What breed of dog do you think is good for a family dog?

Question:
What breed(s) of dog do you think make good family dogs?

Details:
My kids have been begging for a dog for a while. I may finally be in a position to get one in the next few months.

I am not looking for super small or super big. Something along the size of a lab, retreiver, husky, boxer.

I plan to have the dog spend most of its time outside.

I plan to have other animals on the property.

I do plan to get a puppy, but I don't care if it is purebred or not.

Any ideas on what I should look for or avoid?

As much as I love my Plott Hound, hounds (like terriers) seem to generally have an innate prey drive that can add some training stress when it comes to barnyard animals. My pup, for example, loves to chase critters and it is the chase that she wants. When she gets to the thing she is chasing, she stands there like a goofball. This unfortunately stresses out whatever they are chasing even if there isn't a physical injury in the end.

On the flip side, my pup is content to be a homebody. The wintertime is cold on her paws and if it is especially bitter I have to carry her 50lb shivering body inside (she has me trained well).

I'm a big advocate on 'bully' breeds being a good family dog. I had a rescued Pitbull who wouldn't hurt a fly. She was low energy, low upkeep, and a wonderful companion growing up. My best friend has what is known as an 'American Bully' which is essentially a mixture of different bulldog type crosses. His name is Gimli and he is as if a 50lb sack of potatoes got zoomies for five minutes and then needed to relax for three hours. He is great with young children (riled up he might bump a few) and has shown zero signs of aggression so far.

For me, it comes down to training and time. I hope you might stumble upon your soul dog in the near future.

We have had lots of dog breeds over the years.

We started out with a German Shepherd.

Then poodle, malamute, huskie, Labrador Retriever, German Shepard, dachshund, dachshund.

If I were getting another dog it would be a German Shepherd or a Dachshund.

I will never ever have another Labrador Retriever.  That one would not stay in the yard and brought home other peoples shoes.

Get something well-suited to your area. If you want the dog to be comfortable outside, be sure that it has the right amount of fur (Huskies in San Diego don't mix, the dog would be miserable). Same applies to somewhere cold and having a dog suited for warm weather. Look for something smart enough to be trainable, but not so smart that it will get bored and start misbehaving. With kids, I would point out that they need to see the dog and the dog needs to see them before you make a decision because you want to make sure the pup is a good fit for your family. Sometimes with kids, it's about training the kids as much as training the dogs. Dogs can be dangerous, so make sure that any young children are not doing things that might put the dog in a bad spot. I remember that as a kid, I always wanted to ride the family dog like a horse, but it would have hurt him if I tried. I loved that dog and I wouldn't have hurt him, but kids don't always think things through. As a result, it was important for my parents to have the conversation of "the dog is not a horse" to avoid any mishaps. In terms of breeds, Golden Retrievers are the classic option for families, but I wouldn't limit myself. I've met ill-behaved golden retrievers and pitbulls that wouldn't hurt a fly, so you really have to consider both breed characteristics and the specific dog.

My advice: volunteer at the humane society as a family. You can help your children gain skills, confidence, and a work ethic around animals and you can view this as a way to both do a good deed for animals and to look at animals. My childhood dogs were both from the animal shelter and I met both volunteering, and the one I had as a toddler (the one who my parents had to specify was not a horse) came from aging relatives. Either way, you want to know these animals at least a bit before you bring them into your home. I feel obligated to say to remember to get your pets fixed and are up to date on their shots. You don't want eight puppies and you don't want your dogs to have preventable health problems.

Golden Retrievers are the consummate family dog.  That said, most any dog with low prey drive will work great as a family dog.  I will say, I'm very concerned with this: "I plan to have the dog spend most of its time outside."  If that means outside with the family doing things except when you are at work, or outside until I get home from work, and then in with the family, then that's great.  If it means "left outside by itself all the time 3 weeks after we got it because the novelty wore off for the kids", then I think you should get fish instead.  Dogs are extremely social animals and suffer greatly if they aren't part of the family.  There is a saying that goes something like "Your dog may not be your only friend, but you are his."  One of the really sad things in life is the dog that no one ever interacts with.  They see their people, start wagging like mad cuz the think someone will finally come see them, and then the kids go ride their bikes.  It's a terrible, lonely life for the dog.  I'm not saying any of this is how you meant that, but I've seen it a million times, and I currently work as a volunteer with a dog rescue and get to see the end result of people getting tired of their animals.

