Never mind disposition, every Sheltie I’ve ever met has been LOUD. Yap yap yap yap yap yap! Same goes for my dog groomer aunt (as in, all the Shelties she’s dealt with). They’re very cute, but they are very vocal.
The Bichons I’ve met have all been nice little dogs, and they are unbearably cute.
Actually, yes. My girl Boston is decidedly my dog. Where I am,she is. The boy loves her - my daughter - to death but also tends to gravitate toward me. The girl is from before my daughter’s birth, the boy from when she was a toddler.
A dog that is hers is what we really want. My daughter is an only child and I think she gets lonely. This is why we’d like a dog for her.
Meh I wouldn’t say VERY vocal although mine did get very vocal when my mom was vacuuming. Our theory was that the dog thought it was a wolf coming to attack her flock. I LOVE LOVE LOVED my sheltie. She weighed 14 pounds when she was fully grown. They do have a lot of hair but they are the sweetest little things, so loving, and loyal. Best. Dog. Ever.
I’ve heard bad things about poodles being a nasty breed however I have also had bad experiences with terriers so it has a lot to do with the dog’s history and how you raise it of course. I personally can’t imagine our little sheltie ever being nasty. Ugh sweetest dog ever. I’m gonna cry. Excuse me…
I’m going to come down in favor of adopting a rescued dog. Any one of the breeds suggested would do fine – you can find breed-specific rescues easily on the Internet – but a mutt might be even better, as they tend to have few genetic problems.
In my experience, rescued dogs are very much aware of how lucky they are and they tend to be eternally grateful. If you take in a dog who needs a person and your daughter spends a lot of time with the dog, I can almost guarantee a strong bond will form. Your daughter will have the additional comfort of knowing she’s a hero to a little being in desperate need.
I also want to stress using all-positive training methods to build a relationship with the dog. And that you and your daughter set some limits for the dog’s behavior (like no jumping on the coffee table, etc.), and have some expectations for good behavior that she will reward, as these tend to help a dog feel more secure, because he or she knows the rules and can earn rewards from the pack leader.
You can trust a fancy rescue operation to try and match a dog to your daughter and family, or you could even go to the pound – I personally have never had a bad experience with a pound dog once I put some effort into working with the dog.
Our rescued dogs love everybody, and they’ve each got a favorite person they bond with as their bestest buddy, and they’re sooooo happy just to be with their pack (people). It’s win-win all around.
I’d add a big caveat on pound dogs. If you do go the pound or rescue route, and you don’t get a puppy, you’re really gambling on taking on a problem dog. Perhaps it’s easier to get small-dog puppies in the states, but at the Anchorage SPCA the majority (and I’m talking around 95%) of the dogs available, were all these grown up husky lab mixes (not great pets, kind of dumb, stubborn and problem prone dogs). Very seldom were small breed young dogs available. I looked for months to find a dog I wanted, and finally ended up just giving up and buying from a breeder. Well actually my mom and sis bought my dog for my 40th birthday, but they knew I’d been looking forever. I had spent almost a year going to the ASPCA every single weekend.
However, rescue groups are quite a bit better, you can often find just the breed you want by contacting a group that specializes in that breed. Had I known that when I got my dog, I would have tried a rescue group. I am still completely loyal to the aussie or mini-aussie breed, but next time I’m going to try an aussie rescue group first.
I’ve only ever had dogs who were rescued from the pound and not one of them has had any real behavioral issues.
Our current dog Dixie was rescued from the pound as an adult and she is the only dog I’ve ever met with absolutely NO bad habits at all. She doesn’t dig, jump up, counter cruise, or ever act aggressive. Pound mutts can be amazing.
while certain breeds might trend towards a certain temperament in general, any dog within that breed is still an individual and may not be what you’re expecting. my folks have had three (american) cocker spaniels over the years, and all three dogs have had wildly different personalities.
Mira was fairly intelligent for a dog, but was food aggressive like nobody’s business. was pretty much OK with any person as long as you didn’t touch her food.
Ziggy’s a dumbass, but has problems with certain types of people. With all of us he’s great, but he gets nervous around blonde women, and boys around 8-12 years old. he’s not a snappy dog but there was one incident he snapped viciously at a cousin of mine who was like 13 or something.
Buddy’s a total dumbass, and he’ll be anyone’s friend as long as they have a squeak toy. unlike many cockers he’s a totally huggy dog.
my sister and BIL have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and those are said to be hyper, yappy dogs. But theirs is a shy, quiet, skittish little thing. Nice dog, but if he doesn’t know you he’ll try to get the fuck away.
There are a lot of people out there who will give their dog up for silly or flaky reasons. Not all pound dogs are there because there is some kind of problem with the dog. My current dog, the poodle mix, wasn’t at all trained when we got her (we think she may have come from a puppy mill) but she is a very quick learner (as poodle usually are!). She can pick up a command with about 15 minutes of practice. I’m even thinking about taking her for formal training in a dog sport like agility or flyball because she is very trainable.
Yes, that’s why I didn’t say ALL pound dogs and why I specified dogs that weren’t young. But I’ve seen several instances of people getting real problem dogs (mostly in the potty training area, but one who was a fear biter) from the pound.
It’s worth being very careful.
Eh, the other thing you read is that puppies are a crapshoot because you never know how they’ll grow up. Predicting a specific dog’s behavior through a breeder is just the illusion of control.
My sister has two purebred miniature poodles carefully selected for the parents’ temperament. One is now registered with the police as a dangerous dog.
And all of that is why the OP has clearly stated she will go to a breed-specific rescue group where the dogs are placed in a home setting and evaluated thoroughly and can give a good recommendation as to what type of home the dog would be best suited for. And both of her current dogs are rescues. The OP has said at least twice that she will go the rescue route.
As I said earlier, Maltese were bred to be companion dogs. The typical Maltese would prefer to go to school or work with its person, and accompany its person on errands, and sleep with its person. My parents got their Maltese when they were near retirement, and the dogs would accompany them to the bank drive through and other dog friendly errands. My parents did manage to crate train the dogs, so that they slept in their crates and apparently felt safe in them, to the point where they’d voluntarily go in the crates when they took naps. The crates were left open whenever the dogs weren’t in them.