What Breed To Recommend To Young Family?

[ZAUBISTAR]

Hi Guys,

A good friend from work and his wife are looking for a pet dog. They own a house on the beach and have 3 kids, a girl 12, a boy 4 and a baby girl just 1. They are a fairly active family, do heaps of bush walking, running around etc. and the dad runs marathons. However, I would think the dog would stay mostly with mum as dad works my hours and travels from family where as my dogs stay with me.

They love my GSD's and might consider that but I'm not going to push that either way. I think while they appreciate the working dogs a lot, they might want something that doesn't need that much mental stimulation.

I at first suggested golden retriever which was also on their top 10.

Other breeds they like but I have no idea about were:

weimaraner

schnauzer (standard)

and a little while ago Dalmatian.

I did suggest that dogs like Shetland sheepdog and whippet would not be best suited to very young children, I assume this is still right?

I would love to get a list of breeds well suited so if you can help please paste your suggestions in and I can look up the breed standards and go through it with them.

Cheers

[poodlefan]

Inside or outside dog?

Will they take it to training?

What sort of level of coat maintenance will they be willing to keep up?

Is this a tick area?

[ZAUBISTAR]

Inside or outside dog: Most likely a bit of both, I would assume inside to sleep but would need to confirm ( I hope so anyway).

Will they take it to training: Possibly, They're very interested when I tell them about trialling, probably more interest in agility/fly ball type activities.

What sort of level of coat maintenance will they be willing to keep up: Yeah, from chatting I would assume low to medium, although I would have thought schnauzers required a fair bit?

Is this a tick area: Typically more in the eastern side of the state but they have been found migrating recently. This is very north west of Tas so as far as I know they're not a huge issue. I've never found one on my guys but we are about 150km inland from where the family live.

Any ideas?

[lappiemum]

tell them to look at lappies - in general, they are no where near as full on as most other working breeds, and are very family orientated. Good med sized dog, low maintanence, happy to be either couch potatos or go for your 5km jog with you. If they want more info pm me and I will be happy to provide

[poodlefan]

I'd go smooth coated. Provided the dog will live with the family, maybe a Pointer.

If they are bushwalkers, they'll need to keep the dog onlead, train hard for good recall or both.

Any larger pup will create growing pains with small kids. That will require active management.

Schauzers require a fair bit of grooming.. professional grooming to look good.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Stafford?

[ZAUBISTAR]

I'd go smooth coated. Provided the dog will live with the family, maybe a Pointer.

If they are bushwalkers, they'll need to keep the dog onlead, train hard for good recall or both.

Any larger pup will create growing pains with small kids. That will require active management.

Schauzers require a fair bit of grooming.. professional grooming to look good.

Thanks, so weim might suit them then? What about GSP?

Stafford?

Sadly no. I suggested this a few weeks ago and he was flat out no. Said when they lived in NZ that breed was a gang dog and he just can't brush that idea away

You know how sometimes things just stick with you.

[~Shepherd~]

There are heaps of Whippets in my area, usually attached to a toddler. That was my first choice in dog after my Belgian passed on.

I have a Whippet and a White GSD

I have a 9 week old baby, a 2 year old a and a 4 and a half year old. Couldnt be a better mix. My dogs are mainly indoors, crate trained, but now not crated indoors at all. They spend a good part of the day outside playing with the kids on the trampoline or in the cubby making mud pies.

[Cosmolo]

I'd go GSP or Vizla from a quality breeder.

[cassie]

Maybe a Smooth Collie?

[GoldD]

I am biased with two goldens but perhaps this would not be the right choice for them, not that they are high maintennance coat wise but the amount of hair they drop might be an issue. Otherwise goldens suit all their requirements and would be perfect. They have beautiful temprements and my experience with my two is that they are great around kids, come on my daily runs, and love the water.....(perhaps love the water a little too much!!)

[tdierikx]

Labrador? They shed like a bitch, but are otherwise not a bad family dog... recommend getting one from a breeder that does all health checks and breeds for even temperament...

T.

[Crazy Daisy]

I have a 6, 4 and 1 year old. I have a Golden Retriever and he is perfect for our kids.

The 1 year old walks him around the backyard on his lead and has him sit down and have tea parties with her. The four year old, who is wary of large dogs after being knocked down a few times by our GSD x, loves our Golden and happily helps take him for walks and will feed him biscuits and cuddle him. The six year old likes to sit down after school and talk to him as he is so calm and cuddly.

Yes he does shed (a lot!!!) but you can't go past a Golden personality.

