What Breeds Wouldn't You Recommend For A First Time Onwer?

[huski]

I know people who are very experienced dog owners who would never want to own a Sibe (despite how pretty they are ;)). Not because the breed is so difficult to own, but you just have to be the right person to own one.

I think they are very pretty but am happy to admire everyone else's...not the dog for me.

No Horty, you are definitely a beagle person instead

Sucker for punishment more like.

Ah... potato, potahto

I'd be spending the next three weeks finding out if I was you. Huski is a good person to chat to, she'll give you all the beagle goss.

I once went to collect a beagle on behalf of a rescue group from a hysterical woman who was at her wits' end because the beagle had demolished half of her house and turned her entire garden into a sandpit. I just wanted to grab the dog and get out of there but the woman kept handing me bits of skirting and door frame, saying "Look, she just ate it right off the walls, why didn't anyone tell me they were so destructive" and balling her eyes out. I think she was just trying to justify in her head handing the dog over but I felt so uncomfortable, there was just nothing I could say except "she'll be going somewhere suitable and nice where they know how to handle beagles." The poor dog had just been bored silly in a too small yard with not enough exercise, not enough inclusion and not enough mental stimulation, but where another breed might have coped in that house with that woman and their lifestyle, a beagle could not.

Beagle goss/tales of pulling my hair out moments/Evil Beagle examples/etc :p

I must admit I've always been lucky with Daisy regarding destruction, she's never been that destructive (touch wood). Did the beag find a more suitable home?

Edited August 13, 2010 by huski

[aussielover]

I'd be spending the next three weeks finding out if I was you. Huski is a good person to chat to, she'll give you all the beagle goss.

I once went to collect a beagle on behalf of a rescue group from a hysterical woman who was at her wits' end because the beagle had demolished half of her house and turned her entire garden into a sandpit. I just wanted to grab the dog and get out of there but the woman kept handing me bits of skirting and door frame, saying "Look, she just ate it right off the walls, why didn't anyone tell me they were so destructive" and balling her eyes out. I think she was just trying to justify in her head handing the dog over but I felt so uncomfortable, there was just nothing I could say except "she'll be going somewhere suitable and nice where they know how to handle beagles." The poor dog had just been bored silly in a too small yard with not enough exercise, not enough inclusion and not enough mental stimulation, but where another breed might have coped in that house with that woman and their lifestyle, a beagle could not.

What breed do you think could have coped?

Doesn't sound like an ideal home for any dog if you ask me.

[Dame Aussie]

Breeds I wouldn't recommend for a 1st time owner:

GSD

BC

Beagle

Dane

Kelpie

Maremma

Anatolian Shepherd (We have one and he is the sweetest most easy going wee man you could meet. Having said this he is very independent, stubborn and cheeky. Destruction can be serious so not for the house proud )

Rottweiller

Husky

Mal

[~*Shell*~]

Lol - the 2 breeds I've owned are on the OP's list.

My Danika () as a puppy - my family's first dog:

And Zero now - my first dog on my own:

Danika was a great first dog - obedient, easy to train, very gentle. She loved to go for a run but would turn on a dime and come back to you if called. Fortunately, she had brakes, unlike Zero who often barrels into my legs when recalling!

I think it depends on the person as to what breeds don't suit them as a frist time dog owner. A sibe has been perfect for me, and my dobe was too when I had her. I don't think something like a british bulldog would have suited me though, even if it might be the perfect first dog for someone else.

Edited August 13, 2010 by ~*Shell*~

[SalTheGal]

i wouldnt reccommend large or big breeds dogs to a first time owner purely because if a big dog gets out of control it is harder to restrain than a small breed dog. without the experience in how to train and handle a dog, size really does matter. ie; an excited chi jumps up on you it doesnt cause that much damage vs an excited rotti jumping up on you.

I think the opposite - that first time owners should be forbidden from owning small dogs so that they realise that a dog is not a walking teddy bear. Too many people use lack of size as an excuse for a completely out of control dog. There are some good small dog owners out there but there are also a lot of small irritating untrained shits. I'm so sick of people thinking it's ok for their small dog to jump up and basically do whatever it pleases because it's 'cute'. Always makes me feel tempted to egg Ella into a state of excitement and try to get her to jump on them and say "Still think it's cute?"

