Next Breed Selection Help :)

[kiwihounds]

Hi all! Just joined this forum after looking for some time. I'm in NZ.

I've started thinking about the next breed I'd like, as I like to plan in advance and start contacting breeders. New pup would be able to join us in a year or so; I'm wrapping up studying animal care at the end of this year, but I may decide to progress onto vet nursing. If I did I would have to see how things were; it may make the wait longer, but even so I wouldn't mind figuring out a breeder sooner rather than later; especially as I have a penchant for rarer breeds and would like a show dog! lol I see a lot of breeds at shows obviously and have a small internal list but sometimes in asking you get different experiences and suggestions you wouldn't otherwise think of!

I currently have an Italian Greyhound, and while she is very sweet and I love her to bits, I think I would like a bigger dog next time. After meeting other IG, I think she's a touch out of the ordinary in her temperament as well. Many have seemed overly shy or bland compared to her. She is aloof with some strangers but not extremely shy. She turns five this year.

Any interaction between her and the new dog would be supervised.

We have a fully fenced (its about 6-7 feet tall but not sure exactly) large yard. About a quarter acre section and a big house. I am happy to meet the exercise requirements of just about everything. Only extremely high exercise needs would be too much. The IG already gets at least one but usually two daily walks between 20-40 minutes depending as well as off leash time and play time. We have lots of great places to take dogs off leash for runs here. Happy with good house manners but not an obedience star (obviously, I have a sighthound lol) but wouldn't mind giving obedience and/or agility a go if the dog would like it. I prefer dogs that are calm and fairly easy to manage/live with in the house though.

Obviously I am looking for something bigger. Nothing smaller than say a Stafford. I'm not a fan of breeds with any propensity towards dog aggression. Been there done that with a previous dog. I can live with prey drive; my IG has a lot of it already and its manageable, but they need to either be able to ignore or get along with people and other dogs. Children are not nor will ever be a thing here. No wire coats and nothing with extreme grooming requirements for the show ring. I don't mind shedding or brushing. A bit of barking for a reason I can handle but I hate dogs that bark a ton. My IG is vocal in her communication but not yappy and I'm okay with her level of noise. I love the elegant look of the sighthounds but I'm open to other breeds! No squashed faces though. The healthier the breed is the better too. I am willing to look at breeders in Aus if they aren't available in New Zealand.

All suggestions and experience welcome! :)

Edited May 18, 2016 by kiwihounds

[SpikesPuppy]

If you don't mind a bit of shedding a few times a year look at the smooth collie :)

Edited May 16, 2016 by SpikesPuppy

[Scottsmum]

Hi,

Welcome. You'll quickly learn we love photos here. **cough cough show us ya iggy*

No real suggestions from me. Lots of others will have some great suggestions.

I was just thinking - You've told us a lot about what you don't want but you haven't said what kinds dogs you really like... Eg - I love weimaraners but I'm not a huge fan of other some of the other gun dog breeds (I don't want to pick on one) but if the world ever went off kilter and I thought I'd own a pointer or gun dog style it'd be a weim.

I also love the looks of Dobes and rotties ... and to some extent looks play a huge part.

One of our members here from the chch area has a (small) Portuguese Podengo - who I have a bit of a crush on. Not sure if the medium and large versions are available in this part of the world hopefully she'll drop in and comment.

Lots of great info here for you to sort though, enjoy the board.

Also - where in NZ are you? I recently skipped over the ditch from Oz. Currently preparing for my first Kiwi winter.

[BlaznHotAussies]

What about a Pointer? My BIL has one, she's fairly dopey but very sweet. Pretty sure she's from working lines & the exercise you outlined would be adequate if you had similar.

I'm just not sure about play styles and whether it might be too rough for an Iggy...

Another breed I would suggest is an Aussie but they have a lot of hair and like to play rough.

[Purdie]

A Golden Retriever or Curly coated Retriever .

[RiverStar-Aura]

If you're thinking of agility I personally wouldn't recommend a hound or gundog. Don't get me wrong, they have the potential to be AWESOME agility dogs -- a girl in my club trials with a Wei -- but they are a LOT of work. There are also a lot of GSPs who compete in agility and they are delightful to watch but boy do they give their owners hell at times!! :laugh:

On the other hand, I run agility with a beagle cross and he's also a massive challenge, however, I have learnt far more about agility, handling and building a relationship with him that I would have had I owned a breed more willing to work and please (kelpie, koolie, border collie etc). I've learnt far more about trialling than I think I ever would've if it wasn't for Zeus the naughty beagle cross!!

