Dog Breed Recommendations

[Miss Wiggle]

Ex police dogs are a good idea and I used to see the RAF dogs a lot and they are well trained and disciplined. There was one a huge black shepherd that retired at 7 years old and he looked so mean, but he was such a puppy at heart.

If you can go to crufts then thats such a fantastic idea.

that sounds like it would be perfect for us, how do you find ex police dogs or failed police dogs!

yeah crufts would be good if we can make it, there's other dogs shows too though isn't there.

 

[TigerIssey]

In that case then may not be the dog for you, if you can try crufts out. You can check out all the breeds at the discover dogs section. You will also get any specific breed advice and contacts of breeders etc. Police dogs tend to be there aswell, you will also have the chance to get supplies for the pup at lower prices than in the pet shops, especially if you went saturday or sunday (be aware though Sat is terrier day and can get extremely busy) Don't worry about which breeds are there on which day, they still have the discover breeds section.

Sounds like you need a breed that does not need horrendous amounts of exercise although is quite large. I would not worry about the strength of the dog if you intend to train properley, you should be able to happily walk the dog if the correct training has been done initially. Look for dog training schools in your area and find out if anyone has used them, find out what they think about training methods used etc.

The kennel club does have good descriptions of each breed, worth checking out, they will often let you know what to look for health wise in each breed aswell.

Good Luck making your choice, if you think your lifestyle won't suit the husky, don't go there. But you know that already from fish don't you

 

[Leopard-danio]

Crufts is excellent, there's everything there you could ever need for a dog, they even give out free food samples, so i'd grab aload of them and walk around all of the breed stalls, i'm sure you will find one which takes your fancy. They let you pet the dogs and give you all information about the breed, just ask many questions, the breeders will be happy to inform you of the dogs behaviour.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Good Luck making your choice, if you think your lifestyle won't suit the husky, don't go there. But you know that already from fish don't you

exactly

this is part of the reason i'm trying to find stuff out now before she starts breeding, if i can get a dog in my head and find a breed i really want, it'll make it much easier to not buy a husky when i'm bombarded with cute little pups.

it is gonna be a tricky descision though.

i'll definately check out the kennel club and look into crufts and dog shows!

 

[black angel]

I remember once that a sniffer dog that was the same breed as callie wasnt up to her job and her handler told me she was having to go back to civvy street. I said that maybe I could take her, but he didnt want her on the same street as him as she would be confused.
I think they advertise through local papers or rescue centres. Do you have any Army, RAF near you? If you do then you can phone the camp and ask to speak to someone in the dog section and inquire as to what they do with animals that they retire or arent up to the job.
With the Police force I would think just phoning the local headquarters and asking about retired/unsuitable dogs.
The dog I talked about in the post above was taken home by his handler for 6 months and then he was advertised in the local paper as being ex RAF.
Most of these dogs from the police are shepherds but there are Rottweilers. The forces use shepherds, labs, springer spaniels, pointers, but other breeds are used such as rotties..

The problem you might find though is with older dogs, they might not be so good with the cats.

 

[LisaLQ]

Greyhounds make great pets, they dont need much exercise - two twenty minute walks a day will do - they'll do more if you want to though, and they love a run now and again - but they're only made for short bursts contrary to popular belief. They're great temperaments, many wont pull on the lead as they are lead trained for walking round the stadium before a race. Only downside being you cant let them off the lead in somewhere that isn't enclosed, as being sighthounds - their recall can be iffy. Not all - many can be trained out of it - but most will simply chase anything that moves (stray crisp packets being a favourite lol). You could use a training line/lead though - or find an enclosed park or field. Many greys wont be cat/small animal friendly, so if you do decide to go for one and you have small pets, you're best off going to a good greyhound rescue and getting a non-chaser (greyhound retired because it had no chasing instinct for racing) that's been cat tested, or previously homed with cats.

I love greyhounds, they are the perfect dogs - lazy, loving, cuddly (yes, even boney ones LOL), most are good with kids (again if you have them, get a kid tested dog who's been in a foster home). But then they can be nutters when you want them to be too. And, if you ask me, they're the most beautiful breed you can get

Says Lisa with a lurcher (well, she looks like a greyhound!). And yep, lurchers can sometimes be more active than greys as they're crossed with another working breed, usually collie in there somewhere, and we all know how active collies are!

