Obedience/pet Obedience

I am contemplating which breed of dog to get in the distance future.
OH is planning on getting a rottie, but it will be his dog, go to work with him and train with him etc. I need a dog of my own (otherwise I will be extremely jealous and possibly try kill OH )

Whether you have had dogs previously
Currently have a 7 year old staffy cross, which is training for his gold GDKC at the moment. Has done clicker training, basic agility and other random bits. Also had a terrier mongrel no clue as to what was in her! But she was a great family pet.
Your circumstances - do you work etc?
Hoping by the time I am looking for a dog I will be a part time teacher, and part time dog trainer. I am already the latter. Dog will be used in classes as my demo dog and will need to be able to settle for periods and work easily. But I expect that this will be something I need to build up to.
How much time you have for exercise
Typical a couple of hours a day. Most likely 30 mins on lead, rest off lead.
Whether you have children, other pets etc
No children planned, other pets will include chickens, ferrets and possibly many others that I seem to be given often.
What characteristics you are looking for
Willing to repeat simple 'tricks', quiet, friendly, willing to learn. General all round good easy dog. Not really fussy about coat, will do what ever I need to. Quite interested in learning to hand strip/clip or anything else.
What breeds you have already looked at and your thoughts on them
Italian spinone - OH and I both like them. Seem happy to work, easy to recall and train.
Rottie - OH is getting one so many a pair would be nice.
Staffy - Love staffies but would have to be a big cross as I find bigger dogs easier to work with.
Bull terrier/english bull dog - would love to own but probably not best for what I want it to do.
Collie - A possibility but see so many with behaviour problems and would feel the need to find some sheep. Could be an interesting hobby, but need to learn more.
GSD - Could be a nice match for the rottie, and a possible perfect fit for myself, but would really need to work on the social side, and not sure if I could trust around young bouncy pups as much as some other breeds. Not much positive experience with the breed tbh.
Anything else you think might be relevant or important
Main thing is I need a dog to take to class with me, to use as a demo dog, to work with socialising the pups on group walks and to help with possible DA cases as and when needed. But also to train myself in various areas, so needs to be flexible and willing. I may often be walking by myself so would prefer a dog which looks scary, but wont eat my other pets or people coming to class. I know this will take training more than anything but just a guide.
Will be very much my dog, but will have to share a home with OH and his dog. They will be treated equally in the house etc the thing being his dog will go to work with him, mine will go to class with me.

IS ok if you like slobber and smelly moustaches, they are probably the slowest of the HPR group.
If you had another rottie you would be best advised to have one of each sex.
Collies do not need sheep they just need a job, like flyball, agility, obedience, working trials, etc.
GSDs are GREAT with other animals usually.

I would suggest that out of the choices you have made only the GSD and or Rott could prove scary, but what you might want when on your own is not necessarily what you want in class with you with other dogs?

Slobber and moustaches are not a big problem. Like most I would prefer them to be sweet smelling and not lose a single strand of hair, but I will happily deal with anything like this in exchange for a dog which listens and gives lovely cuddles.
OH wants a bitch, and I would like a dog. So regardless of breed we are planning on one of each anyway, but I totally agree.
I have seem many excellent collies, as pets and obedience, and understand your point, but think there is nothing like seeing a collie do what they were bred to do. Regardless a viable option and they are not the only herding bred I have mentioned, so may be something worth looking into for me anyway... Anyone know where I can learn?
Yeah, the typical guard breed may not be great in a class room, but personal protection for when OH works away or late/early walks are quite important to me. I think this is where the choice becomes difficult.
Maybe a GSD is a good idea. Or a BSD

I am afraid if you want a dog for personal protection that needs to be TRAINED properly and the choice of your dog becomes EXTREMELY important.

Do you have the skills and knowledge required?

I more meant as a deterrent than anything. Up close I would prefer the attack to be the lick of death :-D I do not have the skills or knowledge to train a dog for real protection. Sorry for my poor choice in words. I hope that clears that up.
Maybe in the future it could be an area to learn, but for this dog it will not be part of it's training. The scariest thing I want this dog to do is bark on command, and that's it.
Again apologies for that.

Teaching a dog to bark on command is all you ever really need and if you use a discreet cue it can make your dog look really threatening!

Haha that is totally my theory. Currently with my dog his command is 'Woof' not very discreet.
Have to admit after this, I'm leaning towards a GSD or BSD. Do you have any other suggestions as to a more different breed? Maybe one with a bit better health?
Thank you for all your help.

All breeds have health issues of one sort or another.

Very true. But I was more thinking ones which are less life threatening/altering or breeds which just typically have less risk involved. Guess I'm just being hopeful.
Been looking at BSD, seems a good idea... maybe :-D

Which of the 4 variants of BSD are you attracted to?

One of each??? OH prefers the Tervuren. Is it just a coat difference? I can't seem to find anything other than pictures.
Not that they look scary but I've also been looking at setters. Bit different I know, but I think they are stunning, and heard they are nice to train and work with.
I have a friend who does some gun dog stuff with her IS so could do some training in that area as well.
Do you think I'm hoping for too much from one dog, or would one dog be able to learn all these different things?

