Narrowing down dog breeds (retriever, terrier, or Aussie)

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I haven't had problems with my little dogs having worse teeth than the bigger breeds. I think people don't pay as much attention to little dogs teeth, and often people, and vets are afraid to look in their mouths because they aren't taught not to bite like big dogs.

When I used to groom dogs many people wouldn't get their little dogs teeth tended to and many would have rotten teeth. Most were surprised when I told them. They weren't aware of what was going on in their dogs mouth.

 

[HuskerHens18]

My Aussies are awesome, I have 2 and 1 Old Fashioned German Shepherd.

My Aussies behave better by far, and were super easy to train. All individual dogs are different though.
I had a retriever as a child and she never stayed home, she loved traveling and got into lots of trouble up until the day she died of cancer. She was very loving though.
I used to dog sit a terrier of some sort and I didn't really care for it. Super hyper and not very friendly. I had to stop dog sitting him. It also wouldn't stop trying to kill my cats.

Have you ever looked into a Collie? My friend has one as a chicken/goat guardian and I absolutely adore him! Super smart, sweet, and not hyper at all. I've never owned one so I don't know the downsides at all :/

 

[ShrekDawg]

I haven't had problems with my little dogs having worse teeth than the bigger breeds. I think people don't pay as much attention to little dogs teeth, and often people, and vets are afraid to look in their mouths because they aren't taught not to bite like big dogs.

When I used to groom dogs many people wouldn't get their little dogs teeth tended to and many would have rotten teeth. Most were surprised when I told them. They weren't aware of what was going on in their dogs mouth.

That is another very good point that I hadn't considered. Very true.

My Aussies are awesome, I have 2 and 1 Old Fashioned German Shepherd.

My Aussies behave better by far, and were super easy to train. All individual dogs are different though.
I had a retriever as a child and she never stayed home, she loved traveling and got into lots of trouble up until the day she died of cancer. She was very loving though.
I used to dog sit a terrier of some sort and I didn't really care for it. Super hyper and not very friendly. I had to stop dog sitting him. It also wouldn't stop trying to kill my cats.

Have you ever looked into a Collie? My friend has one as a chicken/goat guardian and I absolutely adore him! Super smart, sweet, and not hyper at all. I've never owned one so I don't know the downsides at all :/

Yeah, I think Labs sometimes get caught up by their noses but hopefully if I trained it properly it might be different cause we never really trained our others but idk.

Aussies do seem amazing though.

And I hadn't considered a collie but may have to look into them. Are they nervous or anxious though?

 

[HuskerHens18]

That is another very good point that I hadn't considered. Very true.



Yeah, I think Labs sometimes get caught up by their noses but hopefully if I trained it properly it might be different cause we never really trained our others but idk.

Aussies do seem amazing though.

And I hadn't considered a collie but may have to look into them. Are they nervous or anxious though?

I honestly have no idea. My friend's doesn't seem nervous at all, but I'm not 100% sure when I'm not there.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I honestly have no idea. My friend's doesn't seem nervous at all, but I'm not 100% sure when I'm not there.

I may have to look into them more. I thought I read once that some can have anxiety issues.

 

[Chicksnmind]

I haven’t read all the post so I don’t know if it’s been suggested but I absolutely Love Love my mini poodle. Before her I’ve had a Chinese crested, smooth collie, lab and yorki.

The lab coated my house with hair to the point I couldn’t take it. There was hair in my food. That plus the fact that she was aggressive towards other dogs and my horses. She was very aggressive towards the smooth collie that my FIL had. He was a very non confrontational dog that got along with all dogs. She acted like she was going to kill him. I was worried about her going after my horse if she was let out on accident while I had my horse out. So I rehomed her with a lab rescue. The positive was that she was great with kids.

The smooth collie came from several states away from a show breeder and he was a beautiful dog. Very very very vocal though. You know the show lassie when the dog was whining at Timmy. Yup that was him ALL the time. Shedded like crazy also but not as bad as the lab. We ended up giving him to to my FIL who had him until he passed. The main reason for not keeping was because he wasn’t happy being an indoor dog (would pace and whine all day around the couch) and he kept flipping the Yorkshire terrier over. We had just found out she was sick.

My yorki was my baby . When she was two she was diagnosed with a liver disease and finally at 8yrs that is what took her. Very vocal ( loved to bark ..it was her joy), very sweet, very big dog terrier in a tiny package, loved to hunt and there was no stopping her, very very stubborn and very hard to potty train.

Our Chinse Crested we got as a companion for our yorki after we rehomed our smooth collie. She was a great cuddler and heat warmer. Very cat like. Sweet but stupid (kinda reminds me of my silkie). She was quiet until my yorki taught her the joy of barking at everything. She would follow right behind my feet and then scream at me if she thought I move too fast. Screamed during baths. Very timid with people but not with dogs. She passed away shortly after my yorki passed when she ran away from a pet sitter into the road.

My next dog is my current poodle. She’s a large mini at 15 1/2 inches and 17lbs. Everyone I asked told me not to get a poodle. Well I did and I can’t imagine not having one. Soooo smart, friendly, active and did I say smart? She loves going to check on the chickens, loves swimming, loves car rides, loves my kids, loves to play,learns tricks in one session. Doesn’t have a doggy smell or sheds. She was hard at puppy stage as she was very mouthy but after growing out of that she was great. She’s will put herself in her kennel and shut the door behind her if she knows that we are leaving and it’s time for her to go to bed . Only negative is she has separation anxiety when we leave the house and she thinks taking stuff out of the trash is the best thing ever, and she will raid the table for food if no one watches. The separation thing was solved by keeping her in the kennel when we are gone, trash problem solved by getting a tall outdoor trash can with a top, and food table raiding stopped by putting her up during meal times. I’m searching for the next poodle to add to our family.

Wow that was long lol. Did I say I love my mini poodle ?

The fun thing with poodles is you can change how they look. You can go from show dog to a doodle look just by cutting hair. I do all of my own grooming.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I eventually want a second dog but I'm having a ridiculously hard time narrowing down breeds. Cause I have sooo many I want to try lol

But I think I have managed to narrow it down to a few. Retriever, terrier, or Aussie. But also love English Shepherds, GSD, and Huskies. But I don't think GSD is gonna happen.

Anyway, I realize retriever and terrier are more categories than breeds but that's because I love lots of breeds within them. For instance, retriever I love Labs and Goldens equally so can't decide. And terriers I'm pretty sure I would want a Rat Terrier, Border Terrier, or Boston Terrier, as they seem the most trainable/biddable and least terrier like of all of them but still plenty of terrier spunk. But then Cairns and Westies also seem like great dogs. Plus terriers would be small enough to be under a weight limit if I ever moved into an apartment.

Anyway, I am having a ridiculously hard time deciding because I think all 3 would be a great fit for me so it's just a matter of deciding which one I would want which is impossible because I want them all haha

Soooo...

Does anyone own any of these breeds and have any thoughts or opinions or anything on them?

And yes I realize I have a lot of dog threads but I'm mostly just researching and comparing at this point. And I didn't want to make separate threads for all three breeds so I'm making one thread for opinions on all of them haha

I love retrievers! I currently own a black lab and she is so sweet, obedient and easy to train, gets along with all animals too! Which is important because she needs to be trusted around my chickens without me having to watch over them.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Did someone say DOG’s

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I may have to look into them more. I thought I read once that some can have anxiety issues.

That coat on a rough collie

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

View attachment 1499355 Did someone say DOG’s

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,what an adorable little pup.