As I've mentioned previous, no dogs will be added to my home for a while yet, but I'm trying to research and get a feel for different breeds that I might want. Specifically a smaller dog, as I'm at a point in my life where small and medium sized dogs just make more sense than a large dog.
Over the weekend I was at the Agility Nationals, and there were a few small breeds that really piqued my interest. I've seen all of these breeds before, but usually just at dog shows where they aren't acting as they normally would in a more relaxed environment as they're busy getting ready to show. This weekend though I got to see different dogs and breeds in an entirely different situation, and I am so glad. Plus, now that I've opened my mind to the possiblity of a smaller dog, I'm noticing different things about smaller breeds that I never really paid attention to before. I never thought I'd say it, but I've totally fallen for Miniature Poodles. The ones I met this weekend were super sweet and just seemed so biddable and into their owners. A couple of Boston Terriers also caught my attention surprisingly. They were just so fun and spunky. Don't know much about them, and I normally am not one for squishy faces, but I'm trying to broaden my horizons, haha. Schipperkes also really caught my eye. I'm still very interested in JRTs, as well as Papillons, but I'd love to know more about the above mentioned breeds as well if any of you know anything about them. Or if you own another breed, or have experience with another breed and think they might be good for me, I'd love to hear about them as well!
What I'm looking for is:
- Something between 10-25lbs
- Something versatile in which I can train and compete in different venues (Agility, Rally and Obedience specifically)
- An active dog that enjoys exercise and activity, but not something energetic to the extreme
- Something that is not overly barky, but will alert me when warranted. Vocal is ok as long as it's "talking" sort of vocal, in a playful way... if that makes sense!
- Something that is pretty trainable. I need a quick learning dog.
- Something that will be able to live peacefully with another dog.
- Something biddable and pleasing, but can be a bit challenging. In other words, I don't want a totally independent dog, but I don't want a dog who mindlessly obeys and does just because I said so. I like a dog who thinks.
There's probably more I could add, but those are the key points I can think of right now.
I'll be doing other reading and research as well, but I love gathering input from owners of different breeds as far as activity levels go, what they're in general like to live with, trainability levels, what they're like with other dogs and people, how vocal they are, etc. Basically anything you can tell me about your own experience with a breed would be appreciated!
My biggest issue with small dogs is that they seem so difficult to housebreak. I don't want to stereotype though, and I am unsure as to whether this is specifically a small dog trait, or just a case of people not knowing how to properly housebreak, or what. So small dog owners in general, do you find your dogs difficult to 100% trust when it comes to housebreaking? That's kind of a deal breaker for me... I need to be able to trust that my dog will not have accidents ever, unless they're not feeling good and I'm not around to let them out.
I'm kind of all over the place as far as breeds go right now, I know. But I never really had much of an interest in owning a smaller breed until now, so I'm keeping my options open and trying research and learn as much as possible. And input would be great!
Over the weekend I was at the Agility Nationals, and there were a few small breeds that really piqued my interest. I've seen all of these breeds before, but usually just at dog shows where they aren't acting as they normally would in a more relaxed environment as they're busy getting ready to show. This weekend though I got to see different dogs and breeds in an entirely different situation, and I am so glad. Plus, now that I've opened my mind to the possiblity of a smaller dog, I'm noticing different things about smaller breeds that I never really paid attention to before. I never thought I'd say it, but I've totally fallen for Miniature Poodles. The ones I met this weekend were super sweet and just seemed so biddable and into their owners. A couple of Boston Terriers also caught my attention surprisingly. They were just so fun and spunky. Don't know much about them, and I normally am not one for squishy faces, but I'm trying to broaden my horizons, haha. Schipperkes also really caught my eye. I'm still very interested in JRTs, as well as Papillons, but I'd love to know more about the above mentioned breeds as well if any of you know anything about them. Or if you own another breed, or have experience with another breed and think they might be good for me, I'd love to hear about them as well!
What I'm looking for is:
- Something between 10-25lbs
- Something versatile in which I can train and compete in different venues (Agility, Rally and Obedience specifically)
- An active dog that enjoys exercise and activity, but not something energetic to the extreme
- Something that is not overly barky, but will alert me when warranted. Vocal is ok as long as it's "talking" sort of vocal, in a playful way... if that makes sense!
- Something that is pretty trainable. I need a quick learning dog.
- Something that will be able to live peacefully with another dog.
- Something biddable and pleasing, but can be a bit challenging. In other words, I don't want a totally independent dog, but I don't want a dog who mindlessly obeys and does just because I said so. I like a dog who thinks.
There's probably more I could add, but those are the key points I can think of right now.
I'll be doing other reading and research as well, but I love gathering input from owners of different breeds as far as activity levels go, what they're in general like to live with, trainability levels, what they're like with other dogs and people, how vocal they are, etc. Basically anything you can tell me about your own experience with a breed would be appreciated!
My biggest issue with small dogs is that they seem so difficult to housebreak. I don't want to stereotype though, and I am unsure as to whether this is specifically a small dog trait, or just a case of people not knowing how to properly housebreak, or what. So small dog owners in general, do you find your dogs difficult to 100% trust when it comes to housebreaking? That's kind of a deal breaker for me... I need to be able to trust that my dog will not have accidents ever, unless they're not feeling good and I'm not around to let them out.
I'm kind of all over the place as far as breeds go right now, I know. But I never really had much of an interest in owning a smaller breed until now, so I'm keeping my options open and trying research and learn as much as possible. And input would be great!