Recommend A Breed

[HayleyMarie]

Have you looked into the Bouvier De Flanders at all?

They might be somthing to look into.

My personal experiance has always been a positive one with the breed.


- Medium to Large sized (between 40 - 120 lbs)

They can range from 80-100lbs give or take. My females have always been 80 lbs and our late male was about 110 lb, but he was huge

- High drive, but with the ability to easily settle. I do not want a dog with nervous energy or a dog that is constantly "GO GO GO". I need a dog that can quickly switch off, content to lie on the couch when it is hailing outside, or when I am sick.

They are very easy to settle. Ok to just lay around and cuddle on the couch with you. Emme my present Bouve is not a nervouse dog but not a hard dog. She is more in the middle. Very Biddable.

She is also high energy and likes jobs to do. She goes hunting all day on the farm. And she thinks its her job to protect her yard from the coyotes and other unwelcome animals.

She is only a year old so she still has alot of maturing to do


- I appreciate a dog that makes me laugh, but overall I prefer serious dogs. I am not a big fan of "bouncy", perpetually goofy dogs. Emphasis on "perpetually", I like a dog that can be silly, just do not want it 24/7.

Emme can be bouncy at times. She loves to play and chase you around and chase her around, but she in no way a lab type of bouncy. She settles down quite easily. My late female Bouve was very seriouse and took her job of protecting the farm and her childern very seriouse.

But again Emme still has a little while to mature and grow

- I can deal with a relatively vocal dog, but one that can be easily trained to be quiet. Barking when people knock on the door, vocalizing to demand rewards, etc. is not a problem, but my neighbors used to own a Sheltie and that was too much for me.


Bouves seem to be very guardy. My bouves have never been barky, only when there is coyotes barking or someone drove into the yard. We also train the dogs to bark at the door when they want inside instead of scratching at it.

- Low maintenance coat. I can deal with any amount of shedding, but would rather not have to take a dog to the groomer's regularly (bathe and brush the dog at home and be done with it).

Bouves dont shed very much, its not noticeable at all. The coat can grow curly and you would have to devote daily brushing to keep the matts out. We just cut our dogs short. Kinnda like a schnauzer cut in the summer and let it grow out in the winter. Wash, rinse repeat.
- I cannot deal with excessive slobber. German Shepherd slobber is more than enough.

- I need the dog to be okay with children and cats.

In my experiance my dogs have been awesome with children. Loved them and worshiped them.

- Handler/owner oriented, I do not want a dog that believes every person with a treat is his/her new best friend.
Emme loves alot of people and is friendly towards them, but my past Bouves pretty much ignored strangers.

But They all have been very very handler orientated. Very focused on you. Emme learns very fast and listens very well. She is always focused on you.

- Fairly biddable ("eager to please").

Pretty much explains the Bouver

- I am okay with dealing with same sex aggression and a dog that does not do well at the dog park.

Bouves can be SSA or DA. That is what we are dealing with right now with Emme. She is great with my dog, but strange dogs are there to kill. But she is coming along nicely since her handler focus is so good. Its easy to snap her out of wanting to eat other dogs lol

 

[*blackrose]

How cool would it be to have a German Shepherd and an English Shepherd? lol!

Or you can be like my brother and his roommate and have a mix from both! I didn't know there were any English Shepherds around here, but apparently someone on a farm somewhere has one, because Jake and his roommate have two GSD/English Shepherd pups. They are freaking adorable, perfectly sized (45 pounds wet), and super smart and well behaved.
So if you happen to stumble across someone handing out pups for free like my brother's roommate did, it turned out well for them. lol

 

[Sit Stay]

You and Quinn really have me in love with these dogs. I met my first English Shepherd a few weeks ago, actually! Didn't get to stop and chat for too long, but I just loved the dog, his markings were very similar to Quinn's. I will have to make a trip up to the breeder you mentioned this summer!

That is so awesome! They're definitely less rare in the States in seems - I've seen one single dog on the street so far that's looked like it could be an ES (didn't get a chance to stop and ask, so it might have even just been a BC cross), and it looked so uncannily like Quinn's granddam I figured it was probably a kid of hers. We only have the one breeder in the province - Quinn's.

