Dog Breed opinions/observations?

[Burning Petard]

I am considering getting a dog, companion, not watch dog. I prefer a female, about 20-25 pounds, reasonable expectations of healthy life till t least 12 years old, amenable to obedience training at least to the level of 'companion dog' which means it could be trusted off-leash. Not a probable danger to other dogs or strange humans of the age of accountability or older, adaptable to moderate exercise in a backyard or walks in the woods. Could be expected to walk at heel on a busy sidewalk without being a nuance to other people or dogs.

I have been considering: Brittany, Cocker Spaniel, Schnauzer, German Pinscher, Min Bull Terrier. My size preference seems to be a dead spot; most everything is bigger or smaller. I prefer a pup from a breeder so I know about its behavior background. I am not interested in a potential bench-show AKC champion.
I am reluctant to take a mixed breed due to unpredictablity or a rescue because of the unknown trauma to the bitch. OK I let it slip that I am very opposed to that word bitch used as an insult.
The female dogs I have known have all been of admirable character. I am not really happy with any of the breeds I have considered.

I do have a commitment from a family member that they will assume care of the dog, if it is still around when I die. Open to other opinions and suggestions.

snailgate

[Big RR]

If you were willing to go a bit smaller, I can vouch for the coton de tulear. We have our second, and our first survived in relatively good health for 13 years, then another so so but comfortable existence for another18 months. They are smart as whips and have a great, friendly disposition. The first was between 12 and 13 lbs, our second is closer to 8 - 9 lbs. Training of both was relatively easy. When my friend's mother in law had a stroke, the doctor advised getting her a pet to talk to and I recommended a coton--she was dedicated to that dog over 12 years (Until she died), and it is now my friend's pet and is now over 15. The dogs are extremely social and attached to their owners; indeed, my current one spendsmost of the day sitting while me while I work, watch me on the computer and joining me for zoom meetings.

If you want something more in the weight range you said, you might want to look at a border collie; many are less than 30 lbs, some around 25 lbs, so it's not that far off.

[Sue U]

Of course, everyone loves their own dog, and I'm no exception, but she is the sweetest-tempered dog I have ever met. She's a shi-tzu/bichon mix, clocks in at 21 lbs. -- which is large for that mix -- but the best part is she doesn't shed and is hypoallergenic. She did well at obedience and agility training, although she was clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed. She has little interest in other dogs* but loves to be with human people; she assists me in the office.

IMG_-2qlbab.jpg (61.05 KiB) Viewed 699 times

I'd also suggest a Scottie or a Westie; although I've never "owned" one myself, the ones I've known have been very smart and readily trained.

*As a grown dog. As a puppy, she was rather fond of and liked to play with my mom's Golden Retriever (an extremely good-natured breed).

[Burning Petard]

'Scotties' have a reputation for being very intolerant of strangers--or from the other point of view, good watch dogs. They were once much more popular because FDR had one. Thanks for your kind thoughts.

Snailgate

[Joe Guy]

I've always liked big dogs like German Shepherds but if I were looking for a dog now, I'd consider a miniature poodle (not a toy). I've never owned one but I know they're very smart, cuddly and they're also hypoallergenic.

Someone like these guys:

Miniature Poodle.jpg (65.38 KiB) Viewed 681 times

[BoSoxGal]

I could endorse a mini poodle and also a shi tzu - poodles are one of the highest intelligence dogs, definitely something I observed growing up with one as the family dog. I inherited my friend Linda’s pair of shi tzu dogs when she died, they were cute and pretty smart too. Shi tzu dogs require more grooming (or at least Linda’s did).

I’m a huge fan of rescue mutts myself, but it’s so hard to find small dogs like these available for adoption.

I wonder have you priced puppies in your area? Be prepared for some sticker shock - purebred puppies are in the many hundreds to thousands of dollars these days. Please be careful finding the breeder because many that are AKC ‘approved’ are still not responsible breeders. When I was shopping for a border collie puppy I found a few breeders who looked great on all the deets but turned out to be really not okay - one that I communicated with was raided and charged with animal neglect at the same time we’d begin discussing a transaction. You definitely want to buy only from a breeder whose facility is open for inspection by you and you are able to see bitch and sire with your own eyes. You probably know all that already.

[liberty]

That is hard to believe:


Key Points
The biggest dogs are mastiffs, which originate from ancient Roman war dogs and can be 160 to 230 pounds. The biggest dog ever was an English mastiff that weighed in at 343 pounds.
The Boerboel is the second biggest dog breed, at 150 to 220 pounds. They’re also one of the strongest, initially bred by farmers in South Africa to kill leopards and baboons.
At 120 to 180 pounds, Saint Bernards come in third. They have been used to help rescue people stranded in the mountains.
Have you ever stopped to wonder what is the biggest dogs in the world? Before you can make a list, you must define what you mean by biggest. While some dog breeds are exceptionally tall, if you specify the biggest dogs in the world as the heaviest, then here is your final tally. In compiling this list, only breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club were considered. Then, we made the list based on the lowest weight acceptable for a male of that breed. Here are the biggest canines in the world. Where there was a tie, the greater lowest acceptable weight was given the higher placing.

