I have a 3-yr-old lab mix, and she’s pretty laid back. Energetic at times, but not too excessive! She sheds a ton, but doesn’t bark too much. She’s only about 55 lbs. I also have a (at times hyper) little 12-lb 2-yr-old Bichon who loves to play with the Lab. Bichons don’t shed, but need grooming periodically, and brushed to keep away the mats. He barks at everything. Like a doorbell on TV. :rolleyes: (They were both rescues of a sort. Lucy the Lab was found at a duck pond with no collar. Ernie the Bichon I saved my neglectful neighbors. I bought him from them.)
Dogs are a lot of work, and can get expensive with medical care, but are priceless in the unconditional love and companionship they give you.
Thanks for clarifying, it sounds like you have that side covered
I would still recommend a shelter dog - my parents got a retriever/collie cross after they were matched with her by a local rescue group. She totally fit into our household and remains a perfect companion. In fact, she’s coming to visit us soon, which I’m looking forward to.
The only other breed I have real experience of are border collies. Those I would counsel against, unless you want to be outsmarted by a neurotic genius for the next 12 years I love my parents’ collie, but god, is she work. You definitely can’t skip a walk with her.
Don’t know that has helped, but good luck with selecting the next member of you household. I just wish we could get one at the moment too!
We have an office dog here at work. He’s a Bichon named Popcorn and I love that dog. Very little barking, no shedding, energetic at times but usually very quiet, enormously friendly, and very trainable.
And cute as the proverbial button. He’s clipped to about a two-inch coat and he looks like a little lamb.
DO NOT go to the pound! You will come home with a neurotic, spastic, long haired, untrainable giant of a dog that leaves gallons of drool on floors and laps.
I’ll second the vote for a pug, which fits nearly all of your criteria. There is one big downside to pug ownership, though: the shedding. Shedding season, for a pug, begins January 1st and ends December 31st. Put more simply, a pug will shed every day of its life. If you can stay on top of it, great, but the battle against hair is never-ending. When we brush our pug (which we do outside, in the alley), it looks like we’re shearing a sheep, with huge wads of hair wafting along in the breeze. I have to change my shirt afterwards.
There’s one other negative to consider, which is that they can have health issues. The problem areas are usually: eyes, because they “bug out” and can get scratched easily; ears, which can get gunky if not cleaned; skin, which has folds on the face that can collect dirt and get nasty if you let it; and joints, because pugs are built funny and can have hip and knee problems later in life. Usually, these problems are easily manageable.
Now, the upside: pugs are hilarious. Owning a pug is like living with a midget clown who always wants to perform. They’re extremely affectionate and fun to be around and play with. Every pug I’ve known has been very snuggly. And, like many small breeds, they normally have a long natural life span. They have absolutely no sense of danger when it comes to food, though, so watch what you drop, because if they can eat it, they’ll definitely give it a try.
Another vote for a rescue. I couldn’t be happier with my rescue pit bull. I recommend the breed to anyone who’s comfortable with big dogs: he doesn’t bark or drool or stink, he’s very easy to train, and all he ever wants to do is follow me around and do whatever I am doing. He’s a big one, but they come in smaller sizes.
I’ve also considered fostering for rescue organizations - this not only helps keep dogs out of gas chambers, but it also allows you to “test-drive” dogs to get a better idea of what you’re interested in.
Also, go read Sailboat’s post again. S/he is wise. When I was a kid, we got a dog in a similar manner. Me and my sister participated in picking the breed and the name and that really helped with the “new member of the family” as opposed to “new dog” thing. FTR we got a Springer Spaniel. He was a wonderful dog in every way, except he shed like crazy (and he was black and white, so there was no way to avoid a constant patina of dog-hair on your clothes), stank (particularly when wet - I suspect this is a common feature of water breeds), and had to be professionally groomed.
This thread makes me want another dog. fluiddruid has totally sold me on a basset hound. I’m going to need a bigger house.
Personally, I love German shepherds. However, mine have always shed. This breed might also be too big for your taste.
Have you considered a Boston terrier? They are larger than toy dogs, but not too large, and they are considered companion dogs. I’ve met a couple, and they are really delightful dogs.
You might also want to look at standard poodles. They are very smart and loving. You WILL have to get them groomed now and then. However, you don’t have to have them clipped in a show cut, unless of course you want to show the dogs.
Have your kids had ANY sort of pet before? Maybe you could sell them on a guinea pig?
