Which breed of dog???

I love white boxers, i think their stunning dogs.

how about a gorgeous wee white westie pup? im gona get my stepson one when we get a new house...theyre fab dogs and great with kids too!

That is the exact image i want ck, there is nothing cuter then dogs with kids.

I look on Freead's everyday and i've looked gumtree a couple of times, there's hardly any mongrels tho, i've looked at some rescue centres but there's very few with tiny puppies, and as we've got cats and my SD i'd only really consider getting a tiny puppy.

There's quite a few lab's on the different sites so i might go down that avenue.

My friends just got a cocker poo, he is gorgeous, cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle

(google image not actual)

so sweet and seems really good natured round the kids at school.

I grew up with a labrador and it would be my dog of choice if I could have one now, or a retrever, or a labradoodle (but they are poss a bit big for your needs). You should list the characteristics your looking for in your future dog and work from there.

thigs like temprement and amount of excercise life span etc are all important to think about, as well as size.

My sister found a web site when she was looking where you could entire your requirments and it gave you a list of suitable breeds, can't for the life of me think what it was now.

We have a lab/collie cross. He is a lovely dog but i've really struggled with him as a puppy and having young children. He's has tons of energy but is brilliant with the boys. x

I second the Westie!! This is my Benji who is now two. He's fantastic with kids, great with other dogs and loves everyone. He's not a tiny handbag dog, but nowhere as big as a lab. As with most terriers though, he thinks he is the size of a lab! Very much a big dog but in a little package. He likes a good long walk (the muddier he can get the better), but he can also be very lazy, so if you're having a bit of a chill day he is happy to mooch on the sofa too.

Oh Rache, he's cute!!

Ok so my list is:

• A medium size dog. nothing to small but nothing big like a dalmation
• good with children, already have a 6yr old step daughter and intend to have children of our own in the future.
• Has to be happy with a quick walk in the morning, another quick one at lunch time and then a good walk in the evening.
• i'm on my own in the evening as H works so something that i'll feel protected by.
• i do love a good cuddle so something that's going to curl up on the sofa with me.

Not too many ha ha!!

Aw he is sooooooo adorable....i wish we could get ours now and not have to wait ages for it!!! Grace u have to get a westie!!! theyre brill dogs....very robust and will protect u and urs!!!

I'm not helping at all on this but ever since I met my friend's St Bernard I've decided that if I ever get a dog it'll be a PROPER dog LOL and will be mahoosive!!!!

One day, I'll have a Newfoundland, I imagine it'll be like owning a pet bear ?

What do you think a jack russell x Collie would be like?

We had a staffordshire bull terrier wen i was growing up (he died last year), i know they have a bad reputation but they are really lovely dogs when they have the right owners! ours loved cuddles and was great with kids, lol and nobody would mess with him! only pic i have on this pc but i love it! Miss him loads we're planning on getting one when we buy our own place and start our family!

You're the second person to recommend a staffy, one of H's friends said about one at the weekend but because of the reputation H isn't keen. I'd definintly feel safe with one of those tho.

Another vote for a lab.

I know people who have had staffys with kids and they are lovely. Unfortunately, poorly trained staffs can be dangerous and also a lot get trained for fighting, therefor giving them a bad reputation.

Our dog that died last year was a black lab / whippet cross. She was the size of a small labrabor with a whippet's head and legs. Lovely temperment - she was ace with children, they could pull her tail and ears or play the 'xylophone' on her ribs and she wouldn't bother. Loved being patted and cuddled. She loved long walks and playing in water. We miss her.

Our other dog is a Yorkie / Jack Russell cross and he's just nuts. Still good with children but he can get a little over playful and jumps up to give people a kiss which scared our niece. Jake is lazier than Boots, he's quite happy with short walks with a mad gallop in a field. Every Sunday morning he has a mad five mins where he rushes around playing with his teddy and ball then he sleeps the rest of the day. He is a jack russell so he will catch and kill rats etc. Nan lives near a field and Jake did catch a shrew or something. We didn't train him for that

i found this not sure if it would help:

http://www.eukanuba.com/en-US/dog-breed-selector.jspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Eukanuba+Base+NB&utm_term=breed+selector&gclid=CPShsfD5k6gCFQWFDgodxXgvDA

And show your OH this:

https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/87

Its says

Characteristics
Traditionally of indomitable courage and tenacity. Highly intelligent and affectionate especially with children.

Temperament
Bold, fearless and totally reliable.

Staffy's have such a bad reputation and the media just try and scare people haha can tell im a staffy fan!

mental grace!!!!

Ive got a lhasa apso, bit like a westie........she adorable and fluffy (il try find a pic) but sadly had to leave her with mummy flow when i moved out

she goes for a ten min walk in the morning and an hour at night and is fine iwth it, shes fine on her own too during the day (mum only works part time tho)

we are STILL on the hunt for a dog, its been 3mths now, we orgainlly looked at getting a spaniel but they need too much time sadley!!

