Hi there! (My first post!!) Excited to talk dog breeds!
I'm looking for a larger dog breed for my family of five. My husband and I, our kids (5 and 9) and our Birman cat Truffle. We are moving from a dense suburban area to a rural agricultural area in July where we will be living on 3 acres. I'm looking for a larger dog that will be an indoor dog: a pet for my kids (play fetch and wrestle with my son and cuddle with my daughter) and also a companion for me and on occasional watchdog for the family. Also one that will be ok with my laid back cat. Eventually we'd like to get some sheep (for lawn mowing purposes) and our neighbor uses our place to graze her sheep. Besides basic obedience, I'm interested teaching the dog to do some carting so the dog can help me with yard work.
I've done a lot of research and there are lots of breeds I like (Barbet, Old English Shepherd, English Setter, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog) but I've crossed them off for various reasons, too expensive (over $2k for a puppy), not easily house trained (the GSMD) or hard to find puppies in Northern California where I live (Barbet, OES and ES).
I found a lovely German Shepherd breeder and visited her and her dogs and am leaning towards getting a long haired GSD from her, probably a white one. Then I also came across the Samoyed, but there are not very many Samoyed breeders in California so I would have to have it shipped or fly to pick up the puppy, which is not ideal. I would like to be able to meet the parents beforehand and get a dog more locally.
Stick with the GSD or look into a Samoyed? Any other breeds to consider? Thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
I'm looking for a larger dog breed for my family of five. My husband and I, our kids (5 and 9) and our Birman cat Truffle. We are moving from a dense suburban area to a rural agricultural area in July where we will be living on 3 acres. I'm looking for a larger dog that will be an indoor dog: a pet for my kids (play fetch and wrestle with my son and cuddle with my daughter) and also a companion for me and on occasional watchdog for the family. Also one that will be ok with my laid back cat. Eventually we'd like to get some sheep (for lawn mowing purposes) and our neighbor uses our place to graze her sheep. Besides basic obedience, I'm interested teaching the dog to do some carting so the dog can help me with yard work.
I've done a lot of research and there are lots of breeds I like (Barbet, Old English Shepherd, English Setter, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog) but I've crossed them off for various reasons, too expensive (over $2k for a puppy), not easily house trained (the GSMD) or hard to find puppies in Northern California where I live (Barbet, OES and ES).
I found a lovely German Shepherd breeder and visited her and her dogs and am leaning towards getting a long haired GSD from her, probably a white one. Then I also came across the Samoyed, but there are not very many Samoyed breeders in California so I would have to have it shipped or fly to pick up the puppy, which is not ideal. I would like to be able to meet the parents beforehand and get a dog more locally.
Stick with the GSD or look into a Samoyed? Any other breeds to consider? Thoughts?
Thanks in advance!