You'll need to work out how much work you're willing to put in and how much time you'll be spending on training. A friend of mine will be getting a Lappie soon to show and compete in agility with and being a working breed, will quite enjoy it. They do have a dense coat and the spitz attitude though.

I personally love terriers, but you've mentioned you'd prefer something bigger. Poodles are awesome at agility as are shelties (but can be barkers) and all the varieties of Belgian Sheps are quite popular choices too. In the terrier category there are the Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers but I don't know much about them. DOLer Sheridan owns and possibly breeds them so if she doesn't poke her head in and you're interested to learn more, I'm sure she'd be happy with a PM!

Also, where are those Iggy photos!! New members are held to the strict photo policy! :D

[Purdie]

Should also mention the Vizsla.

[Kavik]

How about a Golden Retriever? Friendly, trainable, active, they do shed and require grooming but do not need clipping. Fantastic for obedience, generally not as zippy as some other breeds in agility (the more common large gundogs in agility are Vizslas and German Shorthaired Pointers, from your description they may be a bit bouncy for what you are looking for)

You've probably thought about a Whippet? :laugh:

[CaseyKay]

Do you need to worry about play styles etc with an Iggie in the house? How about a whippet? They seem a bit more robust but similar and there is an awesome one doing agility in Timaru :)

[mita]

If you don't mind a bit of shedding a few times a year look at the smooth collie :)

My first thought was Smooth Collie, too. And you beat me to it. :) Lovely, lovely dogs.

When it comes to elegance, I think the Saluki is the most elegant dog on the planet, but I know nothing about them as pets.

Closely followed by their sighthound cousins, Greyhounds. As pets.... we lived next door to well cared for, much loved greyhounds for 20 years. And they were gems as pets.

Edited May 17, 2016 by mita

[Purdie]

I had no idea English Setters could do agility;learn something every day..

[kiwihounds]

If you don't mind a bit of shedding a few times a year look at the smooth collie

See that's one I never even thought of! I don't know if there are any around in NZ. I've never seen one at a show so who knows. I will have a look at them!

Hi,

Welcome. You'll quickly learn we love photos here. **cough cough show us ya iggy*

No real suggestions from me. Lots of others will have some great suggestions.

I was just thinking - You've told us a lot about what you don't want but you haven't said what kinds dogs you really like... Eg - I love weimaraners but I'm not a huge fan of other some of the other gun dog breeds (I don't want to pick on one) but if the world ever went off kilter and I thought I'd own a pointer or gun dog style it'd be a weim.

I also love the looks of Dobes and rotties ... and to some extent looks play a huge part.

One of our members here from the chch area has a (small) Portuguese Podengo - who I have a bit of a crush on. Not sure if the medium and large versions are available in this part of the world hopefully she'll drop in and comment.

Lots of great info here for you to sort though, enjoy the board.

Also - where in NZ are you? I recently skipped over the ditch from Oz. Currently preparing for my first Kiwi winter.

lol I will have to take some. I recently had to buy a new laptop and lost a lot of my stored ones!

That's because other than the things I know I don't want, mentioned above, I'm pretty flexible! I've met dogs of all sort of breed types I like! As long as they meet my requirements, I am willing to take a closer look at them. There are breeds I like the look of but wouldn't have (a lot of the terriers, standard poodles because of the grooming required for the show ring). Though, as I said, I like the sighthound look and temperament. I guess I like different haha. My IG is gentle and affectionate, with a bit of entertaining sass now and then. Quiet and well mannered in the house, but capable of some good play and a hoon outdoors. She's great at making me laugh, and I certainly wouldn't mind a bigger version of her, but I'm happy to be open to looking at other things.

I have been lurking for a while, a lot of interesting stuff on here! South Island! The winter has been pretty tame so far, hopefully its not too bad for you since you've come from Aus :p

I'm just not sure about play styles and whether it might be too rough for an Iggy...

Do you need to worry about play styles etc with an Iggie in the house?

