[Sewobsessed]

Help...can someone suggest a breed for me.

1-2 small children
2-2 indoor cats
3-fenced yard
4-probably can get in one 20-30 minute walk a day
5-will probably be both indoor and outdoor
6-neighborhood kids frequently going yard to yard
7-Really want a watchdog that is at least medium sized

I have seriously considered a german shepherd, but think it just may not be right for the volume of neighborhood children going in and out of the yard (ages 5-10), not to mention play fighting with each other. I cannot supervise the dogs and kids constantly.

Went to Brittany Spaniels, but separation anxiety and super high energy scared me.

Any suggestions?

[CorkyMax]

Going to list a few breeds and give you a link to a site that tells all about each breed and gives a lot of pics. Be sure to scroll all the way to bottom of pages as the way the 'ads' get in the middle sometimes--it looks like you are at end of page when you are not! This link will take you to the Boston Terrier section-- Boston Terrier Information and Pictures, Boston Terriers After you have checked out this breed----Go to top of the page(s) and click on the words: All Breeds to check out other breeds.

It is hard to find a perfect match for what you are asking--Lol, most that sound close may have undesirable barking issues---But if you live in an area where barking is not a big problem with the neighbors--May be okay.

1.--Boston Terrier
2.--Australian Terrier
3.--Collie---barker
4.--Pug---indoor dog
5.--Beagle--has a bay kind of bark but if you can handle that--This is a good choice--prob. get a long with the cats as well as the kids! This breed I know about as my married daughter has these. They get along with the cats. Are very sociable--love kids and attention. Don't necessarily need a lot of exercise--Backyard with your kids is prob. enough and a good long walk a day. All dogs should be exercised for health and to keep them happy/satisfied with life.

All of these breeds should make good watch dogs according to my breeds book. I did not look up what it says for all these breeds in that link I gave you above. I used my breeds book for looking for traits that you were looking for. I leave it to you to look up things in the link I gave you.

Happy hunting! Let me know what you think!:grin:

[lange]

Originally Posted by Sewobsessed

6-neighborhood kids frequently going yard to yard

I have seriously considered a german shepherd, but think it just may not be right for the volume of neighborhood children going in and out of the yard (ages 5-10), not to mention play fighting with each other. I cannot supervise the dogs and kids constantly.

Sorry to be a downer but I can't help but see a problem with the above part I quoted.

You can't really trust children in that age group alone with a dog. You can't trust a dog alone with children, especially when it comes to children that aren't in the family.

*dogs can get overexcited by the child play, your dog could rough house right along with those kids and possibly chase & bite
*young children can tease dogs (purposely or not) & cause the dog to distrust strange children which could cause behavioral issues
*it's difficult to know a dogs true temperament without much time invested & even so, a dogs temperament can change from a single incident or with adolescents, hormones, ect

You want a dog that will be alert & protective yet give up boundaries with neighborhood kids, it's kind of tough. There are individual dogs that are very tolerant of ALL children but it's a gamble in the beginning, regardless of the breed.

If you could just keep the dog indoors when the kids are out & about, that might be your best bet.

So, with all that in mind, my contribution is: Basset Hound, Beagle, Boxer and mutts. I think the key is to socialize a low prey drive dog well with the cats & kids. Good luck!

[angiesample]

Stay away from herding dogs, they will try to herd the kids..

[Yogi]

As one who has bred and raised both herding dogs and terriers I never recommend these for families with small children. Those with young teenage children are ok. Terriers are high energy and bred for a working purpose. Herding dogs carry inline instincts and also are a working dog.
Commonly the best choice for people looking for a first time dog and one that gets along with children and their antics is the Golden Retriever or the Lab.
These dogs generally have excellent disposition and tolerate young children wanting to pull and tug on them. They grow large enough as to prevent children from attempting to pick them up.
The other is the APBT or the Staffordshire. These are actually very good dogs when raised from puppies with socializing properly and tend to be very good with children despite the reports to the contrary. The APBT was referred to as the "nanny" dog for the first half of the 20th century as they were the most popular breed of dog by those with children. The dogs were very playful and attentive to children.

[Lunareclipse]

Get a Saint Bernard. My 2 year old climbs all over mine. 4 kitties live with them. They don't need long walks. About 20 minutes a day. There are short haired saints and long haired saints, so if hair bothers you, get a short haired saint. We have both. They don't make great watch dogs. But just the shear size of them and the deep bark they have will scare any intruder away. They make great lap dogs too!