So many choices, what breed would be my best fit?

One of the best ways of avoiding problems associated with owing a dog, aside from training, is selecting a dog that most closely fits into your lifestyle. Do some research into the various breeds so that you can make an informed decision. That cute puppy may grow up and be a dog that was not what you expected.

There are seven breed types :Sporting, Working, Herding, Terrier, Non-Sporting, Hound & Toys

Sporting: Brittany Spaniel, German Wire-haired Pointer, Curly-coated Retriever, Golden Retriever, English Setter,Irish Setter, Clumber Spaniel, English Springer Spaniel, Irish Water Spaniel, Vizsla, Wire-haired Pointing Griffon,German Short-haired Pointer, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Flat-coated Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Gordon Setter, American Water Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, Field Spaniel, Sussex Spaniel,Weimaraner

Common Characteristics:

High distractibility- may make it difficult for them to achieve focused attention during exercises. Other dogs and group classes may tend to distract. Spaniels and Setters may be overly sensitive. May be easy to “correct”, but may not always be suited to live with small children. Retrievers may be overly insensitive. May be more difficult to “correct”, but better suited to live with small children. High need for daily exercise- Need running exercise. Behavioral problems may occur (i.e. barking, digging, destructiveness, pacing, or fence running) if not exercised enough.

Working: Akita, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bullmastiff, Giant Schnauzer, Great Pyrenees, Kuvasz, Newfoundland, Rottweiler, Samoyed, Standard Schnauzer, Alaskan Malamute, Boxer, Doberman Pinscher, Great Dane, Komodor, Mastiff, Portuguese Water Dog, Saint Bernard, Siberian Husky

Common Characteristics:

Bred to be dominant and independent. May try to dominate their owner if not shown strong, fair, consistent leadership. May become overly territorial or very possessive over objects. May be difficult to handle for inexperienced owners to handle. Due to stubbornness in training, be prepared to focus on positive reinforcement techniques. Utilize “No free lunch” policy. May be very insensitive and difficult to correct. May react to corrections by becoming aggressive or shutting down. Owners must be seen as strong, fair, and consistent leaders.

Herding:Australian Cattle Dog, Belgian Malinois, Belgian Tervuren, Briard, German Shepard Dog, Puli, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Australian Shepard, Bearded Collie, Belgian Sheepdog, Bouvier des Flanders, Collie, Old English Sheepdog Shetland Sheepdog, Pembroke Welsh Corgi

Common Characteristics:

High prey/chase drive. Makes it difficult for these dogs to become de-sensitized to the activities of small children and moving objects (i.e. bicycles, skates) Herding Behavior. Likely to bark and nip when excited. High need for mental activity. May develop undesirable behaviors like barking, tail chasing, animal chasing, child chasing, pacing, fence running digging or aggression if not given enough “work” like fetch, obedience and tricks. High need for daily exercise. May develop behavioral problems without sufficient exercise. Herding breeds are typically easy to train since they were bred specifically to work closely with humans. May become overly attached to owners and develop separation anxiety if not taught to accept being apart from their owners at an early age. Crate training is highly recommended.

Terrier: Airedale Terrier, Australian Terrier, Border Terrier, Cairn Terrier, Smooth Fox Terrier, Irish Terrier, Lakeland Terrier, Miniature Bull Terrier, Norfolk Terrier, Scottish Terrier,Skye Terrier Staffordshire Bull Terrier,West Highland White Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier,Bedlington Terrier Bull Terrier, Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Wire Fox Terrier, Kerry Blue Terrier, Manchester Terrier,Miniature Terrier Norwich Terrier, Sealyham Terrier, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, Welsh Terrier

Common Characteristics:

Active and tenacious as they were bred to hunt vermin and not back down if attacked. May be difficult for inexperienced owners. Could respond aggressively to “normal” corrections. May be viewed as destructive or “hyper” when not given enough exercise or acceptable work like fetch or obedience.Fast dogs that may leave their owner behind. Digging and hunting are their natural instincts unless their energy is properly channeled. May be dog/animal-aggressive.

