What is your ideal pack?

Picklepaige

Picklepaige

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I know we have threads like this all the time, but it's been a while, opinions change and new members come, so time for another!

What would you say your ideal pack (or dog, if you just want one) is like? How many? What types? What roles do you want them to play? Are you at your ideal now, and if not, why?

Begin!
 
I have different combos lol

A Chloe, a Whippet.

A Chloe, a Whippet, a Greyhound.

A Chloe, a chihuahua, a frenchie.

A Chloe, a whippet, a frenchie.

A Chloe, a dachshund.

Noticing a theme? I mostly just want a Chloe forever. :)

ETA: Also, all of those combos have room for another random rescue mutt in there.
 
Right now, I think my pack (between my bf and I) is perfect. I have my older male GSD who is 4.5yrs, then we have Wuma (bfs dog) who is 2, then Carma who is almost a year and Tulah who is 7.5 weeks. I wish they weren't quite so close in age, but I like the balance of two males and two females. All of the Shepherd variety, of course ;)
 
Ideally I would have two mid-sized athletic dogs who were all arounders and who could and would live to work hard and play hard from the ages of 2 to 15. A female retriever and a male herder, about five years apart.

However in the real world, ideally I'd have a dog about every 4-5 years, alternating boy herders and girl retrievers. So at any time I would have one youngish dog, one mid-career dog, and one retiree with occasionally two retirees, a middle dog, and a puppy if I were lucky enough to have a dog live to 16+.

But we make it work as is :)
 
I don't know and I go back and forth on this a lot. A big part of my indecision is how kids will fit in, since it will be so much easier to have only one mature dog when future-kid is a baby.

If kids and life weren't getting in the way, I'd like 2, maybe 3 Welshies. Definitely a female and maybe another male. I kind of enjoy showing and helping to carry on the breed with a nice male, but pretty sure I'm not ready to breed anytime soon, so I might end up not taking a show quality female and just doing obedience/agility type stuff. Ideally, one or more could be a baby Watson if that happens. Either way, I'd like to wait until he's about 4 before adding a puppy. I need time to forget about his adolescence. Welshies tend to get along really well with other dogs, and I know Watson's ideal would involve lots of other dogs for him to play with.

I'd also really love to have a herding breed, maybe an ES, Aussie, or koolie. I love sporting dogs and Welshies in particular, but I think I would also get along really well with certain herding breeds and would like to try it out.

I kind of doubt we will ever have more than 2 dogs, though in the perfect world where I work less and have more time for dog activities, I would love 3 or 4. Maybe 3 would work if one were older and retired from everything except being a companion. I already spend 2-3 evenings a week doing stuff with Watson and even adding one more dog would be a lot. For now, one Welshie is working out really well.
 
I want two dogs eventually. I've always had 3-5 and much as I love having just one, I think Crossbone would really thrive and prefer living with another dog. We've got our heart set on a breed that we feel is a perfect fit. We need a friendly, confident dog that can travel with us & play agility.

So my ideal pack would be a Crossbone & a Koolie! Preferably male/female combo but I'm not terribly picky in that regard.
 
I think I will likely from here on out stick with 1-2 mid sized dogs (more than likely herders), and 1-2 small sized dogs (probably papillons) at a time. I'm not 100% sure to be honest. I would like to stay around 2-3 dogs most the time but 4 will likely happen on occasion just as dogs get older, etc.

I could also see me adding an elderly rescue maybe sometime in the future if I have room. I only want 2 sports dogs at a time so others would have to be up and coming puppies or seniors.

I think I will probably alternate between papillons and herders. A lot of the stuff I want to do are more suited to mid-sized herders but I just can't give up the paps. They are fantastic, hilarious dogs.

I will be getting another dog this next year/year and a half. Afterr that I probably won't get another till Summer goes.

I've had up to 6 twice and that's way too many for me. Especially with my lifestyle now. I'm spoiled in that I can take my two everywhere easily and they enjoy it all. 5 was doable but still not as inclusive as I'd like. 6 was my personal breaking point both times.
 
Dobermans, Dalmatians, a Bull Terrier, a mudi and a Corso. With rough money to feed everyone. And in a perfect world they all get along. Lmao
 
Some combos I like the sounds of:

Papillon, MAS/pyrshep, Border collie/koolie

^^^ I think that's the plan for after Summer is gone. Mia, a middle/smaller herder, a larger/middle herder. In some combination. Then when Mia's getting older another papillon. Covers all my bases there.

If I had the resources a young one of each please. And hopefully they'd all jump different heights. :lol-sign:
 
Laurelin said:
And hopefully they'd all jump different heights. :lol-sign:
Click to expand...

You're a glutton for punishment lol

As for my breed plans, currently:

Retriever side: Flatcoat or Golden

Herder side: Border Collie or Koolie.

I play with the idea of a good Labrador or English Shepherd but I don't think either is currently the best match for me, for different reasons.
 
I really like my sporting dogs.

I keep saying I only want one of my own and one foster, but we'll see how that pans out. I might "end up" with two of my own. Maybe.

And I am going to do everything in my power to stack the deck so that everyone is social with other dogs (and especially with cats).