[Joe Guy]

That is hard to believe:

.....arf!......arf!.....ruff!

I'm curious as to what you see in your comment that is relevant to Burning Petard's request in his opening post...?

[Burning Petard]

Delaware had their state primary last Tuesday. I voted for a person running for the state legislature because:

They sent me three different paper appeals. They were informative, asked for my vote, did NOT ask for money (the only political mail I have received in the last six months that was not after my money, and it has been at least two a day, typically more than five. I brought this on myself by sending $50 to a candidate outside my state who was not a relative, but we shared the same last name.)

They have a Great Dane. I am pretty sure it is a rescue mixed breed because of its looks. But the campaign information did not brag about the rescue.

I prefer a breed with some working or hunting background. I think they are more emotionally stable over breeds like most of those less than 10 pounds that are constantly (rightly so) fearful of somebody stepping on them.

snailgate

[Gob]

Go for a mongrel. Pure breeds have genetic problems hardwired in. Ours are Fox x Jack terrier crosses.

[BoSoxGal]

Go for a mongrel. Pure breeds have genetic problems hardwired in. Ours are Fox x Jack terrier crosses.

Although I know you specifically stated a preference otherwise, I have to endorse Gob’s advice.

The mutt I got instead of a border collie pup is a mix of six breeds about one third border collie. She is terrifically intelligent and fast and protective like a border collie, but she exhibits none of the high intensity OCD sometimes destructive behaviors that border collie owners are constantly complaining about on the Facebook pages I follow. I’m so grateful for that because given my health issues I am not always able to go on our long walks and yet she is content to explore the yard and then sit and watch in sentinel mode for hours if I let her.

Also mutts have far fewer physical health issues as many of those are genetically based and thus because of purebred breeding consequences it’s rare to get a pup who avoids all the health challenges common to certain breeds. I have friends who have perpetually done the grief journey with their golden retrievers every 7-8 years which is really awful as a dog of that size could easily make 15-16 absent genetic predisposition to cancer. My Jenny lived at least 14 years and was running and swimming a few weeks before her death, she was like the Liz of elder dogs. (Just saw a story that Liz was still riding at Balmoral this summer at 96, a truly remarkable feat.)

The family I work for currently got two dogs over the last 8 months. Both are small and will not outweigh 20lbs fully grown. Their exact heritage is unknown as is often the case in rescue situations- they know the bitch but not the sperm donor. Anyway they are both intelligent and well tempered and honestly when it comes to adopting a younger dog from rescue you are likely to get a very well tempered dog, the dogs are assessed for temperament before being ok for adoption and while in some cases they end up having behavioral issues, many purebred dogs have behavioral issues and usually it’s a result of human failure not dog failure. The show Better Human Better Dog evinces how most dog misbehaving is down to humans not understanding dogs and how to teach them to give us the behavior we want.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Cat

[liberty]

That is hard to believe:

.....arf!......arf!.....ruff!

I'm curious as to what you see in your comment that is relevant to Burning Petard's request in his opening post...?

Nothing, I was just shocked that a dog could grow that big. I’m still not sure I believe it. For a big dog that big, you would have the option to walk or ride it.

Ask for a suggestion for a dog; how about a Chihuahua? You can bathe them in a 5-gallon bucket.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I don't know about biggest breeds; but I was once on a cleanup-assessment project at an old Israeli munition manufacturing site. Over the 50 years or so it had operated they had made every explosive known to man: RDX, HMX, TNT, NG, NC and others I have forgotten or they omitted to mention. Now it was prime beach-side real estate for a growing Tel Aviv and they wanted to close it down and they needed the place made safe first.

The place was heavily guarded by dogs. They had a double perimeter fence maybe 6 feet high and the two fences perhaps 10 feet apart. The dogs they had patrolling that area were definitely the biggest bad-ass dogs I have ever seen and I don't think any of them were less than 200 lbs. I suspect none were purebred or if they were I did not recognize them. I don't recall exactly how many dogs there were - at least 10. I just looked at the site on Google Earth - still undeveloped so maybe they decided it was not worth the expense of cleaning up.

[Bicycle Bill]

Go for a mixed-breed rescue dog.  Katie Barefoot had two of them while I knew her; while they weren't pure-bred, they both definitely had border collie genes in their makeup somewhere.   (Humorous story:  I was with Katie one time when she was asked the breed of Mitzie.  Her response was, 'Well, she's part border collie — and part NOT border collie.")

