Suggested Dog Breed Ideas

I'm biased, but a well-bred Boston Terrier is a surprisingly sturdy little dog who can keep up with just about anything you might want to do. The only down side is if you live somewhere extremely hot or extremely cold then you will need to either limit outdoor activity when it's hot and invest in some sort of dog-coat for the cold. They can also be very sensitive to tone of voice and your anxiety/stress levels.

My Boston has lots of energy and he's hardly a couch potato. He's friendly and has quite literally never met a stranger, but if you're planning on spending a lot of time around children, you'll need to cut off the jumping up on people pretty quick. I love that he doesn't bark in my apartment. He's also extremely smart and catches on to training quite quickly. I raised Merlin in a sixth floor apartment and it went surprisingly well, I just rigged up a place for him to go out on my balcony. As long as your consistent, potty training shouldn't be too difficult with a Boston. Oh, and he's around twenty pounds so not very big, but very strong for a dog his size.

Anyway, just something to consider.

I third a lab-cross shelter pup, but if you're really dead set against adopting then here are the breeds I would recommend:


- Britanny: white and brown coat, but with regular grooming of 5-10 min brush a day the shedding is very manageable. Higher energy and active dog, loves to please the owner, medium build and sized (about 35 lbs full grown)
- Viszla: Short brown coat, doesn't shed a whole lot. Smaller build then a lab, VERY attached to owner. Very active and energetic but frequently lazy around the house (if exercised properly).
- Irish Terrier: This is a terrier breed, so will be quite a different personality to a lab. However they are medium sized, don't shed much, active outside but usually quiet inside.

Honestly, the apartment living really isn't the concern if you can give the proper exercise needed each day. I have a border collie cross in my apartment right now (about 1,000 sq. ft) with no yard. She's only about 40 pounds but height wise is the size of a lab (she's just really lean). She's SUPER high energy and requires a minimum of 1.5 hours off-leash walking a day. If she gets that, and a short training/mental session (20 min or so) then she's happy to kick back and relax the rest of the day.

American Labs are typically smaller in size to their English Lab counterparts, but require much more activity levels. The three breeds I suggested are actually going to require as much activity as a lab -- possibly more so (the Viszla is more active then a lab). So if you thinkyou can meet a lab's exercise requirements and it's only the apartment living that worries you....then just go for the lab. Give it proper exercise and mental stimulation in a constructive way, and the square footage of your apartment REALLY doesn't matter any more.

For all these retriever & spaniel/pointer bred dogs though, they need off-leash exercise each day to get their physical needs met. A 1 hour leashed walk is going to be pointless to them. So if you can meet that need, go for a labrador!

If you can only do leashed walks during the week and want a hiking/outdoors companion only on the weekends...none of these breeds are for you.

So we'd need more information on the time commitment you can give them.

one last thing -- Corgi's shed like nobody's business. If you don't want a lot of hair.....DON"T DO A CORGI!

Basset Hound/Labrador Retriever Mixes are one of my favorite crosses of Labs

Beagle/Labrador Retriever Mix might be another good cross