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Australian Shepherds- We’ve had two (one when I was a teenager, and my husband and I have one now) and they’re hands-down the finest dogs I’ve ever owned/met. Everyone loves them, and they are quirky and fun. Not a great dog for everyone, but perfect for us.
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Border Colllies- Based on their reputation as being like Aussies.
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Shetland Sheepdogs- When we first got ours, I thought he was weird and too timid, but he’s actually smarter than our Australian Shepherd (though not smarter than the first one) and WAY more polite. He’s also lower-maintenance by about an order of magnitude, as he doesn’t go stir-crazy if it rains too much to go walking/playing fetch for a couple of days. He’s less fun than our Aussie, but he’s better behaved. (If you give her an inch, she’ll try to take a mile, and she tests everything. I have a soft spot for slightly bad dogs, though.)
beagles
weimaraners
Rhodesian ridgebacks
Wheaten terriers
german short haired pointers
I’m prejudiced - I have only rarely met a small dog that I got along with. So that’s going to affect the breeds I like. Having said that - having lived with a couple Great Danes, they’re too big.
Schipperkie - I’ve heard they’re smart, good, healthy breed, easily trainable, and generally stubborn, which I like.
Canaan Dog - I like their looks, and the health of the breed is very attractive as well. They’re also known for being nicely trainable, which I like.
Otterhound - I love these fugly dogs. They’re goofy, smart, excellent trackers, and generally pretty laid back. Trainable, but you have to keep them interested - have a reputation of getting bored easily. Also have a bay that’s almost as loud as the bloodhound’s. Not recommended for city living.
Brittany - We had an abnormal one of these while I was growing up. 2 inches over breed spec height, and 20 lbs over by weight. But he was fun, smart, loving, and gentle. (With people. Other dogs was another matter) I’d be more tempted to get one, if it weren’t for the fact that most breed spec dogs of this breed look clownish to me, because of too-small bodies for their heads.
Australian Shepherd - lived with one of these. Loud, and pushy. But a lot of fun, and very loving. A great companion dog.
One more thing - when I went through and last looked at various breeds, I was weighting towards the more obscure breeds, too. Because I no longer have any faith in the AKC’s self-policing policies, and figured that a less common breed would have fewer puppy mills masquerading as breeders out there.
I walked into a natural pet food store in Black Diamond, Alberta. The owner had a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever behind the counter. She let her out to visit with us…what a sweetheart of a dog!! The dog came over and did the lean in order to get her scritches. I fell in love with her…would have taken her home in a minute (course Katie the cat would have had something to say about a dog in her house).
We’re on our third English Mastiff, this breed has been in our lives since 1994 and we just can’t seem to quit it. I suppose the slobber and size is equalized by the grandeur and calm temperament.
Other breeds I love (have not owned any of them, but have known several examples of the breed):
Dobermans - I am attracted to their smarts and beauty
German Shepherds ditto
Flat-coated Retrievers - they are so pretty and so sweet-natured
Basset Hounds - what’s not to love? From what I hear, if these guys get a scent, they might take off. But they are so adorable.
Genetically Gazehound:
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Great Dane. I had Danes for 20 years. Intelligence is variable, from decent working dog brains to Dog Genius - I was fortunate to own or breed several of the geniuses. They don’t get the recognition that Border Collies do because they’re rarely destructive if not trained and worked, as BCs, alas, are (though it does occasionally happen, usually the real problem is unrecognized). Loyal, loving, easy keepers, very protective of children.
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Borzoi. I had a friend who bred these, and they’re beautiful clowns, and intelligent in a gazehound-y way. But to own one, I’d need someone around who was willing to do the maintenance.
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Saluki. I owned a couple. They’re not geniuses, but they’re very sweet, with a rather feline personality (couch potatoes that are perfectly willing not to be fussed over)
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Greyhound. Personality similar to Salukis, elegance personified.
Others:
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German Shepherds. Smart, loyal, loving, protective. Like with Borzoi, to own one, I’d need someone around who was willing to do the maintenance.
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Labrador or Golden Retriever. Smart, loving, friendly. More dogs I could never have maintained properly, even before I was disabled.
