What type of dog to get?

[Anonymous]

We lost our dog over the summer (English Bulldog) and are ready to start looking for a new puppy.

At first we thought we wanted to rescue from a local shelter but we are nervous due to the recent attacks of pit bull dogs on young children and not knowing exactly what type of dog you are getting from a rescue. We have 3 young kids (2, 6 and 7.5 year old) and are leery of getting any type of pit bull mix.

If we decided to buy a dog from a breeder instead of adopt what types of dogs would be your top pick for a family with young kids? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

We LOVE our Cavalier King Charles spaniel

[Anonymous]

How big of a dog do you want? I love CKCs also but might not be the best choice for a two-year-old because they are small and fairly fragile puppies.

[Anonymous]

Oldie but a goodie: Our 2 Goldens are wonderful with kids. They don't have any of these "triggers" people seem to cite as kids behaving poorly with dogs (touching their food. hugging them, pulling a tail, etc.) They just go with the flow and are happy to be around people and getting attention.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you so much for replying! We are leaning towards Goldens as well. Any recommendation on a reputable breeder in the DMV area?

We would like a mid to large size dog. Our English Bulldog was 65 pounds when healthy, but we want a dog that can be more active with our family now.

[Anonymous]

I've posted about this before, but please do your due diligence finding a breeder. There are many lovely websites out there that mask non-ethical breeding operations, which are in effect, just puppy mills.

Responsible breeders specialize in just one breed. They want to preserve the health of their breed of choice and therefore run genetic testing on all their breeding stock and avoid breeding from dogs with known inheritable diseases. By stock, I mean very few dogs, since they have them in their own home, so each dog can have proper human socialization. No kennels. They want to meet potential owners because they don't want their puppies going to just any weirdo. If a dog breeder refuses to meet you and show you the litter, they're not ethical. They would never ship puppies - shipping a puppy by itself is traumatic for them. Unless you're willing to fly, this limits the distance to the breeder.

Finally, responsible breeders are few and far between and therefore usually have a waiting list. Getting the right dog takes patience, it's not an off-the-shelf purchase.

[Anonymous]

Look at petfinder.com. You can choose age/breed/gender etc. most of the dogs are in foster homes so they know whether good with kids etc. You have more choices than just pitbull from a shelter or a breeder.

[Anonymous]

We just went through the same thing and settled on a lab. He’s sweet. The AKC marketplace has breeders. Expand your search because just like everything else about DC, you pay a premium for being here. Our little dude is from PA.

[Anonymous]

I am a Corgi person. Best dogs ever!

[Anonymous]

Tolerant and at least medium size is what you should be looking for, not fashionable, but most basset hounds are good family dogs.

[Anonymous]

German Shepherd Dog, GSD for short. Best looking dogs ever and loyal.

[Anonymous]

We only get dogs that have hair rather than fur and VERY minimally shed. We like Westies, Cockapoos as well as Goldendoodles. Westies are especially great with kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:German Shepherd Dog, GSD for short. Best looking dogs ever and loyal.

Extremely debatable. Breed standards have wrecked those poor animals, but coming from a bulldog OP might not mind.

[Anonymous]

Lab or Golden

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tolerant and at least medium size is what you should be looking for, not fashionable, but most basset hounds are good family dogs.

OP here - this intrigues me! I love basset hounds! Any recommendation on a good breeder?