Dealbreakers

[Moth]

After having a rough collie I do not want any dog with that type of coat again... I loved Maeve...but her hair drove me crazy.

I do not think I ever want to deal with a breed that has to go to a groomer again either...but I may change my mind on that

Excessive shyness is a no go... I like a confident dog...

[Sit Stay]

- Dog aggression - if it shows up after I get the dog then whatever, not a huge deal, but I wouldn't knowingly get a breed overly prone to it

- Drool. Yuck, can't do it

- A ton of coat or one that required professional grooming. I love Quinn's easy care, teflon coat

- Dogs that are rough and goofy, like a lot of Labs, doodles, Vizslas, etc. I really don't like dogs who are all over you, all over other dogs, will run into you, etc. I like a quiet herding breed that's gentle with people, even when excited and friendly.

- I would go really small (would love a Chi) but I can't see myself with anything bigger than a GSD and even the GSD size is a bit of a con to me. I'm really happy with something 35-50 pounds as a "big dog".

- Slow moving, slow witted, no stamina. I like a quick thinking, serious, athletic dog that's always up for whatever I want to do.

- A dog that has no desire to be with and please me

- Dogs with no off switch or self preservation


Basically I'm best suited for herding breeds (I love English Shepherds, Border Collies, German Shepherds, Koolies, etc) and there's a few toy breeds I could definitely see myself with as well (Chihuahuas, Papillons, Cavs). Plus some other breeds that I just plain like (:

[Finkie_Mom]

- DA is a turn off, but I can deal with DR
- Drool isn't fun
- No off switch - it's OK if it's something that can be trained relatively easily or comes with age, though (as in they get a bit more mellow naturally after puppyhood)
- Laziness
- No intelligence - I don't mind independence (in fact, I like it), but I don't like dogs that have no desire to figure anything out ever
- Super clingy/needy

I also enjoy having "wash and wear" dogs, but grooming doesn't bother me (I would learn how to do it on my own most likely).

[JessLough]

Big shedders. Rosey definitely gets her shedding tendencies from the shepherd in her, and omg never again. I love her to death, but THE HAIR twice a year is too much.

Bad with kids. I know it's individual dogs a lot, but breeds that are known to be bad around young kids. I'm around kids a lot, and eventually want some, so it just won't work.

Extreme prey drive. I can deal with crating a dog when the ferrets are out (or putting it in another room), but I cannot live with a dog who would like to kill my ferrets while they are in the cage, god forbid they got out.

Dog aggression. I can't do it. Since I'll likely have to crate while ferrets are out, it wouldnt be fair to limit time out of crate even more by crate and rotate. I'll always have ferrets, its a fact of life

Popularity. Honestly, I do not want a breed that everyone and their mother has, or has a mix of. I dont want to hear 101 stories of "oh i had that breed growing up!" I know it's different depending where you live, but here it pretty much takes out BC, labs, shih tzus, boxers and goldens.

[Michiyo-Fir]

- Human aggression
- continuously growing coats
- wirehair
- short and blocky build
- lots of drool
- massive (bigger than 120 lbs)
- teeny tiny (smaller than 4 lbs)
- unmotivated/not handler oriented at all (I can't stand dogs that don't give a crap about anything I do!)

I think that's it. I do have certain types I like a loooot more, but I think I can deal with most dogs.

[BostonBanker]

- Human aggression or protective drive. I don't care if my dog hides behind me while a robber comes in the door with a gun, I just don't want to worry about my dog misreading a situation and biting.

- Professional grooming. 15 years with a Bedlington. 'Nuff said.

- Big. I could go small, and probably will at some point in my life. I don't think I'll ever go over 50 or 60 lbs. I love my 30-ish pound dogs.

Wow a lot of you guys don't want Sam for a dog. XD He loves everyone, drools, he's not fast (though not really slow either), lazy (though you put him with another dog and he can keep going), sheds, he's over 110lbs.

For me it would be a small dog. Anything under 30 lbs would be too small.
A breed riddled with health issues would be the ultimate deal breaker I suppose. No one wants to go through that.
And dog aggression too. It's not something I want to handle, I'd rather deal with a dog that cries when his doggie friends have to leave than one that wants to rip out another one's throat. I used to walk my neighbours DA golden and it wasn't very fun for him or me. I constantly had to watch out for idiots that insisted on trying to shove their dogs into his face despite him wearing a muzzle just because he was a golden.

Oh and someone else mentioned prey-drive. I agree with that one, I'm a rodent person so it just wouldn't work out well. :P

As for drool, I thought it would be bad, but it's really not. The worst part of it is that Sam gets chapped lips in the winter sometimes because of it.

[Lilavati]

Low intelligence. I'm with Finkie on this. I like independence, see below, but part of the charm of dogs for me is their obvious intelligence, and I am always delighted at watching them solve problems (even if I don't really want them to solve that particular one!)

Excessively clingy: If the dog simply cannot cope unless I'm entertaining them, that is not the right breed for me. Ability to entertain self/ability to lie quietly near me is a must. Anything that excessively needy annoys me.

Over the top prey drive: I have cats, a lizard, and I have often had small animals . . . if they have a prey drive that can't be tamed by training, that isn't going to work.

No off switch

Big rough goobers

Tendancy towards DA/ high DR Live with extreme reactivity, would prefer not to repeat.

Not responsive to me: I already own a cat!

[Aleron]

Originally Posted by JessLough

Popularity. Honestly, I do not want a breed that everyone and their mother has, or has a mix of. I dont want to hear 101 stories of "oh i had that breed growing up!" I know it's different depending where you live, but here it pretty much takes out BC, labs, shih tzus, boxers and goldens.

I constantly hear about people who have a dog that "looks just like" one of mine, or their relatives/friends do or they had a dog like that as a kid that they got from the pound or.... You also get constant "what kind of dog is that?" questions, followed by "a what?....oh..." or "wow bet you paid a lot for that!" or "where did you find one?" or "hey that'd be a cool dog to breed to my wolfdog" (ok so that's just the Belgians and just at the flea markets LOL) or "is that a real breed?" (Savvy LOL). The more unusual a dog is, the more people want to come up and talk to you about them. I have had both uncommon and popular breeds and both seem to attract equal attention. The popular dogs come with the added bonus that everyone thinks they know more about the breed than you. The unpopular ones come with the added bonus that everyone thinks that's just exactly what breed they got from the dog pound last year.

[TicTacTug]

- Heavy shedders
- Bracyphilic breeds (I know I spelled that wrong..)
- Herding breeds - just don't appeal to me as a whole (there are a couple of individual breeds I would own, but those are my exceptions)
- A couch potato - ironic, because when I first got my dog, that's kind of what I wanted. She's the total opposite, and I've completely fallen in love with her high drive, high energy
- Super-biddable dogs - I like the intelligent + independent combination
- Dainty small dogs - I love small dogs; specifically I love small dogs who are rough 'n tumble, high-drive, athletic dogs. The kind of dog that can give the energizer bunny a run for his money. This one probably has to do more with the individual than the breed as a whole (I do favor small terriers over toy breeds).
- A dog with no tug drive! I could care less about fetch.