What is a good child friendly breed of dog?

mrcol1000

hethmar wrote: »

I was saying to the people on RDR a few weeks ago, as I was walking through out little town I heard a noise like a sheep baaing and I thought who on earth has brought a sheep into town. When I got nearer, pmsl, it was a staffie tied up outside the dog food shop, head back, mouth wide open and making this really weird baaing noise. A woman walking the other way burst out laughing too and said she had thought someone had left a lamb in the little town garden.

My Staffie also makes sheep noises. There is a sheep field behind my house and when we walk up there she goes up to the fence and some of the sheep come up to the otherside of the fence and she will wag her tail like mad. They will baa at her and she will attempt to baa back at them. She is kept on a tight lead but never shown like she will go for them. She also has a thing for goats that are kept in a house behind that. She will just stare at them and they will stare at her back. They both seem to go into some kind of trance.

MrsE_2

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

I am not fond of things like shihtzus for those reasons - too fluffy and flat faced - or anything with a very brachycephalic squashed in face and bulging eyes - pugs, boxers, bulldogs etc. - I think this is because to me they just look like very unhealthy, deformed animals. Apologies to anyone who loves these breeds, I know some of them are nice dogs, but they are not my cup of tea.

Some of the crufts winners, like that peke that had to sit on an ice pack to prevent it from overheating seem to be a tragedy to me - why breed a dog that is so compromised and unable to function?

I like persians & exotics (short haired persians), I'm not a dog lover but if I was to pick a dog it would be those flat faced breeds.

But I don't like the extreme over breeding, you can have those breeds without the ultra types & the extreme health problems that go along with them.

ETA they reckon the reason many people are drawn to flat faced animals is because their faces are humanised & babyish.

foreign_correspondent

MrsE wrote: »

I like persians & exotics (short haired persians), I'm not a dog lover but if I was to pick a dog it would be those flat faced breeds.

But I don't like the extreme over breeding, you can have those breeds without the ultra types & the extreme health problems that go along with them.

Fair enough - but, like it or not, the flat face is essentially a deformity, but one we persist in breeding into animals simply because some people like the looks of it. It serves no purpose, and has no advantages for the dog.

The optimum healthy and funtional head shapes for animals are the ones created by natural selection - so head shapes like those of wolves and foxes are the optimum for canines, and head shapes like lions, cheetas, lynx, wildcats etc are optimum for felines... the brachycephalic head shapes would never come about naturally - purely because they do compromise health and function... ie. dogs born with very shortened muzzles would not have the best chances of survival to maturity so would not pass on their genes.

Many animals bred with this shortened skull do have problems - breathing problems and eye broblems are extremely common. IMHO the ethics of breeding an animal with deformities which can be detremental to its wellbeing because we 'like the looks of it' is ethically quite questionable.

Yes, I posted a link to a story about the 'infantile' appeal of these animals a while ago - dunno where I read it now though... but I like my dog to be a dog, not a baby!

jackieglasgow

Back to the scary Staffs thing, I posted this story on another thread, hope it makes you smile.

Just want to share this quick funny story. Dog came i from her walk last night. Looking very worried, walking in an arc aroung the livingroom, scared to look in the direction of the TV. OH and I couldn't calm her down, she was obviously frightened of something. Then we realised. DS2's new green and white piggy bank was sitting on the furniture in front of the TV EYEBALLING the dog! :rotfl:She was terrified. OH picked it up to show her it, and she ran into the kitchen, so he moved it upstairs, and she came back in , all waggy and happy because the big bad piggy was gone. I had tears running down my face, you should have seen her.:rotfl:It was right at her eye level, and really freaked her out!

I'll just add that this is in addition to her fear of plastic bags, baby dolls(?) socks and bananas, and sticks, but we can guess where that came from. Big scary Staff.

foreign_correspondent

Bless her Jackie!! funny dog! Did you ever post piccies of her - I cant remember seeing them?

As for scary piggies - my old gran has recently acquired two rather large pot pigs - they are about 12" high to the shoulder - she wanted to show them to me... when Badger saw one of them she glared at it... then went round the back and sniffed its bum - then rather warily went round the front and sniffed its face... took her a while to be convinced that my gran hadn't taken in a rather immobile dog!

hethmar

Ralph has a thing about mechanical stuff - the sort of thing they use on road works and grass cutters - he will back away long before he gets to them and then go berserk barking at them if they pass him. He also has a thing about men in hats - terrifies him and we always ask people to take them off if they stop to stroke him

foreign_correspondent

How about this lovely little one? She looks like a sweetie to me! ( I have copied and pasted the info from dogsblog, rather than putting a link in, as I know some people have had problems accessing the site).

This is Kizzie and she is 2 year old female Terrier Cross. She is friendly and good natured, but a little shy when you first meet her. Kizzie currently lives with three small children, so would be fine to go as a family dog. She needs to be in a home as the only dog or with a good natured male. She is OK with the family cat.

Kizzie is clean indoors and not destructive. She is fine to be left for up to 4 hours. Kizzie is a lovely lass who will make a great pet for the right person.

For further details regarding dogs available for adoption from Pro Dogs Direct please email Tracey at t.j.waters@blueyonder.co.uk. Home checks and a set donation apply

jackieglasgow

She is a real cutie pie! I wish my Coco was ready for a companion, I need to stop looking at the doggie !!!!!!.

kjmtidea

Lol at the doggie !!!!!!. I need to stop reading this, it makes me want a dog even more!

jackieglasgow

Exactly...................doggy !!!!!! - FC does it deliberately, you know, she's an enabler!