What breed would you recommend?

I do have some ideas. And i'm not ready to get another dog yet. But on these circumstances, what breeds would you recommend.

First off, i want a more mellow dog. Milo's high-strung, and doesn't take well to bossiness. A dog that is at least a little bit bigger than Milo (he's 17 pounds...so probably at least a 25 pound dog) but not too big for me to handle/move by myself in case of emergency/won't hurt Milo too badly if they DO get into a fight. An adult dog, at least 12 months, but under 3 years. I don't mind shedding, but don't want a big long coat i have to detangle all the time. I will likely do agility with this dog, so a dog that is trainable and at least medium-high energy. I don't know if this will affect breed choices, but i want a female. Good with dogs and kids. Don't care if it's good with cats.

I will either be living in an apartment without a yard, where the dog will get a few walks each day and hopefully some park/offleash time in a field or something each day for a short time, and some time to run around my parents backyard (which isn't huge by any means) a few times a week.

OR

In a rented house with a yard.

This will depend on whether i stay near my parents and can only afford a small apartment, or move somewhere cheaper and can afford a bigger/nicer place.

Hmm, I'd say Miniture Poodle but the coat can be a pain in the butt to keep clean/trimmed. Then I'd say Cocker, but the coat is a pain too.

What breeds do you have in mind?

retired Greyhound? (lol I would say whippet.. they fit everything but the mellow-mine are so non aggressive its silly)

By "mellow" I assume you mean easy going, and not low energy? First you say you want a mellow dog then you want one with at least medium/high energy. LOL.

If the latter is true, how about a rescued Border Collie, or a Whippet?

I'd be thinking maybe some sort of gundog, maybe a spaniel of some sort.

correct, i mean easygoing, docile. I do want a medium/high energy dog.

Sighthounds are probably not for me. I can't imagine a greyhound running agility. Too distractable. They'd see something off in the distance and bolt. I don't know if all greys are but the rescue ones i've known have been. i imagine whippets are the same way, and even if not, they're a pretty fragile breed. Milo plays rough.

Lizmo, a standard poodle would fit but i'm not up for the grooming, and they are BARKY. if i rented a house, that would be okay. in an apartment or shared building, not so much. I want something a little bigger than a cocker or mini poodle.

My top choice right now is an aussie or aussie mix, if i can get a place with a yard. Other only-if-i-have-a-yard breeds are border collies (thought i'm not sure i can do another 'intense' breed like that, Aussies are a tad bit more laidback), and brittanys. I'm starting to think maybe a Pointer would be a good choice. I'm also considering a smooth collie.

I'm kind of considering APBTs. My only reservation is that if a fight ever did occur, i might not be able to break it up with such a strong dog. Same goes for a Dobe...i just don't want a dog that would be big/strong enough to seriously hurt Milo if they did get into a fight and i couldn't break it up.

As for an apartment without a yard...i think an APBT could deal in an apartment with the exercise i'd be able to give them. Other apartment breeds i'm not sure about. Boston, maybe, i've seen them run agility, but i know they can have health problems.

Lol, the list of breeds that are out is longer than the list of breeds that are still an option.

LOL the whippets are not fragile. And they play with the JRTs just fine. They are less distractable than JRTs by a long shot. And if you are looking for a dog to live with a JRT I would not go APBT. The JRT could call the dog on..enough times and the APBT says FINE..and you have a very bad fight indeed.

I don't know about the greyhounds, but I do see a fair number of whippets in agility. Some even beating the BCs Most I hear of are in flyball though because they are so fast. The only worry I have with Bounce doing agility is she will likely have to tell the ring crew how much she loves them. (and I see a fair number of aussies who do that too)

But I hear you, untill I got these whippets, I was very much in the camp of "sight hounds are NOT for me"

I'll totally be looking into whippets, in that case i don't think they'd be my first choice if do get a place with a yard. but if i end up in an apartment, they'll be on my list.

umm you might want to switch that (they like to run run run) unless you have a dog park nearby. (I mean they can live in an appt..but they wow do they need to run)

I saw a youtube clip of a grey practicing agility a while ago, its having so much fun.
I probably wouldn't go with a grey for agility though because I like more intense dogs and greys just arn't hugley agile.

Heres the video, just wanted to show it, its adorable.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5DdB-qpNPWQ

oh yeah they'll get plenty of exercise either way....it's just if i do get an apartment i want a smaller dog and one that can calm down inside so she's not running all over knocking things down 24/7...i'll have enough of that with Milo. I'd likely go for a larger dog if i got a bigger place.

mrose that's so cute!!

I've never understood why people think small place = small dogs .My Goldens would have been fine in a trailer .

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rW6ZraHNPA8 agility whippet. (sight hounds need to run they way terriers need to play)

Gotta agree with Grammy on that!

Alot of the small place = small dog is renting restrictions. It's HARD to find a decent apartment that rents to big dogs in many places. You can't find one here I know for sure that allows dogs over 35 lbs unless you really want a sh!tty apartment lol. (Pardon my french)

Um... I'd possibly look into some of the sporting breeds if I were you- some of the spaniels maybe? Other than that I have no idea lol.

What Lauren said applies, but also Grammy:

the dog i want is going to be high energy. A small dog in an apartment has some room to play and run a little bit. A big dog in an apartment with high energy is going to be running into things constantly.

That's why it depends on the breed or the dog if adopted .

mhm. Like, a great dane is huge, but they'd do okay in an apartment with sufficient exercise. But then, a border collie is about half their size, and would be zoomying all over the place, knocking stuff over.

You got it !!!!