Breed recommendation

[F1001]

Hi all,

 

Reaching out for your collective wisdom. We are a family of experienced dog owners, including one rescue with behavioral issues. 

 

Need some help with selecting our future pup. And thought I would share some background and criteria. 

 

-We have a 5 yr old and 3 yr old. 

-Active family (daily walks, visit to the dog park, beach, hiking on weekends) not really the jogging or running type. 

-We live a house, medium size backyard (500m2 block)

-Both wife and I work full time

 

Criteria

 

Mandatory

Large breed

Minimal grooming

No/little as possible shedding

Good with other dogs (intend to get another dog in the future) 

Good with kids and family

Good protector (we have had a bad experience with a break in while a family member was home, would prefer a dog that would be a good deterrent or scare away an uninvited guest, not 100% mandatory to maul the person). 

 

Desirable

Good offlead

Good trainability

Enjoys hikes/long walks

No health concerns

 

We were thinking a Ridgeback or Doberman might be a good choice. But thought it might be good to ask. 

 

 

 

 

[Rebanne]

Ridgeback would suit. Good offlead would depend on the training. Good with other, future, family dogs depends again on training and both dogs temperaments, sensible introductions. I think RR have a longer life span and are, on the whole, healthier then Dobes , but that's just what's running around in my head. Could be totally wrong.  Bear in mind that any dog can develop health problems out of the blue. No matter how good the breeders are and what health testing has been done. Oh and both breeds shed.

[_PL_]

I just can't think of a breed that ticks every box in the mandatory category. It's kind of like looking for the dog version of a unicorn.

Happy to be informed otherwise.   It's good to learn about different breeds.
 

[sandgrubber]

Ridgies are stubborn ... My experience...not easy to train.  

Dobies tend to bad hearts and early deaths...but great house dogs and people are scared of them. 

Possibly an English pointer, though they're not very scary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by sandgrubber

[Rascalmyshadow]

Unless you get a hairless breed there is no breed that needs minimal grooming but has minimal to no shedding.

[Diva]

I’d probably look at Ridgebacks, the ones I have known haven’t been hard to train but I am a hound person so might have different expectations. You do need to pick a breeder whose dogs’ temperament you like, a few in the ring here are atypically nervy. I’ve also known Weimaraners that were more protective than most gun dogs without being over the top, but they are a very active breed. I love Dobes but have heard concerning things about longevity and health. 

[Purdie]

An Irish Wolfhound;

We had a Wolfhound cross when our Kids were young ages 3 , 5 ,7 and 9.

Looked like a Wolfhound only not quite as big.Her temperament was  very like that of a Wolfhound.              

She was good with visitors would bark to announce  their arrival and then walked them to the door and kept her eye on them .

She seemed to sense when people were genuine visitors or  up to no good.

One night had an intruder in the yard when I was home alone with the kids,he jumped the fully fenced yard and Pippa dog  saw him off back over the fence.

When she barked she was scary but I doubt she would have bitten anyone instead would bail them up and stand between them and me.

She loved children and was very patient with them.

She would trot around behind their bikes and do zoomies but never knocked them over it was the kids who sometimes ran in to her.

Shedding wise she did not leave hair around maybe one or two hairs on the floor as most of the  dead hair was still in the coat and  easily  brushed out.

I was allergic to many dogs but I tolerated her wire coat unless she missed her bath for too long then I would get a reaction to her but kept clean I had no issues.

Her activity level was low to moderate,short bursts of activity then snooze at my feet but also she could go long walks at a amble or trotting pace.

 

 

 

[Papillon Kisses]

Anxiety has unfortunately become more common in ridgies so be sure to ask some questions about that - how are the parents/lines with things like storms, fireworks, noises in general, separation, children, men, other dogs, novelty...

[Selkie]

Giant Schnauzer, if you are willing to put the work in with training. Big dogs, low shedding. Minimal coat maintenance between clips, which you can pay someone to do. Trainable, but have strong guarding instincts.