spaying for another 9 months, if at all. None of our previous dogs of either sex was ever neutered.

Interesting. Thank you. Maybe it’s better to wait to protect breeds prone to joint issues. Not an issue for whippets or Italians.

You have a very low bar for what constitutes a decent breeder. I suppose you had to in order to get that particular breed given the ‘best breeders’ are all puppy farmers.

I have a terrier , a vulnerable breed .
I don’t want to recommend his breed as some of them are absolute scallywags and don’t get along with cats 🐱 but some are laid back .

Poodles can potentially have separation anxiety but they are a breed I do like and would think of going for the miniature as that’s a nice size , the toy is too small for us
The border terriers I know are really nice little dogs , don’t get separation anxiety and they don’t moult

Can anyone explain the context of "It's hard to get a pedigree unspade" (unspayed) please? It seems to make no sense.
If you buy a purebred puppy it won't be neutered.
If you adopt a rescue it will be neutered, regardless of whether pedigree or mongrel.

I suppose they mean that some breeders will only sell you a puppy if you sign a contract saying you will spay. Those I suppose are the commercial breeders. So perhaps best not to breed from them anyway.

What I don’t know for proper show breeders is if they are happy for you to spay the bitch as they might like you to continue the line or might prefer to sell the prizes puppies to someone you will continue the line.

All of ours have been purebred, we've been a multi dog family, so had 9 pups in total, from small show kennels that only had one or two breeding bitches. We would have needed endorsements lifting on a couple of them before breeding, but we were never once instructed that we had to neuter, because most dogs that are for show are not neutered.
Signing a contract to spay is not the norm for purebred dogs from top kennels as far as I know but perhaps @LandSharksAnonymous can confirm.

Given the current demand for crossbreeds, perhaps this should change. It would be in the interests of many breeds if crossing was restricted, particularly where large, powerful guarding breeds are involved. But that is another subject for a different thread.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet @ACavalierDream - I expect all buyers of my puppies to spay, but I don't make them sign a contract to say it. I do tell buyers who get a boy that I expected them not to neuter before 24 months and girls must have had their first season before they spay but that's the only thing I do say re. spaying/neutering.

However, my contract does state that any dogs I sell are not to be used for any sort of breeding as well as having endorsements (which would stop any puppy being registered). It's another reason why I am so careful about who I sell to - I would never forgive myself if I found out I had sold to someone who had used one of my Goldies to help churn out puppies to make them a quick buck.

The only two people who I have not put endorsements on puppies are Xanthos who I sold a bitch to about a decade ago who went on to give birth to several dogs who achieved their SGWC and JW. And to DSis, who has Twatdogs littermate who I deliberately didn't put an endorsement on, simply because I was unsure if I would breed Pen again and I didn't want the line to end.

Thank you for explaining this @LandSharksAnonymous ❤

I agree with Westies. Corgis are also great little family dogs. I’m of course bias as I type this as I have one and grew up with them. Males do bark a lot but are cuddlier. I have a female one and she is very laid back but not massive into cuddles but loves company.
Good luck!

I'm going to first visit a litter of miniature schnauzers this week that I've been in touch with the breeder about since before they were born. Hoping for a male and this thread has cemented that I've made the correct choice for our family, youngest aged 11. Great thread.

Pick up late October hopefully 🙂

We must have pictures @Nauticalthemedloo!

You won’t be disappointed

My sis in law as one, bigger size though. Lovely dogs. Love the moustache.

Health checked Labrador - Champ Dogs is good website for checking common breed diseases and finding a litter that has had health checks.
Labradors are very easy dogs and generally steady which is helpful in a family context. Mine cleans up with a towel (no grooming needed), not fussy with food really (a risk with golden retrievers), tolerant, big enough to feel safe around kids etc. so less risk of snapping etc.. just a very straightforward dog.
I hope that whatever you choose is a comfort to you.

They are - my brother has one and he won over my dog-fearing niece!

Also, they have fantastic beards and ridiculous eyebrows.