Breed help

[sigpros]

The wife and kids 10,12 want a dog. It would be a family dog and in the house. That being said I'm not a fan of big dogs in the house so looking for a small kid friendly dog that's not a foo foo dog. Ive always had brittany's and one beagle. The beagle was great until she got hit by a car. We love in town with a fenced yard. Any help with a breed? Leaning toward a beagle but open to ideas. A fiest looks neat but they sound high strung. Thanks for any help

 

[Coop]

Find a lab with smaller parents. Great family dogs and you can find them around 40-50lbs.

 

[Pucky Freak]

We have a vizsla/lab mix who is 55 lbs. We love her to pieces, and only complaint is she was very energetic/needy/high strung until about 3 years old and needed about 3 hours of exercise daily. Next dog will be a female lab from a reputable breeder. Some labs can be boisterous or aggressive, and can do a number with their tail, but others are sweet and calm and love attention from anyone. Even though it is a larger dog they don't tear around the house or slobber (much). Second choice would be a Brittany, but concern would be some are 1-man dogs and can be a bit dismissive of children.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Everyone will have their two cents on the best breed no doubt about that.

I myself am partial to English springer spaniels, which most will land right in your size requirement. Mine is 44# and not much taller than a cockerspaniel. I don't have kids so I can't comment on that, but the AKC does say that the breed in general is very good with kids.

If your curious the AKC has this breed finder search bar which basically they ask you questions about what you want in a dog (energy level, shedding, etc.) and then they give you some recommendations.


Side note: watch out for all the "designer" mutts, they have been known for severe inbreeding lately with many associated issues that no reputable breeder would allow.

 

[Scott85]

Why not a recuse from a shelter since it is just going to be a family dog?

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Why not a recuse from a shelter since it is just going to be a family dog?

Nothing against shelters, but the one nice thing about a reputable breeder is that in general you will know the temperament of the puppy based on the parents. Shelter dogs that is much more difficult to figure out since seeing a dog in a shelter alters their behavior greatly.

Again, I don't have anything against shelters, you can get great dogs from them, but they are not for everyone.

 

[TLowell02]

Will this dog be a working dog or just indoor family pet?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Obviously you should get a corgi...

 

[6mm Remington]

We have a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and she's been a fantastic dog. She weighs about 37 pounds and is about 4 years old. Very smart, loves to please, and loves people. She also likes to hunt upland and waterfowl in case you should enjoy doing that. Loves to retrieve and is a tireless worker. They look similar to what a small golden retriever might look like but have redder color hair. If you would like to see a picture shoot me a PM. The breeders like the "Tollers" (what they call them) to have markings and Hazel our dog certainly does. She has a white spot on the top of her nose, one on her chest, four white paws, and a white tip on her tail with the rest of her being all red-head!

 

[Sandpounder]

That's a great picture of the corgi. We like them, too. They can be surprisingly athletic. The one we had decided to chase us down the lane one time and cleared the auto gate by like five feet. I was pretty impressed with the short legged little thing jumping like that. We have a border collie corgi mix I think now. She was a rescue, but has a lot of corgi traits. Pretty goofy, but a great dog. I also think that the temperament in shelter is a lot different than what they can be when they get home, but as long as they start out good with kids, I think you can work on other behaviors. Our other one is also like the lab mix described above, pretty high energy but finally at 3.5 years starting to mellow out. For a while there it was walk 4 to 5 miles a day, run behind the 4 wheeler, then play ball until your arm falls off 7 days a week, but that was good for me. I am fond of rescues even if they can be a little bit of a project sometimes.

 

[Scott85]

I think the best non working breed of dog out there is a boxer. Boxers are something else that's for sure.

 

[Ajax2744]

I have2 dogs, a black lab and a terrier mutt mix. The lab is 70lbs and the mutt is 45. Both are great dogs. That being said we had english Springer spaniel growing up and they are some of the best dogs I've owned. They are super loyal and very kid friendly. But they are full of energy. If you need a dog to wear your kids out it would be a good choice. I personally love big dogs but if I had to go to a small or medium size dog I'd look into any kind of spaniel personally.

 

[CB1]

A couple of our friends have labradoodles. Great temperament, very little shedding and you can get a midsize that is around 35 lbs.

 

[JTHOMP]

There’s a lot of great dogs but if you’re not a fan of a dog in the house (like me) then one thing that’ll be a little better is a poodle or yorkie mix since they don’t shed.
Current girl friend has an Australian Shepard and there is always hair in the house and vehicle. Ex had a golden doodle. Can’t say I miss the ex but wish I could trade dogs solely because of hair.

 

[Chad Gus]

I've owned beagles since i was 9 years old, and never had a complaint about any of them. ( on my 5th one) Haven't had any issues with them being mean or unfriendly and have been relatively low maintenance. Great with kids

 

[sigpros]

This will be a family dog. I would love a working dog but don't have the time for a bird dog or the places to hunt. The bad thing about shelter dogs in my area is they are almost all pit bull mixes.

My daughter likes the corgi and has mentioned them before. What does one look for in a corgi? And I'm still open to more ideas. Thank you guys

 

[Deleted member 28227]

This will be a family dog. I would love a working dog but don't have the time for a bird dog or the places to hunt. The bad thing about shelter dogs in my area is they are almost all pit bull mixes.

My daughter likes the corgi and has mentioned them before. What does one look for in a corgi? And I'm still open to more ideas. Thank you guys

We had the same issues with shelters, all pits, there are a ton of great dogs as mentioned above.

Personally I love herding dogs for families as the typically stay close and are super affectionate. My wife grew up with corgis hence why we got one. Gus will never go more than 50 yards from us, we can leave him outside without a fence in the suburbs and not have to worry about him leaving the yard or running into the street.

Honestly I don’t know what you look for other than making sure they are heathy... cuddle ability? Go pembroke over cardigan, they are more active. Corgis are super smart and extremely athletic if given the chance. Then can hike all day Gus regularly will do 10+ miles with me scouting in the summer, but then ride next to your feet in the truck or go under the seat on an airplane, (they don’t need to be service dogs they are small enough to fit in a carrier).

A huge downside is corgis shed like crazy, if that’s a problem for you check out pulis(google puli +short haircut they look stupid with long hair).

 

[Nick87]

Best family dogs we ever had growing up were always a mutt from neighbor or other nearby farm. Also a few that were free that some Jackwagon from town would dump off from time to time.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Springer Spaniel or American Water Spaniel.

 

[bobbydean]

I have 4 rat terriers. Basically mutts. All the old farm breeds mixed together.

Loving dogs. Do know how to cuddle.

Best dog I have ever had was an Aeridale. He was special, but his pups were not as affectionate as he.