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

Now you see smokeybear. That leads me onto another question. I see the words 'not a couch potato' about quite a few dogs.

But since I've never found any more detailed description of what a Couch Potato is, I've assumed that means not a dog that will only want walking every other day or something daft (for lazy people). (I didn't even realise dogs like that existed really).

greyhounds

Sorry to bang on about this point but if you end up returning to Labradors, then I would urge you not to go for a field/working Lab.

The amount of exercise you have indicated you can offer would not be enough and a frustrated Lab is not something you want - trust me! I have a Lab myself and my brother has a Lab. My best friend has two Labs. Judging from these and from all the Lab owners I know, the majority of Labs are like mine - irrepressible! Highly demanding. Bouncy beyond belief! Two hours a day exercise, in practical terms. Minimum.

As for working/field Labs being more healthy - well, they tend to be leaner, slimmer. Show type Labs are more stocky/blocky. But my brother's Lab is a show type, from a show Lab breeder and he is now 10 - and has the energy of a puppy. So I would not make too many assumptions about a working type Lab being 'more healthy'.

Of course there is always the exception to the rule, but what happens if you don't end up with the "exception"? You'll end up with a frustrated, bored dog who may well end up becoming destructive and a bit of a nuisance!

Think about it, if a dog is purposely bred to be out in the field, sometimes all day, runnng many miles and using it's brain constantly to complete complex tasks that have taken quite possibly hundreds if not thousands of hours to train, do you think a 1 hour stroll is really going to cut it?!

Looks like we've found our boy.

He's a few inches bigger than the breed standard, but that doesn't bother us, since he'll be a family pet, not a show dog anymore. And apparently his rear legs don't point 'perfectly' forward (slightly outward), both of which mean he's not really show standard. Our gain.

He's a love fun loving boy who has such a mischievous look. His coat is a little long atm, like a giant fluff ball! It'll be trimmed back. Here's some pictures.

And his name?

Casper!
We don't get him for a few weeks though due to holidays.

He is beautiful, I'm really pleased for you

Why do his feet turn out though? :?

How exciting!

Sounds like it all went really well and he sounds like great fun!

Bet you can't wait to bring him home

My honest answer is that I don't know. The breeder told us about it. Dogs are new to us, do some just have this?
Obviously in the back of our mind is the question. Would this lead to hip issues...

We're taking our cat to the vets on Monday, so we'll ask their opinion on the legs thing.

I see in the picture that your dog appears cow hocked, not usually a case for particular concern.

This is where the hocks point toward each other and the feet are like a duck eg point outwards.

Ah yes, I didn't know the more technical terms for it. But what you are saying makes sense and is pretty what she described. Good to know it's not an 'alarm bells' ringing kind of thing.

That is what she was describing. Not ideal for a show ring, but not detrimental to the dog.



Time for us to find one or two good books to get us more up to speed. We need to learn a fair bit more about the basics of training and behaviour.

You fell in love them , told you you would.


He is lovely.

You must think I'm a right pest David, but it is just because of what they said about the hip scoring, but as SB says, it's not necessarily a sign of anything bad...at least you can chat to the vet about it when you go.

He is absolutely adorable and I look forward to hearing all about him once he's home

Aww... I bet you say that to all the dogs.

Not at all.

I've been around forums for a long time and I know kinda how they work. Likewise I know a friend who works at a cat rescue, and see the amount that become abandoned due to owners not realising what they are like, etc.

So I can well imagine that yourself, and SB, have seen and heard a lot of bad stories. And based on that you encourage potential new dog owners to question everything, essentially to try to stop dog ending up in the wrong homes. And likewise with the hip scores, I assume you know of the pain of dogs having bad hips, through personal experience and through the stories you hear on the forums.

So I understand why you have written what you have, and please know that I have taken it in. It has help influence what we've looked at.

In fact not just yourselves, I would like to thank all of those who contributed on our quest to find a great dog for us.

David & CJ

You boy cant be that "cow hocked" otherwise his breeder would never have put him in the ring, dont forget breeders will be extremely critical when going over their dogs conformation, and if he is slightly cow hocked, that will be enough for them to retire him from the ring.

Cow hocked is when you look at the dog from the rearview, his hocks will slightly turn in, some dogs /horses will be severely CH and their hocks will almost look like they are knocking together.

As a result of the hocks turning in, it will put the rest of the leg out of line and as with the pic of your boy, his feet are slightly turning out.

But dont get all worked up over this, any conformation faults could in the future impact on the dogs getting arthritis in old age........BUT......... most dogs will suffer a bit of arthritis in old age, just as we do, and to be honest if you get your dog to old age, and all he is suffering from is a slight stiffness, then count yourself lucky.

Bandit had terrible dropped pasterns, but he never suffered arthritis from that, he had it else where , but lived a good active life even with his problems till the end.

No dog will have perfect conformation, they will all have some slight conformation fault here and there, and your management of him in years to come will hopefully help keep any major problems at bay, what you put in know, will benefit in the future, both with food and supplements..(if needed).

He is lovely BTW, and yes I say that about all dogs, but the PWD is one of the specail ones...

Goldendoodle - I know, not a breed, but sounds like it would suit you well. Mini poodle x golden retriever, so not as big. All the ones I've met have been really good, and a lot less "mental" than their labrador cousin.
Not sure the mini poodle would cope that well alone, lots of others suggested are very high energy dogs, whippets/greyhounds (especially rescue can chase and kill anything small that moves) not great off lead and many have poor recall. Obviously I'm only talking from my experience of meeting those breeds of dogs, but I'm sure some people here might have different experiences.

Rupert's slightly cow hocked. So far it hasn't caused him any problems.