Help finding the right breed for us, please help. Which breed for me?

Depends, some whippets need a lotof exercise, my mum and dad had one and he used to run my dad ragged

Thanks, well i think a few of the dogs mentioned would be a lot to take on for a first time dog owner who asked for a dog who needs approx one hours exercise a day personally

We're in Nottingham.

It depends what you mean.

I have a BC who would go daft on 6 hours on lead pounding the pavements, but collapses after 40 minutes running round a field.

That's why I'm here asking advice and experience so I can learn and hopefully find the perfect dog for us. ;-)

I agree with some that have said just try visiting a rescue centre and see who pulls at your heart,the dog will often choose you and personally for a first time dog i dont think you can beat a good old ,,heinz variety mongrel,nearly always hardier with health,have general good qualitys and there would be lots about that would love to have a forever home and reward you with love and obediance,,they would easily adapt to most situations and your life style.But failing all that i have a soft spot for king charles spaniels..

Once you decide on your perfect dog, how well will you cope if it turns out not to be so perfect?

I am not trying to be rude but it happens.

As someone has previously mentioed. Ideally a rescue club which fosters there dogs will get to learn about them more, and thus hopefully we will get a better match.

That's what this is all about, increasing our odds of finding a good match (no guarentees)... else I may aswell go out and pick the cutest, regardless of temperament. There's always that risk. Surely that's even higher if I go to a generic rescue centre?

I appreciate a previous owner of dogs would have a head start. But surely a breed is either suitable for us, or not? Whether or not we are experienced owners or not.

Yes, I think reliably we can give 1 hours excercise out of the house, above that I don't think it would be right to guarentee, as it wouldn't be the norm, and thus not something we could base our decision on.

That is noted, thanks for letting me know that.

I'm certainly looking forward to speaking to them when they get in touch.

I think it's a case that we don't want to have to do a lot of coat maintenance everyday, once or twice a week is not a problem. We don't mind taking one to a groomers a few times a year.

I appreciate that, but as I've said above, that's what this is all about, increasing our odds of finding a good match (no guarentees)... else I may aswell go out and pick the cutest, regardless of temperament. There's always that risk.

Thanks for that, we are now looking into Whippets a bit more.

Is Trailhound an actual breed?


Thanks for everyone's help so far, it really helps.
David

Hi David, i wasn't criticising you, i think its great you are asking and doing some digging, you want to get it right which is commendable

And not criticising the hours exercise a day i just meant obviously you wouldnt want a high energy dog thats needs loads of exercise because it wouldn't fit in with your requirements, sorry if i came across wrongly.

Beagles are adorable and from what I gather, there are many in rescue looking for nice new homes.

Do bear in mind that *some* beagles are....shall we say 'challenging' when it comes to teaching recall. There is a guy at my local park with THE most gorgeous young Beagle but he does not ever let her off lead.

Trailhounds are lovely - but I think would need more than one hour's exercise a day.

If I had not found Dexter when I did, I would have visited the generic rescues; I had registered with several and was all set to go to them.

I think it's worth maybe bearing in mind that with generic rescues there may well be a dog(s) that you meet and just 'click' with....

After that then yes of course still vital to ensure that the dog is a good match in terms of exercise requirements of the dog etc.

You also in a way have a very wide choice of dogs so again, maybe worth considering, at some point. Not in the sense of choosing the 'cutest' but in terms of getting to see lots and lots of dogs and thus refining the traits you are drawn to.

Just a thought.

Whippets are lovely pets we have one and I've met a few and spoken to other owners too. Our's is let off lead with no problems, he likes food so will come back for a treat, generally he has a mad five-ten minutes racing around outside like a loonatic which is lovely to watch then he just potters about around you. We have three cats he is fine with them, he will chase them if they run (but obviously many dogs will chase if they see something running) when he gets to them he just gives them a good sniffing which is pretty good considering he had not grown up with cats we got him when he was around 12 - 18 mounths old and he had not seen many cats before we got him. But I can't speek for all whippets I expect some are not good with cats.
And some are quite little characters quite entertaining. Also very expressive with their little ears.

Sort of! If you look at the trailhound welfare website they are a mix up of various breeds in the past but now only occaisoinally with a foxhound . I would say the one I had was more energetic than my beagles though.

Just had a wonderful chat with the lady on the phone about Trailhounds. However, we still need to meet one really to see in person. It could be a contender!

I think it is great that you are doing your research but at the end of the day dogs even the same breeds are not the same. One may be perfect and litter mate not so perfect.

The reason I asked how will you cope if the dog is not so perfect is because your struggle to find the perfect dog to fit your life style would set a few alarm bells ringing if you were a prespecive owner of one of my dogs.

Now I am not saying you would be a bad owner but I would want to know how you would feel if your perfect dog turned out not so perfect.

My hubby is adamant our next dog will be a traily!

I fully agree about them all being different, they do tend to have certain breed traits, but are all different personalities. My 2 are like chalk and cheese and yet have been raised from pups the same way and are from the same breeder. One is virtually mute the other likes the sound of his own voice.Both are food thieves given the chance but one will eat it out of your hand given the chance the other you can have sitting next to you whilst eating and he just looks but won't make a grab for it. One stays by yourside 95 % of the time when offlead the other shoots off like a rocket one eats poo the other doesn't We have often said if you could put the best bits of the 2 together we'd have the perfect dog! So yes even with research it still does'nt guarentee perfection ,it can give you an insight into the breed though and what to expect.

Hiya

Having been owned by 2 bassets in the past can I just warn you of their extreme !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stubbornness. They are the most adorable dog but if they decide they are not walking another step believe me they won't. Not even in the ring at crufts hehe! So you need to have the strength to pick up a full size dog and carry it sometimes for quite a way. Even with their little legs bassets are definitely a big full sized dog.

Bijou

ps Mind you I must actually find a bit of stubbornness quite appealing or we would never have got our new french bulldog puppy.

I agree with the full size;-) one that I see walking is a monster and frequently nearly pulls his owner over! Gorgeous though!

Well I think we've started to work out about what we really want. Which means a couple of the 'priorities' are no longer in there. We realise that our cats shed quite a lot, especially this time of year, so that wouldn't be a problem in a dog either. And we also have changed our mind about grooming, we don't mind some grooming, just not 1 hour - day kind of craziness!

We met a friend's Beagle a couple of days ago. We both really liked it and had a good chat with them about it's good and bad sides. Though it was a little shorter than I thought it would be. Plus they said she'd put a little weight on recently so wasn't looking her best.... it made it look a little stumpy.

This has made us take a look at Foxhounds, as I would prefer something a few inches taller than a Beagle I think, slightly leggier, but the Tricolour is gorgeous. I think we are both very keen on this 'look' of dog, however, not so sure it matches us in what it needs, I mean the hound in general, not just a Beagle. :s

Ideally I'd like something like a foxhound, but that I could let off the lead. Does that dis-count most scent hounds? Are there any others would match?

These are what we like so far.

• Beagle
• Foxhound
• Trailhound
• Poodle (Yes wildcard I know. lol - possibly a miniture)
  
• Would a Springer Spaniel, lab or Golden Retriever be a contender?

A fair few people have suggested Terriers of various types. However, my OH just isn't keen on them. :-( Maybe a preconception, but it seems that terriers will not be entertained. I got her to read this whole thread, but still she wouldn't look at Terriers. So please don't take offence.

As you can probably tell, we're still as confused as ever, well mostly, I seem to be going round in circles a little. As ever, your help is very much appreciated.

David