We have a Romanian Carpatian Shepherd Dog. He's super happy to be outside, an independent thinker (very much in contrast to a border collie) and will adhere to protecting anything that is considered as "family" - kids, other animals, home turf.

The pro's are abundant; he's independent (but requires training! in the first three! years), big+fluffy+hugfactor10, will alert and protect and loves the outdoors. He also doesn't eat much, if that's an issue. We have a border collie and this Carpatian Sheperd dog only eats marginally more than the (more active) border collie. The Carpatian does things mellow - naps a lot, surveillance is done at a mellow pace but thorough...he's a cool guy.

The cons; independent thinking = listening to commando's mostly comes second (after his own assessment), BIG, will want to secure the perimeter = if your terrain isn't fenced all around, he'll roam.

You can find more about this breed here

I suggest a golden Retriever; they come in two sizes...
The old original dogs are big boned, with a squarish head and a heavy coat. They have no trouble being outdoors.
The "modern" golden is a smaller, sleeker dog that the breeders seem to favor.
They would prefer to sleep on your couch.

A true outside dog would be an LGD, with animals to guard.
I have seen snow piles stand up and shake off that were really white Great Pyrenees dogs.

I have a Black Lab mix.  She is a wonderful, affectionate, extremely loyal dog and I can't imagine our home being the same without her.  I would wholeheartedly endorse a Lab or a Lab mix.

I have also had a Norwegian Elkhound and she was also affectionate and intensely loyal.  She also liked to herd little children to keep them in our yard--my mother ran a day-care out of our house for several years and the little kids (most of them 6 years old or younger) loved to play with her and if one of them wandered too far off or too close to the edge of the yard, she would run over and use her nose to nudge them back into the center of the yard, all while being extremely gentle with them.  That said, for being such a friendly, affectionate dog, if someone unknown to her approached the yard, she had an absolutely fierce growl that was positively intimidating if you did not actually know who she was.  I had seen people who were around farm animals all their lives be shocked by the intensity of her growl.  Of course, it was all for show.

Eric

These are some good ideas and things to remember. I had a couple dogs growing up, but haven't had one in years, so it's good to be reminded.

For those of you commenting about keeping it outside... I do fully understand the social aspect. I'm just not up for an inside dog right now, but the kids will be socializing with it every day. Our first dog, when I was about 4, was a husky/chow/doberman/lab mix. She wasn't very old, maybe 20 weeks... and we had a cold snap... -15F weather. So My dad brought her inside, to the basement so she wouldn't be so cold... where she whined and scratch so loud and and long that he finally put her back outside... where she proceeded to sit on top of a snowbank and be happy as a clam. She was built to be outside.

While I am intrigued by the LGD and similar... I'm not sure it would be a good fit for this particular case. Perhaps down the road if my dream of getting some sort of herbivore comes to reality on a scale that would make sense to bring in a LGD.

Since I knew it would come up, I would like to touch on the Livestock Guard Dog breeds.  I love them, I have one, they are great dogs, they are protective of their "stuff", very intelligent, and I would highly recommend AGAINST them except for very specific situations.  Nina touched on it as a "pro", but the independence of these breeds is very much a "con" in a lot of cases.  I have 80 acres of land, surrounded by land that is owned by a private company, but not used by them.  My LGD patrols "her area" which happens to roam far outside my 80 acres.  Every night, she does her rounds of the property.  It takes her between 45 minutes and an hour.  In my situation it's fine.  If you don't have a) a truly enormous amount of land, as in hundreds of acres, or b) land that is completely and entirely fenced at least 6 feet tall, I think a LGD is a bad idea.  With independence also comes much more work in obedience training.  These dogs were bred for thousands of years to think for themselves and act as they think best.  You aren't going to train 5000 years of this out of them.  For a family dog, I wouldn't recommend them.  

