Breed Info/Suggestions

[Lyzelle]

My husband and I are looking to add another dog to our household, but we've been stuck on what to focus on for a while now. Every week it is a different breed, breeder, or shelter dog. We know, roughly, what we want, but without any actual experience with some of these breeds, it's making it rather hard to decide. We don't mind going either route - breeder or shelter - and we aren't in a rush, we just want to make sure we find that perfect fit.

We are USAF, and some breeds are obviously banned on base....Akitas, Pitbulls/Bully Breeds, Dobermans, Siberian Huskies, Wolf Hybrids, Rotties. Yeah, Siberian Huskies are banned. But not Malamutes. It's an interesting list. Zander was Grandfathered in, and also put "under the table", listed as a Husky, but not what kind of Husky.

Anywho, our requirements. Some of you may have already seen this on another forum:

Aesthetics:

• We like big dogs, so something over 40lbs and 20in would be awesome. Medium-sized snuggler that can hold their own against Zander and my clumsy feet wouldn't be terrible, though.
• I'm okay with grooming, but if it can be avoided I'd like something that doesn't take hours to do. Wash and wear would be nice.
• DH has a weird thing with wire-haired/beard/mustache dogs.

Personality:

• High energy; This dog will be our running partner and Zander's playmate. Easily 3 hours of hard exercise a day. An off button would be nice, though.
• Loyal; For once, I'd like a breed that doesn't run off at every opportunity!
• Smart/Stubborn; We don't mind a challenge, as long as it is worth it in the end.
• Willing to Please; Independent is okay, but we'd like a dog that loves its people and/or loves a JOB.
• Affectionate; Something that loves it's people, not just one person. There's two people in this marriage! Lol. But I would prefer it not to love every person it came across.
• A dog that can take a rough and tumble would be nice. I'm not particularly fond of "soft" dogs, and a skittish breed wouldn't be good in this situation.
• Personality! Stoic dogs aren't our thing.
• Room to work with; something that can keep learning, keep growing, and every day is something new. Dogs with drive, I guess is what I'm trying to say?

This will be mostly DH's dog, and he's new to dogs. But I've been rescuing/fostering for quite a while, and have experienced Mastiffs, Sibes, GSDs/mixes, so on. Hard dogs don't scare me. Soft/skittish/nervous/easily offended dogs do.

Breeds we are interested in/have been suggested to us:
Border Collie
Belgian Malinois (hah, I wanted to write Maliraptor )
Australian Cattle Dog
Beauceron
German Shorthair Pointer
Doberman

Any breeder suggestions would be great too!