Ditto on the poodle. I got curious and used the search on petfinder.com for young poodles. You tend to get really cool mixes on petfinder. Lookie here. I’d take this one in a minute. https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/39381369
Or this one https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/39374286
Give it a try with your zip code. petfinder.com is wonderful. All rescues.
I’ll second the retired foxhound. We have two, and they are fabulous! Low key, well mannered and used to being around other animals.
I am a dedicated Labrador person, and there is no better dog for children. However, I agree with Frog Pond about the food angle. My dogs moved to the country and thought we were providing an all you can eat buffet of poop. Friends told me that the dogs would eventually get over it and quit gorging on horse poop. They were wrong.
Also, labs are notorious shedders. It’s something I can live with but YMMV.
My opinion is that you need to rank your “desired” factors from most important to least. It’s easy to come up with breeds that match some, but not all of them.
E.g. size v. coat type? Lots of larger or hairy dogs that might appeal to you, but not necessarily at 30-60lbs (poodle, Swiss Mt. or Bernese). Or, easy to find friendly, short coated 30-60lb dogs, but not necessarily “low prey drive”. (Viszla, GSP)…sporting dogs may like your chickens but ignore your horses.
My gut reaction says Beagle, or mixed breed. But neither is a “perfect match”. Beagles aren’t really “farm dogs” that you can trust not to wander off. But they probably wouldn’t herd your livestock, and have an easy coat and friendly temperament.
My family has had a few beagles over the years, bought to hunt but kept as house pets… Sweet sweet dogs, but utter blockheads when it came to basic obedience. What others have said about them following their noses is spot-on-- if your property isn’t fenced, expect a beagle to regularly go missing.
At my vet’s office, there’s a newspaper clipping posted, listing 50 different dog breeds by trainability… Beagles are second from the bottom of the list. :lol:
My parents have had great luck with pitty mixes-- smart, loyal, medium-sized, short coats, not particularly high-energy, great farm dogs. A pit-mix puppy would be at the top of my list if I was in your shoes.
A third vote for Beagles for good with kids and family-friendly. Farm would be a great outlet for their medium energy range. They are darn trainable when you channel that food drive and know the nose.
Is not that you can’t train basenjis or beagles, breeds at the bottom of the training lists.
You can train them fine, but they are not bred to do what people ask, are very independent and so it takes a huge effort to keep them doing what you train them for.
To have to worry and train and keep trained a difficult dog may not be what the OP has in mind, I don’t think.
There won’t be a perfect dog out there, but the OP maybe has enough ideas now to decide what would fit her situation best.
If it was not for the short hair requirement, I would suggest a smallish rough collie, females seem to be smaller in that breed and generally their herding instinct is secondary to other in their lives.
They are sweet and very agreeable dogs for a family with kids.
They are not trigger happy obsessed with herding anything that moves, like other herding breeds can be.
The short haired ones tend to be more energetic, stronger minded and active dogs.
Rottie or Poodle is a great choice. Both awesome, friendly, smart breeds.
Poodle is a great choice for a family dog, but on a farm, you have to keep them groomed very short, or they will carry all kinds of burrs in their hair, some that are very hard to get out.
Their grooming requirements are not every one’s cup of tea, best monthly and daily brushing if one is an outdoor dog.
We had some, I groomed them, wonderful dogs, but you have to be a poodle person to really enjoy them and not everyone is that.
As for dobies, rotties, pitties, any breed that is currently in the “perception of dangerous dogs”, I would think hard if I wanted to live with the liability that brings.
We had dobies and one rottie in the 80’s, as obedience and nursing home therapy dogs and I can say, there were people that just flat were so scared of them, they quit coming around to visit and told us, those dogs scared them silly, even at their best.
Someone with a farm and family should consider that aspect of those breeds before acquiring one.
With beagles I think the breeder you get one from makes a difference. Dogs from hunting lines, with parents used to hunt, may be less family oriented.
Beagles from a breeder who is breeding for service, and/or companion dogs tend to be wonderful.
Exactly. Poodles don’t meet the “short hair” requirement. But if it’s not really all that important, then they could definitely be on the list. That’s why I suggested ranking the requirements.
If “no care coat” is very important - poodles are a total no go.
