Dog recommendation URGENT please

[*Efjay*]

aw really! you lucky duck. If I went back to vet nursing that's where I would like to be. I think normal clinic stuff sucks. Its so boring & repetitive. Main reason Im not going back to my old job. Im tired of picking up dog poop & doing desex after desex. Everything interesting gets set to Nth Ryde.

[mrsmac]

Our Jack Russel was great with the kids and barked at anything that came near our yard.

[feeb]

Cavalier cross ****er spaniel and cavoodle (can cross poodle) are both great breads and great with small people!! We have 1 of each and the cav cross ****er spaniel barks well!!!


i would reccommend them to anyone with kids. All my friends kids love our dogs also as they love been played with and touched.

Great temperment

Good luck

[~Aveta~]

australian terrier, not the toy, but the mid size. great dogs, my family had one when i was little and she was brilliant, not yappy like a toy. and i have Bruce the aussie terrier now, he's great.

i also love spaniels, i have a ****alier, king charles x ****er spaniel, Jet, and she's marvellous with the neighbourhood littlies. she's my second ****alier and always lets me know when ppl are about without being barky, KWIM?

best thing to do is spend time with the litter and suss out their individual personalities. Bruce was the best of his litter, a lot calmer and friendlier.

good luck

[AliBaby]

I have to agree. Had a border collie growing up at my dads house and it would snap at us sometimes.

At my mums house we had a lab x shepherd and he was the most beautiful dog ever! A lovely crossbreed and beautiful family dog, that was also a good guard dog. One night my step dad was walking him and Laddie the dog went nuts barking at these 2 guys walking past in dark clothing and I mean absolutely nuts. Dad didnt feel right about the dogs reaction so he called the police to give them a description of these 2 guys and where they were. It turned out that these 2 guys had jsut beaten up an elderly couple a street away and robbed them of cash and jewellery. Laddie was in the local paper after that. He was a bit of a star!!

He used to cover the ground in his clumps of white hair though!!! CRAZY amount of shedding!!

He also have alot of medical problems later in life with arthritis and hip problems which is quite common in labs.

Cristy- do you have much to do with the company Novartis?? My mum works for them.

[AliBaby]

Our Jack Russel was great with the kids and barked at anything that came near our yard.

My other dog Winston is a jack russell cross shihtzu and he is the same! Although he is a little pshycotic at times over his ball and anything he can play with but great with kids and anyone who will throw a ball for him! LOL!

[Lulu]

Maybe the best would be a yappery type dog that is good with a family. At least if people are lurking they know the yapping will redlight them if they try to get up to no good.

Thing is - you still gotta train the little buggers (poo/wee training too!) and it can be a handful with little kids around.

Are you ok Mumma - is someone making you feel unsafe??

[Matryoshka]

Thanks heaps ladies!

My neighbour and my PIL both have ****er spaniel x king charles (different percentages) and both are so gentle yet alert dogs (even when my toddler grabs their snouts and tails).

Lulu, i feel very unsafe. I witnessed my (other) neighbours being broken in to (as in literally) and they saw me see them.So am pretty worried about retaliation (as i called the police). I know a dog isn't the answer but we were planning on getting the boys one eventually so maybe now is a good time.

[christy]

oh MummaB that would be scary!

[Lolli]

Just chucking in my here. Most dogs, specially bigger ones, can be an absolute pain in the bum for the first two or three year sof their life, while they are puppies.

You never can pick which dog will be a good guard dog, or which will snap, no matter what the breed. And no dog should be trusted with kids (as in left without competent supervison).

Having said all that, we have a 2 year old staffie and while we love her dearly, she is great with ds and quite intelligent, she is still quite destructive.

I second Lulu- anyone we can beat up for ya Mumma?

ETA- Sorry Mumma posted before I saw yours- that's terrible. No wonder you feel unsafe!

[AliBaby]

You poor thing. That must have been so scary and probably still is for you.