7.Bull Terrier. I’d never been around one until my son rescued one last year, found his chip, and reunited him with his owners. Smart, friendly, much calmer than my experience of any other terrier breed.
Commentary:
There are some other breeds I like, but would never consider owning because they’re really high maintenance:
Newfoundland, Belgian Malinois or Tervuren, Irish Wolfhound, Scottish Deerhound
Obviously, I mostly prefer really big dogs.
Someone mentioned above about the loving qualities of Maltese. This breed was famously popular as a lap dog stretching back to the early Roman Empire and even before. They’re one of the small or toy breeds that I think are cute, but I’ve always been nervous of small dogs, afraid I’d step on them or something. Not helped by the fact that the worst dog bite I ever had was from a dachshund.
German Shepherds. My first dog was a German Shepherd. My granddad had a beautiful long-haired German Shepherd that he won all kinds of awards with. He gave us one of her puppies, Jessie, to this day it was the smartest and most loyal dog I’ve had.
Saint Bernards. I’ll admit, it wasn’t my idea to get one at first. Of course it won me over instantly. Is there anything more heart-melting that a Saint Bernard puppy? They have to be the most laid back dogs in existence and they’re amazing with children and other dogs (apart from their clumsy nature!). Biscuit died of old age, it was sad to see her fade away after all the joy she’d given us.
Now I have two Saint Bernards. Crumble we bought as a pup, Norman (we didn’t name him!) we re-homed when two family members divorced and moved in to flats. Both are as dopey as you’d expect, although they love chasing each other around the garden. I just wish they’d stop going on the trampoline.
Saint Bernards will not play fetch, but at least I’ve never been burgled!
Apart from those I don’t really have any favourite dogs. I do tend to prefer the bigger breeds though, despite all the damn hip/heart problems.
- the Jindo dog from Korea
An awesome but oft misunderstood dog. A phenomenal hunter (who needs guns?) and smarter than some people I know. They’re also the only dogs we value enough not to eat (only kidding, :p).
From 강형원기자가 기록하는 찬란한 우리문화유산 : Korea·Los Angeles·Washington
"PERSONALITY:
Extremely loyal and affectionate toward its master, a clean animal both in its body as well as its habits, very independent, highly intelligent, proud and trainable only by the master. It is an aggressive fighter among dogs. It has an innate sense of direction and is capable of returning home from several hundred miles away. "
That page is worth a read, by the way, there’s some interesting info.
St. Bernards on a trampoline? Are you serious!!! We need pictures! You made my day and it has barely begun!
Boxers. I have 2.
Dogos Argentinos - The “official” slogan is ‘coat of white satin, body of steel, heart of gold’. He’s a looker, having literally stopped traffic on more than one occasion while on a walk around the neighborhood. They’re very, very serious working dogs expected to be capable of rolling around the yard with toddlers and hunting five hundred pound wild boar in the same night. When I say “hunt”, I mean follow horses fifty miles in a night through the wild pampas of Argentina, find, track, catch, and hold the boar until the hunter catches up with them to stick the boar with a knife. They’re not pet dogs.
I would never, ever, recommend them as pets appropriate for suburban American household. We run our dog more than fifty miles a week, he’s been obedience trained since the day we picked him up from the airport, and friends call him the best-trained dog they’ve ever met, but still you’d need to bend a 2 X 4 over his skull to get his attention when he “turns on” to something. Their prey drive is enormous beyond imagining. Mine is the greatest dog I’ve ever known. He’s not particularly intelligent, preferring to plow his way head-first through problems instead of puzzling them out, but he’s incredibly loving, remarkably loyal, and abso-effing-lutely fearless. I’ve got a friend that was at a gas station in LA at night. Her dog was in the car, windows up. She was pumping gas and a guy approached her in front of the car, acting threatening and demanding her wallet. The dog busted the windshield in an attempt to get at the guy.
I also desperately love Bull Terriers, though NajaHusband has put a no-bully moratorium on the household until we have a bit more space.
Thai Ridgebacks - I have a thing for working and primitive breeds of dog, dogs that have only ever been bred to fill a specific role or to perform a specific set of tasks. These are really, really cool critters, and if I could find a contact in Thailand to help me get ahold of one, I’d do it in a heartbeat. There are a few in the US but most have been imported by a real creep of a guy that I want nothing to do with.