I could give you a few links for good rescues if you like? Tia would be closest, but as far as I know, they dont put their dogs in foster homes, so the kids/cat friendly bit would be a bit hit or miss (if they were fresh in from the track rather than from someone's home). We got Sky from Tia, and she's brilliant with kids, crap with cats though - but there's other rescues who always put their dogs through foster homes first, and test them if they can. Might be a case of waiting for the right dog to find you, but it's worth the wait, believe me

 

[k.o.d]

I would recommend an Akita, they are large dogs but are very devoted family dogs.

My 7 year old son takes Kimi for walks twice a day, she is a great temperament both on and off her lead.

The Akita breed in reknowned in Japan as being a great dog with kids.

Look at the heritage though, Kimi is from Japanese stock and I would always advise going with a Japanese bloodline.

She has never been anything other than a sweet tempered dog

 

[Leopard-danio]

Awww boootiful akita, there was one in my local recue shelter, she was adopted in a day. Akitas are lovely dogs, they remind me of huskies with the fluffy fur,

 

[LisaLQ]

When I took one of my dogs to training, the trainer there had 3 beautiful well trained akitas, gorgeous dogs - she bred and showed them too I think. But even she said they weren't suitable for with kids, as they are very stand-off ish, and need their own space, and cant stand kids pestering them. It's a shame, as we used to want one, but with 5 kids, I just wouldn't want to put a kid-shy dog through that.

 

[k.o.d]

Also a breed to look for, which we keep too ( unsurprisingly Japanese ) is the Shiba Inu, these dogs are smaller but have attitude, they too are great family dogs ( they are the favourite dog in Japan )

This is our little girl Teru, as a puppy and then as a fully grown girlie

When I took one of my dogs to training, the trainer there had 3 beautiful well trained akitas, gorgeous dogs - she bred and showed them too I think. But even she said they weren't suitable for with kids, as they are very stand-off ish, and need their own space, and cant stand kids pestering them. It's a shame, as we used to want one, but with 5 kids, I just wouldn't want to put a kid-shy dog through that.

They are probably one of the best dogs for kids ever, I would trust a well bred Akita more than any other dog, my kids have crawled over Akitas since they were small, the kids used to fall asleep on them and Shinshi would not move til they woke.
We have 4 kids and lots of kids come and visit the farm, so I can only go with what I know for a fact

Steve

 

[Bex]

I would be very wary about getting a husky if you're not sure it would be right for you. They are very intelligent, very active dogs. We looked into getting a husky and did a lot of research and soon decided, no matter how cute the pups are, that we just didn't have the time to spend with them. I can't remember the website, but there's a whole site dedicated to the destruction a husky can cause to the home. I'm talking sofas completely ruined, cushions, everything! So if you're worried about furniture chewing, a husky is not for you! They are gorgeous though so good luck resisting the pups! They have the most gorgeous eyes. They need a lot of training too, and are very strong - I mean, they pull people on sledges so say no more!

We want a doggie too, so I know how frustrating it is trying to find the perfect one! Good Luck!

 

[fenwoman]

were moving house in about 18 months, and we'll be wanting to get a doggy. Our house now isn't big enough for anything other than really little dogs and we'd prefer something bigger so we're going to wait until we have room and get one then.

now we've loads of family with dogs but i've never had one myself, so while I know a few basics and how to play with them, i don't know a massive amount about dog care and breeds, so I'm just wanting to do a bit of research and finding out now so I can be all prepared and ready when we can get one.

Now I know it's down to the individual dog and they will have they're own temprements, but I know you can at least get a generla idea from the breed. So firstly what we like is big dogs, want something with a really soft loving temprement but that can be good fun too. I'm just gonna want to cuddle up while Ian will want to play fight! I know some breeds are all inbred and struggle breathing we don't want anything like that. They're gonna have to be able to get on with cats as well.

The main problem that I can see is that while we like big dogs, i've got a really bad back so therefore if we got something strong it would be down to Ian to walk it, but Ian's job means he may have to work away sometimes so he'd only be around at the weekend, so we'd need something that's not gonna get so strong I can't take it out, or something that would be fine with just short walks through the week so long as they got a really good run around at the weekend.