It’s probably worth adding that my Beagles are from show lines and I trained them for obedience, agility and scent work. They can follow hand signals and complex verbal commands . . . and they still steal food, run off, howl like banshees and pee in the house if it’s raining :lol:
Maybe some of the medium sporting dogs, like a Brittany Spaniel or a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever? If collies appeal to you but you don’t want the hair, what about a Smooth Collie? And maybe don’t rule out wire haired breeds – not short hair, but not really a problem to groom (unless of course you are grooming for the show ring). German wire haired pointers are simply grand dogs imo.
Our fave farm dogs are terriers. We have Cairns and now an Irish – but you have to love that terrier temperament. Though neither breed is the “bounce off the walls” energetic type like, say, JRTs or Fox terriers. Lively but not frenetic. Irish are a great, great size – big enough to take care of themselves but with the great long lifespan of medium dogs. Airedales are wonderful, too, but they are bigger of course.
I hope the OP returns to give more detail soon. I own Brittanys and I love the breed. They are a great size and great family dog. But they are not “low prey drive” although mine have no interest in herding/chasing horses. My dog killed two snakes and attempted to kill an opossum in the backyard just this week. He spends a lot of time digging for moles if no other “prey” is available; you can’t turn the prey drive off… And I wouldn’t call their coats “short haired” but they are not terribly difficult to manage.
I love the GWPs as well; although I’d say the same about them as far as “prey drive.” Not sure how well they would manage chickens but again - I don’t imagine they would have any interest in larger livestock.
Probably there is an adult, short haired, mixed sporting/hound in a shelter somewhere that would make a great farm dog.
But if the goal is a puppy from a good breeder, I think more detail would help a lot. For example, I know a few GWPs from my hunting dog club - that’s a BIG dog in my opinion, not a medium one. They tend to be almost twice the size of a Brittany (my friend’s intact male probably weighs at least 75lbs compared to my 40lb dog). So, if size is very important, there is a huge difference between just those two breeds.
My ACD is the best farm dog! So easy to train, I don’t remember even potty training her, it’s like she was already programmed not to mess the house. Zero complications with the chickens, which is a major priority to me as I have expensive chickens and they’re my babies! Excellent recall. She will come off anything! She’s very protective of her “flock” (both cats and chickens). Does not bother the horses at all, does not chew up or ingest inappropriate things that could lead to a foreign body, so she doesn’t need babysat. Does not wander. Cons would be that she does shed and she’s not overly fond of strangers/new people. She’d never bite, but she’s not interested in making new friends.
Interesting to read all the different breeds and everyone says exactly the same thing about them. The problem is what works for one family won’t work for another. We all do things differently with our dogs and they respond in kind.
@rideon2 Your best bet is to find a mid sized , short haired breed that YOU personally like that is ( supposedly) good with livestock and kids. Truthfully we have has Labs and retrievers and mixed breed herding dogs, and mutts of all sizes and lab crosses and ALL of them were outstanding with my kids and my farm animals.
Why? Because from day 1 they were out with me everyday and in with the animals learning what is expected. My kids were taught how to treat a dog from the time they were toddlers and we never had an issue.
I had a German Shepherd when I was younger. When we moved up to the country he’d help me round up the chickens when they got out. He really hated the geese but he never hurt any of them. He’d chase off any strays but took care of the cats and dogs that were ours. Very protective, but wouldn’t go any further than sit there. He would growl if there was any tension. But if you told him it was OK he’d stop. A lot of people hate the breed but I love them
What about a whippet? They are smallish and have almost no hair. Maybe they have a high prey drive? I’ve seen a few at horse shows that seem very timid and well behaved, but I know almost nothing about them. Maybe a whippet/poodle cross—hmmmmm a whipadoodle!
Thanks all! Still researching! I’ve had a German Shepherd and the herd instinct for me personally is way to strong there. not a fan of Labs because most of the ones I’ve know take forever to chill out and get out of the puppy stage (like 3-4 years old!) We prefer a lazy type dog (hence owning a Mastiff!), so terrier temperament likely won’t be a good fit. All goof points about prioritizing the wants and going from there. As much as I prefer a short coat my cousin has a labradoodle that is the most chill loyal dog on the farm I’ve ever seen, so maybe need to decide if I can deal with a longer coat.
I’ve never been under the impression that they are known as having “chill” temperaments. I would definitely want to meet the dam and/or other offspring from a particular breeder before making a final decision. But I think that is true of most breeders; just because they are the same breed doesn’t mean they are all identical/interchangeable. I have a sire and one of his male offspring, and they have VERY different temperaments. They look nearly identical, but that’s as far as the similarities go.
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