And both dogs were highly intelligent (that's the border collie part showing through).  Her first dog (Molly), which she said was always stand-offish and aloof when it came to males, took to me right away, allowing me to approach her and, after letting her get comfortable with me, stroke and pet her.  I figure that was why I was able to strike up a friendship with Katie ... she knew that dogs are a good judge of people, and she probably figured that "if the dogs liked me, maybe I was worth getting to know after all."

As for the rescue dog portion, there's something one feels — a deep, tender, unqualified love — about giving an unwanted-by-whomever animal a new leash (pun intended) on life, and the little furball knows it too.  I know Katie felt it, and she wouldn't have traded either of her animals for love or money.  I just hope the critter Katie had when she passed away — is it almost two years ago now?  God damn, it still feels like just last week for me — found someone who loved them as much as I'm sure Katie herself did.

-"BB"-

[Big RR]

On top of that, the mixed breeds generally are healthier than their closely bred,pure bred counterparts. As for personality traits, while they can be inherited, there is no guarantee. For example, I had talked above about my first coton, but my second is quite different. She is pretty highh strung and very wary of other people (while our first one loved socializing, I have to hold Scarlett for a while to get her calm if we have company--even people she knows). I wouldn't trade her for the world (she "helps" me working every day), but they are quite different. So many things affect temperament (including the shuffling of dominant and recessive genes and early experiences), so you really can't count on it.

One thing, however; if anyone in the house has an allergy to dogs (as my wife does) it is probably better to get purebred dog known to be hypoallergenic (or hybrid of breeds known to be hypoallergenic) as you can rarely tell whether a mixed breed will cause that sort of problem.l

[MGMcAnick]

Mrs Mc's research into good natured dogs caused her to get a Rough (Lassie variety) Collie. That was 13 years ago. The next year she got another one. They both competed in agility for many years, until age caused them to have to slow down. Those, of course, are large dogs, so they are not recommended for this post.

That story is the preface to her third dog. She is a mixed breed, 1/2 Australian Shepherd, 1/2 whatever jumped the fence. Maybe part Whippet... She is a medium sized dog that was provided by the bitch's person at no cost. Aussies are supposed to be THE agility dog. It has been interesting to see how fantastic she has been at agility. There are people in the local dog training club who have $5000 dogs with champion blood lines that Mrs Mc's "all American dog" runs rings around. (The AKC doesn't call them mutts, so that's how she's registered. Who knew you could ever register a mutt.)

I'm saying this to provide another vote for a rescue dog. Not that you are wanting to compete with your dog, but some of the best dogs are not pure bred. In any event NEVER buy a dog from a chain pet store. Those are almost always bred by puppy mills. They my be "pure bred" with papers, but their parentage and early up bringing is sadly lacking.

It should be noted that I'm still a cat person.

[ex-khobar Andy]

There's a piece on this subject in today's Daily Mail. Treat anything from the Mail with a giant pinch of salt.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... tting.html

[Burning Petard]

Please note this is based on experience in England. Dogs with the same breed name here in the USofA can be very different. The lists of best/worst can be very entertaining as you go thru them and begin to see a point of view. I found one that listed the Dachshund as the most vicious breed--it was a list that originated in India. Many of those lists credited to Yahoo are grounded in horrible ignorance.Yes I agree that checking the breeder is most important for purebreds. The German Shepherd should be a wonderful family pet. It has been ruined by breeders that go for temperament they ignorantly believe is preferred for police and military attack dogs. It is general knowledge among German Shepherd breeders that a 'sable' coat is somehow connected with the most stable and easy-going temperament but a sable German Shepherd is almost never picked as a bench champion. That goal was so sloppily defined that now police and military prefer the Belgian Malinois, if they can afford them. Meanwhile the Monks of New Skete in NY State have maintained their own strain of German Shepherds and have a waiting list of buyers that is two years long with a price of five thousand dollars.

The American version of the English Bulldog has been selected for such narrow hips and big head, that the pups must always be born by c-section.

The 'mixed breed' has the advantage that the dogs themselves selected the breeding line, not the whims of human fashion.

snailgate

[BoSoxGal]

There's a piece on this subject in today's Daily Mail. Treat anything from the Mail with a giant pinch of salt.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... tting.html

Well as someone who has only ever had the vet’s number one pick - a mongrel/mixed breed - I can’t argue with that list. I’ve known a few really nice greyhound rescues so I would certainly endorse that breed. Also a breed that is couch potato/love bug but expensive to feed and short lived, the Great Dane. Don’t know about health issues with those two. My granny had a sweet silky terrier who lived a long time and was perfectly sized to take everywhere, and she did way back in the 70s/80s.

My current dog is so fantastic I feel like I won’t be able to have another after she’s gone. She is a mix of six breeds but mostly border collie and PITBULL TERRIER if you can believe that - the universe is taking the piss! (Did I use that correctly my Brit friends?)

Any dog is a wonderful thing, and I’m fair sure that whatever dog you choose will be dearly beloved no matter what misadventures it might get up to. I look forward to a picture soon!