Another Lab vote here you can't beat them for temperament and cuddles, we rarely come across children so ours who is still a pup himself isnt used to them but whenever we do see any he sits there good as gold and lets them pull his ears prod his eyes and stick their fingers in his mouth and does nothing (except maybe give them a big lick across the chops)

Re staffys if you are going to get one please look in resuces they are the most abandoned and overlooked dogs and loads of pups end up in rescue. As with all dogs they react and behave according to how they have been brought up so if you get one as a pup and bring it up and train it properly you only have as much chance of it being nasty as you do with any other dog.

I regularly read this rescue website

ETA we got him as a pup from the a breeder we found on the gundog club website, there are a lot of labs and other working breeds advertised on there

I look on the many tears website everyday naboo, some lovely dogs on there but as we have cats and a 6 year old we need a tiny puppy, my mum however gets me to get the site up everytime she comes over, there's one right at the top of the page at the mo that she is tempted to apply for!!

I think for me it's going to be a lab or a jack Russell, I've just got to find the right one now.

thanks for all your opinions ladies, much appreciated.

Yeay go team lab!! good luck finding one, we had to get a little pup too as our cat is a big wimp! Although watch out if you have a cat flap cos when our dog was little he used to go through it too, nearly gave me heart failure the first time he did it, though tI had managed to lose him!! he got too buig for it very quickly tho

Have a look here when you decide on a breed - we found our cats through this site and it's much easier to search than freeads/gumtree.

No recommendations on breeds as I'm from a cat family, but I've always had a thing for boxers myself!

Good luck! xxx

Ha ha, that site and epupz are saved to my favourites mrs coco!! That's the one I caught my H looking at although he's adamant we're not getting one, lol.

I'd love a Cocker Spaniel. I like the idea of a Cockerpoo too, but I haven't physically seen one yet.

I think with any owner the important thing when choosing a dog is researching the breed, they will be hundreds of forums of whatever breed you choose and you can speak to owners also find out any medical conditions they could have, also their temprement (sp). OH did so much research before we got George.

As for the staffs i don't intend to cause offence but in my experiance, think that the reason they have a bad reputation is because they are kind of dog that a chav buys so he can strut around looking tough and deliberately train them to be furosious (sp). My SIL has a bull dog and that is just the kind of animal, I personally would be too scared to be left alone with never mind any children, her now ex husband wanted it because "it looked hard" didn't even look into how to look after it or anything, thought it would be a good idea to play fight with it, the only thing is now it can be vicious.

No offence taken i can assure u i am not a chav, but in those cases that is the owner not the dog that is at fault. Without proper training/ or proper enviroment any dog can be capable of agression. We got our staffy wen i was 13 and he was never aggressive to anyone and used to think he was a lap dog always wanting cuddles.

My parents always were of the opinion no dog should ever be left alone in a room with a young child no matter what the breed. Lol sorry if i sound a bit off but i really dont like media stereotyping it would be very sad to see this breed banned under the dangerous dogs act which alot of people would like to see happen.

This link gives good advise for getting a puppy with children:

https://www.saferpets.co.uk/SafeDogBreedsForChildren.html

Im in the staffy camp too.....my ex and i had a gorgeous girl called nico.....she was fab with my kids who were 9 and 5 at the time....they would climb on top of her and ride on her like a horse and she loved the attention.........we absolutely loved that dog...were devastated when she was diagnosed with a severe heart condition and she had to be put to sleep as her quality of life was bad at the end.....one of the hardest things ive ever done is watch that......we cried for weeks....

i agree with the others who say when these dogs are with the proper owners theyre a joy to have.....its like bad parenting really, bad owners make bad dogs.

I'm all for labs. Can't wait to get our own house so we can get one. I grew up with two on two seperate occasions.

If you want a staffie Grace visit https://www.happystaffie.co.uk/

How about a spaniel.

I've got two pugs and they're great with O. They have accepted him from day one and they just sit next to him when O is on his baby gym. They're a bit yappy which is handy (according to our neighbours - a security thing) as they hear people walking up our side passage and they do shed a lot of hair but they love cuddles and are very affectionate.

As with any dog, I wouldn't leave O alone with them and I have trained them to follow me about the house.

I am a dog lover in general but I would have to vote for boxers, the only sticking point would be they do need quite a lot of exercise. However as you've said you'd be taking it out 3 times a day I'm sure that would be fine, as long as in one of those it would get a good run around off its lead (just my opinion and experience). Our boxer is 6 now (family dog, not mine and H's) and she's been such a lovely addition to the family - easy to train, lots and lots of personality, excellent with kids, very lovable. We also bred her 2 years ago and she had 9 gorgeous pups, some of the older Hitchers might remember me posting pics at the time!

Here's a little pic of Bella as well:

Awe Stazzle shes gorg! can i babysit? Im missing having a Dog around!

Hiya

I've got a westie, he's lovely. He is a big dog in a small body - big personality and thinks he's the boss! But he's so friendly with everyone and kids...

Here's Jack...

We've just rehomed a one year old crossbreed from our local Dogs Trust - they had lots of puppies. Not sure if you work or not but they might not rehome a puppy if you do?

We've got a cat and my OH has a 10 year old son too and they all get along just fine! For the first week we introduced the cat and dog slowly and after that just let them get on with it - they'll sort themselves out and cat usually ends up boss!