First Family pet dog advice

[michael_JCWS]

We would like to get a family dog and would like some general pointers on where to start and what to expect.

We have children all over the age of 6 who love dogs.

I'd quite like a German Shepard, husky or golden retriever

Any advice

Cheers

Michael

[MonkeyBusiness]

I have an 18 month Old English Sheepdog. Extremely friendly to everyone including other dogs.
Big hairy thing that currently looks like a big bear.

[ThunderGuts]

A Springer spaniel will lick everyone to death and whip up a tornado with a wagging tail, and ALWAY have st bags of energy!

[moorx]

It's probably a good idea to think about what type of lifestyle you have, as that may/should influence your choice of dog.

Are you an active family? What do you like doing? What would/might you like to do if you get a dog?

Is someone home most or part of the day?

How much time do you have for training a dog?

How much exercise will you be able to provide?

The breeds you have mentioned all moult quite a bit - are you very houseproud and are you willing to spend time and/or money on grooming?

Edited by moorx on Thursday 10th November 21:46

[tonyb1968]

Those are BIG dogs for a first dog, if you leave them for 8 hours a day what are they going to get up to?

As Moorx said, lifestyle, if your lifestyle does not suit the dog then its just going to give them a poor home, you need to walk all 3 of those breeds twice a day for 1 hour a shot minimum, I would suggest a medium to small breed who are not as desperate for long walks, easier to maintain and don't steal your seating/beds

[Marvtec]

You have chosen breeds of 3 different levels of 'difficulty'
Husky - hard
GSD - medium
Retriever - easy

If the dog will have a lot of exercise, interaction and not much time alone, Husky is a lovely breed. May not be great off lead though if that's something you want?

If you can put time into training then GSD or golden Retriever (or Labrador! - biased) could be perfect
Suggest a female as theyre more biddable and you sound inexperienced

[Jasandjules]

You need to establish how much time and energy you can put into a dog - do you have time to raw feed, how much time per day can you walk a dog and so on, how much time and effort can you put into training or "entertaining" a dog. Once you have that worked out you can start to ID which dogs would be most appropriate for your lifestyle.

[bexVN]

All good advice. Out of the three you have chosen, I would have to say Retriever would be the breed to look into.

I don't think huskies make good family dogs unless you know the breed well.

GSD can be great but you really need to find a good strong line. To many atrocious lines out there that breed highly strung dogs usually with health issues.

[michael_JCWS]

thanks all for the advice, very helpful.

In terms of current lifestyle, we both work, not long hours. The dog would be on its own for 8 hours, 3 days a week, whilst we are at work or not working from home.

no issues walking a dog several times a day.

Are there any books you could recommend to help me try an narrow down a suitable breed

cheers

Michael

[Turn7]

What are your plans for the dog on three days its alone ?

[michael_JCWS]

at the moment that's the challenge.

I'm thinking it may be fairer to wait until my wife stops working in a couple of years, then look at getting a puppy

[iphonedyou]

Jasandjules said:

You need to establish how much time and energy you can put into a dog - do you have time to raw feed, how much time per day can you walk a dog and so on, how much time and effort can you put into training or "entertaining" a dog. Once you have that worked out you can start to ID which dogs would be most appropriate for your lifestyle.

Because that's absolutely one of the first questions anybody considering a dog should ask themselves. As with most of the population, he likely won't have the time or inclination, and the dog shall care not one jot.

Another plus is that he'll save time on proselytism, what with not having to shoe horn the topic awkwardly into every second thread. A la Jehovah's Witnesses.

OP, as mentioned quite a bit above you're best starting with your own lifestyle and establishing what fits - you can (as you've done) 'select' a dog first but do make sure you VERY honestly assess your lifestyle to see whether it'll all work! If you've approached it sensibly you shouldn't encounter any problems that can't be solved with a bit of adaptation and expectation management on your part (and possibly an understanding boss..!)