# If you could have any breed of dog, what would you want? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404 "2014-11-12T02:14:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/61 "2014-11-12T22:39:49Z")
We have basenjis right now, which are great, lovely breed, a bit unusual. If I was going to have dogs to breed, which is a potential future endeavour, I probably would choose something more popular, like Bernese mountain dogs, or, around here, corgis, which are the programmer’s breed du jour. I’ve bred basenjis and beagles in the past. There’s not much market for basenjis amongst the hoi polloi pet owners, not much “brand” recognition. Beagle puppies are adorable and sold like hotcakes in my hometown. ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/62 "2014-11-13T00:31:18Z")
I’d say a Scotty, but I’ve already been owned by the Greatest Scotty Ever. Bravery, playfulness, impishness, and smarts all in one compact and adorable package. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/63 "2014-11-13T01:04:28Z")
I love mutts and I’ll always have a mutt, but since I was a teenager I’ve thought that [Scottish Deerhounds](http://www.dogwallpapers.net/scottish-deerhound/cute-scottish-deerhound-dog-photo.html) are the coolest dogs on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/64 "2014-11-13T01:44:42Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > My mom and dad had a sweet little [Bichon Frise](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Bichon_Frise.jpg). And I mean she was sweet. She was friendly, good with kids, and absolutely not spoiled. She was well-behaved and low energy and not yappy at all. They’re on the smallish side, my parents’ weighed only about 20 pounds. She was easy to pick up and lift and was just the right size for your lap. They’re long-lived, too. Heidi lived to be around 16. I have a Bichon Frise, and he is also the sweetest thing ever. Friendly, cheerful, well behaved, and devoted. He hops from lap to lap while we’re watching TV, wanting to be with everyone. He looks a lot like the one in your link, although I keep his hair shorter. He’s about 16 pounds. I’m sure if I got another dog, either an addition or a replacement, I’d get the same again. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/65 "2014-11-13T01:47:06Z")
If I can pick a breed I already have, I really want another Papillon. They are the greatest little dogs EVER. Smart, easy to train, playful and cute as hell. If I have to go with an entirely new breed, I would love a Leonberger. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/66 "2014-11-13T01:48:53Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Suppose availability and price is no issue. You can have any type/breed of dog in the world as a pet. > > Sure, you can keep any dogs you already have right now, this would be just another addition. > > What dog would you like? > > For some reason, I’ve always wanted a Saint Bernard. I’d still find one on the street that needed a home and take her in. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/67 "2014-11-13T01:52:26Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I’ve never owned a dog and I’m a little afraid of them. Are there any breeds that might work? My eldest child wants one so it’s under consideration for her birthday next month. We have two kitties. Perhaps a beagle or a basset hound? My retired dad has a sweet cocker spaniel he utterly adores. My experience with beagles and bassets is that they like to run and track animals and are not too responsive to attempts to call them back. When I was a kid we had a beagle that would run off after a rabbit and be gone for days. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/68 "2014-11-13T02:04:40Z")
If the “price is no object” condition includes the price of the necessary space, then I’d get a pair of Irish Wolfhounds. It’s been my lifelong dream to have a big enough yard so that I can have them. Wonderful dogs. Obligatory reposting of Scylla’s IW story: > [@Another Dog Story (Too long too)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-dog-story-too-long-too/78055/1): > > * * * > > . . . When we bought this property, I wanted a large and fierce **appearing** dog. > > Everything I’d read about Wolfhounds said they were gentle giants, and I spent $750 for a pup from a breeder. I figured such a large and loyal dog would be excellent around the farm. My wife would be spending a lot of time here alone while I worked, and the presence of such an animal might be a strong persuader to anybody who thought of messing with her. > > The pup grew awkwardly. His front legs would grow, but the rest of him would stay the same for a few weeks, and he’d look funny. Then his ears would get left behind, and he’d look funny. > > When fully grown, Corwin was 130 pounds. He’d jump up and greet me, and when he did so, he’d place both paws on my shoulder and look down at me. > > When we wrestled he did something I’ve known another dog to do. He’d give you a foot sweep. He’d walk up and club you in the lower leg with his big baseball bat of a paw and knock you down. Then he’d slobber you to death. > > Sometimes he did look fierce, but then he would move and spoil the illusion. The fact of the matter was that he was obviously a big goof. > > He’d run full speed through a field, and suddenly trip. He’d go cartwheeling and sliding fifty yards before coming to a stop, and there’d be a big trail of dust marking his crash. It was like watching a bus wreck. > > Little kids loved him, and would actually ride him. He was polite, always friendly, and a good companion. He’d go wherever you went, and love it. > > He was a terror inside the house though. He had that hound smell, and he’d render furniture unfit for human use just by being near it. If he sat on the couch, it’d be all dented and covered with coarse