Any advice on breeds?

[Twilightstarbright]

We would like to get a dog. I’m now a SAHM so will be in most of the day. One DS who is almost 9 and very chilled out (nickname is sloth). I had a bearded collie growing up and a spaniel before that.

I would like a small/smallish dog and not one that needs hours of walking- obviously I know they need walking but spaniel levels of activity aren’t compatible with us. Happy to get regular professional grooming.

Any suggestions would be welcome. TIA.

Crossing with another breed really only avoids health issues if it’s a single gene they need one from each parent and the other breed doesn’t carry it - but also those are the easiest and cheapest health tests to do, so even terrible breeders of breeds with issues like that tend to do that testing.

Most of the issues in cavaliers are more complicated than that, either caused by the shape of something or a load of genes that can’t yet be tested for - so theoretically you improve the odds, but, practically not much.

Firstly, crossbred dogs don’t come out bang in between two sets of breed traits, it’s more like a mix and match deal.

Secondly - nobody is doing the huge amount of testing that’s needed on a cavalier and then breeding a healthy cavalier to something else, lots of purebred cavalier breeders aren’t even doing them all, never mind to then cross them.

So while the odds are slightly more stacked in their favour, it’s still a pretty big gamble. Getting a cavalier from a breeder doing all the health tests needed is much less of one, they’re just hard to find.

Yes I do appreciate all of that on paper. However ime of owning a cavachon and being quite active on a large fb group there’s a lot of elderly cavachons with no health problems. Appreciate there could be dogs with issues I’m not hearing about but surely from an averages pov the fact there aren’t people on the group talking about dogs with syringomyelia or MVD says something? Just the fact that their head is bigger means they’re not likely to get syringomyelia.

I agree a lot of the breeders won’t use health tested dogs but there are a small number who do. They’re a popular mix and the demand for puppies from healthy parents is there. Puppies sell for £1400 now which when you think my very, very good pedigree puppy cost me £2000 is quite crazy that I don’t think there’s much of a price difference.

Another vote for a toy/miniature poodle.
I have a four month old toy poodle who is the absolute light of my life.
He is so clever and really sociable. He is so used to everyone telling him he is the cutest dog they’ve ever seen he gets quite offended when people walk past him without stopping to tell him this 😆

Facebook groups don’t really tell you much - people join them for a reason not just randomly so people with dogs with health issues are joining more specific groups.

I’ve literally never seen a Cavachon with fully health tested parents, they do the cheap tests, but never the expensive ones like MRIs.

I also see lots of adverts for puppies where the cavalier is the dad, which is the wrong way round if you were trying to breed them safely - but they do it that way round because they can get more puppies cheaply as bichons have less tests and you can breed them younger….so more litters.

I’m glad your dog is healthy - and I’m sure it’s a great dog, I’m absolutely not criticising you for having one, but at the stage of looking for a puppy I’d always recommend one or the other parent breed over a cross, you get bad breeders of pedigrees too, but you’ve more chance of finding a decent one.

We have a Cavapoo, I know they’re a mix but honestly she is an absolute dream. She’s the best thing we have ever done as a family.

I also clicked to suggest a Norfolk or Norwich terrier. We have one, have met quite a few. Brilliant temperaments, don’t need hours of walking (but game for being out with you all day). Ours was fairly chilled from day one in terms of sleeping downstairs, being left on his own for reasonable periods. Was a pain to housetrain but fine now, recall is currently non existent. But vastly easier than my previous experience in Labradors and spaniels!

Cairn terrier, of course!

Havanese! I think they are the most perfect little dog. So loving, friendly with everyone, non-yappy, don't need hours of walking a day etc. No downsides at all!

We ruled out Havanese on the grounds that they wouldn't keep going for a good long hilly walk... somehow forgetting that we were getting older and might not keep going either.

Yes, lovely little dogs.

Did you find your toy poodle had separation anxiety? We have a delightful toy poodle, she is good in every way except she is clingy - she will not be left alone. I just wondered if that was your experience or what we are doing wrong.

Is there a particular reason a bigger dog wouldn’t work for you? I ask as a greyhound sounds perfect for your other requirements and there are thousands looking for homes.

