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Sorry this is so long 
So me and my partner are *considering* adding a third pup to our family, but probably not until next summer at the earliest. It’s okay to start thinking / possibly planning early right?!
Background:
We have two dogs, both rescues. Kasper is a 5 year old BC x ESS, Zoey is an almost 3 year old SBT. Kasper RG toys (and to some extent food) from other dogs, so we only play with toys one-on-one. He doesn't do more than growl, and I don't have a problem with that...if I drop food, they are fine (trained to leave it) and I can release Zoey to get it and Kasper will wait. Likewise if one finds a toy, there's no issues either.
We have a small fenced garden. The dogs get 1 - 2 hours walking a day, separately, on a longline as we are surrounded by fields with livestock. We recently discovered a secure field you can rent where the dogs can run off lead, work on training etc which we plan on doing once every 2 weeks. Kasper and Zoey love training, they know most the basics and lots of ‘fun’ tricks, and altogether know 30+ cues each. They get several daily training sessions and play. Both our dogs are crated when we are out, and aren’t left alone longer than 5 hours a day (although Zoey sleeps in her crate overnight too).
What we want from a next dog:
We want a dog that isn’t too active in the house and can chill, but is able to go on (and enjoy) substantial sized walks. Dogs that can cope with UK weather, including warm days (would prefer no brachy breeds). A dog that is small enough to be easily taken on public transport and car journeys (eg. lap-size). Not an independant dog.
- Size: small dog. I really want a tiny breed, but realistically a very small dog (especially a puppy) would probably be too delicate for our household. So either a sturdy small breed, or a light small-medium breed. We’re not reeeally wanting to go above 10kg
Exercise: Not too high energy, but enjoys walks, exploring and running. Our ideal would be to give the dog about an hour of walking a day, with additional training and play.
Grooming: Would prefer no longhaired breeds, but we don’t mind regular (including daily) grooming. Low shedding would be nice, but not necessary.
Health: A breed with no major health concerns would be brilliant.
Extra things to mention:
- Kasper and Zoey love to rough ‘n’ tumble, so ideally a dog who could enjoy this play if they wanted to once they were full-size would be good.
- We want a pretty easygoing breed...not madly energetic, a breed that is known to be fairly docile and friendly would be awesome - I know socialisation is extremely important and dogs of the same breed vary immensely, but in general
- We aren’t keen on very vocal breeds. I know this is hard to predict (Kasper is a barker, Zoey the Staffy never barks!) but a less vocal breed would be preferred!
- We do have other pets and often foster hamsters / mice. However prey drive isn’t too much of a worry as we keep our pets in secure cages, in different rooms, and our dogs are crated when we handle them...Kasper has high prey drive so we’ve just gotten used to this
Breeds we love:
Chihuahua; I love Chi’s Unfortunately I think they are way too small to live happily with Kasp and Zo.
Papillon; I love so much about Papillons...their size, the way they look, their energy. But I think they are too delicate for us, and I’d worry about finding a good breeder.
Whippet; on the larger end, but we have always loved the breed. I worry that they are a bit fragile (?), although Kasper used to run and wrestle with two Whippets and they all had a great time. Not sure if a Whippet is a bit too big for what we want though? I like that Whippets are usually couch potatoes but also love exercise, although a Whippet rescue’s site did say they need free-running in a large secure area daily - thoughts?
Toy Poodle; is a Toy too small, too delicate?
Miniature Poodle; what size is a Miniature Poodle (I’ve read a lot of variants!) what’s a similar breed size-wise so I can compare? I like the sound of Poodles, their intelligence and ‘fun’, but I’ve never really met any in person.
Bedlington; we’ve met a few Beddies and they seem awesome! From what I’ve read they’re on the calmer end of the Terriers, but they are active and adorable
We are currently mainly researching Whippets, Bedlingtons and Poodles of varying sizes.
Ideally we want to buy a puppy from a good breeder - but how do I find one? What do I search for in order to find a breeder, do they have websites? (We’re in the UK) At the moment I just want to find some breeders so I can quiz them about if their breed would suit us, and possibly meet some dogs of the breeds I like so I can get used to size, energy etc.
We think we want a puppy ideally, but could possibly stretch to 10 - 12 months for the right dog. Although we would like a breeder pup, rescue dogs will also be considered. We are involved with one of the rescues (there are two nearby) and they very very rarely have puppies in, and the pups they have are usually larger bully mixes. In the six years I have known the rescue the only small breeds they reliably have are JRT; I have seen a handful of other little dogs in that time (Shih’s, a Westie, a few Chi crosses and two sibling Pug x Collies).
I love mixed breeds but really we would like a breeder pup so that we can make sure the parents are health tested, meet the mum etc and so that we can do the socialisation from scratch.
We have a lot of things to think about, consider and research. None of this is definite, we could very much just decide to keep Kasper and Zoey as our only dogs...but this is fun so fire away! Any other breed ideas to throw at us?