white hairs. There’d be a huge trail of drool soaking the side of it and puddled on the floor. > > He’d wag his tail and it was like slinging a baseball bat. Chairs would get knocked over and lamps thrown from tables. > > My wife and I worked a deal to preserve the marriage. I built him a home in the barn to sleep in. He could spend evenings in the house, but in the Great room only, so that the damage could be contained. > > Corwin, being rather agreeable towards anything, was fine with this. > > The other problem was I got no respect. People around here are serious about there dogs, and nobody took big goofy Corwin very seriously. People have Rotweillers, Shepherds, Jack Russells, Retrievers, but I had the only Wolfhound, and there weren’t any wolves. > > Then, one day, at my nieghbors house, Corwin and my neighbor’s Rottweiler hooch were messing around. They were in the back of my neighbor’s pickup truck. I called Corwin to go, and he jumped out of the truck. > > He didn’t quite make it. > > Corwin’s balls landed on the trailer hitch. > > **Hoooooooooowwwwwwoooooooooooo!!!** he cried, curled up pitifully. > > It cost me two hundred dollars to get his balls treated. > > What little respect I had received from my neighbors for Corwin was due to his considerable size. Now he was the laughingstock. > > People would ask me how my dog’s balls were as a form of greeting, their deadpan delivery giving way to a sly grin. > > In spite of his clumsy good-natured klutziness and the ridicule it got me, I loved that dog. When he sighed contededly, it was a titanic emotion. You could lay down on the floor with your head on his chest and hear his mighty heart pulse. When he played with little kids or smaller dogs you beheld an infinite and epic goodwill and kindness, and a careful gentleness. > > Later we got another dog, and it was the height of comedy to watch the little puppy “pin” Corwin to the ground. > > He had a great soul, and I came to think of him as “Great-Souled Corwin,” and admire his humanity (for lack of a better word.) > > But, I thought of him as a lovable, but ultimately inept goof. A comic figure. > > Corwin though, showed me differently, and we shared a defining moment. > > I was walking around the property. Corwin was off galumphing about somewhere ahead. > > There’s a wild dog problem in this area. People buy a dog, decide they don’t like it and set it free in the gamelands a mile away. Every late fall these dogs get hungry, lean, and mean, and they cause trouble with livestock and scare people. I’ve had five or six encounters in my time here, and I now do what my neighbors do when they encounter one. They shoot it. > > This was my first fall though, and my first encounter. I was unarmed, and merely out for a walk. > > It was a Doberman, and it had been shot in the side of the head at some point. It had a big infected wound, and it was pissed off and seemed inclined to take it out on me. I knew better than to run, but this dog had me scared. It would charge forward silently a few paces, stop and back up. It wasn’t barking, just growling quietly, and it felt like it was testing me out prior to a serious attack. > > I was trying to make my way to a tree when Corwin showed up. > > He came bounding over, toungue hanging out of his mouth, tripping over his own feet, and stopped dead when he and the Doberman simultaneously spied each other. > > And then the dog I knew was gone. For the first and only time in my knowledge, Corwin became all business. > > His goofy ears flattened against his shovel of a skull. His great long neck angled low to the ground, leaving his huge head parallel and a few inches above the dirt. The tounge withdrew into the mouth whose lips curled, revealing teeth and jaws more befitting a T-rex than a dog. The front legs and paws splayed widely and his huge shoulder muscles bunched. His tail whipped slowly from side to side like an angry and venomous snake. > > The Doberman growled dangerously. > > Corwin did not growl. I swear it. I know a growl. A growl is a threat. This was not a threat. It wasn’t even a promise. This was a fact that issued from his throat. It was the eager fact of death both imminent and inevitable. It was the sound of murder. > > I had never heard a sound like that before, and it’s difficult to describe. It’s a sound like an IRS audit, or the last tortured cry of the turbine engine on a jumbo jet before the plane crashes. It’s the sound of a bill due and payable when you’re already overdrawn. > > It literally gave me goose bumps and loose bowels as I stood there. I knew if he had ever made that sound to a human being he would have had to have been destroyed. > > Suddenly I understood his epic good nature and carefull clumsiness. Equipped as he was, a perfect machine for murder, Corwin could not afford to pose or play it tough. Any overture in that direction would have been overkill. > Later I figured out that he shared something in common with every legitimate badass I’d ever known. He didn’t give a shit about his image. He **knew** he was deadly, and saw no reason to adertise the fact. > > The other dog saw it too, and tried to back off without turning tail. It didn’t work. Corwin slid in low and fast. > His front paw shot out and swept the front legs of the Doberman, knocking it off balance. Then the Corwin’s huge jaws were around the throat of the Doberman. His neck came off the ground, taking the Doberman with it. The muscles clenched and you could here bones snapping like crunching Broccoli. > > All the while the same low yet insistent sound of murder continued. > > It ended quickly, but Corwin held on for a long minute, unmoving. > > Then he dropped the dog, and turned to me. > > The ears popped up in their airheaded way, and he bounded comically over to me > > “Duhhhhh, how ya doin?” his look said. > > * * * > > Wolfhounds