Something I never expected to happen might be going to happen after the summer. We’re thinking about getting a dog. Kids are 8 & 10 and really want a pet and it’s becoming impossible to resist. I like cats but I’m coming around to the idea of a pooch, trouble is I don’t know much about breeds and whatnot.

The wife and I both run so we want something that can handle a fair bit of exercise, but doesn’t need a massive workout every day. Child 1 is like I was as a kid and reacts easily to hair, dust etc. I want a dog that can catch frisbees (this may or may not be a dealbreaker). I don’t like stupid dogs much, or overly fancy breeds. Give me your thoughts!

that can handle a fair bit of exercise, but doesn’t need a massive workout every day.

STW Dog = Border Terrier

The main thing you need with a dog is time.

Running, not stupid and frisbee dog might point to border collie.

But if you do find yourself drawn in that direction, my humble advice is to proceed with extreme caution: they’re beautiful, rewarding and absorbing as a breed but have a high propensity to go wrong as pets.

If I were you, I think I’d be looking for a spaniel, and bracing myself…

Good luck. Dogs are ace.

Dog’s Trust?

Lurcher of some sort with a dash of collie

Working Cocker Spaniel

Go to the nearest animal rescue centre. See which one you and the kids fall in love with.
Don’t give money to a breeder.

A brown one. No, maybe black, yes, definitely black.

I want a dog that can catch frisbees

Didn’t read this – scratch Border Terrier!

IME they are rubbish at this sort of thing – more interested in sniffing and peeing!

border terrier here! it’s fab, it’ll run all day (so long as its not too hot) doesn’t take up much room in the car when we travel to pembs from sheffield. it’s fairly stubborn (has character), is great with the kids and can be trained but you have to be really consistent with training.
Negatives, it’s stubborn (terrier), it’s grumpy on the lead, it chases sheep when it gets the chance and due to it thinking it’s a big dog when it has a scrap with a boxer it hurts it’s back and has to be lifted everywhere for two weeks.
It’s right as rain now and having been reserved about getting a pooch I have to say I love the damn thing and wouldn’t be without it!

Lurcher-collie cross a good one; collie-labs I’ve met seem like good dogs, too.

But, mainly +1 for what Lolo says.

I do like spaniels actually. We had a look at the local rescue place online and most of the dogs listed are staffies unfortunately.

Any of those Spaniels are funny or adorable as safe bet as first family dog.

Hi There.
I have just gone through the exact same process. I wanted a dog for ages as did my two boys aged 10 – 11.
Considered all sorts of breeds from patter dales terriers, beagles, collies, spaniels and Jack Russells.
For what its worth have now got a lab /collie X. She is gorgeous and not what I set out for.
I went to a a few re-homing/ rescue centres and they were very helpful in matching dogs to you and your family.
Also its great because the really drive home how important it is to get the right dog for you lifestyle to and how much responsibility it can be. I work so needed a dog that was happy to be active 2 / 3 times a day but was also happy to be left at home for up to 4 hours (She has access to the house and the Garden so is properly keen on mooching in and out).
Mine loves going walking on Dartmoor, chasing balls and catching frisbees over the park, Cuddling on the sofa, Jumping in and out of rivers.
The best thing about it is that we have all benefited from the Re-homing centres knowledge, skills and experience in getting the right match . Oh she also loves mountain biking at the forest too.
Good luck.

Pick the funniest looking one – ours looks like a cross between a red squirrel & a dwarf-fox, with a hint of micro-lion… allegedly some kind of pomeranian cross, comically hairy but very good at swimming which is always funny to watch & grunts like a pig when out of breath. Likes pubs.

Greyhound. Lovely dogs, easy going, lazy as all hell (genuinely – they’re not called the 40mph couch potato for nothing), surprisingly intelligent and because they’re bred for physical and not aesthetic qualities do not tend to suffer from the inbreeding other pedigrees can.

£90 ish to get from the Retired Greyhound Trust.

I was not a dog person until we got a Greyhound but they have converted me. Gorgeous dogs…

My lab collie X piccie
Bessie
Bessie 2

I do like spaniels actually. We had a look at the local rescue place online and most of the dogs listed are staffies unfortunately.

Travel to a more rural rescue place, they’ll have less ‘urban’ dogs and more country-type dogs.

http://arthurshielrescuecentre.co.uk/index.php?page=successstories

We got our Springer from here, top dog and top people.

Take a look at Sprocker Spaniels, cross Cocker and Springer……we went through the same process late last year and figured these could fit the bill.

Ours is ace, we rehomed him, at little cost, but have had to undo some of his behaviour, but he’s got a willingness to learn, bags of character and enthusiasm but will equally be happy to curl up on your lap and fall asleep.

There’s groups on fb with advice and some pages on the web for breeders and people wanting to rehome.

most of the dogs listed are staffies unfortunately.

Staffs are lovely. My mum got a rescue one. The sweetest, daftest, funniest dog I’ve ever met.

[video]https://youtu.be/d4cgUZjbI8A[/video]

Jack Russell [/thread]

I’ve had loads of dogs, but Milo, a Jack cross Dobie is the greatest of them all, goes under rather than over trail obstacles, enjoys the ride, loves kids and people in general, friendliest little chap I’ve known.. Small like me, all the best things come in small packages.. 😉

Rescue center +1

Persoanl preference I’d be looking at gun dog breeds (retrievers, spaniels), pure or cross, maybe with some boarder collie in there. Eminently trainable (well most of the time) and tend to have a stable temperament (if sometimes a little loopy) and be good with kids, although they do need a fair bit of exercise. I grew up in a house with 4 Golden Retrievers so may be a little biased to that breed.

