Hi, we are just starting to look into what type of dog we may potentially get next. We lost our beloved Gus not that long ago and while I am not in a huge rush I do want to start researching and have some ideas. We all miss having a dog and the next year or two I will be mainly home to put in the time,effort and training into the puppy stage. I have read through breed books but would also appreciate some more personal experience opinions too. Dog owning history We have owned 2 dogs before, Zoey the first was a lab cross from the spca. While she was great natured dog and well loved she was definitely our problem child. Super smart, easily bored, some problem behaviours and springs on her feet, able to scale our (at the time) 6 foot fence with ease. She developed bad skin allergies probably from being weaned too young. Gus our second dog was a curly coat retriever, a real gentleman. The only down side with him was because of his size (40 kilos. big for his breed) more expense with feeding, fleaing and medical treatments and harder to take him places. We also do not want another Curly as it would remind us to much of Gus. With both dogs we took them to puppy classes and obedience training. Having a well trained and well mannered dog is important to us. Lifestyle/home We now have 3 children aged 8, 5 and 3(at kindy 3 days a week). We Also have a cat, 2 rabbits and chickens. I am mainly a stay at home mum but as kids are getting older I will slowly go back to teaching. Start with relieving 1 or 2 days a week . We live in New zealand on a lifestyle block (about an acre). The flat house part of the property is fully fenced in both front and back yards, both good sized (different house, not 6 foot fencing) in our sloping paddock we sometimes have a few sheep. Neighbours all have small lifestyle blocks with a few livestock including one with horses. What we are looking for in a dog I don't mind if the dog is purebred or cross but because of our experiences we would much prefer to know a bit about (and see if possible) the parents (breed, health, temperament) and the puppy to have been with the mother and litter mates for the first 8 weeks of it's life. Our ideal would be a dog with a good chance of having the following (obviously we would also put in the training and not just rely on breeding): good with children, other dogs and small animals. will fit in with an active family and be easy to train but who will not suffer from not being a working dog or doing advanced agility training etc. good chance of fitting in our semi rural lifestyle (nearby stock, not known to be prone to roaming etc) preferably mid or medium sized happy to spend part of it's time both inside and outside preferably lower shedding and not excessively doggy odour (we have fully carpeted house, kid1 gets seasonal asthma although growing out of) good chance of loving water and retrieving (husband does annual duck shooting and would be nice if he could do a bit with the dog (as he did with Gus) although for 4 weeks out of the year I am not willing to make this the highest priority) Thanks in advance J
I think it's a credit to Gus that you are looking into getting a new dog. I've got a Portugese Water Dog and think that it fits in well with what you are looking for. I chose the breed after doing research with a list similar to yours, they have a really good temperament and are good with children, I know you can never be 100% certain of this but they are described as that and I have found the two that I have had have been excellent with my grandchildren who are 3, 2 and 7 months. They are described in many articles as being hypoallergenic, they don't moult and when you brush them you don't find any hairs in the brush. They're an intelligent breed and are very quick to learn and being a water dog they'd be perfect for going off with your hubby. I've found both of mine to be people dogs, very loving and where you go they go but are happy to be alone in their crate while I'm out at work. As I've only had these dogs they're the only breed that I can give info on but I'm sure other members will give you info on other breeds that equally fit in with what you're looking for. Good luck with your search ;-)
Given the above I would stick with a gun dog to be honest, if your requirements are non shedding, then it will narrow the choice down a bit........ones I can think of are Irish water spaniel, Spanish water dog , the curly coat (not want you want) Lagotto Romagnolo and Barbet , but not sure how accessible they would be to you . Any of the above would suit your lifestyle, its all down to choice, obviously if the shedding is not important, then the search could go wider.
There are some very good rescues who may have the ideal dog for you. Not all rescue dogs have problems, my foster girl doesn't, and the often have pups in looking for homes.
My NZ pals (now in retirement) lived on a smallholding growing grapes and raising sheep. They managed happily for years with a JRT and a sort of big brown mutt! Just checked the 'mutt' I referred to was a Ridgeback cross, Peppy, lived to 15 yrs.
I prefer Labrador mixes and I find that if you get a short coated Lab mix (Lab/Beagle rather than, say, Lab/Chow), the shedding is usually very little. I have a Lab/Pyrenean Mastiff and some other mutt breed (maybe Schnauzer or something, IDK). He is 7 1/2 months and 55 lbs. Coat is not thin, but is light/airy not dense like pure bred Labs and doesn't shed yet. Honestly, he's a great dog. He was/is very active and did have a bad habit of jumping up on small children and other dogs. Got the kid jumping taken care of, the dog jumping still needs a bit of work. No hand nipping at all, never had a real problem with this. Housebroken, absolutely no accidents ever. Recall 100%, never uses a leash unless required by law. Knows many, many tricks... mega easy to train. Loves to retrieve of course, and could be a working or agility dog if I wanted him to be. PROBLEM!! He is THE biggest chewer EVER. He acted as if he was growing out of his chewing phase a bit, but NOPE! Left him toys, chews, and everything else and gave him free run of the upstairs while I worked downstairs and I came back to find edges of chairs chewed up, and the rug had been chewed as well. Not only does he like to chew, he is 100% destructive. Anything he gets, he tears up lightning fast. If you don't SEE him grab it, you won't be able to save it. He has picked up a set of earphones and bit into the cord so hard upon picking them up, he destroyed them without even being able to chew them. If you're used to Labs, the tendency to chew is probably not new to you. I'm sure you can deal with a chewer better than I can. Nigredo is on a whole other level when it comes to chewing. I'm still working at it even though he's almost 8 months now and his teething is long finished. He also is a "guarder" for some reason. This began almost as soon as I got him at 3 months. He began barking at strangers going by the house. This has strengthened as he's aged, but he doesn't show any aggression or guarding outside of his yard, so it's okay I'd think. Loves water, and will always jump into a puddle, lake or other body of water. Even though he isn't a full fledged swimmer yet (the deep water still makes him nervous) I'm sure it's only a matter of time. I'd go with a Labrador Retriever or a Labrador crossed with some kind of water dog if I were you. They are often flat coated, not curly so you'd not be reminded of your Gus. I lost my Lab mix Brownie earlier this year (Feb) and I could not get another yellow mix because of the same reason so I got a black mix, so I know how it is. Good luck!!
Thanks so much for the replies so far. I have had a quick look at some of the breeds suggested and some look quite promising. Because NZ is a smaller country some of the breeds might be harder to source or unavailable. so far I can not find anyone here with portugese water dogs for example, although I am intrigued. It is also great to hear of others personal experiences with cross breeds. Zoey had lab, border collie and some type of bull terrier in her. In so many ways she was a fantastic dog but she needed to be a working dog or participate in agility training etc as an outlet for her quick wits, when we moved out of town to our new semi rural house she was able to scale oue 6 foot fence and we eventually had to run an electric wire along the top (among other measures). Despite all our efforts at containment she still manage to escape (again) and roamed onto a farm during lambing season and was shot. We did a lot of training with her and did even more extensive training when we got Gus. This time around if we got another rescue dog we would be a little more aware of what possible breed traits we might be dealing with. A slightly older dog might also be a good option for us if we went this route.
