What dog breed should we get?

[snapshot]

Now I vote for a schnauzer as they love the chase and to dig for varmints. The bonus is they don't shed and there are lots of schnauzer rescues around. They definitely will like to be around people some though. Of course I'm not prejeduced!!!

 

[the funny farm6]

I agree with the jack russel... but I will throw out there "catahula" aka Louisiana catahoula, leapard dog, you might want to look them up. I LOVE mine! They are very loyal. And are a great multi purpose breed. They use them to hut hogs in the south, here they are used for coon/large cat hunting, and farther west for herding. They are very smart and will do anything you want them to. They will guard your property and keep critters off. I don't hunt mine much but I dare a deer or coon or anything not supposed to be here to step foot on my property. They are good with my horses, chickens, pigs, rabbits and whatever else we might have at the time. They are on the larger size- mine are @ your 40 lb mark. I also have pit bulls, and they will chase stuff off but tyey are not diggers!

 

[hwillm1977]

I agree with some sort of terrier dog... I have two pit bulls
ey both chase deer (I don't let them chase them farther than the edge of the yard)
:very short hair and don't smell like icky dog (I bathe them once in spring, once in fall and anytime they roll in something really gross)
ey are very smart and excelled at agility classes and love having their minds challenged.
:very attached to their people
urs live here happily with our house cat (although they grew up with this cat and I wouldn't necessarily trust them around EVERY cat)
:Carrie loves to catch mice, bats, small birds, squirrels and especially loves digging up moles in the yard. She has caught one of our chickens before, but when hollered at dropped it without puncturing skin. Marley just likes to chase things that move, but he has never killed anything.

They do need a lot of exercise and mental stimulation (at least ours do) or they get bored and start destroying stuff in the house, but I think a terrier is just what you would be looking for.

 

[pinkfox]

i definatly think the trrier group is a good choice...just remember though no matter how enacious a little jack russel can be, most adult deer will start down a jrt (i know one that died after he faced off a buck in the fild and the buck kicked him... )

an aussie cattle dog (aka heeler) might be PERFECT these guys would probably be a great choice as they were bred to herd cattle, a deer will NOT spook a good heeler and theyll run off deer, they do tend to herd people too though (and anything for that matter) and do so by heel nipping so training from day one that heel nipping people is not acceptable lol. they are however an amazing "all around" farm dog, theyll hunt, theyll guard, theyll herd, many have been taught to pull carts ect...

if your looking more into the terrier group i think the wire fox, the welsh, smooth fox (not the toy fox though they ednt to be too far femoved from their roots), a larger jack or parsons might work...(if your looking into adopting look into the border jack, a bordercollie x jack russel origionally bred as a flyball/sport dog), schnauzer, lakeland, kerry blue, irish, border terrier.

 

[MuttlyCrew]

Hi all,

I know I am kind of new around here & dont post much but I play with a lot of dogs and love them dearly. I would agree with Pinkfox & Wannabefree about getting a little bit bigger dog then a jack just because of the dear & other wild life could hurt them so much easier then a bigger dog. The other thing you need to remember is that all the dogs mentioned need to have a lot of time, exercise and training to be good family pets. A lot of good Terriers get turned in to rescue for being to wild and unruly but they are wonderful little balls of fire when they are trained.

At present we have 2 labbies (they are a little bigger then you want but) thay do most everything you wanted, our Choco Lab Phog is a mouse/mole catching fool ( I think this comes from his training in tracking and air scenting) and the deer stay away I think because of having the 2 or maybe it is the electric fence around the place to keep the goats in????

Wannabe & hwillm1977 it sounds like your are great ambassadors for the breed. I love the bullies they are great dogs when with the right family. I love hearing stories like yours.

Good luck finding the right dog. I would also suggest when you think you have decided what breed you want, find someone with that breed and spend some time with the dogs & asking the owner the pros and cons to the breed.

Stacy

(I did not mean this post to be mean or negative just throwing out some things to think about)

 

[whaTType]

i can see people ask (similar to me) if what kind of dog should i get. i think people should think about the money they can spend on their dogs, because sometimes they need very much money, especially when they need some special food. but there is other good kind of dog i should get when i move to a large house - it is Shepherd. tiny dogs are very lovely ones. they are mostly for girls, because boys mostly like a terrior ..

 

[elijahboy]

i wouldnt suggest a terrier....

i know 3 people in the last year that are faced with surgery (1200.00 or more) for torn ligaments in the back legs...all the dogs seemed to get it soon after they turned 5


now i had a pit....I gave her up for the same reason your looking for a dog..

we have or rather had a privacy fence until she got to about 8 months...and seeing her run THROUGH the boards on the fence (running after something) you would have thought there was no fence there at all..

and she DUG UP EVERYTHING

she hated cats with a passion though...i guess that comes with training.

i would go with a pit if you want the smaller size but without a doubt i would get a lab...how can i say that when my fav is a shepard

 

[the funny farm6]

You might also try your local shelter. We went to our local shelter the other day for my mom and wow! They had 84 dogs. Everything from little min pins to great dane mixes. They even had a litter of puggle puppies! For an adoption fee of $100.00 and all are up to date on shots and many are already fixed. Saw soooo many that would have made good farm dogs!

 

[lorieMN]

look at jag terriers..my nephew has some for hunting,,they are crazy tenacious (s?) crazy hunters very brave and very agile,,kind of like jack russels on crack..at 6 months old they will take on full grown coons,he has taken them coyote hunting,before the snow gets to deep and they are awesome? pretty much anything you put them on they will take it on.

 

[BACOG]

OK, our dog is wonderful, but useless. We need a new dog. Here are my working dog needs:
1. under 40 lbs
2. shorter hair as it is rainy here and I don't like the wet dog stink
3. must chase deer (if he had laser eyes and could kill them on site I would be super happy!)
4. Loves to kill gophers and vermin
5. smart
6. can be left alone but likes cats and people

We will be loving this dog as a family pet, but really trying to keep it a working dog. Any thoughts?

If it wasn't for the 40 lb requirement I would say get a rottweiler or Rottie cross. Rotties are in the top 10 smartest breeds of dogs. They were bred as herd & protectioon dogs. The last one I had loved to chase squirrels and even caught them from time to time. He absolutely loved his family. My daughters would often paint his toe nails when they did theirs. It was hilarious to see a Rottie running around with green toenails.

Terriers are great dogs and my daughters's pit cross is the love of my life. But I think rotties are the perfect family/farm dog.