Regards to the other breeds you mentioned in your OP, I can only tell you from my experience knowing people who own these breeds, not from owning them myself.

Weim - They can be a little aloof and the ones I've seen have been super active as they grow up and were very jumpy dogs.

Standard Schnauzer - I groomed one for a couple of years and she was beautiful and gentle and loving. The owners had a couple of young children and she was great with them.

Dalmation - The same family above got a Dalmation when their schnauzer was about 9 months old I think. He was older when they got him and took a long time to mature. He was very jumpy and off in his own little world most of the time But like I said they didn't have him from a puppy and this is the only Dally I have had continual contact with.

My vote would be a golden, but I'm a bit Biased

Edited April 23, 2010 by Crazy Daisy

[Crisovar]

Whippets are excellent family dogs, their favourite place is in bed with the kid of their choice.

My Grandsons have a Whippet for their very best friend, and they are very active boys.

What coat type suits them best, something easy care if they spend a lot of time on the beach, or are they prepared to do some grooming.

Do they mind having hair all over the house or do they want a low shedding breed?

[mita]

Maybe a Smooth Collie?

I'd back a Smooth Collie, too, for thinking about. IMO one of the hidden gem breeds in the dog world.

If I were back at the family level with children....that's the breed I'd be looking at. With a Cardigan Corgi as the second dog in the family.

[Monah]

I'd go GSP or Vizla from a quality breeder.

Both gorgeous doggies

As long as the family realises just how ACTIVE both these are (also Weis), BOISTEROUS etc. and they do need a lot of mental stimulation. Also, if they are in a cold area and may have the dog sleep outside , a vizsla (dont know about the others) would not cope, they feel the cold badly.

Also depends on the family, all these 3 breeds will knock younger children, and even an adult (zoomies) over and if this is a worry to the parents, they would need to be prepared. Luckily I never worried about it but I know it is worrying for many people.

I've had schnauzers, GROOMING as someone said, and some (mine were giants and fantastic) of the smaller ones can be a little yappy/snappy depending on breeding lines.

Our best ever all round family/kids dog was a cattle dog. Easy to train, perfect size, would play endlessly with the kids or do 'adult stuff', great 'guard dog' (protective), hardly any grooming, happy in or outside etc. I know some have a 'bad' name, but IMO they are terrific dogs and great at dog sports too. A well trained /socialised cattle dog is a wonderful thing.

Is your friend able to go and check out some dogs at shows?

Or, maybe an older purebred that needs rehoming would be OK. Just less boisterous and easier to care for than a juvenile

I adore whippets, I think any breed can be a great family dog, but it depends entirely on the family

[Gilypoo]

What about a great dane...

While people intially bork at the size of them, they tick every box your family friends need..

They are goof balls.. So laid back and happy just being in a family.

My Girl spends all day outside while we are at work then sleeps inside at night.

Short coat, so only abit of shedding.

Very kid oriented. If trained correctly they learn that kids are fragile and to be gentle.

Are happy to laz on the couch or go for a walk (obviously with a large breed, exercise must be kept to a minimun while growing)

Fantastic dog all around..

The Kids will be the coolest in the street cause of the dogs size..

And oh so cute when puppies

[mumof3]

Research the Brittany - this is what I have chosen for our active young family.

Also, hard to go past the Golden Retriever.

I love gun dogs because of their trainability and eagerness to please.

Brittanies are good at agility etc.

If my kids were older than they are (5, 3 and nearly 1), I'd consider a GSP too, or a Wei, but I think these might be a bit of a handful for a baby or a three year old in particular.

[corvus]

I think small herders are a good pick as a family dog. They are easy to train, portable, and pretty active without needing hours of off leash running a day. I had a corgi when I was a teenager, and I used to take her for 4 hour bush walks. She'd never be more than 10 metres away from me and didn't have a shred of recall training... because she was never more than 10 metres away from me. My parents have a Sheltie, who is similar, if a little more highly strung. My Vallhund is another small herder with a lot of get-go. He's super fun and a bit more active, but I think you've got to be confident with dogs because mine is extremely outgoing and sometimes a bit of a handful. Dead easy to train, though, and although he's had a bit of recall training, we spent a lot more time on the Lapphund's recall because he's more independent. The Vall needs little encouragement to stay close.

What about a Lagotto?

[dee lee]

If they can handle the hair (and if they love your GSDs I'm guessing they could?) then I'm another Golden Retriever pusher!

Mine is the perfect family dog, adores children, has the sweetest happiest temperament, goes jogging with me and she LOVES the beach!

What more could you want?