Best breed for me?

Breed specific discussion of your favorite breed.

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bird103
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 11:44 am

Best breed for me?

Post by bird103 »

Hello,

My fiance and I currently live in an apartment with our 2 year old shih tzu. Hopefully we will be able to move into another apartment/townhouse with more green space next year. We live very close to parks and are very active people. We are looking for a dog with the following requirements. If anybody has any advice pls let me know. Right now we are considering adoption from a breeder and/or a rescue organization. We love the Vizsla breed but are having a hard time finding a puppy in any rescue organization.

*Short/smooth coat with low maintenance
*Gentle with small dogs/kids
*Loyal, trustworthy, social, trainable
*I would like to do a lot of training, possibly agility
*I would like a jogging/hiking partner but calmness inside the house
*Not a lot of shedding, drool, odor

Some things I am concerned about the Vizsla breed is their sensitivity and high energy. The point of getting a Vizsla is so that we can be more active with him but I have heard some horror stories about how active they really are. We are both social people and need a dog that we can go everywhere with us without getting too excitable/tense with environmental changes. My shih tzu is very sensitive and very independent - 2 characteristics we would like to stay away from.


Thank you!!
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: Best breed for me?

Post by Nettle »

Hi and welcome - and kudos to you for giving this so much thought.

Vislas are incredibly sensitive and very very high-energy - not the dog for you at this time.

Your unspoken consideration is - a dog that will get on with your shih tzu. So you need something pretty mellow and tolerant.

I'd suggest a whippet. They are sensitive, but not unpleasantly so. They'll take as much exercise as you can give. The coat is low-maintenance, they are calm once through adolescence, don't smell or drool, and are smart. They do feel the cold, and need the softest most draught-free beds you can manage.

They have a terrific chase instinct and prey drive which you will need to understand, and work with to provide acceptable outlets.
bird103 wrote:Loyal, trustworthy, social, trainable

Not quite sure what you want here. The first two are weasel words - what do you expect when you say loyal and trustworthy?

Social - again, what do you expect? They are not dogs that like everybody the moment they meet them. If this is what you want, a different breed would suit you better. Trainable? Very much so, but with the caveat that they won't do pointless repetitive exercises. So if you want an 'Obedience' dog - they are not for you. But if you want an 'obedient' dog - yes, perfectly possible.

Otherwise, that's the closest match I think you'll get that will also be nice with your existing dog.

Others will be along with more suggestions I am sure.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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bird103
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 11:44 am

Re: Best breed for me?

Post by bird103 »

Thank you for your response!

As far as loyal, trustworthy, social, and trainable - My fiance and I are very happy go-lucky people who like to be social and physically active. I guess the words I used were somewhat vague but we are really looking for a well-adjusted 'obedient' dog that is content being around a lot of friends and family (including small children and small dogs). We are not looking for any protection, just love and attentiveness. I understand that training helps a lot in this situation. One other breed that we were looking at was a Boxer but I don't want to worry about a 'protective' dog when we are around other people and dogs.

As far as sensitivity and high energy. Between myself and my family we have 5 shih tzus that are all sensitive on some sort of level. I can handle sensitive but I don't necessarily want to have a dog that is skiddish and timid (i.e. is fearful on walks from noisy traffic). I lived with a Boxer for 1 year and I understand hyper but then again he wasn't exercised the way that he should have been. I am concerned as to what would happen if it was a rainy day or had to run errands during the day. (I work from home) What would a daily routine look like for someone with a Vizsla (with or without a backyard)?

Thanks!!
Anatine
Posts: 92
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2013 7:55 pm
Location: Devon, UK

Re: Best breed for me?

Post by Anatine »

Not exactly what you're looking for, but maybe look at Miniture Poodles.
They are very active and also highly intellegent, so trainable.
The only thing would be that the coat would not be low maintenance and require clipping every month or so.

I would also recommend if/when you bring a new dog into your family, aim for it to be the opposite gender of your current dog, they are more likely to get along this way :)
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