I will always have pointy brown dogs (or pointy brindle dogs, but Indy is going to live forever anyway) in my life. I started out with GSDs, and not to knock the breed at ALL, they are incredible dogs, but the I'm with CorgiPower in that OMG I love the "instant, no thinking about the command" response I'm getting from Harrison. Indy is much more methodical than he is, but how much of that is her early upbringing (kennel, all force training) how much of that is what I've done with her, and how much of that is genetics is up in the air. I LOVED the Dutch pup I fostered, so I can see myself with another Dutch for sure. Right now, two herder beasts of my own is perfect. They're both willing to disengage from their playtime together to be with me, they drop each other like a hot potato if it means I'm going to be working with them.
I also love having a lazy couch dog (Enzo, though she's eight, so a young lab isn't in the cards, but maybe one day again I'll have time, or I'll adopt an older Lab, one that actually fetches
)
I like having a variety of dogs in the house, but I like the Mal/Dutch combo as far as personal, MY dogs. I want to do a lot of stuff with both of them, and they're game to try absolutely anything. It's awesome.
I like Koolies, but I don't think I could own one because of the barkscreaming/general noisiness. None of my dogs are noisy, and Ozzy's constant "OMG INTRUDER ALERT!!!!" is annoying, so it's safe to say I will be avoiding dogs/lines known for being loud.
Harrison barks when he needs to. Indy hardly ever barks. I prefer that to Ozzy's "I love the sound of my own voice"
I might like a Terv, but a fluffy Mal would suffice. I'm not a fan of the long coated black Belgians, but I could see myself with a longer coated Mal or a longcoated Dutch. Even a Black Mal, though I do like the dark fawn like Harry or Onyx. The Super rich Mahogany with a black overlay and a fluffy coat, but not long coated, LOVE.
I like GSDs, and would take one on as a train and sell dog, but after the snappiness of response from Indy and Harrison, it would have to be a special GSD. I did spend ten+ years in the breed, and only one dog came close to that, and he's now a patrol K9. I'm extremely proud of him, I did every single bit of his foundation, drive building, protection foundation, scent detection foundation work, and now he's out there making busts and keeping his handler safe. He wasn't "correct" for a GSD at only 65 pounds, and really he was a Malinois masquerading as a GSD. Everyone loves him on their team as well. Social, Stable, but Suspicious.
That's what I look for. Sociability, Stability, but Suspicion. Most, if not all of that comes through breeding and early work as a baby.
I do want to have a 100mph couch potato as well, preferably a Borzoi. I like Greys, but I like the coat and presence a Borzoi has. And I'd also like to possibly have a LGD whenever I fall into money and can purchase and run a horse farm. What sort of LGD probably depends, but I'm a HUGE fan of Central Asian Shepherds.
And I would possibly also like a tiny lap dog, like, 15lbs or so. Probably a mutt from a shelter, because I literally have no breeds in mind for that. And that's a long way away, because I want that when I'm older, and can exercise the dog by taking a long walk, instead of an hour of brain work, an hour of physical exercise in the morning, and then rinse, repeat.
I'll leave you with my favorite quote about GSDs vs Malinois.
"If you have a GSD, and you throw his ball off a cliff, he's going to look and look for a way down to get that ball, and then look and look for a way to get back up to bring it to you. If you throw a Malinois ball off a cliff, you have a dead Malinois."