Matt McSpadden wrote:

While I am intrigued by the LGD and similar... I'm not sure it would be a good fit for this particular case. Perhaps down the road if my dream of getting some sort of herbivore comes to reality on a scale that would make sense to bring in a LGD.

Cross posted with this, but I agree 100%

I always suggest that research be done, with a bent toward looking deeply and honestly at the family temperaments, activity levels, and proclivities, available space for running, shelter, etc. I find it much easier to choose by first eliminating the ones that would be an obvious bad match. Even with an outside dog. A working dog breed will need work to do, pretty much daily, or it will find things to do, that may or may not be to your liking.  A runner or hunting type dog breed will need LOADS of exercise, and will become an escape artist, to get it, if necessary.  A herding breed *will* herd, even if there is only the family, to herd - often by any means they can, including nipping at heels & ankles. Sight hounds need fencing (or to be on lead), or you might never see them again, once they spot a rabbit, squirrel, other dog, cat... Fluffy breeds can be very happy, in the cold, but will need a lot of grooming, if the areas they roam have burrs, thistles, etc. Non-fluffy ones will need better insulation in their shelter.

Once you eliminate the ones that won't fit your situation, the choices will be much easier.

Trace Oswald wrote: Nina touched on it as a "pro", but the independence of these breeds is very much a "con" in a lot of cases.  I have 80 acres of land, surrounded by land that is owned by a private company, but not used by them.  My LGD patrols "her area" ....  You aren't going to train 5000 years of this out of them.  For a family dog, I wouldn't recommend them.  

Yes, this - all of this. For me the independence of my dog is a desired trait, I prefer it to the why-is-this-dog-my-shadow scenario with our border collie.
My dogs' favourite hobby was to escape (we only have 3000m2) - squeezing through hedges, crawling under fences or jumping over them. He'll jump so high without any speed, just from standing, that it's hard to believe unless you see it yourself.
After a fox raided some of our chicken (the dogs were inside at that moment) we fenced the whole perimeter very tightly.
Everybody is happy now, also my LGD, because there's no stress.

The number one, all time for me would be a Labrador.  And in a very close second would be a Golden (maybe without the outdoor thing, that long coat will take a lot of brushing )

PS, I forgot to say, puppy school is a must, for any breed.  In truth the school is more for us two legs than the four legs !!!

We have mostly had husky or sleddog crosses.
They are great for cold outdoor recreation, but the fur is endless.  Their prey drive is great for rats etc., not good for chickens.
The smartest has been a husky/shepherd cross; gorgeous, smart, protective and tough as nails.
Make sure the dog has been properly socialized with babies & children.

Matt as much as I love all Labs, I have to tell you about this one male puppy we kept.  He had the very well earned name of Damnit, up until about the age of a year and half.  My dear boy was kicked out of obedience school twice.  Just when we had given up all hope for the boy, something clicked and be became one of our all time best.  At that time we renamed him Mr D.  We even used his first name at the vet office, they just laughed!

Peace

Matt,
Great and timely question.
I am a little biased with this answer, we have what appears to be a English Pointer. Midsized dog, loves to be around family. The times he's been in the house he stretches out on a loveseat covered with a blanket. Very social dog, and okay with my wife's cats.
We had a stray show up that looked very similar to him, but she has pointed ears where his are floppy. She also has blue eyes, as do all the puppies.
She had a litter of puppies about 2 months ago, we still have 7 to find homes for. They all are so beautiful that I wish we could keep them all. Are you located somewhere near the tri-state area of West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky? We live south of Huntington WV and east of Louisa Kentucky. I drive for Walmart out of Washington Courthouse Ohio and would bring you one, or more! Lol
.
The pointer does have a bit of energy and love to run a bit, but like I said, loves to sprawl out inside.