Having a large dog as my first dog really forced me to take responsibility for being a dog owner as I thought, "I can't have a large, out of control dog" so I stepped up. It was a learning curve and I may not have been the perfect owner but we did lots of obedience and I learned a lot about dogs and myself, then came Ella the dynamo - two thirds the size and twenty times the energy - thank dog she wasn't first!!

COmpletely agree with the bolded bit.... and agree with all PP who say its about the owner not the dog... if a person is prepared to do the research and do the right thing by the breed, then anyone can own any dog I think (within my acknowledged limited experience with a broad range of breeds )

My first dog as an adult was a Bullmastiff x GSD, and I took the responsibility of owning a large dog VERY seriously... attended obedience, made sure he never jumped, was very clear who the leader was, and he turned into the most beautiful loving well behaved dog- I often had compliments on him (apart from his recall... but I just never let him off the lead unless I was in a safe area to do so)....

Fast forward to our new pup- Cocker, and I can see I am going to have my hands full with her- she is soooo challenging already to me!

Edited August 13, 2010 by SalTheGal

[dancinbcs]

As a general rule, I have always avoided selling Border Collies to first time dog owners. I need them to have at least had dogs around when they where kids, even if they haven't owned one themselves as adults. In other words they need to have some idea how dogs act and think. More important though is the fact that the owners need to be smarter than the puppy. This is often a problem with BC puppies training their owners, instead of the other way round. While very easy to train, if you know what you are doing, they will outsmart you at every turn if you are not sure or have no idea.

Nearly all of my puppies have gone to previous BC owners and they usually get priority. A first time dog owner would only be able to successfully raise a BC if they have someone knowledgable nearby that can steer them on a correct course in raising the puppy.

On the other hand, an already trained, adult BC could be owned by just about anyone that was prepared to learn the commands the dog has already been taught.

Edited to add, that I personally find it difficult to advise first time dog owners on puppy raising because I have had dogs all my life and find it hard to comprehend how little some people know about dogs. Some of the really basic questions asked on DOL really stagger me at times. If you grow up with dogs, you just know all the basics without any memory of ever being taught. If owners are already used to dogs then I can advise on diet, training, grooming, breeding, etc but trying to explain why a dog acts like a dog is a lot more difficult.

Edited August 13, 2010 by dancinbcs

[hortfurball]

No Horty, you are definitely a beagle person instead

*cough splutter* Eat your words! I've seen what beagles can do! I'm too lazy to be a beagle owner.

I must admit I've always been lucky with Daisy regarding destruction, she's never been that destructive (touch wood). Did the beag find a more suitable home?

Ask Centitout, the beagle was flown over to her, I'm pretty sure she was going to assess and rehome. I took her (the beagle) straight to the airport. This would have been about 2 years ago.

The poor dog had just been bored silly in a too small yard with not enough exercise, not enough inclusion and not enough mental stimulation, but where another breed might have coped in that house with that woman and their lifestyle, a beagle could not.

What breed do you think could have coped?

Doesn't sound like an ideal home for any dog if you ask me.

Actually the key words were not enough. The dog did have all of those things, just not enough for the particular dog. The beagle was walked daily, was included with the family when they were home, slept inside and spent evenings in the house with the family, had lots of toys, none of which lasted very long so were replaced regularly, I saw the 'remains'. Some dogs are just more challenging than others and I think this one was a nutjob even by beagle standards. (sorry huski :D ) When I said a 'too small yard' again I only meant for this particular dog. A smaller less active dog would have been fine in a yard that size with a daily walk. They were just ill equipped to deal with a dog that pretty much needed a full time job to keep it out of trouble, unfortunately the dog failed the tests to become a sniffer dog, not food driven enough. To be honest I wouldn't have liked to have been that dog's owner, I would have failed too. She was very good in the car on the way to the airport though, I was a bit concerned when I met her whether my car would still have seats by the time I got her to the airport but she was good as gold and I felt a bit sorry for her being in inexperienced hands and then being sent off with a stranger like that but I knew she was off to somewhere where someone would understand her needs so all's well that ends well. I must PM Centitout and find out what happened to her.

[Agility Dogs]

While very easy to train, if you know what you are doing, they will outsmart you at every turn if you are not sure or have no idea.

Ah yes, they were the days. Feral, out of control border collie that did EXACTLY as it pleased and me without ANY clue of how to change things.

Latest addition to the pack is not quite so (un)lucky and has not been allowed to put a foot wrong and is doing very nicely.