Need help finding breed of dog that is right for my family UPDATE #43

[HEChicken]

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I would *love* to see a picture of Satin. I must admit, it was a photo of this dog that attracted me in the first place as she has such a sweet face, but she still had to meet our other criteria in order to stay. We're so glad she did!

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Thank you for your detailed recommendation. One of my first jobs was as a vet tech in a vet clinic and it was one of our clients - a Standard Poodle - who turned me onto the breed in the first place. He was tall but slender and so gentle, quiet and willing to please, that he stole my heart! Ever since then I've always pictured myself with a standard poodle so I will definitely keep your advice in mind.

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It has been 10 days now and we are still thrilled with our dog! She continues to do great at leash training and is a delight to have around the house. And smart. Oh my! Its almost the case that you only have to teach her something once and she knows it. She learned to not pull on the leash in half a block. My 13YO son taught her to stay - even when a ball is thrown - in under an hour. Five minutes with the clicker and I taught her to drop the ball at my feet instead of holding onto it. And after only a few repetitions, all I have to say is "where's your ball?" and she goes looking for it. I really hope you are able to get a BC but don't be afraid to look at mixes too. I hope your experience is as positive as ours has been so far.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

Having been a professional groomer for 29+ years, I say no to your list of 3 dogs. They don't at all go along with your lists of wants and needs at all. The poodle will be in the groom shop about every 6 weeks, the Border about every 12 and the Shar Pei is not so much of a physical type of breed as to want to jog out with the horses. One breed that can meet all your requests is the Doberman Pinscher and if exercised often enough and nails kept trimmed, the digging won't be happening. Also once you have a Doberman, I really doubt that any other breed will ever do for you again, as these dogs get right under your skin and stay wedged against your heart! They are a very physical, agile dog, they will protect you with their life if neccesary and are a medium sized dog. My 2 Dobes will let the chickens walk all around them except when they have their bones out in the yard since the chickens also want to pick at the soup bones and the Dobes refuse to share. When my Gold Sex Link would do the egg laying song, my Dobermans would begin to howl with her since I guess they thought she was sad having laid such a huge egg! (Some larger than "Jumbo")

A doberman craves pleasing you so for mine all it took was a simple and firm explanation that they were NOT allowed to hurt my chickens and they believed that I was right. The older Doberman was born in 2004, the younger in 2006 and I first got back into chickens in 2008. They also live with a Min Pin and don't harm her so they are not monsters unless you are on the wrong end of breaking into their house! And BTW I also now have cats and have also trained them to leave my 2 barn cats alone. Any other cat that roams onto my property, I have no doubt that they would kill if they could catch one but I have explained very firmly that I will not allow them hurting my cats. They occasionally chase my cats but only because the cats get spooky and run. Usually my shorthair head butts the Dobes in an attempt to get some grooming from the dogs. Both cats were born in 2010 and introduced as kittens. If your cat is dog friendly then your New Doberman should accept the cat if the Doberman is on the young side. There is no doubt that you have to be an alpha personality to own the type of Dobermans that I have with a pretty high prey drive but they still leave my animals alone and will go out of their way to protect my animals as if part of their pack.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

Oooops, Someday I will learn to look at the last post first before I reply... So happy for you and your new best friend, I love any dog that can learn as quickly as yours is learning also she is very cute. And not one of the top ten dangerous dogs either. I hate that Dobermans are on that list.

 

[EweSheep]

I think you got the best of both worlds!

I would suggest smooth collies, had rough collies, great with chickens, never bothered them.

Uh nah, not the Dobes, as much as I had experience with them, show dogs and house dogs, they DO have prey drives and they will get after the chickens. I remember Cleo and Shadow, wonderful dogs of show caliber from a well known breeder that I had the chance to "house sit" her farm while she went on vacations. They are very sweet dogs but aloof toward me. If they don't know you, they would get protective on their property and rightfully so.

Shar pei, no, not with the issues of smell, pee ew! Skin problems are such a problem and they do have a bit of aggressiveness unless you know that you have a very good breeder that would line up disposition as a primary goal for their Shar Peis.

I love standard poodles and yes to the grooming and they do need it often. However I HATE the mini or teacup poodles, such yappers and ankle biters. Typical of the breed. Labadoodle, sure they are nice. My aunt has one and it was a nice dog but sheds constantly.

 

[Spiritjewelz]

If you havent gotten a dog yet. Look up English Shepherd. We have a Queensland blue heeler and got a n English shepherd as a friend to our friend.

Both are fine with chickens, but the ES is a little less high energy than the heeler and lots less stubborn. Heelers, like the Border Collies, need something to do or they make up their own fun.

The down side might be its large for you. How about a rescue corgi? Those make nice family dogs or a cairn terrier. Medium size, not too barky... But both are alert.

Kim

 

[muslw4]

English Shepherd all the way!

You can check out the breed at the english shepherd club website, just google it. Also you could foster a dog through ESR English shepherd rescue.
We have 3 and have had them in the past. One ES would help catch chickens when they escaped. he would put his paw on their back and hold them to the ground until we could scoop them up. never hurting them. Ours are around the call ducks, guineas, and chickens all the time and no worries. I even have a rabbit I let run in the backyard and my ES never bothers him. They will keep strangers human and animal out if you let them. They are very protective of their family. They can be outside and we have no trouble leaving them alone for long periods of time although they LOVE being with family. Years ago when I was a kid I even had an ES that would ride the horse with me. He would sit in the saddle in front of me and I sat behind so could sort of hold him on. It was fun. Some have wavey hair that should be brushed but like my female ES some have medium hair that wouldn't need to be groomed very much. They look like border collies but usually can be anywhere from 35-85 lbs. My girl is 45 lbs. just perfect for me. She likes to snuggle on the couch with me yet is big enough to help herd the goats and sheep. They are wonderful dogs.

 

[SeeMeShiny]

I strongly recommend a pit bull mix. Ours, a rescue dog we've had for 8+ years, is an angel- good with our kids from baby size on up, actually defers to the cats, totally ignores the chickens (unless a hen steps on him, then he just gets up and moves), lots of energy, always thrilled to join the family in everything, short and silky hair with no grooming, never digs...

I know not every pittie will be as perfect in all ways as my beautiful Buddy, but it's a great breed, and there are a lot of them out there who desperately need a new home.

 

[mikensara]

our best dogs have been mutts. worst dog ever rhodesian ridgeback adopted from my oldest sisters inlaws. she was great with hub but I wasnt tolerating her snapping at me when she was chewing up yet another one of my shoes.

I dont know if you want to take on raising a puppy but it may be the way to go to train your dog the way you want your pet trained.

 

[SallyMama]

Hands down the English Mastiff...except for the size. They want to be where you are at all times. You will do a lot of stepping over them, which is what they like best!

We rescued ours..and he is my best friend! He loves it when I use the bathroom and cook dinner. His favorite activity is taking me to the coop every night and shutting
the girls in. He runs and sings to me while we go back there. I will miss that most about him when he passes on!

 

[Aleisha]

We are also looking for a new dog that works well the poultry. Our is a small, in town property - think urban farm - so I'm interested in small breeds. I appreciate all the posts about breeds and have two questions: 1) How about smaller poodles? Anyone have thoughts about regular or toy poodles? and 2) I love miniature schnauzers but worry that they have too much prey drive. Any thoughts?