Mike Feddersen wrote:Are you located somewhere near the tri-state area of West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky? We live south of Huntington WV and east of Louisa Kentucky. I drive for Walmart out of Washington Courthouse Ohio and would bring you one, or more! Lol

I'm nowhere near there, but I thank you for the offer I live in Maine, so while I appreciate the offer... I will probably try to find one a little closer to home.

Do you find that breed smart and trainable along with sociable?

I do think he's smart, not sure I am smart enough to train him.
I have a friend that has a labradoodle, and he says the secret is to spend a lot of time with the dog. Very sociable.

Matt McSpadden wrote:

Mike Feddersen wrote:Are you located somewhere near the tri-state area of West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky? We live south of Huntington WV and east of Louisa Kentucky. I drive for Walmart out of Washington Courthouse Ohio and would bring you one, or more! Lol

I'm nowhere near there, but I thank you for the offer I live in Maine, so while I appreciate the offer... I will probably try to find one a little closer to home.

Do you find that breed smart and trainable along with sociable?

Sad to say it Matt, but trips for good animals from up around here is sometimes just necessary. I know there are breeders here and there are the occasional mixed breed puppies that accidentally happen, but this state is very dry for animals. What you do find is usually expensive to an outrageously level AND you have to sit on a wait list (or get "lucky" on a facebook post).

Literally all the critters I have now are from out of state or hatched/birthed on-farm.

Turkeys, ducks, geese, chickens all have to be ordered in by mail to be affordable. I had bought some muscovy from a woman down near Portland about 10 years ago now, but her prices made that a one time thing never to be repeated.

Penny, our great pyrenees / anatolian shepherd mix, encountered an inattentive driver a few years back. She was from Missouri and had originally flown in via BGR. Guarding our birds now are Remy, a karakachan mix flown in from georgia and Missy, a maremma mix driven up from tennessee (both are 1/4 each pyrenees and anatolian shepherd).

Even my cats - I drove them home from a florida shelter after years of trying to find one in state without getting a credit card to pay for it. One was pregnant and we were able to give away kittens to loving homes without charging people a grand or more, which was extremely rewarding

Take my advice and don't restrict yourself to what's currently available here in Maine. Demand and prices are very high, supply is always low and breed variety (not to mention selection) is very poor. I hope to see that change as we get more and more homesteaders and small farms, but we're still a long way from where it is in the heartland.

I grew up with dogs, and don't consider life complete without one. Best family breed in my experience is the Norwegian Elkhound. They're northern dogs with heavy double coats (major shedding twice a year). They're smart, even-tempered, and just all-around good dogs. This breed will not live to please you, but they don't get aggressive unless something is very wrong.

My mom knew a family that had an Elkhound, and their toddler was running through the house and tripped over the napping dog. Some breeds might come up snapping but that Elkhound just raised it's head to see who fell over it, saw it was the kid, and went back to sleep.

They dig. So if you're putting them in a fenced yard, you'll want to set the fence down into the ground about a foot. If one gets out, it will stay close by unless it has a running pal. Two dogs out is both dogs gone. And most people aren't familiar with the breed so they get mistaken for huskies or husky crosses.

They do have a fair amount of energy, so if you don't have a large space for them to run in they will need a long walk or two daily.

I think in addition to the breed , it’s important to consider the environment the breeder provides.

And the characteristics of their breeding stock.ess

Whether or not the dog is registered is no guarantee of anything.

The motivations of the breeder come in to play as well.  I’m not against back yard breeders necessarily, but I am against puppy mills.  Show dogs can also not be much better than puppy mills.  It’s another question that comes out “it depends”.

Have fun finding a great dog for your situation!

