Bec's Puppy Kelpie cross with Border Collie
The man of the house and I have been talking lately about getting a dog. What are the popular family dog breeds in Australia? I am first to admit I am not a “dog person.” Not yet anyway. As a kid we had our fair share of mice, birds, cats and guinea pigs but when the request for a dog was begged the reply was either, “we don’t have the room or we have too many kids.” (I have five siblings). My sister though loved dogs and she now has two huge beasts that race around her yard scaring the snakes and eating the rats and occasional chook that borders the national park. As we are soon moving next to her place, a dog was once again discussed.” Isn’t twins enough?” I sigh but as it is something N would really love, I can’t really be the mean person to say no. But as is my nature it will take some planning and research. I have plently of friend you have dogs and speaking to them over the years I have learnt a dog becomes one of the family and their loss is as heartbreaking as the loss of a real person family member. Such is, if we welcome a dog into our little family I am conscious the girls will be growing up with a dog and the choice of dog is important.
So I am keen to know what breed of dog do you have?
In the survey below what dog would you recommend to a family of four (including two young children) that will be living by the beach so walks will be frequent and the responsibility will be with the male head of the family?
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I’ve had many different dogs in my life, and the best ones have been mutts. Lab and retriever mixes have been my favorites. Currently, we have a beagle/blue heeler mix. He’s a wonderful dog, once you get past his need to “herd” everyone.
That little Kelpie is adorable. I don’t have any experience with those dogs – find out if they are high maintenance and what kind of health issues they have.
I’m in the states and Black Labs are really popular here. They are big dogs tho – you’ll have to make sure you have plenty of room for running. That being said they are great with kids & very protective. =D
Jack Russells are very high maintenance too – very hyper from what I’ve heard.
I’ve heard stories of German Shepherds. The ones I’ve known are like the black lab (above) I talked about. But I’ve also heard they bite – so you might consider that.
Whatever you don’t DONT get a Bichon or Bichon Friese or Bichon Mix – they are very needy little dogs, they can be hard to potty train (my roommates dog never did get potty trained) and they like to “eat” couches & chairs!
Good luck on choosing a dog. I can’t wait to hear what you’ll get.
@LeAnn – you are right the Blue Healers are wonderful dogs. My brother has had two (he farms) and they have been great. He didn’t have train them much at all – they house trained themselves and since he was on a farm he was able to use them with the cattle.
@Blog owner (sorry I don’t know your name) – We had shelties and some kind of blue mountain dog and mutts growing up (we were out in the country). Shelties need to be groomed (we actually shaved Mack each summer and he loved it once he got over being embarrassed). We also shaved the mutt down. They collected every burr and other crud on the farm and would get huge mats if we didn’t.
Loved both the sheltie and the mutt – very sweet dogs. Sheltie’s are another herding dog – so if you are near farmers the Sheltie & the Blue Healer wouldn’t be good choices – unless they don’t have cattle or sheep). You wouldn’t want your dog to be shot by a farmer.