Are a family with young kids, decent sized house and garden, we have a 9yr old Beagle bitch, we've always wanted a pal for her. Would get another Beagle but for all their great points (not aggressive, great with kids, not destructive) the relentless pulling on the lead and begging for food is a little trying. Would like a dog I can train to behave at least a bit….

I'd like a slightly bigger dog though Mrs McBoo thinks that means they'd need a whole lot more exercise. Short list off the top of my head so far:-

Pointer (on the large side but I think you can find smallish ones)
Labradoodle
Labrador
Springer Spaniel
Irish Setter
Weimaraner

Other possibles, if anyone has experience of them….

Vizsla
Gordon Setter
Catalan Sheepdog
Hungarian Hound

Anyone suggest me some more to think about? Also, Mrs thinks we need to get a male dog as two females won't get on….that the case?

Sounds like you need a Trailhound. I've not got one but they look awesome, although not sure if it would resolve you 'pulling on the lead' problem.

Woof Woof

If I could get a dog it would be a Springer Spaniel.

We had Retrievers when we were growing up and they're lovely dogs.

Unless you can exercise the dog properley (at least two walks of 1 hour each per day) I would avoid anything of a "Gun Dog" type i.e. Setters, Pointers or Spaniels.

If not walked they get bored and can become destructive. If walked they are beautiful animals with a great temperament around everyone.

Labradors are "Gun dogs" but they just sleep if not walked – that's why so many are fat :o(

Don't know much about the others apart from the Weimaraner – they are nervy dogs that can become aggressive. One attacked my Irish Setter and I've seen others being very anti-social.

Rescue centre mongrel, it's what I'd get. In fact, it's what I did get 🙂

http://twitpic.com/2cgn13

My folks had two girls and they were fine. Until one died that is.

We have a working stock black lab – small (for a lab) and utterly obedient but also super fit – she can run and run but also happily swim half a mile (which she did with me yesterday).

Brilliant with our (almost) two year old and strict(ish) early puppy training means she never begs, whines or acts like some PITA dogs.

My folks have two springers – one is really nervous around kids so we ruled that breed out.

Labrador ….

Close Thread

Getting another dog when you haven't taught this one to behave? seems like a recipe for disaster.

Boxer – not too big, but not a small dog. Playful, get on with other dogs, fairly obedient (although can be stubborn), great around children…..I'd love to get one if we had the time required.

Only potential downside is that they can have stomach issues, but if you look into all pedigree dogs, you'll find a weak area.

IME +1 for Springer, Lab or Retriever

Clicky. Visit and choose one that suits you. There's far too many to choose from.

Walking not a problem, 3 adults in the house to share the duties and we have fields behind us.

"Getting another dog when you haven't taught this one to behave? seems like a recipe for disaster."

Oh we trained her and trained her believe me….Beagles are Beagles…..

Labrador if you never want to worry about having your bins only collected every other week by the council.

You can (and I have) feed them anything, and not only will they eat it, but will enjoy it too!

Springer spaniel. Ours is just over 1, and is the most relaxed, friendly and trusting dog i have seen in my life.

supersessions9-2 has the right idea.

Edit: if you do decide to go down this route, be aware that kennels are pretty scary places for small children.

Rescue greyhound or lurcher. But rescue in general. There are far too many brilliant dogs out there. Both of ours have been rescues.

SPANIEL!!!!

If you want something that you can take out with the bike though, go for a Cocker. Our's loves following the bike and is one of the most pathetically soppy dogs in the world, so obviously great with kids.

Oh we trained her and trained her believe me….Beagles are Beagles…..

🙂

I'd discount the Weimaraner for the same reasons as above, you could add Rhodesian ridgeback. They are meant to be fantastic family pets. I have a Lab and he's great with my daughter.

you can't beat one of these for speed and agility. Mine's a bit of a princess tho

+1 Lab

Whatever kind of family you are a Lab will just slot in with minimum fuss. Mine loves following me when I'm on the bike, but the good thing is they're happy just to be around you during the day and will just chill out. They're not called "Laybythedoor"'s for nothing…

Oh, and don't make it fat. I hate seeing fat labs. You can train a Lab to not beg for food, mine goes and lies down in her bed the moment you pull a plate out of the crocery cupboard. Less food than most people think (my vet said the instructions on the side of packets are maximum amounts). Mine eats a mug of Beta a day, with some water and bran and a little seaweed powder for her teeth. She'll chase a ball or follow the bike all day so that keeps her trim as well.

I've a 14 week old labradoodle called Harley. Great dog, very clever and easily trainable, Harley was toilet trained at 9 weeks. quiet, no aggression, soft as butter with my 2 year old god daughter and her 4th old brother. Good around my folks 2 collies.
Having had large dogs in the past I wanted another largeish breed, well harley was 7kg when we got him at 8 weeks, he's now 20kg at 14 weeks and stands taller then my folks (large) 4 year old collie lad. Importantly he travels well, and handled the chaos of mountain mayhem this year with no problems. He gets taken for a good amount of exercise a day, but will happily sleep in his crate if we need to go out for a few hours.

