Recommend a dog for our family

newtothis2011

Thanks for all the replies, I am open to a mongrel but I reckon you cant be sure what size the dog will grow to then? I would like a smallish dog but I want it be tough too if thats possible! I know some big dogs can be gentle giants but being practical a small dog who could curl up in a ball and sleep in my kitchen/utility room without taking up lots of room would be better.

toadfly

newtothis2011 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, I am open to a mongrel but I reckon you cant be sure what size the dog will grow to then? I would like a smallish dog but I want it be tough too if thats possible! I know some big dogs can be gentle giants but being practical a small dog who could curl up in a ball and sleep in my kitchen/utility room without taking up lots of room would be better.

Most dogs curl up very small when they are asleep anyway! In the evenings my OH sits on the airchair with one yorkie and I sit on the couch with the staffie and other yorkie. The three of us on one couch cushion! They like to be close!

JustAThought

Tilly Girl is really right : )And dogs all have different personalities but some breeds have particular characteristics : so the dog might be small in size but be bionic in energy needs, or big but spend the day snoozing!!!

angeline

We had a black Cocker Spaniel for years and he was amazing, lived indoors, but very active and great fun and loyal, he was part of the family.

fenris

Medium to big is the way to go, we have an Irish Setter and a Lab Cross.
The Setter is an absolute gem, up for any type of madness buy likes nothing better than to curl up on the sofa during quiet times, he has more energy than the kids and can keep going as long as they can and still be up for more.
He will quite happily play ball, run beside a bike, just run, join in in football, rob sliotars etc. with a permanent "what are we doing next boss" expression while still being a family dog and attaching himself to who ever is displaying the most activity/food at any given moment.

Our lab cross is a much quieter and calmer dog, she just want to be near you, is quite happy to play fetch etc. but is happy to call it quits when you do. This works very well after the red menace has knackered the kids out and they just want to sit down and chill.

I know spare is limited but two dogs really work better than one if possible.

As far as kids being knocked over, that happens, two year olds spend quite a lot of time on their backsides even without canine intervention!
Any dog will need a bit of settling in time, one thing that I think is very important is that there will be one dog and 6 loads of attention, this can be a bit overwhelming for a dog, I would suggest putting the dog bed somewhere like the corner of the sitting room, in the room but out of the way if possible and making a strict rule for everyone including the 2 year old that if the dog is in it's bed then you leave it alone and wait for the dog to come out to play on its own terms. This is to give the dog a place to retreat to when it all gets to mad, but still be able to see what is going on. By all means move the bed somewhere else at night, but having a place for the dog in the same room as everybody else in the evening reduces pacing about and lets the dog give a clear signal that it is tired and needs a break, when it comes out of its bed then it is fair game and will cop on fairly quickly that it has an escape and doesn't need to stand its ground and fight if it being annoyed / hurt inadvertently.

The last thing is don't over analyse over breeds, position of the moon etc. set your broad boundaries i.e. medium to big, family pet rather than one person dog, realistic expectation in terms of exercise and attention, then just take it from there, find a dog you like and go for it. Apart from that pet insurance is a must as early as possible so that you do not have any pre-existing condition exclusions.

We got one of our dogs (lab cross) from dogs in distress and they were fantastic, the advantage is that they foster the dogs in peoples houses for at least two weeks before adoption and can tell you a lot about the dog. likes kids, hates cats, eats sofas etc. This in invaluable information to have up front.