So if anyone's got any suggestions of breeds to look into that'd be a really good starting point!

unless you want a dog who playfights with you and your bad back, don't allow hubby to playfight. PLayfighting and subordinate and gently are nto compatable. Could you go for a rescued adult dog so you wouldn't have the bother of housetraining? I have a severe degenerative spinal disease, and I used to be able to walk the large lurcher (20kg), my collie cross (28kg) and the giant shnauzer (38kg) holding all 3 leads on one finger. They all wore a 'lupi' harness.
Or get a big lurchers. Big dogs, wonderful temperament, don't need loads of walking. I doubt most would playfight though.

In all honesty I think you want one breed to do too many things. You want a gentle dog who playfights, a dog which doesn't need much excersize, but on weekends will want lots of excersize.
If you don't fancy a lurcher, try a retriever cross.
specialist retriver cross rescue

 

[red-devil0602]

I own boxers myself and they are fantastic dogs very loving great with kids and are quiet happy to run for miles or sleep all day with their legs in the air, however they are a very strong dog and need to be well trained, also they do not like to be left for long periods at all as most suffer from separation anxiety.

Retired Greyhounds make wonderful pets, please when you come to choose please consider a rescue dog, so many are looking for homes through no fault of their own, i work for a dog rescue in rochdale and see it first hand so please give me a shout and i will point you in the right direction

 

[fenwoman]

i'm not 100% decided if we should go for a pure breed or a mongrel or a pedigree or a rescue dog, I have a rescue cat i got her when she was 2 years old and I felt the rspca didn't tell me the facts about her behaviour etc, and while i love her to pieces had I know more I would maybe have thought twice about getting her.

i know a few people with purebreed cats and dogs all of them have lovely temprements and are well behaved.

so while I know there's a lot of dogs desperatley in need of a good home, part of me say's once bitten twice shy.

But also while puppies are really really sweet I've got a kitten who'se just coming up to 1 year old and it's been a tiring year with her!! So part of me say's maybe an older dog would be better..... and if you get an older dog it's more likely to be a rescue dog right? Cos things like purebreeds will go as pups.

I've not made my mind up at all yet, also it's gotta be a joint descision. Just trying to weigh up some options now, I'm still open to any possibilities.

Can you give me a ball park figure how much training costs, never done anything like that before but i'd like to. Just trying to budget and plan!!

I'm not massivley keen on retrivers, just from a looks point of view, I don't know anyone with one so wouldnt know for temprement.

A greyhound could be quite cool, is it a bit of a myth how much exercise they need then? My sis has a little lurcher puppy and she's soooo cute, but bloody hell does she need exercise, good thing they live on a farm!

I am frankly amazed your sister's lurcher needs so much excerzise. In 20 years keeping and fostering lurchers, they have all been couch potatoes. The blessing of them means that they come in all sizes, colours and coat types too. Dunno why there are so many in rescue kennels either as to be honest I think they are the perfect dog. I prefer to call them 'longdogs' btw.
There is a photo of my big lad on one of the posts on here and someone else has put some pictures on too. All of them are in their favourite horizontal positions

 

[fenwoman]

I own boxers myself and they are fantastic dogs very loving great with kids and are quiet happy to run for miles or sleep all day with their legs in the air, however they are a very strong dog and need to be well trained, also they do not like to be left for long periods at all as most suffer from separation anxiety.

Retired Greyhounds make wonderful pets, please when you come to choose please consider a rescue dog, so many are looking for homes through no fault of their own, i work for a dog rescue in rochdale and see it first hand so please give me a shout and i will point you in the right direction

I used the breed and show boxers and adore the breed. However, when describing them I tell people to imagine the TV series 'the young ones', ask if they remember the punk, Vivienne, and tellt hem that's what a boxer is like lol. No badness in them, but flipping nutcases.
One of my old b1tches, would drop a stone in the fish pond, then stick her whole head under and look for it. She would not come up until she had it, sometimes eyes popping, gasping for breath but with a huuuuuuge grin on her face and looking at me as though to say "did ya see me mum? Was it funny?"
I'm now too decrepit to own one but I will be grandma to one as soon as my son has bought a house. Terrific. I might even get to have it on holidays . Bliss (I think)