samoyedman Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/lab-tests-dig-up-the-best-dogs-for-family/story-fni0cx12-1226681944488 THEY are rambunctious, silly and eat everything in sight, but labradors and golden retrievers are sweet enough to be the perfect family dog, experts say. Traditional favourites like border collies, cattledogs and kelpies are simply too active and require too much intellectual stimulation for the modern Australian lifestyle, according to a panel of experts assembled by The Sunday Telegraph. It's a blow for the hundreds of thousands of families who proudly own herding dogs. But the instinct to round up the kids and nip everyone into line is just too much, the experts agreed when we requested recommendations for the best and worst dogs for every kind of family. Their recommendations included: - If you have slothful teenagers who won't get out of bed to walk the mutt, best avoid the stress and get something with short legs, like a chihuahua. - Choose a collie or a kelpie only if you're a young single with a committed fun-run training program and plenty of spare time. - When your children are babies, delay adopting any kind of guard dog, including rottweilers, mastiffs and pit-bulls. They can be gentle, but it's not worth the risk. - Consider giving a Staffordshire bull terrier a home even when the children are under 10 - staffies might look mean, but they can be surprisingly gentle. - If you're getting on in years, get a beagle. Yes, they'll fossick through the rubbish-bins in search of snacks, but they're also happy to sit in the armchair and do crosswords with you, as long as you have a regular supply of tasty tidbits. Families with children can't go wrong with labradors and golden retrievers, Australian Veterinary Association president David Neck, said. But families should beware all kinds of working or herding dog, and completely avoid pitbulls, mastiffs or rottweilers, he added. "You just don't need 60kg worth of dog around children. While you have beautiful individuals in the breed (guard dogs), they are big, strong and powerful and aren't appropriate near children who don't know how to approach them." Wayne Asplet, chief executive of St George Animal Rescue and Head Animal Management officer of NSW Animal Services, said labradors were perfect when they entered the family as a puppy. "As long as they get the animal young and have enough areas for the animal to become a family member. They are usually the most placid of animals, or a labrador cross," Mr Asplet said. "You should tend to stay away from dogs that need a lot of attention because that would take attention away from the child." Vicki Etherington, chairwoman of obedience and tracking for DOGS NSW, said the ideal dog for children is the Cavalier King Charles spaniel. "They are very soft dog, very amicable and don't require an exceptional amount of exercise," she said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) So much for socialisation and training and supervision with kids. This is the kind of thinking that brought us BSL - "some breeds are good and others..." Stand by for a flood of adolescent untrained BYB labs and GRs to hit rescue. If you don't want a dog that needs exercise and attention, why on earth get ANY dog. Edited July 20, 2013 by Haredown Whippets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaCharlie Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I personally could think of nothing worse than a boisterous young lab in a family expecting a placid dog that won't knock over the children... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baifra Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 My brother and I grew up with Rottweilers and our grandparents owned German Shepherds. Perfect dogs for us. Who the hell was on this panel anyway??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe001 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 The first 6 years of my daughters life was made complete by two friends. Both died of old age last year. She couldn't have been raised by a better pair of dogs. Gentle, kind, obedient. If she was outside playing we always knew where as there was always at least one dog standing near her. Maybe I should have planned better and get more appropriate dogs. They were a working line shepherd and a large black mastiff cross. I have her first steps on a photo. Standing nude in the back yard being held up by holding onto a dog toy held in a dogs mouth. A photo of her feeding a GSD a banana little piece by little piece. A calm gentle mastiff or GSD sure as hell beats a silly jumpy lab. Nothing against labs but these so-called-experts pretending to know what people want annoy me - as I'm sure they do many others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) The first 6 years of my daughters life was made complete by two friends. Both died of old age last year. She couldn't have been raised by a better pair of dogs. Gentle, kind, obedient. If she was outside playing we always knew where as there was always at least one dog standing near her. Maybe I should have planned better and get more appropriate dogs. They were a working line shepherd and a large black mastiff cross. I have her first steps on a photo. Standing nude in the back yard being held up by holding onto a dog toy held in a dogs mouth. A photo of her feeding a GSD a banana little piece by little piece. A calm gentle mastiff or GSD sure as hell beats a silly jumpy lab. Nothing against labs but these so-called-experts pretending to know what people want annoy me - as I'm sure they do many others. The biggest problem I think is that people think that dogs are just the same animal in different