Lulu is right that a smaller yappy type dog could be good for you. No one would be scared of it but it will definitely make alot of noise if someone comes on your property and is often enough to deter people because of the noise that small dogs make. It would also alert you to anything suspicious.

[bushmanpat]

It's the nature vs nurture debate but with four legs and an amazing ability to get scraps from the dinner table.

Regardless of the breed, it's very very important that the dog be trained and be regularly walked, like every day. I say walked rather than exercised because dogs can get heaps of exercise in the yard, expecially if it's big enough, but the walk isn't just the exercise of the legs, it's the exercise of the mind. Sampling all those smells and getting to wee on things regularly can prevent crankiness, and hence snapping, in alot of dogs.

Good luck with the decision. Save an unloved one if you can

[Aranah]

Collie rough - the breed that "Lassie" was/is.

I can't recommend them enough. They saved my toddler from going into the pool when I didn't realize he was outside and the gate hadn't latched. They both blocked the gate. They never let the kids out of their site, if we are bush walking, one will always go at the front, the other at the back. They are very affectionate, very obediant and love the kids to death. I have to say, after being in the dog world with showing, etc, and experiencing many other breeds, I would never go back. Collie's are amazing.

And they are great guard dogs. I know if anything is amiss, our's don't bark for no reason. Our older one had a go at an ambo officer that had to check my DD as she freaked out about being examined, so the dog who was inside at the time lunged at him. We stopped anything from happening, but I have to say, I never thought they'd go anyone, but it showed in the right protective circumstances he did.

When we are out though, they love people.

[jackrose]

Just to add to the list, we recently got a Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) which looks like a miniature collie and we are very very happy with him. We got him when my DD was about 6 months after extensive research.

I wanted a dog that was

• very intelligent - therefore easy to train (Shelties are listed in the top 10 most intelligent dogs)
• loyal and good with children (Shelties are incredibly loyal to their family and the children in the family)
• calm temperament (they have a very easy going nature)
• small to medium (At only 30-40cm they are a great size for kids)
• a warning barker not a yapper (Shelties are great "watch" dogs. We get a few warning barks if someone is around the house)
• with moderate needs on the exercise front (Shelties really need their mind occupied, they tend to match their exercise needs with yours)

We definitely covered all of these wants with our sheltie, we got him from a breeder who socialised him really well and his parents had really lovely temperements. Plus, we were really pleased that he had outgrown most of his annoying puppy habits (chewing etc) by 6-7 months old.

The major concerns with this breed is that they can be standoffish with strangers unless properly socialised, although this is true with most dogs, it is particularly true with shelties, and they do have a long coat. Surprisingly the coat does not take much work, and only drops once or twice a year. Also as they are originally sheepdogs, they can be prone to getting overexcited with kids and herding them up!

Best of luck with your decision and your search (why don't you try select-a-pet online?) it is really worth finding the dog that is right for you.

Edit: apologies for the 'thumbs down', not sure how I put that there!!

[Visitor8]

I grew up with german shephards Love them.
My ex has a King Charles Cav and it's a horrible dog, growles and nips the boys all the time, then again he is old?
Labradoodles are supposed to be great!

[kristy J]

be careful not to get too much of a working dog unless your prepared to walk at least an hour every day.

we have a kelpie x shepard and a border collie x foxie. both awsome dogs but they have soooooo much energy to burn we have property so they can run for ages in the arvo with DH but they would bee too much for a suburban home.

i have done some research our next one is going to be a beagle. my reasons are: med size. good nature, and also they have a hunting background so good sensors too. and they are oh so cute. we only get dogs from the pound so it will probably be a x breed but we will see when the time comes.

[Matryoshka]

Jackrose, thanks a lot, i had a look online they are very nice looking dogs! I will see what my dh thinks.

Interesting about the collies, i like the idea of a smart dog but not if they aren't good with children...

[*Efjay*]

boarder collies are working dogs. personally I hate the breed as a "family" pet. I would be shaking my head at you if you got one.