Yes, I suppose that is something that should be taken into consideration! Rough playing breeds are probably not a good idea, though all interaction would be supervised. My girl is pretty tough and on the larger side but they are still pretty frail as a breed. I will add that to the OP.

A Golden Retriever or Curly coated Retriever.

How about a Golden Retriever? Friendly, trainable, active, they do shed and require grooming but do not need clipping. Fantastic for obedience, generally not as zippy as some other breeds in agility (the more common large gundogs in agility are Vizslas and German Shorthaired Pointers, from your description they may be a bit bouncy for what you are looking for)

You've probably thought about a Whippet?

How about a whippet?

A nice Golden is a pure thing <3 They are on my existing list. Curlies are another I didn't even think of, thank you!

Whippets are the typical go to answer for a lot of people since I have an IG but I find them a bit... bland? Flat? Not sure what it is. I don't know, maybe they are different at home compared to at the show grounds?

If you're thinking of agility I personally wouldn't recommend a hound or gundog.

Agility and obedience is just something I might give a go with the dog if the breed is suitable, not a requirement. :) As I said, I'm quite flexible when it comes to training and exercise apart from dogs that need ALL the training and exercise lol

I had no idea English Setters could do agility;learn something every day...

Love it! The Setters are beautiful dogs <3

[SpikesPuppy]

I think there are only a handful of smooths around in NZ and I don't think there are any currently showing, may not even be any bred over there any more but we have some very nice dogs over here (and you mentioned you were open to Australia) - my mum breeds smooths and shows, does herding and obedience/rally O with them - we have quite a few now in the performance rings and they are proving very capable! Highly underrated and overlooked companion breed imho

Check out this Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/dogsport/

[raineth]

I really like smooth collies, but I thought they would be a bit more barky than the OP would want.

I am thinking a whippet would suit really well. Although I know they are not rare.

[Kavik]

From my experience, most if not all dogs are different at a dog show than at home. They all seem pretty bland to me at the shows :laugh:, at least the ones I've been to and watched. Whereas I know they are not like that at home.

When I worked at a dog daycare, we had a Whippet that came in, he was full of personality and fun, certainly nothing bland about him! :laugh: I LOVED him, one of the few there that I would have taken home lol.

[SpikesPuppy]

I really like smooth collies, but I thought they would be a bit more barky than the OP would want.

They like to talk to you but generally aren't nuisance barkers/yappers. They aren't a silent dog ;) but I wouldn't say they "bark a ton". The males I know are generally more chilled and less bossy than the girls :D

[Flashsmum]

We have greyhound, and he sounds just like what you are looking for. He was race trained, but failed. We've had him for 10.5 years, and he is a clown!

He has no prey drive has his green collar (means he doesn't need to be muzzled in public - a requirement in NSW).

I am sure not all greyhounds would suit, but he is a treasure, and I'm sure there are others like him. And you being experienced in sight hounds would mean the adjustment wouldn't be too great.

[Papillon Kisses]

We have greyhound, and he sounds just like what you are looking for. He was race trained, but failed. We've had him for 10.5 years, and he is a clown!

He has no prey drive has his green collar (means he doesn't need to be muzzled in public - a requirement in NSW).

I am sure not all greyhounds would suit, but he is a treasure, and I'm sure there are others like him. And you being experienced in sight hounds would mean the adjustment wouldn't be too great.

A Greyhound and an Iggy would look adorable walking together. :D

I once saw someone out and about with the full set: an Iggy, Whippet and Greyhound. :D

[The Spotted Devil]

So do you want to show and do dog sports?

I run Working ESS in agility and retrieving. So - not great if you want to show but awesome for sports. People do run Goldens, Labs etc in agility but to be honest the show lines are not built for it. Welsh Springer Spaniels don't have a show/working split and there are a few doing agility. Some drivey, others not so much. Vizsla might be another option.

Another option is an Aussie Shepherd - lots of them doing agility and showing. If you haven't done agility before be aware that there is a LOT more training involved than seems apparent from outside the ring. No matter what breed you have! Any breed can DO agility but whether they do it with joy depends a lot on their training. My Dally is an Agility Champion - only one of his breed in Australia.

Edited May 17, 2016 by The Spotted Devil

[*kirty*]

I would go for a whippet. They are gorgeous! Bigger and generally more outgoing than IGs, great for agility. I have two IGs and a Greyhound and I would love a Whippet next.