Tweet
Around sixty years ago, when I was a little kid, our family got a dog for Christmas. My father brought him in after we were done opening presents. He was a Cocker Spaniel named Rowdy and was about a year old. He was already trained, so he was a fairly wall behaved dog. I had always liked that breed until I became more familiar with others of the breed and found that not all of them are nearly as friendly or well behaved. There is no way I would get a Cocker Spaniel.
When I was about to graduate from high school my dad got an English Springer Spaniel (named Ruffy). He was supposedly for my younger sister, but he was really my dad's dog. Reasonably smart, fairly easy to train (with a knowledgeable owner), and friendly to most people (but not all strangers). I always thought the Springer Spaniel was one of the best dog breeds. A natural pheasant hunter and a terror to neighborhood cats. One of my neighbors has one (not the English variety) which is the most friendly and loving dog I've ever met. I really like that dog.
Decades later, my son lived with a group of guys in college and one had a Border Collie. He liked that dog so much that he got one for himself (named Dexter). You can easily tell that this dog is smarter than the average dog. When he was younger you could play fetch with him and he would fetch the ball and return it right to your feet a hundred times and still be ready for more. Now that he's older, he'll do it a dozen times or so, then stop part way back to rest a bit. But if you tell him to bring it back to you he will - right away. And if he drops it a bit out of reach, you just point at your feet and he'll move the ball closer to you. But he sheds, and needs a lot of exercise. Like, he has to run several miles a day to be happy. He loves the outdoors and the snow.
One of my daughters has a Boston Terrier (named Molly). She's convinced that the Boston is the best breed. Very loving dog and good to keep indoors. But they don't like a lot of exercise and, with that super short nose, they sound like a pig when breathing hard. The Border Collie nose is probably twenty times longer than the Boston Terrier nose. Her dog is trained to go into her kennel when they've had enough of her running around the house.
Another daughter did a lot of research in trying to find the optimal family dog and settled on a Lagotto Romagnolo. This daughter loves all things Italian, having served a mission to Italy, and the Lagotto is an ancient Italian breed. Some people mistake the breed for a Labradoodle - supposedly the Poodle descended from the Lagotto. They don't shed, they're smart, love to dig in dirt or sand, and supposedly are fairly easy to train, but nobody in my daughter's family is very good at dog training. Because they didn't give the dog enough attention, they got a second one to keep it company. I haven't visited them since they have two dogs.
I like dogs, but I don't like taking care of dogs, especially cleaning up after them, so I don't expect to have a dog in my house in the future. But I still wonder which breed I would pick if I changed my mind.
Feel free to present evidence on whatever breed of dog you feel is the best one.
When I was about to graduate from high school my dad got an English Springer Spaniel (named Ruffy). He was supposedly for my younger sister, but he was really my dad's dog. Reasonably smart, fairly easy to train (with a knowledgeable owner), and friendly to most people (but not all strangers). I always thought the Springer Spaniel was one of the best dog breeds. A natural pheasant hunter and a terror to neighborhood cats. One of my neighbors has one (not the English variety) which is the most friendly and loving dog I've ever met. I really like that dog.
Decades later, my son lived with a group of guys in college and one had a Border Collie. He liked that dog so much that he got one for himself (named Dexter). You can easily tell that this dog is smarter than the average dog. When he was younger you could play fetch with him and he would fetch the ball and return it right to your feet a hundred times and still be ready for more. Now that he's older, he'll do it a dozen times or so, then stop part way back to rest a bit. But if you tell him to bring it back to you he will - right away. And if he drops it a bit out of reach, you just point at your feet and he'll move the ball closer to you. But he sheds, and needs a lot of exercise. Like, he has to run several miles a day to be happy. He loves the outdoors and the snow.
One of my daughters has a Boston Terrier (named Molly). She's convinced that the Boston is the best breed. Very loving dog and good to keep indoors. But they don't like a lot of exercise and, with that super short nose, they sound like a pig when breathing hard. The Border Collie nose is probably twenty times longer than the Boston Terrier nose. Her dog is trained to go into her kennel when they've had enough of her running around the house.
Another daughter did a lot of research in trying to find the optimal family dog and settled on a Lagotto Romagnolo. This daughter loves all things Italian, having served a mission to Italy, and the Lagotto is an ancient Italian breed. Some people mistake the breed for a Labradoodle - supposedly the Poodle descended from the Lagotto. They don't shed, they're smart, love to dig in dirt or sand, and supposedly are fairly easy to train, but nobody in my daughter's family is very good at dog training. Because they didn't give the dog enough attention, they got a second one to keep it company. I haven't visited them since they have two dogs.
I like dogs, but I don't like taking care of dogs, especially cleaning up after them, so I don't expect to have a dog in my house in the future. But I still wonder which breed I would pick if I changed my mind.
Feel free to present evidence on whatever breed of dog you feel is the best one.
Comment