I spent a decade of my life with a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. She was smart - incredibly smart - but took quite a lot of training and time to learn to learn to trust spending any time confined. She had a back story that accounts for that, she came from a rescue facility that takes in dogs brought in by the police. In her case, she spent three days confined in a locked apartment with the body of her murdered previous owner. She had night terrors for the first year that she was with me, and needed comforting in the middle of every night. I guess after a year she started feeling safe and well loved and her night terrors decreased in frequency over time. She was up for anything from endless ball tosses, to long walks off lead, poking her nose in every bush (but not roaming so far that I was out of her sight), to watching me garden. She was the perfect family holiday dog, willing to nap cuddled up with any family member. I can’t imagine a better companion. On the other hand, I have owned a Manchester Terrier and my tenant owns a Rat Terrier, and I would not have either breed on my farm if I had any say in the choice. They just can’t help themselves when it comes to wandering / ‘exploring’. That rat terrier is fast and can go missing in the blink of an eye. Coming back when called seems to depend on whether she thinks there is anything in it for her. She has been picked up on the Highway several times. She will also kill anything she can catch from prairie dogs, to garter snakes, to quail to young game birds. Definitely stay away from the small hyperactive terriers.

As a kid we had boxers who were both (one after another) awesome but lived to about 8, then married with a baby we had a boxer who was amazing but lived to 7, 45kg.
Neighbours and friends have had Staffies who I love, Collies who are friendly, Rotties who were magnificent and lovely, Retrievers whose personalities were hardly there compared to our boxers, and a Jack Russell, and one crossed with a Corgi, who were both ace. Also a Newfoundland who tried to mate with my teenage sister. Plus plenty of mixtures of course.
On one of many trips to the vet with our recent boxer I asked the head man if there was a breed which suffered less problems than others, he suggested Terriers since they are closer to what a dog used to be, not too "bred".
A current neighbours Collie will kill rabbits and rats but looks after ours and their chickens :) He has a lot living in his coat though!
I don't think I would have anything long haired, us soon moving to France means no Staffies because they're banned, so maybe a Boxer and a Jack Russell (or a Border Terrier?) next, with fences! :)
I wouldn't keep a family dog outside. Friends with kids had two German Shepherds as guard dogs who were chained up at their entrance during work hours and then family dogs outside that and they always put me on edge, not totally friendly.

I'll second retrievers, as I've had a number of them, preferably Goldens as they're a lot less hard headed than the Labs.

I've had four of them over the years.

Two of them were from breeders here in FL with shorter hair than the usual.

Many breeders are turning out medically/temperment/disposition defective dogs so beware and have a vet check them over.

Sadly, this goes for any breed that was/is popular and beware of puppy mills.

On the Goldens, defective hearts are a big one.
I had the honor of taking care of one Golden who had been ghosted/abandoned at the vet because of defective heart.
He was a big old sweetheart and died in my arms a year or two later when his heart gave out.

My current Golden/Lab cross is sixteen now and I'm nursing her along.

Dogs I've had I wouldn't have again and why:

Pit Bulls or Pit Bull crosses - Dangerous and unpredictable. Had to put down one of them for doing serious harm to the other dogs. 98% of the dogs in the shelters here are these.

Shepherds - Too much intensity for this phase of my life (old). I would have another if a security dog was needed, but much training must be invested or you'll have a dangerous dog you can't control..

Dalmatians - too smart and too mischievous/malicious.

I'm at the age (70s) where a new puppy would probably be a bad idea because I may be too old by the tie they're old to take good care of them...as in being to pick them up and carry them etc.

I would like to find an older Golden when my current girl passes but an interesting discovery about the Golden rescue outfits is their contract says they have the right to come on your property and "investigate" with out notice, forever.  Seems harmless on the face of it but that opens you up for that being abused. I've had personal experience with a few animal rescue folks I don't want at my home or anywhere near me....ever.

Dave Bross wrote:
Shepherds - Too much intensity for this phase of my life (old). I would have another if a security dog was needed, but much training must be invested or you'll have a dangerous dog you can't control..

