Don’t have a big garden but plenty of great hill walking on the doorstep
Must be compatible with cats and kids
Probably looking to get a pup to ease the cat/dog situation but would consider a rescue dog
Will occasionally be left home alone for most of the day

Jack Russells were favoured but apparently not good with cats

Beagles and Whippets have been mentioned – anything else to consider?

Miniature Dachshund?

3 HUGELY differing breeds there. need to think about your requirements a bit more IMO.

A small cross breed. Usually brighter than inbred pedigrees and more niche – obviously.

Whippets and cats, probably not.

Don’t get a border collie – too unstable. Potentially brilliant, but probably a big bag of problems.

Rescue = potential cat/kid problems.

I would say labbie or spaniel, if it was not for:

Left alone for most of the day.

A small cross breed.

That sounds ideal.

Left alone for most of the day.

when and how long?

if you are getting a pup this isn’t really achievable.

a 2 month old pup will want to piss/shit about once an hour…

Left maybe once a week for say 5-6 hours

once a week isnt too bad in general, but isn’t great when the pup is young.

dogs are very hard work when they are young and i’d thoroughly recommend being there with and for them 100% of the time until they are a good few months old.

that said, lots of people don’t. but then (seemingly) lots of people have dogs that are badly socialized or bite their children’s faces…

would reccomend a rescue dog, don’t think i could ever buy a dog, however they may have abandonment issues and may not get on with kids, i wouldn’t get a pup if you are going to leave it most of the day.

i think it very much depends on the training and agree with the others mongrels make much better dogs as they are not inbred like the pedigrees

We have a black lab, great dogs and there are many reasons they are popular not least their great temperament. Will be fine with cats and kids.

We leave our dog for 4 hours but don’t really like leaving her longer. I think a collie will go crazy left for so long, they really like to be active and engaged. A lab doesn’t need a big garden, take him/her out for a walk first thing so they can “do their business” and they will be set.

I would research what sort of dogs people have locally that lead a similar life to yours, which breeds do you see out on the hills ?

IME most of the smaller breeds are more active and I don’t know if they can be left alone all day.

Westies’ rock.

Love my two. Will happily spend all day out in the Fells, or equally spend all day sleeping.

Always wondered what they did when we where out at work all day, but spent 9 weeks at home on post op recovery and found out.

They sleep.

A lot.

Our staffie cross rescue will sleep happily through the day when left along. Loves cuddles when we get home. Loves chasing cats but I think the cat thing us a training issue.

How about a Staffie? dont believe all the crap thats written about them, they are really friendly dogs, great with kids and huge problem with them being abandoned (presumably lots of chavs get them and then wonder why they arent that ‘ard).

We have one and shes soppy as anything.

What about a Shetland Collie?

It seems to match all your criteria.

Golden retriever or a lab would get my vote, just make sure whatever dog you get woofs rather than yelps otherwise it’s actually just a big rat.

NOT A BEAGLE.

They love to hunt, so much so that if you let it off the lead it WILL go off on it’s own following it’s nose (not every time admittedly). The least trainable dog I ever owned. (My theory is that the litter has one brain which they share and if you select the dog that doesn’t have use of the communal brain at that moment you get a vacant animal).
They are lovely dogs but all our local ones are lead walked all the time.

I’m staggered that there hasn’t been a recommendation for a Border Terrier. STW is slipping!

Border Terrier gets my vote, ours is super hyper whenever there’s the slightest sign of us leaving the house but will quite happily sleep most of the day with a quick chase round the garden at lunch time.

In fact I’m working from home now and he’s asleep on his mat in the kitchen snoring. As was said above, basically he sleeps all day whether we’re there or not.

He’s also got more personality than is good for him. Only downside is he doesn’t like sitting in pubs, he gets bored.

ransos 😀

Didn’t even see your post either, purely coincidence.

What are Bernese like?

Our friends have just got one, amazing looking pup.

Westie.

I grew up with Labs, a Great Dane, a couple crossbreeds, but the best family dogs have been Westies. We now have two.

I’m staggered that there hasn’t been a recommendation for a Border Terrier. STW is slipping!

Lovely dogs but can they be left ?

NOT A WESTIE !!

Apparently they will chew the face off you child (if you listen to Hora)

dogs are very hard work when they are young and i’d thoroughly recommend being there with and for them 100% of the time until they are a good few months old.

They are dogs FFS, not babies!

If you get a pup they’ll be fine been left for a few hours, ours was. Wife left at 0830 and back for 1215, then gone at 1300 to be back at 1600. We left open the extenstion door and he was in a puppy run (with a wire top) inside.

Working cocker, house trained in a few weeks.

