Suggestions for a first time dog owner

Yay for wanting to become a dog owner! You'll love it!!

I don't have too much experience with small dogs, but my aunt raises Bichons and they can be a bit stubborn to train. Especially housetrain. I'm not sure all are like that, but all of hers have taken a year or more to housetrain. They are good dogs though, pretty calm and hers are good with kids.

I wouldn't get anything too small because a lot of the tiny dogs are nervous around kids because they are so small.

Some medium size dogs that are good are Golden Retrievers or Labs. They are both pretty easy to train and are great family dogs. Goldens require more grooming than Labs.

I know you don't really want a giant dog, but Great Danes are wornderful. They are super laid back and calm, don't require too much exercise or grooming, mine have been easy to train and they make good family dogs. Their size is misleading. People don't think they make good family dogs, but if you get a puppy and raise it with your family, they are great with kids.

You could also adopt from a shelter or rescue. They know the dogs personality and can match you with who they think will be best for your family. A lot of them come house trained as well.

Yay!

For first timers, especially when you have so much for the dog to fit into (kids, cats, etc.), I recommend an adult rescue. Puppies are cute, but they are a lot of work. Housetraining takes months, bite inhibition training takes a while, then there's teething, the short attention span, the list goes on.

Go to petfinder.com and type in your zip code. Then contact the rescues and shelters in your area, and tell them what you told us. A shelter or rescue that fosters their dogs can tell you what dogs would be right for you and your family.

Note: People say the only way to get a dog to be okay with cats/kids is to raise them with the cats/kids from a puppy. This is not true. A dog's temperament isn't set until adulthood, usually around 2-3 years. Just as with humans, temperament as an adult can be vastly different from temperament as a puppy, and temperament in a dog is largely genetic. You're better off getting an adult whose temperament is already set so you don't have to worry about what might pop up in 2 years.

Good luck!

1sttimeowner said:

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think that we are leaning a bit away from a puppy at this point (good advice to go with a rescue group) and away from the smaller dogs like a Bichon. I have been on petfinder...very helpful site. We're starting to think about a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel...they are very sweet! I LOVE the border collies, but heard that they often try to herd the kids? Do children make them nervous? What is their energy level like as well?

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Cavs are awesome dogs, but look up syringomyelia. It's very common in cavs, as are heart murmurs, so you need to be aware of it.

Border collies aren't scared by children, they tend to view children as sheep to be herded. BCs herd by using their stare to get the sheep to move where they want. If the sheep fail to obey, the BC escalates to nipping the ankles. This is a problem with children, because children get freaked out by the stare and attempt to run away. Then the BC nips the child's ankles, which scares the child even more and then things really get out of hand. This is one of the reasons you see so very many BCs in rescue.

It depends upon how obedient your children are. If you tell your children not to run from the dog, will they hold still, or will they freak out and run anyway?

The other reason you see so many BCs in rescue is BCs are incredibly intelligent. Intelligent dogs are harder to manage and people dump them in shelters rather than try to handle a dog that can open locked garbage cans and doors and get into anything and everything. You need to decide if that's something you can deal with or not. It's not impossible to deal with such a dog (my last dog was like this), but it's not the easiest thing ever, either.

I am not biased in any way but you cannot go past a Border Collie. With the woods down the road he will be in his element, especially if you train him to retrieve tennis balls.

I do agree though that trying the rescue groups is a better idea than the shelters. The local Border Collie rescue in your area will usually have a very good idea of what temperament the dog will have and may well be able to produce pedigree papers, an indication that the pups risks of genetic issues may have been checked by the breeder

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I LOVE the border collies, but heard that they often try to herd the kids? Do children make them nervous? What is their energy level like as well?

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I would tend to steer you – as a first time dog owner with younger children – away from border collies, unfortunately. My girl is good with children with considerable training and management, but she easily gets overstimulated. She LOVES kids, but her natural tendencies to herd and react to motion/sound/emotion make it hard for be around them when there’s kid craziness. Kids can get her very riled up when they’re playing.

My girl requires consistency from every member of the family in order to maintain good behavior in the home and in public. She’s smart enough to get away with certain misbehaviors with certain family members. Even on a bad day, she gets 2-3+ hours of intense physical and mental exercise– jogging, fetching at the park, makeshift agility, trick training – and she’ll still harass you with a toy indoors to play all day if you let her.

Border collies, in my experience, are not as bullet-proof as other breeds. By that I mean, inconsistencies in training and irregular exercise may not “ruin” a lab, but it could easily lead to a neurotic, reactive, and highly problematic BC. When you’re a first time dog owner, you make mistakes. It’s natural. My border mix was my first dog. It only worked because I am a perfectionist who did my homework and worked my butt off to get everyone training her on board. I also made changes to my lifestyle to accommodate her. Was it worth it? Absolutely. But not everyone could handle a dog like my Gypsy.

I don’t wish to totally chase you away from the breed. If you think a BC is right for you, go for it. In that case, a rescue might be the way to go to match you with the perfect dog. You might even find a lower key BC at a rescue, if that's what you want. I just think it’s important for people to understand that BCs, on average, are very different from a lab or a standard poodle. They end up in shelters a lot here because they’re too much work for folks.

Having worked at a shelter I would stay away from a border collie. Many are surrendered to shelters because the owners did not have time for them or work them hard enough (they will find their own jobs if you don't provide one, and you may not like their choices!) and the dogs have picked up bad habits. I think a standard poodle, even a larger miniature one, would be a good choice. The grooming is not that bad as long as you can live without all the little tufts and balls of fur neatly clipped on the hips and feet. A bichon would not be my first choice because of training issues, not always the sharpest knife in the drawer. Cavs are beautiful. But unless you can afford to buy from a breeder who does health testing, you are probably asking for heart ache. I'm voting for visiting some shelters, you may have to go a bit farther from your home, and look for a dog that is past the puppy years (think >2-3 years old, depending on breeds...for instance, I think labs are better after 3 years old, other dogs mellow out around 18-24 months). You can usually find some mixed breed dogs that are great. Watch out for dogs labeled "lab mix" as I know several shelters in our area do that to reduce the number of pitbull mixes on the roster. I have nothing against pitbulls, have known some wonderful ones, but the ones at the shelter are often surrendered because they were poorly socialized with other animals. A good retriever or hound mix is great. If a hound, be sure that you can contain them or have no problems with letting them run free. They are controlled by their nose and will run for miles following a rabbit or scent. A retriever or poodle mix might work. Most volunteers and employees at the shelters know the animals fairly well and can often help you find a short list of dogs to consider so you don't have to figure everything out for yourself. They often know why the animal ended up at the shelter or some background. And you might also ask the local vets if they know of anyone looking to re-home a good dog. Sometimes people need to re-home because they are moving, divorced, have to give up home for an apartment, kids develop allergies, etc. Have fun looking!