So me and my partner are *considering* adding a third pup to our family, but probably not until next summer at the earliest. It’s okay to start thinking / possibly planning early right?!
Background:
We have two dogs, both rescues. Kasper is a 5 year old BC x ESS, Zoey is an almost 3 year old SBT. Kasper RG toys (and to some extent food) from other dogs, so we only play with toys one-on-one. He doesn't do more than growl, and I don't have a problem with that...if I drop food, they are fine (trained to leave it) and I can release Zoey to get it and Kasper will wait. Likewise if one finds a toy, there's no issues either.
We have a small fenced garden. The dogs get 1 - 2 hours walking a day, separately, on a longline as we are surrounded by fields with livestock. We recently discovered a secure field you can rent where the dogs can run off lead, work on training etc which we plan on doing once every 2 weeks. Kasper and Zoey love training, they know most the basics and lots of ‘fun’ tricks, and altogether know 30+ cues each. They get several daily training sessions and play. Both our dogs are crated when we are out, and aren’t left alone longer than 5 hours a day (although Zoey sleeps in her crate overnight too).
What we want from a next dog:
We want a dog that isn’t too active in the house and can chill, but is able to go on (and enjoy) substantial sized walks. Dogs that can cope with UK weather, including warm days (would prefer no brachy breeds). A dog that is small enough to be easily taken on public transport and car journeys (eg. lap-size). Not an independant dog.
- Size: small dog. I really want a tiny breed, but realistically a very small dog (especially a puppy) would probably be too delicate for our household. So either a sturdy small breed, or a light small-medium breed. We’re not reeeally wanting to go above 10kg
Exercise: Not too high energy, but enjoys walks, exploring and running. Our ideal would be to give the dog about an hour of walking a day, with additional training and play.
Grooming: Would prefer no longhaired breeds, but we don’t mind regular (including daily) grooming. Low shedding would be nice, but not necessary.
Health: A breed with no major health concerns would be brilliant.
Extra things to mention:
- Kasper and Zoey love to rough ‘n’ tumble, so ideally a dog who could enjoy this play if they wanted to once they were full-size would be good.
- We want a pretty easygoing breed...not madly energetic, a breed that is known to be fairly docile and friendly would be awesome - I know socialisation is extremely important and dogs of the same breed vary immensely, but in general
- We aren’t keen on very vocal breeds. I know this is hard to predict (Kasper is a barker, Zoey the Staffy never barks!) but a less vocal breed would be preferred!
- We do have other pets and often foster hamsters / mice. However prey drive isn’t too much of a worry as we keep our pets in secure cages, in different rooms, and our dogs are crated when we handle them...Kasper has high prey drive so we’ve just gotten used to this
Breeds we love:
Chihuahua; I love Chi’s
Unfortunately I think they are way too small to live happily with Kasp and Zo.Papillon; I love so much about Papillons...their size, the way they look, their energy. But I think they are too delicate for us, and I’d worry about finding a good breeder.
Whippet; on the larger end, but we have always loved the breed. I worry that they are a bit fragile (?), although Kasper used to run and wrestle with two Whippets and they all had a great time. Not sure if a Whippet is a bit too big for what we want though? I like that Whippets are usually couch potatoes but also love exercise, although a Whippet rescue’s site did say they need free-running in a large secure area daily - thoughts?
Toy Poodle; is a Toy too small, too delicate?
Miniature Poodle; what size is a Miniature Poodle (I’ve read a lot of variants!) what’s a similar breed size-wise so I can compare? I like the sound of Poodles, their intelligence and ‘fun’, but I’ve never really met any in person.
Bedlington; we’ve met a few Beddies and they seem awesome! From what I’ve read they’re on the calmer end of the Terriers, but they are active and adorable
We are currently mainly researching Whippets, Bedlingtons and Poodles of varying sizes.
Ideally we want to buy a puppy from a good breeder - but how do I find one? What do I search for in order to find a breeder, do they have websites? (We’re in the UK) At the moment I just want to find some breeders so I can quiz them about if their breed would suit us, and possibly meet some dogs of the breeds I like so I can get used to size, energy etc.
We think we want a puppy ideally, but could possibly stretch to 10 - 12 months for the right dog. Although we would like a breeder pup, rescue dogs will also be considered. We are involved with one of the rescues (there are two nearby) and they very very rarely have puppies in, and the pups they have are usually larger bully mixes. In the six years I have known the rescue the only small breeds they reliably have are JRT; I have seen a handful of other little dogs in that time (Shih’s, a Westie, a few Chi crosses and two sibling Pug x Collies).
I love mixed breeds but really we would like a breeder pup so that we can make sure the parents are health tested, meet the mum etc and so that we can do the socialisation from scratch.
We have a lot of things to think about, consider and research. None of this is definite, we could very much just decide to keep Kasper and Zoey as our only dogs...but this is fun so fire away! Any other breed ideas to throw at us?
