I don't think it exists.

Husband says 'the house feels empty.' Yeah right, the house is finally at peace again!

However, for his amusement, I told him I'd do one of those famous "pick a breed for me" threads to show that what we want... doesn't exist. I have no intentions of adding a 4th dog again, but I'm curious to see what everyone comes up with.

Here's our criteria, MWAHAHA....

- short, single coat
- 20-30lbs full grown
- no terriers (booo... I like terriers...)
- not known for snarkiness towards other dogs
- no achondroplastic breeds
- no brachycephalic breeds
- sturdy, can handle lots of hiking and rough play with 60-90lb Dobermans
- traditionally a breed that has drive and a strong willingness to learn/work

To make things interesting (i.e. HARD!) - there can be no deviation from the aforementioned criteria.

Honestly, I don't think this dog exists... except in a shelter somewhere. Good luck... you'll need it.

Try a mountain fiest?

Here's a kennel for example:
Malcom's Mountain Feist Kennel

We've had a few come through FOHA, they are like terriers, but I don't think they are considered terriers. They hunt, they love ball, and the ones I've known haven't been DA. They seem like fun little dogs.

Beagle?

Not sure about your last bullet, but I think they meet everything else.

I've not met many so i'm not sure how good they are with snarkiness, but how about Basenjis?

DANG!! WHY did you have to say NO to Terriers... Meanie... J/K.

But really I an drawing blanks in my mind today so I cant think of anything at the moment, but I will keep onthinking and hopefully I will come up with something

Sounds like a hound to me. How about a basenji? or a whippet? even a smaller size pharaoh hound might do the job.

Whippet?

Or how about a Shiba?

I'm not sure if a whippet could put up with the roughness of the Dobermans. But the coat seems right!

Xolo?

Husband says no hairless.

I know one of the few breeders of Pondengo Medio in the States... but afraid that would be a bit too "much" for us. My experience with Basenji has not been good, though I do LOVE the breed.

You could get a Xolo with hair I recently discovered they do come with hair!

Yep! This is why I recommended them . They're such cool dogs!

German Pinscher?

Basenji might work...the only thing is that they have a bit of same sex dog snark in many cases.

Watson is not a snarky guy...but he is a pretty mellow basenji

Pinscher means terrier Grab. But maybe you sneak that one by her. (?) :rofl1:

I second the Beagle. I don't know about their coats. They do shed a fair amount. But they're not tending toward dog aggression and they are tough little bustards and could probably run circles around your Doberman. LOL. I fostered one and let me tell you...that guy was adorable, but maddening how independent he was. And my goodness, he could rip roar.... and tough as nails. There was no such thing as too rough.

Well I was just hoping someone would get one so I could live vicariously through them, lol

Shibas definitely do NOT have a short single coat. It is a very, very dense double coat. And it sheds like mad.

I was gonna say the same thing. I think 1 in 5 come with fur, but I heard that on TV, so who knows. And they are ADORABLE (with fur).

That's the Spitz family for you, You can knit yourself a nice blanket with what you collect!!!

Yarn shop: knitting dog yarn and custom spinning

I'm thinking of making little mittens as Christmas gifts this year! Interested???

Micro-Plott

Seriously, I've met a few (bear dogs, shockingly enough...) that couldn't have topped 30lbs.

Take Missy here, for example:



she is teeeeeeny - but action packed!