Non-Sporting: Bichon Frise, Bulldog, Chow Chow, Finnish Spitz,Keeshond, Poodle, Tibetan Spaniel, Boston Terrier, Chinese Shar-Pei, Dalmatian, French Bulldog, Lhasa Apso, Schipperke Tibetan Terrier

Common Characteristics:

This group has less in common with each other and individual dogs have characteristics of other groups. Working Group- Keeshond and Schipperke Sporting Group- Finnish Spitz, Poodle and Dalmatian. Bred to guard- Chow Chow, Shar-Pei and Llasa Apso. Companion/Gifts- Bichon Frise, Tibetan Spaniel, Boston Terrier, French Bulldog and Tibetan Terrier. Some of these dogs were not bred to “work”, they may be difficult to motivate for training. “No free lunch” policy may increase motivation to “work” by obeying obedience commands. Because they were not bred to “work” may make them better pets. Less drive to hunt and chase can make them easier for the inexperienced dog owner to handle.

Hounds: Afghan, Basset, Black and Tan Coonhound, American Fox Hound, Greyhound, Ibizan Hound Norwegian Elkhound, Petite Basset Griffon Vendeen, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Scottish Deerhound, Basenji, Beagle Bloodhound, Dachshund, English Fox Hound, Harrier, Irish Wolf Hound, Otterhound, Pharoh Hound, Saluki, Whippet

Common Characteristics:

Easily distracted by scent and sometimes movement (sight hounds). Be prepared to increase dog’s motivation to focus on you (“No Free Lunch”). Being allowed to sniff around could be used as a reward. Bred to work independently of humans. May have less pack drive or desire to “please’ their owners. Use less repetitions when practicing obedience as these dogs will quickly become bored. Rewards should be very valuable/highlight of the dog’s day.

Toy: Affenpinscher, Chihuahua, English Toy Spaniel, Japanese Chin, Toy Manchester Terrier, Papillon, Pomeranian, Pug, Silky Terrier, Brussels Griffon, Chinese Crested, Italian Greyhound, Maltese, Miniature Pinscher, Pekingese,Toy Poodle, Shih Tzu, Yorkshire Terrier

Common Characteristics:

Misbehavior is not always addressed due to size. May be viewed as surrogate children or “toys”. Owners send the wrong message which causes obedience training to be more difficult. Behavior not allowed for a large dog is accepted by these dogs. Training can be difficult due to dog’s stature. Place dog on a table or chair in order to assist in certain training. Many of these dogs do not realize they are small and take on larger dogs to play or fight with. These dogs have a delicate physiology and can easily break a leg by jumping off a bed or sofa.

It is important that you take the time to make an informed decision and not make an “impulse” buy based on that “cutesy” factor. Also, take advantage of the various shelters and rescue groups. They offer great dogs that truly deserve your love and attention. Often I have been asked about different breeds and which is best for the dog parent.  I usually refer them to the AKC website where you will find this selection tool https://www.akc.org/breed-selector-tool/

Obtaining dogs from shelters is wonderful, these dogs are deserving of another chance.  Are they already trained?- Probably not.  Getting the proper training is part of the responsibility that the pet parent needs to provide.

Selecting a dog on looks alone may not be the best choice. The pet parent needs to use tools like the AKC breed selector to find a breed that works with your lifestyle.  Then with that knowledge, seek out and find that fur-ever companion. A poor selection choice may well yield two possibilities. 1- You now have a dog that is a mismatch and you “live” with struggles that will ensue over both your lives.  This is not fair to either of you. 2- You realize that this is simply not going to work so the dog is sent back to the shelter.  This is not fair for the dog.  Some of these dogs are re-homed multiple times.  This can cause serious issues with their trust of us and behavioral issues taht the next family must contend with. Think about your needs, wants, and desires—-Research——-Find——Socialize/Train——–Care for always———— ———————————————————————–ENJOY————————————————————- (parts of this information was taken from multiple sources- Animal Behavior College and AKC)

Would you like to know more or begin your dog’s transformation?

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