laid back small breed? General Chat

Hi

I've tended to have high energy medium sized dogs for most of my life and now looking to downsize for my next.
Most of the small and toy breed categories seem to be terriers which I have no experience with, though I do like bright dogs that enjoy doing doggy puzzles and learning new stuff I'd like my next dog to have lower exercise needs. (compared to collies/collie crosses).

I'd like dog to be small enough to fit on footplate of mobility scooter or in a small dog carrier (for toy breeds) for longer journeys for when it got tired.

What breeds would you recommend?

Thanks

In the past, I have had two friends who showed their dogs and travelled them, (in carriers), on petrol motor scooters. One had a Cavalier, the other had a Toy Poodle. Though I didn't actually meet this person, my local Working Trials Club had a member who brought her Japanese Chin to Trials in this way too. I was told that she managed a CD qualification with him - no mean feat for such a small breed.

I too downsized from medium sized breeds. My last dog was a Border Collie who I loved to the moon and back, but realised that with advancing age I wouldn't cope with the high energy needs to get another.

I wanted a smaller dog with character, but who I knew could be exercised on the garden should the weather or health be against us. I also wanted a healthy breed.

I opted for the Border Terrier. Rosie is great to walk (we do go a couple of miles on our morning walk with her) and happily rode on my knee on my mobility scooter when I needed it for 12 months fairly recently. When we get home she has a 5 minute ball chase in the garden and then zonks out until tea time. She has another 5 to 10 minutes of play in the house after tea and then is quite content to chill until bed time.

She has loads of character, very similar to the Border Collie, but not the same high energy drive. She's a happy little soul that is just as happy 'chillin' as chasing about.

That surprises me as there's one up the road that goes mental everytime someone passes the garden wall and when I've seen it out it always seem to be pulling like mad and barking itself hoarse at anything that passes. I thought they were a breed that would always want to be on the go and yappy like Jack Russells and the Shih Tzu's around here.

Maybe its the owners inability to train them rather than the breeds but there's an awful lot of yappy small dogs on extending leads belonging to old people round here, which was why I had no idea what breed could be potentially 'well behaved' out of the small/toy dogs category!

I forgot to say it also needs to get on with other dogs as I still have a 4yr old collie (male neutered) would also like to know if either male or female of whatever breed is recommended tends to be the most chilled out.

Thanks

Whatever you do, don't pick a Chihuahua. Several of my neighbors and also residents at a senior facility Nigredo and I used to visit had them and they were all yappy and some even downright mean. All I've met in pet stores etc were pretty horrid as well. I won't say its the breeds nature to be horrible and a nice quiet one is the exception, lest I be flayed by this site's members, but boy it sure seems like it.

The one small breed I've seen that seems to not be yappy is Schnauzers. The ones I've met have been nice doggies.

I was reading that chi's descended from terriers so that maybe where they get that from. I was also looking at 'Papillons' that were dubbed 'the border collie of toy breeds' on some sites and descended from toy spaniels so were said to have a more gentler nature. I wasn't sure though if they'd be so tiny and fast that they'd trigger my collie's prey drive?

I have seen a little black schnauzer puppy once and she was gorgeous! Wasn't sure if they were a terrier though? I liked the black miniature poodle too was told they aren't as highly strung as the toy poodles. I wasn't keen on the extra grooming costs (via professional groomers) so if I went with one of those I'd have to look into grooming and learn to do it myself.

There's a cute black scottie in the same area but again that goes mental whenever i go past too and the woman seems to struggle with it, in fact if she see's us before him she'll pick him up and dive down someone's driveway with it, rather than teach it to sit and wait (and maybe distract it with treats) until we pass!

Anyone know what miniature dachshunds and miniature pinchers are like personality-wise?

I've heard somewhere Japanese Chin are very gentle dogs and kind of like small spaniels, most of the breeders are at the other end of the country though and I can't travel.

There are hundreds of small breeds to chose from , I think you need to narrow it down a bit to give yourself a better idea....... do you want long or short coat, how small , toy size or just smaller than you have now..........

Some breeds to consider. Westie, Border terrier, Cavalier , Bolognese,Cairn Terrier, Shih Tzu, Yorkshire terrier, to name but a few........

It has to be small no bigger than a cavalier would get to. I don't mind a bit taller if its a light breed eg a mini poodle maybe a bit taller height wise but they don't tend to be as heavy as cavaliers.

I like quite a few of the terrier breeds to look at but just not sure if they would be too high energy to cope with on a daily basis thats why I'm asking.

