Portugese Water Dog, Wheaton Terrier or English Cocker Spaniel

[Anonymous]

Our family would like to buy a puppy and we are considering these breeds. We live in North Arlington and my kids are 12/9/6. Welcome any input on breeds, i.e. temperament, activity level, trainability,etc.

[Anonymous]

Is there a particular reason that you are looking at buying a dog? If you are set on a breed for a particular reason then it might be worth it but it doesn't sound like you have your heart set on a particular breed. We adopted a lab mix puppy from a local animal rescue group who we got very young and has no temperament issues. You can get young puppies from rescues. I would encourage you to look at the particular breed rescues if you are set on a particular breed. They often get purebred puppies.

My dog plays with a very sweet Wheaton Terrier and two Portugese Water Dogs at the dog park and these dogs all seem to be sweet, friendly and well adjusted.

[Anonymous]

Wheaton or a cockapoo. Sweetest, smart dogs!

[Anonymous]

Havanese

[Anonymous]

Love our Wheaton! Grooming can be costly but she never sheds and is hypoallergenic

[Anonymous]

Cocker spaniels are stupid. We always had them growing up because my parents loved them but they're dumb as rocks.

[Anonymous]

PWD, but they are pretty bouncy. Terriers are terrors for a reason, and no to cockers. They have way too many issues.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input. We had a yellow lab for 11 years who passed away. I want a non-shedder and my daughter wants a pure bred - therefore no labradoodles, etc. My husband would like a dog who retrieves, swims and is generally playful like our lab. Think English Cockers are supposed to be different than American.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the input. We had a yellow lab for 11 years who passed away. I want a non-shedder and my daughter wants a pure bred - therefore no labradoodles, etc. My husband would like a dog who retrieves, swims and is generally playful like our lab. Think English Cockers are supposed to be different than American.

You answered your own question. For a non shedder try a standard poodle or the Portugese. I met a Wheaton once -neighbor's dog. Very different from the Jack Russell's and Schnauzer terriers.

I am skeptical of labradoodles. All i met were skittish etc. I also never new of a high quality lab breeder that released pups for these breedings. I've spoken with numerous breeders recently. What breed you get might be determined by who has a puppy in your timeframe. I'm on waitlists.

[Anonymous]

I love cocker spaniels; however, I would never buy one from a breeder. They are notoriously over bred which leads them to have some of the worst traits of the breed more often. Better to go with a cocker mix if you decide to go that direction. Also, cockers have lots of grooming needs and the ear infections can drive you nuts!

[Anonymous]

We had a Wheaton terrier growing up who was crazy. In retrospect, she was probably from a puppy mill, but those were never talked about at that time. I've heard they can be great dogs- just do your research on the breeder!

[Anonymous]

PWD seems to fit your bill. Again, no to cocker spaniels! You could also consider a standard poodle though they are expensive if purebred. I have a friend with a labradoodle who is the sweetest thing ever. And she got it from animal rescue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a particular reason that you are looking at buying a dog? If you are set on a breed for a particular reason then it might be worth it but it doesn't sound like you have your heart set on a particular breed. We adopted a lab mix puppy from a local animal rescue group who we got very young and has no temperament issues. You can get young puppies from rescues. I would encourage you to look at the particular breed rescues if you are set on a particular breed. They often get purebred puppies.

My dog plays with a very sweet Wheaton Terrier and two Portugese Water Dogs at the dog park and these dogs all seem to be sweet, friendly and well adjusted.

Recently, Jeff deleted responses that were not responsive to the question posed. OP doesn't need to have the availability of rescues pointed out. People who chime in to posts like this with "get a dog from the pound" are not responsive and should have their responses deleted.

[Anonymous]

We have a Wheaton who is now 8. He's been great---gentle with the kids, super smart, very loyal, hypoallergenic (NO shedding!!). The only downside (aside from grooming because of the fact that he doesn't shed his hair) is that we've had a terrible time with allergies. We've spent a lot on allergists, alternative medicine vets, all kinds of limited ingredient food, etc. Even so we've never really gotten things in control and it just keeps getting worse as he ages.

Our Wheaton was born in Ireland and we don't know much about his family history. Perhaps his extreme allergies are unique to his bloodline.

[Anonymous]

I grew up with a Wheaton. Best dog ever!!!!! I still miss him.