Border terrier +1.
Again ours is radio rental at times but is brill with the kids and can run/walk all day or sleep most of it! It’s been a brilliant breed for us and we can’t imagine having a different one now.]

Our Patterdale’s been fine being left for 2 x 3 hour sessions, twice a week ever since she was a pup. She’s great with kids, cats & other dogs and seems equally happy running round the woods like a psycho or slobbed on the sofa.

They are dogs FFS, not babies!

ahhh. cheers.

ZOMGDOGSONSOFAS!

they’ll quickly learn that you’re nothing but meat and try to eat you if you let them on the sofa!

anyway, as for suggestions of what sort of dog…. go visit local RSPCA or dogstrust, fill out their forms for adoption and be honest about how long you work, your home and experience of dogs… they’ll give you better advice than STWers promoting the type of dog they own 🙂

I wouldn’t rule out a rescue. Depending on the rescue you should get a proper assessment of the dog. With a slightly older dog, they can be left alone for short periods and brucie bonus, no toilet training to do.

Maddie was selected for us and our circumstances and has been perfect. We had left our requirements quite loose, as in, we want a German Shepherd – not fussed on colour, sex, age etc. but you can be as specific as you want with some rescues.

Beagles are hard work.
Absolutely love mine, but they are so stubborn.

I am able to run with him off the lead so long as it isn’t open ground. There are places that I can never let him off, others where I can if I am running as the speed keeps him occupied. He would be a pain to ride with though, which was the initial plan.

Whippet might chase a cat, but so might any dog regardless of bread.

Do as much homework as you can! We’ve always had border collies but after our last one passed we waited and considered a different breed. We’d always quite liked the idea of a beagle so we contacted the Beagle trust and went through the process. I’ve nothing against beagles, I’m sure they are lovely, but we were talked out of getting one by the beagle trust themselves! Best advice we’ve ever been given. We now have another Border Collie, 10 months old, and she is a top dog.
Also, you only get back what you put in. A dog and its owner need training and lots of it.
Good luck!

Lovely dogs but can they be left ?

Yes, but not every day. Ours can go 6 hours without causing any bother or leaving little pressies around the house.

Westies’ rock.

Ours is a lovely little chap but as i have spoken on here a few times before he’s not without his issues and has cost us bloody thousands over the years….and he’s still going 16 years later and wont give up (love him really. Look up Westie health issues before you do anything.

My vote is a mongrel….this was our Chester Bless him and he was fantastic.

We have a Lurcher – 15mins and he’s happy to spend the rest of the day on the sofa.
Will also go all day out in the forest.
He does HATE cats but he was a working dog before we got him so cats, squirrels, rabbits are all fair game BUT if he had been a pup the chase is very easy to train out.
You’d be surprised how many ex-racing greyhounds/whippets will learn to accept your cats – just don’t expect it to like anyone else’s 🙂

In all truth there is a load of old baloney talked about dogs. No you can’t leave them for 8 hours a day, five days a week but our Border Terrorist is left in his cage probably 4 out of 5 days. I leave the house at 8.30, nip back at lunch to let him out for 45mins then get home about 5.20.

He’s three now and had exactly the same pattern since he was seven weeks old and as long as he has two decent walks a day is absolutely fine.

As I said earlier whether he’s in his cage when I’m at work or on the sofa when I’m at home he does the same thing, sleeps.

I got a lab/springer spaniel cross who was 11 months old from a rescue home and he has been brilliant. Really friendly, doesn’t chew anything, good with all manner of people, good recall, well behaved and is scared of cats.

We have a small garden, but he gets two decent walks a day and lots of mental stimulation when we get home.

He was being trained as a gun dog (bred specifically as a cross for energy and without lab hip problems), but wasn’t much good so they were going to shoot him!

Please go to a rescue home and get a dog. If you dont get on well with it, you can always take it back, but if you choose wisely you wont need to.

Don’t expect to get any sense out of a BT… will come back when called (if he can be arsed and there is nothing around to chase, bonk or piss up).. being a terrier, has a very strong ‘prey drive’ as they call it, he just reverts to type, trained to kill foxes, rodents, basically anything smaller than a cow! (has seen off one of my daughters guinea pigs)…. despite all that how can you not love that face..

PS will snore when asleep and fart when you have company…. you have been warned 😆

(My theory is that the litter has one brain which they share and if you select the dog that doesn’t have use of the communal brain at that moment you get a vacant animal).

Agree with everything said about beagles. Incredibly stupid, greedy, will run off at every available opportunity, could never take one out with you on a bike.

On the flip side I’ve had 2. Amazing loyal beasts, rated one of the best with kids. I’d have another in a flash if I could.