I have to say, happy as i am with my shepherd boy now, it is just so much work and I don't think I would have one again.
He will be 3 next week and I finally feel like we've turned the corner with him (only since starting to send him to doggy daycare once a week a month and a half ago, when his anxiety ebbed a bit, along with his endless desire to fight with other dogs).  
It's been a long, hard training trip and while it's super cool to have this "military grade" dog that can do all sorts of crazy things on command (and as long as he is alive, I will never have to worry about personal safety), I did not understand how much my life was going to revolve around his needs, and how much money would be spent in such pursuits.
I regularly have people come up to me asking about getting a Malinois (so often they want one "to protect their family", which is such a disaster waiting to happen) and my answer is always no, no, 100 times no. Even if you have dog and/or training experience (I did), no. Even if he's part German shepherd (like mine is), no. As our vet tech said, it only takes a wee bit of this bloodline to be pure insane. Like Carla said, a working dog needs to work.
I love him, to be sure, but my next dog will certainly be a big old mutt from the pound.

Dave Bross wrote:
Pit Bulls or Pit Bull crosses - Dangerous and unpredictable. Had to put down one of them for doing serious harm to the other dogs. 98% of the dogs in the shelters here are these.

I didn't mention pitbulls because I knew this debate would start.  Pitbulls can definitely be dog aggressive sometimes.  That said, I raised them for many, many years, and in my experience they are one of the best breeds in the world.  Bad breeding and bad owners can make any breed "dangerous and unpredictable" but pitbulls are one of the best family dogs there are as far as I'm concerned.  I've had literally dozens in my life and never had one that was dangerous or unpredictable.  They are an extremely lovable breed that wants very much to spend all their time with their owners.  Just my experience, and the experience of every vet and dog trainer I have ever discussed this with.

I can’t say enough good things about maremmas as a rural family dog, as long as there are no close neighbours (they bark a lot), and there are chickens or other animals around for the maremma to watch, they are a really lovely, gentle, loyal, relaxed family dog.

If you live on a farm and want your dog to be with you while doing chores I highly recommend just about any herding breed.  They are homebodies.
My first farm dog was a German Shorthaired Pointer. What a mistake. Id turn my back and he would be gone hunting, what a hunting dog is bred to do!
Mistake was mine. I had had a GSP in the city and wanted another not considering my circumstances had changed.

My current dog is an Australian Cattle Dog/Pitbull mix. Absolutely a wonderful  dog.  Loves every human he sees, helps herd my cattle. Devoted family dog.

Jeff Marchand wrote:If you live on a farm and want your dog to be with you while doing chores I highly recommend just about any herding breed.  They are homebodies.
My first farm dog was a German Shorthaired Pointer. What a mistake. Id turn my back and he would be gone hunting, what a hunting dog is bred to do!
Mistake was mine. I had had a GSP in the city and wanted another not considering my circumstances had changed.

My current dog is an Australian Cattle Dog/Pitbull mix. Absolutely a wonderful  dog.  Loves every human he sees, helps herd my cattle. Devoted family dog.

We have a dog we foster-failed with.  He's getting close to a year old.  He is primarily German Shepherd and Australian Cattle Dog, and he is just as you described.  He is a great little guy, sticks around with you really well when working outside, comes running with a big grin on his face any time he is called, loves everyone.  Always wants to be with you.  He is just a great dog.  On a side note, Australian Cattle Dogs are widely considered one of the healthiest breeds of dog, and as near as I can tell, this guy is near bullet-proof.  Nothing fazes him.  Highly recommended if you want a little higher energy dog.

What is foster-failed?

My cattle dog is a healthy as bull and happy as a clam.  He is also so very smart.  I cant get over how many words of mine he understands.
Sometime I ask him if he like to go back to the rescue where I got him he just (seems to me ) smiles and shakes his head.

I looked for but never found anywhere to train him to herd. Its a shame he would have been an excellent herder.  He and I have worked out rudementary herding on our own..
If we see a cattle where it does nt belong, he looks up at me and I say 'go' and he puts the fear of dog into them.  

Australian cattle dogs are basically just mixed breed mutts anyways so that why I think they are so healthy.

He is the best dog I ever had .

Jeff Marchand wrote:What is foster-failed?
.

Foster- failed is when you foster a dog but then you fall in love with it so you end up keeping it instead of finding it a home