I adopted my now 10yo greyhound last May and he’s been absolutely perfect from day one. He’s 38kg so on the larger side but he was raced heavily so has muscle mass. He’s happy with 2 gentle walks a day, but if we miss one because of the weather (rain is a no go) or because I’m unable to (I have a mobility issue that sometimes flares up and means walking twice a day can be painful for me) he’s not bothered at all. He has very occasional zoomies in our small garden but otherwise sleeps and eats. He’s so gentle with DD6 and is just the most gentle, loving boy. It’s very typical of the breed, they’re lazy, loving dogs. I would 100% recommend.

We've had 2 KC cavalier that have both lived to the age of 16, with zero health conditions. Not over endowed with intelligence (one broke her jaw running full pelt into a wall chasing a leaf) but make up for it in devotion. Good with children too.

Not too small that they can't do good walks either.

I currently have a 16 year old Jack Russell - hyper smart, but very barky (some are, some arent)

My last BT was calm and chilled, although did enjoy a good bog stodge of 15 miles across Dartmoor. My new BT is very affectionate, but a bit mental. You can't really generalise.

Not a fan of terriers myself. I do love a Hungarian Vizsla though. Our DC were 9 and 7 when we got our first one. Always had girls, on our second and third.

I’m a Jack Russell and Yorkie fan but I’d recommend a Border Terrier as the ideal dog for you.

I have worked on separation anxiety from the beginning because I’m on my own, and he’s good at sleeping in his crate when I’m out of the house now but going upstairs without him during the day is still difficult.

I am getting better at ignoring him and getting on with it but it’s hard!

Papillons are amazing, smarted breed I've ever owned and they don't need as much grooming as you'd think

On poodles, my nana had 2, both miniatures. They may have had separation anxiety but were with her a lot. The one thing I will say is one was very barky. Friend had one though who was soppy and non barky.

To stop separation anxiety, you have to be firm from the start. I see a lot of advice about sleeping with them, when you bring them home. I’ve never done that. My puppy went into a crate, in the kitchen from day one. She cried a couple of times in the night and I came down to comfort her. After the first night, she didn’t cry again. After that, I left her regularly whilst I went out to do whatever. I had a dog cam, so I could check on her. She was always asleep in the crate when I checked.

@WheresMyOtherSock I’ve got RA so I worry about a bigger dog and my ability to walk it safely.

Sorry to hear that. So does my mum and I’m guessing she is considerably older than you - she manages my mini schnauzers fine. I’m not sure she would be comfortable with a much bigger dog

in fact my older one, who adores her, realised early on he needed to be different with her so he jumps all over my dad but sits next to her and waits for a pat

someone upthread mentioned you don’t really know what you will get personality wise and I do agree but I think you can help yourself by either going to a reputable rescue or to a reputable breeder. We got our dogs from the same person and she insisted we spend time with her girls before she would agree to letting us have a puppy. Her dogs are very calm and both of ours have inherited that luckily!

@Bruisername thank you! I’m almost 40.

Ive been looking at rescues but so few dogs are suitable with a late primary aged child. I’m at home most of the day, have a large secure garden and can take on the financial responsibility of a dog but the rescues seem to want even more!

you need to keep looking there are charities that allow adoption with children. there are ones that you take dog on trial period or do meet and greets or do children training with dog classes. they will always match the dog suitable for your lifestyle and family.

Yes - that’s why we ended up with our dog tbh.

now my kids are older and if I ever get another dog it will be a rescue but when the kids were young we just didn’t have that choice. I spent a lot of time making sure the breeder was legit

Our first dog was a JRT and my youngest was 7 . She was an absolutely brilliant little dog very entertaining ,very gentle and an absolute joy. The boys really enjoyed playing rugby with her,she was brilliant at pushing the ball around the garden and always eventually got it to where she wanted it to go.
She enjoyed walks but it wasn’t the end of the world if she only had a 10 min walk.
Loved a lap to sit on and so affectionate. Not too yappy and was ok if left on her own for a few hours.
Sadly she died in 2019 but we now have another JRT and she is the same in temperament and brilliant with the grandchildren. Very gentle.
I cannot recommend JRTs enough.