He's just a right character and I'm so glad I got him.

Without question a Boxer. They have a real comedic approach to life are fantastic around children and babies and love walks and fun. I had two bitches without any issue at all.

A STW favourite but if you can't train a beagle you have no chance with one of these.

Yeh for some reason our Beagle just loves Boxers, perks up everytime she meets them.

Anyone owned/know a Gordon Setter. Beautiful animals.

I went down the rescue route before, had a lovely Cocker but he'd been mistreated, just loved the family but got very aggressive and bit a bunch of visitors to our house. Tried very hard but ended up having to give him and he was destroyed. Lot of heartache…..

Black-lab bitch, they are the best 'house dogs' by far.
forget a springer spaniel, they are fantastic dogs by need constant work or they go a bit mental
the comment above suggesting a rescue greyhound should be given thought, they make great family pets and need much less walking then most other dogs, (greyhoundrescue.com) i know the centre local to me does a foster system so you could 'try before you buy'
(im loving the labradoodle above, my mum just got a rescue one that needed re-homing just because he is HUGE and he is great)

Got a mini-labradoodle who is about cocker spaniel size, fantastic dog but she's not really up to going out with the bike, prefers a gentle stroll up to about an hour per day. Personally I don't think I would go down the breeder route again. I am sure there must be some good ones out there somewhere but I didn't see any.

Have a look at The Labradoodle Trust website, gives you some interesting info about them (dispels a few myths) and some that need nice new homes!

[/url] – don't know how you do that properly

go rescue and stop feeding the designer dog industry

Oh and…pulling on the lead, my advice for what it's worth. Never use a harness and practise walking only with a relaxed lead. When the lead is tight stop walking. I use a gun dog lead. Try it at a faster pace as well.
Good Luck with your dogs.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier, absolutely awesome with kids.

Just to add fuel to the rescue dog fire…. they don't all turn out to be problems. My dogs below are both rescues, Alfie (the lab X rotti) was mistreated as a pup and is scared of people, but once you earn his trust he is really loving and loads of fun. Charley (the collie x corgi!?) is really friendly and has bags of energy. Will run spaniels into the ground 😉

+1 for rescue centre mutt.

Mine has considerably fewer behavioural problems than I have!

I can only speak from experience but Golden Retrievers are great dogs. I have 2 and they are better behaved than my 3 kids! They take a bit of exercise – about an hour a day. Which isn't a lot but can feel like a lot in the winter. My oldest lad (12) takes them for their afternoon walk and they behave perfectly for him. Often my 3 year old goes with him and takes one of the dogs on a lead. They never (ok, nearly never) pull at her.

That said, if I was able to predict with any certainty the behaviour of a rescue dog, I'd probably go down that route myself. We got retrievers because we have had them before and we know of people with them and their temperament is never in doubt.

An added bonus is – while I wouldn't want to rely on my soft mutts to guard me, my family or my house – they have got a deep loud bark which they use any time someone comes to the door or ventures into the garden unannounced, which may be enough to ward off any intruders.

Labradors all seem to have a very amiable nature, but all those I have known seem to have habits I struggle to accept (involves re-eating)

+1million for rescue centre dogs… at least go and have look eh?

A Boxer,all the dog you will ever need,without doubt the best dog ever with kids as they will play with them for hours on end & never get bored…I've had two over the years,they're very loyal,but can be a bit of a handful to train,then again they're so funny you won't care…..

you can't beat one of these for speed and agility.

My dog would beg to differ

lurchers make great family pets as do greyhounds they are not known as 40mph couch potato's for nothing. Need a couple of good runs a day but after a sprint or two they will sleep all day, very placid and come in all sorts of sizes and coat types. Look for one with a dash of collie to make it trainable but not enough to be too clever and demanding.

How many is it to feed and how long before the meal is to be served? Personally I like a lot of meat so I'd go for a larger dog, but if time is pressing then a smaller dog will cook quicker…I guess if you are lucky a few will be vegetarian so you get more meat from a smaller dog (well more meat to go to the meat eaters as there will be less mouths to feed!)

Springer Lab cross is a good option, oddly enough mine's 'best friend' is a beagle & they get on like a house on fire.

Anthonyb—great looking Labradoodle
We have two labradoodles, females 4 & 5 years (sisters from different litters) and they are great dogs. Smart (sometimes too much so), easy to train, good with kids, other dogs. I would have another in a minute–in fact starting to look for a third. ours weigh about 65 lbs and shed very little–they are much like labs in that they have that puppy-playfullness until about 3 years. Also love water–lakes, rivers, sprinklers, running hoses, etc. They do love to chase rabbits, squirrels, etc. if they can. My youngest grabbed a dove out of the air while walking the other evening. We walked past a bush where the dove was resting and when it took off, the 'doodle had it in her jaws in a flash–getting her to part with it was quite the task.

Bichon Frise? smart and cute but expect it to lick the burglar rather than chase him away!

Great with kids, people and burglars.

Quite smart too