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.

Border Terrier - all day long. I have two of them. Perfect family dog! You won’t regret it.

Another vote for Labrador. Ours has been an absolute delight - easy to train, very good natured with our cats and other dogs in the local area. She was a well-behaved puppy - toilet trained in 2 weeks and destroyed nothing in the house. She has brought total happiness to our lives.

I would say poodle, or we have a cavapoo which fits your description perfectly - hes my little best mate

We've got a Clumberdoodle. Plenty of energy, very intelligent. Happy to walk, run, play or sleep. Totally loyal and great around kids.

Smooth Collies are fab dogs, they're a rare native breed and not like Border Collies at all. Agree with various pps that it's hard to go wrong with a well-bred Labrador too. Flat Coated Retrievers are also beautiful, sweet natured dogs but as a breed they are prone to cancer unfortunately.

I second the miniature schnauzer. Such quickly fun loving dogs and amenable to any lifestyle. Our ms was our first dog ever and we couldn’t have chosen a better dog. They barely shed either.

Miniature schnauzer 🥰

@XelaM Taller and slimmer is good and well but he hardly has nostrils, puggles are much healthier much faster than messing around with such an unhealthy breed.

OP, I would recommend a shih tzu or a show line (field are working dogs, or meant to be) lab if you want something bigger. Havanese, miniature poodle, maltese, coton de tulears, pretty much any companion breed will be what you want. Their whole job is to make owning them quite easy vs working origin breeds. Terriers can be a bit headstrong and dog aggressive even borders that have been warped by the show world, sighthounds are the same - can be aggressive if you get a nervous one and they will give bad vibes to your cats who can sense their purpose better than a human can. All of those above small breeds will happily do 3h if you make them fit enough, often better than large dogs who need care with their joint as puppies and older dogs.

It's a good thing you're nearby to parks and fields but I would recommend you account for a dog who is either born fearful/aggressive/poor recall or made it by other dogs who will also be in these spaces - if you go larger like a smooth collie it can make for very stressful walks if something goes wrong with your dog but it still requires substantial offlead exercise. I'm personally downsizing from working dogs to small companion breeds that will be happy running free in a decent garden then a nice pavement walk due to how many questionable dogs I run into while exercising my own.

We have a retired greyhound. They are very chilled and need much less exercise than you would think. Excellent if you want a snuggle on the sofa. No grooming issues, no drippy mouth.
Many are fine with cats (we had 3 cats when she joined us). Very gentle with children.

put you cat’s needs into the equation first and foremost. My friend has a cocker spaniel who terrorises her cats and is extremely jealous when they look for attention from her. The cats were there first and she got the dog as a puppy.

Cat would mean I’d stay away from terriers and sight hounds, ours were fine with cats until they ran. One cat ended up with a punctured lung. The cats learnt to master a brisk walk rather than moving quickly around the dogs.

Terriers can be hard to train too.

Our whippet was of the chart bonkers until he was two. I wouldn’t have another 😂

Collies can be highly strung as they like to work.

Personally, I would go Labrador although poodles are lovely but high maintenance.

Or a Heinz 57, they don’t seem to have the same health issues a lot of purer bred dogs do

To add, we also have a wire haired fox terrier that has been a dream dog (although stubborn AF).

We have the most calm and accepting cockapoo. Loves cats, dude of a dog, recall amazing, intelligent - can walk without a lead. Great with little kids, hypoallergenic.

Agreed , or Golden Retrievers ..

Labrador you cannot get an easier happier family dog or standard long haired dachshund lazy and love a cuddle.

Another mini schnauzer fan here. They are an absolute joy. Our boy seems to have a different personality adapted for each family member. Cheeky for dad, rambunctious with the kids and snoozy lap dog for mum. No shed was an absolute revelation for me, dog hair everywhere made me miserable with other dogs we've had.

Labrador or retriever vote here. Collies are high intelligence and energy. Not really a first dog. We had a spaniel collie mix as our first dog in 1990 and he was hard work, never sure if he was retrieving or herding!🤔🙈😂
Next dog was collie gsd mix, that was a better combo. Still needed a lot of input. Better with 10+aged kids.
My present dog is a real mix of independent, Stongwilled breeds, not advised as dogs for inexperienced, and agree. We still do classes 6 yrs in.

Rescue ex greyhound. Usually about 4 years old need 2 20-30 minute walk. Although we take ours out 4 times for toilet mainly, Used to being on own as kennelled from birth and they sleep 18 hours a day so can be left for longer period than more traditional dog breeds.
they are gentle giants generally don’t jump up at people don’t bark excessively. Short haired don’t really moult. Plus despite their size they curl up double jointed like cats,
I had dog phobia forever since bitten as a child but love ours. Plus they deserve a nice home after what they been put through,

Small non-shedding terrier (eg Yorkie,Border, Westie etc) or poodle.
Be careful of mix breeds eg cockapoo etc as some grow ginormous despite what seller may say.
Don’t get a working dog like border collie, spaniel, setter etc these need a lot of exercise.
I’ve had large and small dogs and small ones are much easier and don’t eat so much….and have smaller poos.
I also only have female dogs as again I think they’re easier but I’m sure plenty like males.

I really feel for the cat.

Really!? We don’t even have a bloody dog yet, you can hold off your sadness for a bit longer 🫠

My beagles are the laziest dogs going 😅

Highly recommend beagles for a family, such loving dogs, gentle, calm, food obsessed and so loveable.

Would not recommend a collie, lovely but bloody hard work!

Some are very happy

We have a labradoodle. She has a lovely nature.

Golden Retriever, so loving and loyal. Great tempraments too.