Sarah when you say collie did you have a specific in mind as from what I have researched I think a rough collie sounds like a possibility for you?
They are a little calmer generally slightly less flighty than borders and are known for their noisey behaviour when approached by random strangers as well as devotion to one person and are usually very good with other small animals and children etc.
As for your health concerns on the shepard lines if you get one from working stock rather than show stock you should be better served health wise... and the belgians as far as Im awear are healthier than the german. I know a guy who trains in obedience and PP with his belgian (import from Germany I believe) and he said had it been a german bred here he would have had to retire the dog looooong ago but as he is at 7yo he is still going very strong!

Hmm the word Disney springs to mind!

You can have everything but it takes a lot of time and dedication and access to the right help.

From personal experience, I found it helpful to understand ONE discipline extremely well before I explored others;

Again with gundog work you need to be very sure what you want, Setters and Pointers work differently to Retrievers who work differently to Spaniels who work differently to HPRs.

I was aiming at border collies, I haven't looked into any other sort tbh. Maybe worth some research. Thank you for bringing a new breed to my attention. I was hoping for some inspiration
That is why I was more leaning towards BSD tbh, I had heard that. Finding a breeder is a long way off yet, but very good and helpful information, thank you. Is PP personal protection? Not something I am yet ready to learn, and not sure if I would be confident enough to do it, although I do like the idea and love watching them in action on the tv.

Hehe I know. I just love training Cookie so much, and he has done a few things. He is great at just swapping back on forth bless him, ready for anything and is totally perfect, minus his age and his health. If only he could be a pup again, I wouldn't be thinking about a future demo dog.
I think I need to look more into the whole gun dog thing, but have a friend who's learning and know a few others that do it with their dogs, but yeah I do understand different breeds for different parts. I would just learn the part which suited the breed, rather than pick a breed which suited the part, if that makes sense. Eventually I would want to do it all. But that's just me. A little crazy and eccentric

OH has just noticed a few NI pics while I've been googleing and said how nice they look. Do they have a typical temperament yet? Or still a bit hit and miss? He likes huskies and mals but I can't see myself with one for a demo dog.

Collie collie collie!!!!!
If you are training & using it as a demo dog that IS a job!
If you are planning to be a Dog trainer then i cant see typical collie behaviour being a problem!

Not that you are biased Mishflynn!

I have a friend who runs a dog obedience club and uses her very well socialised and trained german shepherd and border collie to do demos etc.

I would think from your description that either breed would suit. If you are interested in working sheep with a collie, there are a number of top class handler/triallers who give lessons. Obviously you would need to buy a collie from working stock ... we have three very nice young dogs here just now ;-)

If you do your homework right and get a GSD pup from a reputable breeder who breeds for health and temperament (whether from show or working lines) and then put in all the right groundwork re: socialising and training, then you could certainly have the versatile dog you describe, who could turn his paw to most things

Arr now huskies I KNOW about ;-) NI's have husky and mally as well as GSD in them so I would think it would be very hit and miss as to what the dog you got turned out like, it would deppend which of the breeds it mostly took its personality from, if it was the husky side although they are awsome to work with and the sense of acheivement when you get them working obeidience is immense they are not an easy breed and can NOT go off lead without the right kind of personality and very intense and continual training! Not your best obeidience demo dog I wouldnt have thought!
Mallies are similar just a little more laid back and lazy but again stubborn and tricky to get into obedience work well. If you wanted a slightly more wolfy look with more of an obeideince temprament I would surgest looking into Malinios, CSV's or Sarloos all highly trainable and the last two have very distant low wolf content so look very wolfy and gorgeous

Hmm, I wanted to offer suggestions that hasn't been given yet, figured its good to expand the pool of possible breeds.

- Dobermans: They are kick ass in the intimidation-level and are supposedly more 'biddable' or 'obedient' than Rottweilers (they are number 5 in the top ten choice for obedience by dog trainers - Rotties are 9.) Only problem may be the chickens and ferrets - but eh, good socialization and all that.

-Retrievers: Golden or Labrador are the main two I was thinking of (4 and 7 respectively on the list.) Good with animals, patient, Golden is less energetic (or so I've been told) while labradors are just fantastic. Neither of these dogs are known for their aggressiveness towards other pets so your ferrets and chickens should be okay.

Belgian Malinois - Last but definitely not the least! Man I've been eyeing these dogs since I found out that there have been a few problems with GSD. These dogs are beautiful and are 'supposedly' protective without being aggressive (wonderful trait when dealing with people.) Though they are smaller than the GSD, they are supposedly faster and are easier to 'control'.

Anyway those are my four cents!

As for BSD being protective without being aggressive, I am not sure a) what you mean by this or b) how many working ones you have actually had any experience with? As for "easier to control" in what way exactly?