What breed of dog is best for you?

Choosing the right dog for you is a real challenge if you have never owned a dog before. The aim of this blog is to describe what it is really like to own a particular breed of dog, by talking to someone who owns one.

There are various sites which describe the different breeds. I recommend looking at the Champdogs website for a useful description of pedigree dogs. This site also includes the average prices paid for puppies, which gives a fascinating insight into how fashions have changed! There are 225 breeds to choose from on this site!

Pedigree Breeds

The Kennel Club is the ‘go to’ resource for everything you need to know if you really care about dogs and want a family member who has been carefully and responsibly bred for better temperament and health. Ideally you want to wait for a puppy from a Kennel club Assured Breeder.

Purebred dogs make up around 75% of the 9-million-strong dog population in the UK, and within that there are 221 breeds to choose from. 

Each breed sits within one of seven groups: 

• Working (typically those bred to be search and rescue or guard dogs)
• Pastoral (herding dogs, usually associated with working cattle and sheep)
• Gundog (dogs that were originally trained to find and/or retrieve game)
• Toy (small companion or lap dogs)
• Hound (breeds historically used for hunting, either by scent or sight)
• Terrier (dogs originally bred and used for hunting vermin)
• Utility (miscellaneous breeds, mainly of a non-sporting origin)

Before looking for puppies or rescue dogs, search the Kennel Club Breeds A to Z to learn more about each breed.

It is interesting to consider the characteristics of the groups, as you will find that there are obvious differences. Although all toy dogs and most terriers are small, there is a world of difference between these two types of breed! Toy dogs are designed (literally) to be lap dogs and love nothing more than to be cuddled. A terrier rarely stays still long enough for a cuddle! They will sit with you, but are much more lively by nature.

On my set of interviews, I seem to have talk to the owners of various hounds. All their owners described them as ‘stubborn’! So beware getting a hound if you want someone who is biddable!

Breeds interviewed to date

Here is the list of breeds I have have talked to:

Australian Shepherd

Bassett Hound

Border Collie

Dachshund

Dalmatian

Dobermann

Greyhound

Husky

Labradoodle (not a pedigree)

Labrador Retriever

Pug

Rhodesian Ridgeback

Springer Spaniel

Spanish Water Dog

Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Staffie)

Terrier (various)

Toller (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever)

West Highland White (Westie)

Whippet

Border Collie Breed Information

As I breed Border Collies, I obviously have lots more information about this breed, compared with other breeds! I have put this into a separate blog, so that you can read a bit more about what makes this breed so very special!

Here are the topics I have written about:

• 5 Myths about Border Collies
• Interview with an owner (me)
• WSD vs BC which is better
• Border Collie colours

Would you recommend your breed?

When I started to write this Breed Index blog, I talked generally about differences between breeds.

I set up a questionnaire to find out what people thought of their breeds and of owning a dog. I was lucky enough to have 100 responses! You can read the feedback I received here.

Now I need YOUR help? Please can you get in touch if you have a breed of dog I have not written about? I’d love to hear from you if you have a TOY dog? Or a WORKING breed? Don’t panic, it’s not difficult, as I have a format to follow, with questions for you to answer. And I will happily come and photograph your dog if you live within a reasonable distance of MK (and pandemic restrictions applying!)

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.