I will likely always have a spaniel, likely even always an ESS, but we'll see if anything else pops up.
 
Well currently I guess my tentative plan is to add an Alaskan after Pip is gone. But really, I have no idea. Just when I get to having a plan, I fall in love with some individual dog. I think I'm just sort of a fly by the seat of my pants kinda dog person. I think I just don't really have an "ideal."
 
Oh, and ideally, I'd be getting back into dog sports more seriously! I'm missing obedience, tracking, and agility quite a bit!
 
Merlin + another similar sized (40ish #) young adult female (1-3 year old) rescue dog with short single coat and similar energy level to act as his playmate.

Preferably this other dog will belong to either a housemate or significant other.. because I LIKE having one dog (for the ease of moving, finding dog sitters, etc..).. but I would LOVE for Merlin to have a friend to live with.
 
I always want at least two dogs. If I ever have a house with a fenced in yard and have another person around to help, I'd like three.

Preferably one large protective dog, then one or two medium sized easy going weekend warrior type dogs. Basically, a Cynder and Abrams combo forever, only closer in age.

I really like the idea of a large protective dog (Chessie, Rottie), then a spaniel type dog (or mix), with maybe a Labrador thrown in for good measure. But, I don't want a puppy and a baby at the same time, so I'm thinking the large protective dog will be purposefully bought from a breeder and planned around kids, the spaniel mutt will be adopted as a young adult, and the Lab will be a senior rescue.
 
I only want two dogs at a time... The only possible exception being if the older dog gets to a point where we aren't doing much together outside of the house and second dog is mature enough that I don't need to be on top of them all the time. So maybe when Summit is about 12 and Kili is 4 I might consider adding another, younger dog.

I like to have a decent age gap between dogs. Avoids simultaneous medical crises and the close loss of two dogs. Downfall... Dogs do different activities based on age. I like to take mine camping with me, but Summit is getting to an age where soon I will have to leave him home while we go camping with just Kili, and that sort of sucks.

So ideally 2. Definitely greyhounds. I prefer males but it's hard to find small enough males to be competitive in agility so will probably be 2 females most of the time.
 
I'm going to have Seamus and a Border Collie in a few months which seems pretty perfect for my situation right now! I could see myself adding another Rough Collie several years down the line. I'll probably always have about two-three dogs (MAYBE four, depending on the situation/my living situation), and probably rotate BC, Rough Collie, BC, or something. It's hard to say at this point. I'll definitely always have Rough Collies. I can't really see myself venturing outside of BCs and Rough Collies except maybe for a Samoyed sometime waaaay down the line. :p

I've always been a fan of spacing my dogs out age-wise. Sally was seven when we got Seamus (who was one at the time). Seamus is eight and I'm getting a puppy this winter. I think having too many dogs around the same age would be overwhelming for me! So I'll probably always space them out at least five or so years. :)
 
Well, Jackson is going to live forever... sooo... ;)

I don't think I'd ever want more than 2 dogs on my own. If I had a BF/hubby whom I lived with or something, and he wanted his own, or already had his own, then maybe 3 or 4 would be doable. Or same situation with my parents and their dogs. But yeah, on my own? 2 tops.

I go back and forth a lot. I really really want a herder at some point. I just really have meshed with the few I've spent time around, more than most other breeds. But then on the flip side, I think Jackson would really enjoy having another similar-sized terrier around to play with. But I just want to branch out a little bit more, as well, for myself personally. And Jackson does enjoy the herders he's spent time around much more than any other breed.

So my combos range from

1 small terrier (Silky, or Border most likely) and a herder (BC or Mini American Shepherd most likely)

or 2 terriers (Jackson + Border)

But god, then I spend time around a really easy toy dog and sometimes wish I had a dog so easy :rofl1: We babysat a Chi for 2 days that was just... SO easy. But also SO tiny. I just didn't even know what to do with her. She was freezing and didn't want to spend more than 2 seconds peeing outside. Lol, but sometimes I think how nice it would be to have an easy dog that didn't necessarily NEED the stimulation and exercise that Jackson and a herder would need. But, if I'm being honest, I DO like 'doing' things with my dog, so in the long run, I think a little cuddly easy dog would be nice, but is not my thing at the moment. Plus Jackson tried to bark at her once to play and she was so scared. He definitely needs a dog that is willing to play with him and his loud self.
 
Fran101 said:
Merlin + another similar sized (40ish #) young adult female (1-3 year old) rescue dog with short single coat and similar energy level to act as his playmate.

Preferably this other dog will belong to either a housemate or significant other.. because I LIKE having one dog (for the ease of moving, finding dog sitters, etc..).. but I would LOVE for Merlin to have a friend to live with.
Click to expand...

This is my ideal, too :rofl1:

I really wish my dads dogs would play with Jackson, but they really don't.

When my moms dog was still alive and we lived with her, Jackson and her played all the time, and it was so nice. I do really miss that. It was... like having 2 dogs, except I didn't have to worry about her when I brought Jackson with me on vacations, or to peoples houses, or traveled at all, etc. But if my mom ever gets a dog again, it probably won't be mine or Jackson's "type".
 
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