It sounds like you want a low-maintenance, healthy, normal dog. Genetically speaking, the closer your dog is to a wolf standard, the healthier it should be. A lab sized dog with perky ears, large almond eyes, a long snout, tight skin, longish legs, a regular coat, and an upright tail will avoid most of the health problems that we have bred into dogs (yes, this is a bit of a soapbox issue for me).
Not unless you go with one who’s been living in a foster home (so you can know it’s personality). Beagles are known for their barking, and are very stubborn as a rule, which means training takes lots of time and patience, and you can never safely let them of leash in an unfenced area. They’ll catch a scent and might not come back even if you call them, since staying on the trail no matter what has been bred into them.
That applies to all dogs, unless they’re mobility-impaired. Half the “my dog is missing” posts I read start out “So we were wa;lking off leash because he ALWAYS comes back, but this time…” The other half start out “I let him out in the back yard unsupervised and when I returned hours later, I discovered…” Off-leash outside of fences is a risk, and quite often illegal.
So much of dog breed choice comes down to personal preference. We are on our 3d golden: she’s 10 months old and we intend to get our 4th just after the new year (from the same parents). IMO goldens are the best dogs around - but you are definitely going to have to tolerate some amount of hair no matter how much you try to clean.
If shedding is a big issue for you, I strongly recommend that you consider poodles or schnauzers. Both come in a variety of sizes. Although both require some grooming, you can do a lot of it youself, and can choose to keep them shaggier. I think poodles get a bad rap mainly because a lot of “poodle people” are so nutzoid! If they would simply let their poodles be dogs, they would be magnificent at it.
Wheaten terriers are a really neat mid-sized dog. Probably the friendliest breed I can think of. And I believe they do not shed either, tho I am not sure. They are terriers, tho, so you have to expect that type of behavior/personality.
A lot of folks love labs - IME the labs I have known have caused A TON more property damage during their 1st 2 years that goldens or any other breed.
Beagles and bassetts have a rep for being difficult to train. They have AMAZING noses, but can seem stupid/obstinate in doing other things.
And you might do well adopting an older dog if y ou want to avoid the potential damage, high energy, housebreaking, etc. of a pup.
Here’s a picture of Popcorn, the Bichon Sheep. Hypoallergenic, no shedding, little barking, friendly, energetic, and average lifespan of something like 14 years.
We have a rescue mutt - we think German Shepard and Lab - but who really knows. Turns out to be a great dog for us - he’s around 60 lbs (my husband wanted a dog sized dog, I wanted a smaller dog - this one is a little big for me, the right size for him), short hair, sheds a little, and has a great temper. Does have hip dysplasia - so he isn’t a cheap dog and we do need to be more careful with him than I’d have liked (he can’t chase frisbees - jumping will take out his hips).
However, a good dog is part training and part crapshoot. He’s fairly submissive - slightly more submissive and we’d be wiping up puppy piddle from “let me pee on you to show you you are boss.” You can’t really tell with a puppy what the grownup temper or size is going to be (an idea, but just an idea). Getting an older rescue dog might be a good idea for temper - but is risky as a lot of rescue dogs have bad habits that need breaking. Working with a rescue agency and saying “I want this sort of dog, keep your eye out for me” might be a successful tactic - especially if you will take a dog past puppy stage (puppies aren’t hard to place, an older dog often is, so a rescue agency may work with you in finding the right older dog).
IMO the sole reason for buying purebred over pound. While there are no guarantees even from the best breeder, they do breed for health and temperment - in addition to looks.
A typical golden will have a very different personality, behavior, and needs than a beagle, than a rat terrier, than a dobe, etc. We personally like goldens’ personalities, so we stick with them.
The reason to go with reputable breeders over pet stores or many backyard breeders is because they put a lot of effort into breeding for health and temperment.
I can not imagine why no one has mentioned the Welsh Corgi. We have owned Pembrokes for hummmmm the last 15 years and they are great dogs. Smart, easy to train, and great personality. In the time we have owned corgies we have never had to even worry about aggressive behavior and never had anyone bitten. They are big enough to be a “real” dog, but small enough to handle easily. As a bonus a three foot fence is plenty high
Read up on different breeds to look for the qualities you want. We spent a lot of time reading about breeds before we decided. If you want to go with a rescue dog instead then I don’t have any advice for you. Rescues just kind of happen to us. However I DO have a dog for ya. She’s a 35 pound hound mix of some sort. She needs someone with a big heart and a tall fence
Okay, fine. Change it to “there’s a higher risk with hounds than other groups” then. You’ll probably never have a beagle owner saying what you hear in the first half of posts you read, and the people in the second half are just idiots.
I love my parents’ collie, but god, is she work. You definitely can’t skip a walk with her.
