Thought I'd ask on here what people liked/didn't like about some of the smaller 'performance' dog breeds out there.
Currently we have two goldens and a border collie, all are doing agility and rally, or training towards that goal. However I'd like to get a smaller dog for the experience as well as something that possibly my son can handle when he's much older. There's no rush, I'm thinking in two years or so depending on things. I do teach classes and have access to agility equipment as well, right now not as much as I'd like but in a few years should have all the training time I need/want.
Anyhow I'm looking at a JRT, Sheltie, Pap or mini aussie mostly.
The JRT's around here are mostly go to ground if anything, not a lot of choice in the matter, and I've seen some that I'd find too soft for my tastes.
The shelties, some oversized huge high drive ones, or just conformation only breeders. My concern there is mostly getting one that 'does' have drive and isn't fearful of everything, and grooming - how much grooming do they really need?
Paps seem pretty cool, most of them. My concern there would be the bigger dogs who play hard doing some damage to them, I don't want to have to do separate walks to prevent that, and the two younger dogs are pretty mouthy and rough in play.
Mini aussies are neat, but not recognized here yet, so that's a toss, as well there isn't any local breeders I'd go to, which isn't a big deal, but I'm always concerned with being on the end of the list because I'm not local...
Thoughts?
Lana
Currently we have two goldens and a border collie, all are doing agility and rally, or training towards that goal. However I'd like to get a smaller dog for the experience as well as something that possibly my son can handle when he's much older. There's no rush, I'm thinking in two years or so depending on things. I do teach classes and have access to agility equipment as well, right now not as much as I'd like but in a few years should have all the training time I need/want.
Anyhow I'm looking at a JRT, Sheltie, Pap or mini aussie mostly.
The JRT's around here are mostly go to ground if anything, not a lot of choice in the matter, and I've seen some that I'd find too soft for my tastes.
The shelties, some oversized huge high drive ones, or just conformation only breeders. My concern there is mostly getting one that 'does' have drive and isn't fearful of everything, and grooming - how much grooming do they really need?
Paps seem pretty cool, most of them. My concern there would be the bigger dogs who play hard doing some damage to them, I don't want to have to do separate walks to prevent that, and the two younger dogs are pretty mouthy and rough in play.
Mini aussies are neat, but not recognized here yet, so that's a toss, as well there isn't any local breeders I'd go to, which isn't a big deal, but I'm always concerned with being on the end of the list because I'm not local...
Thoughts?
Lana