shapes and sizes. I honestly think a lot of people don't genuinely know what they want beyond a dog "that doesn't dig up the yard or nip the kids". And of course the fact that how a dog is raised has a significant influence on its behaviour is missed by a lot of folk. Far easier to offload a dog as "the wrong breed" than take responsibility for failures as an owner. I think there's some sense in what is being said ie... "think through what the dog you buy has been bred to do and choose accordingly" but the focus goes right to breed and not what stands behind it. For what it's worth, if I had a breed popularly thought to be "not a great kids dog" I'd be cheering. Kids don't raise dogs, FAMILIES do. Will see the BYBs and puppy farmers leave it well alone. It might help stem the flood of working and bull breed crosses into pounds also. Edited July 20, 2013 by Haredown Whippets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 For what it's worth, if I had a breed popularly thought to be "not a great kids dog" I'd be cheering. Kids don't raise dogs, FAMILIES do. Will see the BYBs and puppy farmers leave it well alone. It might help stem the flood of working and bull breed crosses into pounds also. I considered being offended by the article but then I thought about all the nuf-nufs that might not buy my breed now and am happy. I rarely recommend my breed anyhow as I don't think that most people are good enough I wouldn't even sell my brother a puppy years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Consider giving a Staffordshire bull terrier a home even when the children are under 10 - staffies might look mean, but they can be surprisingly gentle. ... and another daily rag puts out this... http://www.smh.com.au/data-point/canine-aggression-rises-as-funding-bitten-20130720-2qb0q.html Families with children can't go wrong with labradors and golden retrievers, Australian Veterinary Association president David Neck, said. ... and a poorly bred/socialised one is asking for trouble! T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) "Staffies might look mean"????:laugh: Jesus I have an active herding breed and am not single and do not do fun runs, she is healthy and happy. My other dog is too big for their recommendations...even though he is wonderful with children. One sentence says get a dog that doesn't need much attention, then the next recommends a CKCS....WTF are these people on? Every dog needs attention and CKCS especially! They have missed the opportunity to actually educate people once again.... Edited July 20, 2013 by Aussie3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) And a Beagle for an elderly person? Really? Edited July 20, 2013 by *kirty* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I know kirty! What?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samoyedman Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 And a Beagle for an elderly person? Really? Yes that made me raise eyebrows too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Bull Terrier worst for a lazy teenager? Bull Terriers love sleeping in the bed with you all day. Sure they love a good walk as well, but are just as happy to sit with (on) you and watch TV, or snore under the blankets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 It article looks (to me) like they have tried to write it a bit tongue in cheek (with a bit of humour).. Sadly, there are so many dickheads out there that will read that as a serious article.. I guess we will have the media to thank once again for encouraging the public to purchase dogs that may not really be suitable.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjrt Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 (edited) Just look at these mean vicious bull breeds doing battle. This is so brutal. That one on the left is clearly damaged by this vicious attack. Edited July 21, 2013 by skyefool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Nawwww Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I have to laugh at the babies one, Maltese = good, Shih Tzu = bad. What about the billions of malt/shihtzu mixes around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Traditional favourites like border collies, cattledogs and kelpies are simply too active and require too much intellectual stimulation for the modern Australian lifestyle, according to a panel of experts assembled by The Sunday Telegraph. Slightly OT but last night I met 2 foster puppies from a national animal rescue org. They told the foster mummy that the pups were kelpie/bull arab crosses and due to their breed they will be outside dogs only. She can't bear that of course and keeps letting them in the house to sleep in their crate at night and is hoping it wont get her into trouble as a carer. I looked at them and they looked like Jack Russell crosses, which made even more sense when she told me other pups in the litter were tufty (hers are smooth). They certainly don't look like they will grow to much more than ankle height. These are definitely not going to be working dogs and they are only young puppies. What the hell is it with the rescue org telling her to raise them as outside only dogs when they are likely to just be pets? What has happened to actual breed knowledge? No wonder the public buy the wrong dogs if this is what they are reading or being told! And of course if it's red it must be a pit-bull! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 This is pretty much what my energetic borders do all day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 What can you say really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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