You'll definitely have to let me know if you go visit Mary! I wonder if it was one of her puppies that you saw. I messaged her a couple weeks ago asking if she was planning on attending the meet up I'm going to but she said her son's HS graduation was that weekend so she wasn't going to be able to make it. I really wanted to meet her and hopefully one or two of her dogs - especially Honey or Tupelo. Like I said in a PM, watching Honey on youtube was what really made me go "OK, I NEED a dog like this!". If you go visit her you'll have to tell me all about Honey and Tupelo!

/hijack

 

[BostonBanker]

I can definitely see how they appeal to other GSD people, as they seem to have a lot of the good GSD traits. I have met some shy/weird ones but they were all from one breeder and all related. The rest have a GSD-like aloofness, they were fine with being petted but weren't really interested in interaction with anyone other than their people. They are surprisingly high drive for being in the Swiss mountain dog family - not at all like Berners or Swissies. Definitely herding type dogs

I've never met one of them, but I've met several Appenzellers, which is the fourth of the Swiss breeds. They sound fairly similar - definitely more herding dog type as far as personality and energy. Fairly aloof, some protective instinct, athletic - very cool dogs. I'd really like to "re-meet" them now that I'm more familiar with what I like in dogs.

 

[DobeLove]

I have interacted with many Doberman Pinschers. Of all the breeds listed, with the exception of GSDs, they are the ones I have had the most experience with. I worked with them briefly during obedience class when we switch off dogs and have friends who own them. These dogs were show bred (Foxfire and Wingate) and very nice dogs.

Unfortunately my dilema with Doberman Pinschers is that I strongly prefer the look of the American dog (thanks to Sizzledog!) and am not a fan of many European line dogs. I was recommended Landgraf by a friend, though, which I like from what little I have seen online. If I do get a Doberman I would like one I could work in SchH with.

Is your problem that you like the American ones looks better but you don't think they can be succesful in Schutzhund? There are plenty of American Dobes that do SchH. I don't know how far you would be looking to go in SchH. And I honestly don't know a whole lot about it.

Foxfire has a few who have done Schutzhund or are starting. Protocol Dobermans (bred the #1 Dobe Fifi) do Schutzhund with their dogs as well as show.

 

[hey_jude]

I can't answer threads like this- because I just want to respond with 'Border Collie' to all of them I don't find my border collies to be too too soft- but definitely more than like a german shepherd.

 

[RD]

I think an English Shepherd or a typical collie-type farm dog would be a really good fit for you. I wouldn't look at border collies (just based on what little I know of what you're looking for) - my concern would be how high strung/intense they are vs. their soft temperament. Some BCs are really hard, usually the cattle-bred dogs, but I also find that they don't work quite like the sheepdogs do either. Really almost a different breed.

 

[FalseImpression]

Smooth Collie from working lines, or a Whippet mix?

 

[Kristie223]

you might like a Dutch Shepherd... they are on the smaller end of your scale as far as size..

 

[JL'sPack]

We have an Akita and she fits into pretty much everything you described. They're great with children that they know as long as they're around them from from the begining and most are fine with any child as long as they're used to them - cats, well, she's fine with ours but we bad to train her to be (pretty strong prey drive).
They're aren't super "biddable", but they are very smart and will work for their owner. Miya will do anything for a treat or even a good belly rub.
The grooming was the only other thing I paused at, but the only time I actually have to groom her is twice a year when she blows her coat (Furminator once a day and it's gone in a week or two). The rest of the time she doesn't even need brushing, just the ocassional bath in the back yard.
She's high energy on walks and when playing fetch etc., but a majority of the time really really mellow.
Only barks when someone actually comes to the door.
Not "bouncy" at all lol.
They are absolutely owner oriented, SUPER loyal
Large (our female is 75 lbs. and that's about average, I think males run more around 85 - 90 lbs.)
They definatly require an experienced dog-person because if they're not trained and sociallized early and properly, they do have a tendancy to try to dominate, ours definatly knows her place though and happily accepts it
I love the breed and will definatly have another one again, just a thought that no one mentioned