don’t live long. 10 Years is a rarity. They are too big. Bloat gets them a lot, as does cancer, but most die of a heart attack. > > Corwin made it to three years old. One night he seemed tired. He’d jogged with me that day, so that wasn’t unusual. He was mighty but he never had especially good endurance. The next morning he was dead. > > I buried him, and planted a Maple. My brother, never a sentimentalist, loved that dog, and drove 4 hours to say goodbye. > > I’ll never get another. The heartbreak was too much, and three years is far too short a time to spend in the company of such a magnificent animal. > > That dog taught me a lot about manhood. I had just gotten married when I got him. Just bought this farm. I was pretty caught up in my image and felt very self-important at my relative success in business. I was proud, and thought dignity was something you wore like a piece of fine clothing. I thought it was a thing like a museum piece. > > I’d like to think I know better now. I’d like to think that manhood and dignity are a compassionate fool who moves like a living Chevy Chase pratfall, that the greatest and stongest of us all, hide as clowns. > > And, I hope that I learned enough from that dog that my daughter knows him, though they have never met. I hope that I’m man enough to reflect enough of that animal onto my daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/69 "2014-11-13T02:23:00Z")
I have three working-bred (original ranch genetics before the show people got hold of them) Australian Shepherds. If I could have any breed, I’d have that one. Because I can have any breed I want. If I couldn’t have my kind of Aussies I would have what is closest, English Shepherds, Welsh Sheepdogs (you have to go to Wales for them however), or Koolies (have to go to Australia however). Or maybe a Kelpie. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/70 "2014-11-13T02:43:41Z")
It’s already been decided for me. Wife wants another Rough Collie. I want our old Collie, young and healthy. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/71 "2014-11-13T02:45:44Z")
My wife keeps agitating for an Airedale. They seem like clever, even-tempered animals. What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/72 "2014-11-13T03:10:37Z")
I’m usually a mutt kind of person, but a while back I had a bit of an obsession with Italian Greyhounds. They’re like normal greyhounds, but [tiny](http://ottawadogblog.ca/odb-files/2012/06/what.jpg)! ETA: Oh, and I can’t not mention the humble [kuvasz](http://www.dogwallpapers.net/wallpapers/kuvasz-puppy-photo.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/73 "2014-11-13T03:45:09Z")
I’d get another [Alaskan Klee Kai.](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=633&q=klee+kai&oq=klee&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.2474.4787.0.8062.4.4.0.0.0.0.286.706.0j1j2.3.0....0...1ac.1.58.img..1.3.699.EkdMXl2OR20) I have two, one that is three and one that is fourteen years old. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/74 "2014-11-13T03:57:21Z")
I’ve always thought I would want a pug, but in reality I should probably go hypoallergenic, so a Bedlington! And I **would** make it wear its face hair in a football shape. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/75 "2014-11-13T04:00:25Z")
I had a dog growing up whose mom was a Heinz 57 and whose dad was a beagle. The mom’s intelligence took the edge off the beagle boneheadedness. Now we have a beagle/Australian cattle dog mix. She has the temperament of a beagle but is probably the smartest dog I’ve had. She knows she can attract attention by staring at someone with her blue eyes. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/76 "2014-11-13T04:03:25Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Suppose availability and price is no issue. You can have any type/breed of dog in the world as a pet. > > Sure, you can keep any dogs you already have right now, this would be just another addition. > > What dog would you like? > > For some reason, I’ve always wanted a Saint Bernard. A cat!!! !!! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/77 "2014-11-13T04:23:37Z")
I am very particular. Needs to be healthy - that means no brachycephalic dogs (cats too). Useful - hunting or other. But not too high energy because I’m lazy. If I had the money, Norwegian Lundehund. Bred for puffin hunting, and the most unique in many ways. They can turn their head 180 degrees, almost Exorcist-style. They are polydactyls. Great climbers. But they have weird stomach problems, although I think lesser health problems than some breeds. Maybe Finnish Spitz, not sure if it’ll end up being annoyingly loud though. Greyhound or whippets might be cool, but I’d be wary of the cats. Or a [domesticated silver fox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox). IIRC they’re just under $9000. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/78 "2014-11-13T05:05:09Z")
I’m a lab girl, right through to my genes. The bestest, slobbiest and easiest to handle doggies ever. (Neat trick…grab a labrador’s ear and gently stroke it on the inside. It sets off their yawn reflex!!) 😃 After a lab, it’d be a kelpie-heeler cross, or a border collie. However, both of those are far too smart and energetic for their (and my) own good. Too old now to keep up. But a lazy and slothful lab? Yeah…think I might go puppy hunting! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/79 "2014-11-13T05:27:08Z")
my family has had Cocker Spaniels for a long while now, even if most of them have been at best “mostly” Cocker Spaniels. so, I’m’a go with Cocker Spaniel. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404/80 "2014-11-13T05:38:13Z")
I’ll take a female Border Terrier, please. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-any-breed-of-dog-what-would-you-want/704404.md?page=5)