Breed recommendations for young teen girl's first dog?

[corvus]

My first dog at age 13 was a corgi. Worked out fantastic. She was a great dog. I think shelties are not all that active in the scheme of things. I would tend to avoid a heavy coat. It's easy for it to get ugly if you don't stay on top of it pretty religiously. If she wants to stick with a full coat, I'd suggest start with a smaller dog. A large, fluffy dog is significantly more work than a small fluffy dog. If you want to go for an adult dog and/or a rescue, I'd pay for a behaviourist to assess the dog before you commit. They can't foresee everything, but they might see more than you do. 

[ness]

We got a Border Collie as a "first" dog.  I knew absolutely nothing about dogs, wasn't that keen on dogs as mum was attacked as a toddler and I had always been petrified. She was my brothers but I took her training and ended up hooked in dog sports. If you would have said 16 years ago that I would have been a dog nut with 2 BCs of my own you would have had another thing coming. Some of the show line BCs are really super - quick to learn but also not that difficult for a first time dog owner. Slightly smaller then a collie to.

[Papillon Kisses]

2 hours ago, corvus said:

If you want to go for an adult dog and/or a rescue, I'd pay for a behaviourist to assess the dog before you commit. They can't foresee everything, but they might see more than you do. 

 

[casowner]

My cousins and my grand mother had rough coats, they were lovely but by memory could be reactive when stressed. Certainly weren't active but I do remember that they would snap rather than show more obvious stress indicators but I was a teen myself back then

Edited October 8, 2017 by casowner