Go to the nearest animal rescue centre. See which one you and the kids fall in love with.
Don’t give money to a breeder.

This and get a cross-breed that fits the bill. Then get it insured.

Springer spaniels are ace though (in STW tradition).

Make sure you are not leaving it alone during that day (ie both of you working).

Here’s an STW dog for you OP.

http://www.freshfieldsrescue.org.uk/animals/detail/bruno4

thanks all, this is great advice, much to think about. Bruno is a bit far but I hope he gets a home soon!

We had a look at the local rescue place online and most of the dogs listed are staffies unfortunately.

One of the few recommended breeds for families by dog organisations. Pick a good one and be prepared to be loved to death.

Get a Staffy, brilliant dogs and so many need re homing. Dont believe the bad press they will play all day long with balls and frisbees. Frisbee might get a bit chewed up though. 😀 ball wont last long 😀

wouldn’t recommend anything with collie in it other than collie cross lab or retriever as they have a tendency to be highly strung and a bit bitey. also would not recommend working cocker or cocker. the former are full ON unless sleeping, the later have tendencies towards possessive behaviour/bonding to just one person. generalisations of course.
most things crossed lab or golden retriever will tend to be easier going, both in nature and easier to train, as they’re more likely to be food motivated.
FWIW my first dog is snoring under the desk as I type – welsh springer cross field spaniel. 😀
she bucks the breed traits as she’s pretty mellow most of the time.
in future I might look for springer or cocker cross lab, or springer cross vizla or pointer. mate has a springer cross pointer and she’s a fantastic dog – looks like a miniature pointer, basically, with a wonderful temperament.

all IMO, and you know what they say about opinions!
dogs are ace. mostly. good luck.

slight hijack: as we’re mentioning staffies, how much exercise do they need and what are they like with running? I know all dogs need to get out regularly but not sure whether they want long runs or short blasts. Anyone an owner?

As someone who has no interest in, or any particular liking for dogs, please could someone explain why, if Staffordshires are such loving family dogs, does every other lowlife around here have a couple of them? Are they not bitey and kill-y?

Some further inspiration in these threads 😉

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/friday-spaniel-thread

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/what-dog-1

My first Staffy was a great bike dog, would follow along behind and capable of about 1 hr or 1.5hrs with a few rests and plenty of water. Second one was hopeless and kept biting wheels running into me 😆 he got run over by a quad chasing us around a field and if I started my Enduro bike he would clamp onto my leg. It was all play nothing nasty he knew that engines meant running around like a loon.

Both were at least 18 months old before letting them run and run and run.

Staffs are lovely and sadly the dog of choice of idiots because they are very strong and very tenacious. Any dog can be trained to be nasty, my first Staff wasn’t good with other dogs, so I kept him away from them, my second one loved everything in the world but squirrels. He would play with other dogs no problem, sheep and cattle in fields just ignored them, didn’t react to rabbits or cats but had a real problem with squirrels.

A mate has a Jack Russel that will attack anything, hateful creature that lives in his tractor cab. I have met a couple of very nasty Border Terriers, my housemates collie is very flighty, wouldn’t trust her at all. I know a Rottweiler that thinks its a lap dog and tries to sit on you she is such a softy.

If you are concerned about your child and dust/hair etc consider an Airedale Terrier. My folks had one as my mum was asthmatic and they are basically hypoallergenic! I think most short wiry coat dogs are though.
Very intelligent dogs and theirs had a great temperament with humans, occasionally a bit snappy with other dogs though. Never played frisbee with it, but it loved catching balls. Needs a decent amount of excersize too.

If I ever had a dog myself I’d get one. Though recently I’ve met a couple of Hungarian wirehaired vizsla’s which seem really nice, and sound to be an ideal family dog.

My collie is as soft as hell but they are bright. He knows exactly when walkies is due and he will just sit and give MrAdamW the ‘collie stare’ until we’re out. He not bitey, in fact with people he’s as chilled as. He tends to ignore most people.

Here’s a picture of the soft sod lying down in the flowers this year.

https://goo.gl/photos/JPoSTqc8uudmMAKU8

Collies do need attention and something to do. He loves ball and attention but we can leave him for about 3 hours with no ill effects to him or the house.

Apart from that he’s a fantastic dog, picked up from the border collie trust uk.

The main thing you need with a dog is time.

Which is why, even though I read every STW thread, I never acquire one. One day though.

I grew up with black labradors. The purer bred ones, the more stupid they were. All came from some sort of working stock, so were smaller. Still needed loads of exercise and would regularly eat washing from the line.

The only time we had anything else ended in disaster: we had a black lab, a jack russell and a golden retriever puppy. The jack russell (aided by the black lab) killed the puppy. Extremely distressing for my mother, and a long time before she had another dog.

Staffies: Are they not bitey and kill-y?

Not by nature, nor usually by nurture, neither, as far as I can tell.

I’ve heard that many end up in rehoming centres because the original owners could not train them to become violent and/or fighty.

wouldn’t recommend anything with collie in it other than collie cross lab or retriever as they have a tendency to be highly strung and a bit bitey.

Here is my highly strung collie X lurcher!

Watch that childs face!!

German Shepherd . Great at everything , would give they’re life for your kids , intelligent and eager to please . Had my shepherd x doberman for 14.5 years . Happy times .

Our half shih tzu half schnauzer is ace, and non of us severe allergy types react to him. Doesn’t shed at all.

I’m a walking allergy and our Yorkshire Terrier doesn’t cause me any issues.

We’ve had her 8 weeks and can’t imagine her not being there now.