I generally do 60-90 mins walk in morning and 30-60 mins later depends on weather, yesterday it was teaming down and Jesse coped with a short walk round block in morning and bit longer walk in afternoon when it stopped briefly, but I took him out for a good long run off-lead today first thing and he has access to the garden all day.

We have loads of those interactive puzzles and treat dispensers which I split his food ration into throughout the day between toys and training (he helps round the house too) so he gets lots of mental activity too, but is happy to chill out for several hours in afternoon (particuarly when its hot in summer) so I can go take a rest mid afternoon.

I'd prefer a breed that doesn't take extensive grooming and where its something I can learn to do myself. My collie is medium coated he needs a good brush and occasional trim of feathering areas, which I don't mind and can manage easily, but he doesn't need professional clipping so I don't have that extra cost.

Not too keen on solid white dogs, it gets very muddy, lots of rain up here! I tend to prefer black and black/white dogs but would consider a black/tan or Tri breed too. (long as it was mostly black) I was looking towards black mini schnauzers, min pin, mini dachsies, boston terrier, black frenchie, small black terrier that kind of thing.

I'm just not sure which breeds have less of a prey drive among the terriers as I don't know much about them and maybe more laid back?

Schnauzer dogs do need grooming. Same as Chihuahuas, all my experiences with Mini Pins have been bad. Dachshunds seem like nice dogs, but you said you wanted a healthy breed so I excluded Pugs, Dachscunds, French Bulldogs etc. and all brachycephalic breeds or breeds with unnatural traits.

Yeah Terriers seem to be the healthiest amongst toy/small breeds maybe cos they were bred to work, working breeds tend to be higher energy though and not as calm as show bred one's so it's a real minefield out there!

I have a black Miniature Schnauzer who is from a show line. He's a very laid back boy, definitely not yappy, but will let me know when someone is at the gate.

Energy wise, he's equally happy to have as many long walks as you like or to spend the day lolling around in the house and garden. This week for example he hasn't been walked as my other dog,a Shar-Pei is limping and the vet has ordered "bed rest" for her. Instead I've been keeping him occupied by helping me in the garden.

Mini Schnauzers are highly intelligent and trainable. Mine excelled at BH (Begleithunde) and agility and he's certainly far more obedient and keen to learn than his Pei sister! Schnauzers are very affectionate dogs and mine loves nothing better than to snuggle up next to me in the evening.

As for grooming, I brush and comb him two or three times a week and take him to the groomer to be hand stripped approximately every 8 weeks but I know many owners will clip or hand strip themselves and there are plenty of online videos which shows you how to do this correctly.

This is him "helping" to make the bed!

If you can get hold of a good honest pug breeder, you will then have the perfect dog for your needs : Black dog, laid back, will sit on footplate, but you must find a good honest breeder who is complying with all the health checks & one who is breeding out the pushed in nose (new breed of pugs have slightly longer nose making it easier for them to breathe)
Other idea breeds are Italian Greyhound (not sure if they come in black)
Pedigree Staffy (from show stock) these dogs are loyal & do get along with other dogs.
The good old Heinz 57 mutt (every rescue home as a Heinz 57 in their kennels these come in black are loyal, will have mixture of different breeds in them, most will get on with other dogs to.

Forgot to say stay away from JRT's (I have 6 of them) as they don't like sitting on footplate of mobility scooters, they prefer to sit on sit knees with paws on handles & steer, I use a mobility scooter & my dogs "help steer" it when we go out.

How about a minature poodle, they make very good pets, yes they will need grooming but a trip to the groomers every 4 to 6 weeks will take care of that, by the way, there is no reason why you should exclude any of the Brachycephalic breeds if you like them as long as you go to a good breeder, you should not have any issues.

lol!..well you never know that skill may come in handy if I was struggling to steer it myself in the future!!!

How would I find people who are breeding for slightly longer nose? would they advertise this on their websites or adverts where they were selling pups? I do like the little black pugs but I worry about the health problems of them having such squashed faces. I have thought of puggles too or thought of pug cross from rescue that might have a slightly longer nose as result of whatever it was crossed with.

I kind of see professional grooming as an unnecessary extra expense as its not something every dog needs. I'm not sure how much it is on average but if the dog lives 10-16 yrs then it's gonna end up a big extra expense unless I went into learning how to clip etc myself tbh I'm not sure my fine motor skills are up to it now, never mind another 10yrs or so from now!

I don't mind moulting, my old dog moulted alot!! (loads more than my longer coated collie!) and her hair was short and lab-like, she only needed a good brushing and besides I've got one of those robot hoovers now I can send round to hoover up the hairs daily...lol!

Does anyone have a Cairn Terrier? What are they like with regard to prey drive compared with say.. a Jack Russell?