Dog suggestions

Hmm, you know now that the above poster has mentioned Greyhounds, I’d like to suggest Whippets, which are basically small greyhounds. They’ll get about 30lbs or so, and maybe 15-18 inches height wise if memory serves correctly (maybe a bit taller). My co-worker has one, and its just a mellow low-energy dog and is perfect for them. They don’t have children, but I think they are supposedly good with children.

Whippet or a Staffordshire bull terrier? Both are “working class” versions of bigger dogs, and over time were bred for both utility and family friendliness (because dog would live with family, rather than being pure working dog)

Note though that american pit bulls (which look similar to staffies) have had aggression bred back in, ISTR.

Staffordshires can be very friendly, but they need to be socialized properly as puppies, both with other dogs and children. Past that, they are good family animals. They are definitely the friendliest and nicest and sweetest of the pit bull breeds, but they do require a little work as puppies getting them properly socialized and trained at a young age.

My girlfriend and I almost adopted an American Staffordshire dog this last week. It was the sweetest puppy I’ve ever met. The only reason we didn’t get him is that the foster parent got too attached and she wanted to keep the little guy.

I had a husky as a kid, and she was awesome.

However, for the OP, I’d recommend looking into a Brittany Spaniel. They are amazing dogs.

Brittany? Again, sweet, nice, good with children, great for families, but they will definitely require their hour+ of exercise a day. Some of the most spastic dogs I’ve met were Brittanies.

Greyhounds and whippets are also good suggestions.

But you should totally get a standard poodle.

If you have a yard, a Brittany will exercise itself.

But yes, for the first couple of years, they are hyper dogs. Aren’t all dogs hyper during their first few years of life, generally?

That’s kinda why I like the English Springer Spaniel over a Brittany. They are a bit more mellow than Brittanies, and don’t need as much of a yard. They’re still active dogs and need walking though.

All dogs will be their most hyper in their first 2 to 3 years, but even still some breeds are notoriously more hyper than others. Labs, most Terriers, Brittanies, herding dogs and a few others are generally more hyper than other breeds at the same age. Also, there is certainly room for variation between individual dogs, but certain breeds tend to be more hyper than others.

Glad I could help! And damn, that is a cute dog. Looking into its little puppy eyes really makes me want to get another one…

We just adopted a 4-year-old Border Collie mix at the local shelter. He was uncharacteristically low key at the shelter. After about 2 weeks with us, he started to come out of his shell, wanting to meet and play with other dogs, but confused as to how to play appropriately. We had registered him for Basic Obedience and had contacted a private trainer, but those weren’t to begin until the 3rd weekend we had him.

Training was very good, but we discovered a couple of things. First, the low key part of him was due to his previous owner punishing him for pretty much everything. He wouldn’t even play with toys until our cat showed him how, and as a result he loves the cat’s toys. Our private trainer tells us we need to work with him to get him to play, since play is one way to reward him. This particular trainer works with problem dogs, and has rehabbed dogs for Dog Town.

Second, we discovered that the training exhausts the dog. He has to figure out exactly when he gets things right. We’re still working on our markers with him to tell him when he’s perfect. At that time, we are to say, “YES” and treat him. Right now, it’s with food, but we’ll go away from always using food to other types of rewards. At any rate, after an hour training session at the trainer’s, the dog is more exhausted than he is after an hour’s walk in the park.

The other interesting thing, and this is more germane to the original question on what kind of dog, is that our private trainer tells us that if you want a dog that doesn’t have a tendency to become aggressive, go for a dog from a championship show breed. They’re often bred for temperament, among other things. Working dogs are bred for their ability to work well, and that means that they’re all ambitious dogs.

Even if you do get a more gentle show dog, you’ll need to have it properly trained. The private trainer recommends starting at 12 weeks.

Best of luck!

What an asshole. I’m so glad he has a good home now.

Second, we discovered that the training exhausts the dog. He has to figure out exactly when he gets things right. We’re still working on our markers with him to tell him when he’s perfect. At that time, we are to say, “YES” and treat him. Right now, it’s with food, but we’ll go away from always using food to other types of rewards. At any rate, after an hour training session at the trainer’s, the dog is more exhausted than he is after an hour’s walk in the park.

Our dogs were the exact same way. Mental work is hard! (And satisfying)

If you find yourself doing this, please give the dog to a rescue organization or SPCA.

A beagle-mix from the local shelter will satisfy just about every point on the OP’s list. They’ll be the right size, intelligence and temperment and low-key enough that they won’t require constant exercise to keep from being destructive. Most reputable shelters will be able to tell you if a dog has issues that would make it unsuitable for kids, but most beagles love kids and will happily play for an hour then plop down on the porch or patio to snooze for the rest of the day. Sometimes they can be noisy barkers (they’e hounds after all), but that’s trainable behaviour. Beagles are also smart, loyal and easily trainable.

My last two dogs have been labrador retrievers, which fit most of the OP’s needs but are probably too large and too energetic to fit into the household described. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a “low-key” lab that prefers to snooze the day away, but most will require some sort of mental and physical stimulation daily or they run the risk of becoming destructive (they love to chew). My kids tend to wear out my lab most days, but in the wintertime or on a day when we’re away from home for a long period of time he can get a little stir-crazy. Also, labs have serious “puppy-brain” until they are 3 or 4 years old, and that can frustrate some owners.

Get a golden doodle!

http://www.goldendoodles.com/faqs/goldendoodle_faq.htm

That’s an ingenious mix.

Another vote for a Cairn. When I was a kid, I taught my parents’ Cairn to fetch his leash and bring it back to me when I said “Go get your leash”. It was adorable because the treat was a walk, so he’d get excited and sometimes would start to play with the leash when he brought it back. He never forgot the command into his old age.

It’s a trap!

Cairn terriers are pretty damned cute:

Golden boxer or boxer cross lab might be just the ticket. Short hair, laid back, they do drool a bit after meals, don’t get much over ~50 lbs.

Personally I like mals (grown kids)/samoyeds (little kids) if you have the yard for one but they’re pretty high maintenance.