Irish Wolfhounds, which I have wanted all of my life. I don’t think I’d ever actually get one, though, because I couldn’t stand having a traumatic death in the family every 4-7 years. They’re amazing dogs though, and I love them.
American Pit Bull Terriers - the greatest kid dogs evar. They’re sweet, loving, funny, endlessly patient, just all-around good dogs.
Other honorable mentions: Gordon Setters, Borzois, Komondorok, a good German Shepherd Dog, Sicilian Brancheiro (Cane Corso), and the Cão Fila de São Miguel, which, incidentally, has an unbelievably terrible photo on its wiki page. If I knew how to change it, I would. Here’s a better one if anyone is interested.
[QUOTE=NajaNiveaThai Ridgebacks - I have a thing for working and primitive breeds of dog, dogs that have only ever been bred to fill a specific role or to perform a specific set of tasks. These are really, really cool critters, and if I could find a contact in Thailand to help me get ahold of one, I’d do it in a heartbeat. There are a few in the US but most have been imported by a real creep of a guy that I want nothing to do with.[/QUOTE]
When I lived up North, I knew someone who had one, and he bred it. The last I saw of him, he was in possession of the first one’s grandpuppy. Not sure where to find them, though. Chatuchak Weekend Market has a large pet section, so if there aren’t any actually there, the breeders in attendance may know.
I’ve never had a dog in Thailand. That’s one of the things I miss. When I lived in a house up North, it was not practical for a number of reasons. In Bangkok, we’ve only ever lived in apartments and condos with rules against pets. The best dog my family had while growing up is a tie between a purebred beagle and a mixed hound breed.
Well, if you happen to spot a spare one of these lying around, let me know :D. I think officially they’re “Mah Thai Lung Ahn” --does that look right?
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Looks about right except for the color. I’ve only ever seen brown ones.
I just sent a message to a fellow American here who keeps up to date on just about everything in Thailand asking if he knew where to buy them. He wrote back: “no i don’t–i always thought those things were so interesting and weird with the backward hair.”
The few big show breeders in Thailand are in Bangkok, but I have no idea precisely where. One website claims they are “real status symbols” in Thailand though they’re originally pariah-type general hunting, protection, and utility dogs bred from dogs from the Pho Quoc Island. Due to the fact that the gene pools were geographically very isolated in small, remote villages, they have been unchanged for about two hundred years; they are really very primitive dogs. They were general hunters and household/property guardians. Anyway I think other than the remote villages, Bangkok is where you find them, if you’re going to see them at all.
I somehow got the impression that a lot of Thai street dogs are similar pariah types in general, but I have no idea whether or not that’s even remotely true. Of course, what with that whole pesky rabies issue, you probably don’t want to get close enough to check.
Thai street dogs are plentiful and to be avoided all right. Got bitten by one a few years ago when I inadvertently walked too close to her puppies. I had foolishly neglected keeping up on my rabies vaccine and so had to take the whole series.
You’ll love the Africanis then. The local Kennel Club is establishing them as a standard breed now.
For me:
Staffordshire Bullterrier
Wonderful around people (I have 2), solid muscle. Crap around other dogs, though. Even when trained, still not very sociable.
Keeshond
Dog we had when I was growing up. Very good with kids and very intelligent. A bugger to groom, though.
Maltese
I know, I even called mine “KickMePlease”, but they’re really intelligent and affectionate, and none of ours have ever been yappy.
Pug
I mean , how can’t you love that face.
Labrador/Golden Retriever
I’ve always considered these together, the temperaments are certainly similar. Both very friendly and intelligent. I’d give Labs an edge until the come out with a Chocolate Retriever.
Boston terriers. They’re such friendly, good-tempered little critters. And they look like aliens. Aside from the snoring, what’s not to love?
Just make sure you get yours from a respectable breeder; Bostons from backyard breeders can have extreme personality and health problems. The well-bred ones are excellent.
I have had a Norwegian Elkhound
Dachsund
German Shepherd
Boston Terrier
Mixed breeds
collies
There is only one. The beagle. The most spoiled rotten, arrogant canines on earth. I have 2 now and they are challenging pushy brats. I would not want it any other way.