Another breed recommendation thread

I'm usually good at recommending breeds to others but this one has me a little stumped!

This is for a friend of mine that currently has a westie and a hound mix.

- 30-55 lbs
- no professional grooming necessary, no continuously growing coats, no wire costs
- very biddable
- food/toy motivated
- no short legged dogs
- light/thinner boned, think sport bred BC/kelpie structure(I suggested a small Golden but she said they're built too thick boned for her)
- not known for DA/SA
- friendly towards people and small critters
- cuddly and people oriented
- active
- sound nerves, not easily nervous or shy from noises, sights, movement

This dog will just be an active pet/hiking/jogging/biking buddy, she said she might try freestyle dancing with the dog but likely not a ton of dog sports.

Small ES or Aussie?
One of the smaller spaniel breeds? (eg. ESS, Brittney)
PWD
Standard Schnauzer?

PWD and Standard Schnauzer are both going to need grooming.

I guess really it depends on what is meant be "small animal friendly". Smaller retrievers (rollers) could work, if they just have to ignore smaller animals. Brittany and ES could work, though I'm not terribly sure on size.

ETA: I guess by ignore small animals, I mean like, just ignore in the cage. Or if they mean cats.

I wasn't talking to you. Go away

I don't really know much about PWD, but couldn't someone do it at home, with a pair of clippers. It wouldn't need pro-grooming.

Continually growing coat. I took it as not wanting to do grooming at all. Lol


Yah, I know, I should go away.

Koolie.

Lol just read the lighter boned part. Oops.

Toller came to mind first.
Brittany might also work.
Viszla?
American Eskimo would actually be pretty great if she could deal with the hair.

Dalmatian and Border Collie also came to mind, but I don't know if she's looking for a dog that sharp.

Honestly, she could probably find a good handful of mixed breed dogs in rescue that fit the bill.

She needs Lucy.

Just kidding. Lucy has some slight reactivity that needs some work.

However, I do think that a rescue could easily fit the bill, especially through a foster home.

Yeah, that list is a little tough.

I want to say...the right Vizsla maybe..but they can be a nervous breed.

She needs an adult Golden Ditzhund a.k.a. Kim.

Shelter Special FTW.

Cats and rabbits and sometimes guinea pigs. Teaching the dog to ignore the animals are fine. Nothing that wants to kill them.

Um... In terms of grooming.. Lots of brushing is fine. But no clipping or stripping (other than maybe a potty trim). Shedding and semi-long coats are fine too. Just no clipping.

Edit: I did think of some sporting dogs but from what I hear a lot of them like Brittanies and Vizslas can be very nervy and high strung and some are quite sensitive? I'm not sure as I haven't met that many, especially brittanies

A lower energy koolie fits!

You know, I think a Collie would work. It's a bit out of the size requirement, but sometimes you can find a smaller bitch or something. They are active, generally people-pleasers, good with other animals. Pretty solid temperaments, from what I've seen.

I would suggest visiting an animal shelter to see if she falls in love with anything there.

A sheltie from performance lines might work for her, but might be a tad small.

A female ES (males are larger and tend to have more bone) with the right temperament would work. Quinn for example is not cuddly nor very biddable, but she could probably find one that fit the bill.

I think the right Brittany would be great for her with a couple of caveats. I don't know about small critters - Rowan is great with cats in the house, but outside he definitely sees them as prey, and he is not good with rodents in or out of the house. I had rats when I first got him and there's no doubt in my mind that he would've eaten them if I'd let my guard down.

You would also need to be careful about the nerves. A good Brit should be sound, but I think they have a temperament that, when not well bred and/or well socialized, can lean toward the nervy side. Rowan is a rescue and is basically bombproof. In agility I could've put him right on the teeter and he would've been fine (I didn't, obviously, just in case! But he was NEVER bothered by the noise/feeling, even at the beginning.)

I also worry a bit about SA anxiety with them, but that is based on my experience with one dog, so YMMV, absolutely. Rowan has pretty bad SA.

But he is extremely food motivated (too much so, even), cuddly, active, people oriented (both with me & strangers), the right size/build/coat... so maybe something for her to look into