[Bender]

I'm thinking about adding a small dog to the household in a year or so. Reason being is Nathan (my 4 year old human) and his little sister Allie (1 year old) love to walk the dogs and I'm sure will want to do jr handling stuff as well. And I'd like the experience of running a small dog too, and to have something smaller underfoot.

Of course this would be MY dog first, not getting a puppy for the kids to amuse themselves. And I'm fine with grooming whatever and so on, and the other dogs should be fine with whatever dog comes into the pack...

However, for each breed there seems to be the pro's and con's and the things they don't tell you on the websites for information, so I thought I'd ask here what people think (good and bad!!!) about each breed.

Lana

 

[DCPakaMOM]

My parents raised/showed corgis (pembroke) while I was growing up. I have a special fondness for them. They are hardy, shed a lot, ours always had a strong herding instinct. Lovable, a touch headstrong. I would take another in a heart beat. The need activity and can be trained easily.

Pappillon - never owned one. A big corgi breeder who I knew growing up, now has Pappillons. I also have a good friend who has one who is 11, she is a tad shy, but a sweet dog.

Border Terriers - only have known two and I think I would have one of those too. My handler has one who I always thought was a very cool dog. He now has a new puppy that I first saw with the puppy was 6 weeks - It was all I could do not to take her home.

I have often thought if I wanted another small dog what I would want. Probably a corgi, because I have had so many. My last corgi was Miss Ellie, she lived to be 16. She was a wonderful, wonderful dog. I do know that Pembrokes and Cardigans are very different, not sure which you were referring to. I have never owned a Cardigan or really been around them.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[Abbydabbydo]

I have friend with a Papillon and Lucy is a very sweet, dog. They do not exercise her however and she has become quite fat. I'm hoping their vet (same as mine) will say something. I love Corgis, I would love to have one. Very sweet herding dogs and they might try to herd your kids, but very sweet.

No terriors for me, the chance of gettiing a barker is too high for me.

 

[MillysMom]

I would get a pembroke welsh corgi in a heartbeat! We had one growing up, and I've dog sat many, many, many! It seems corgis and jack russells are the dog to have in the horse industry, and I've had many encounters with corgis at horse shows and on farms. They are simply amazing dogs! DCPakaMOM was spot on with her description of their personalities.

 

[Pointgold]

You could nto have chosen three more different dogs!

I adore Corgis! (Pembrokes, please - no tail) Know, though, that they are not "small". They are an extremely active herding breed, bright and funny and every one I've ever had here are total balls freaks!

Papillon - My SIL has Paps. Super smart, affectionate, but also very small - one does need to be careful with them around children and large dogs.

Border Terriers - One of my faves in the Terrier Group. They are sweet, les DA than some others, and love children. And I think their little otter faces and tails are cute... I showed two and fell hard for them.

 

[Penny & Maggie's Mom]

I'm not of much help as my small dog of choice would be an English cocker...... much different from the American cockers we are accustomed to.

 

[GoldenSail]

I don't have personal experience with any--but I have always loved papillons!

 

[Bogey's Mom]

I'm a papillon fan myself. There is one in our current class who is adorable and smart as a whip. That would be my small dog of choice. But I know NOTHING about health issues with them. I used to like Charles King Cavalier (I'm sure I botched that name) Spaniels a lot, but after learning about their heart problems I decided I'd never have one.

English cockers are also an excellent choice.

 

[asiacat]

my good friend has a friend that breeds papillons and the breeder gave her one of her males as a gift mainly because he is a bigger papillon and she wants to stay breeding them smaller he is alot bigger than any other one i have seen i think he weighs 13 or 15 pounds. he is friendly and plays great with maddison and chance.....i grew up with corgis but i don't know much about the breed my grandparents had one and my uncle had one and we loved them and would play with them and thats as far as it went lol.

 

[Noey]

i love corgis...and westies,

 

[NuttinButGoldens]

I looked up Corgi's, and they are cute. Kinda like a hot-dog-dog with more fur

But, I then found a link for the "Cardigan" Welsh Corgi. Now that I like

 

[NuttinButGoldens]

I still think a Beagle would be my small dog of choice We had them as kids.

 

[cubbysan]

I love Pappilons and Corgis.

I really do not consider a corgi a small dog, and I once read that they have a mind of a large dog. At the training school Brady and I went to, there was one that was rough coated (?), long haired. Totally a big flaw in the breed standard, but every once in a while it comes out. He was beautiful!

I would not consider a Pappilon until your youngest child is 6 years old. They are just too fragile for young children.

 

[Pointgold]

I looked up Corgi's, and they are cute. Kinda like a hot-dog-dog with more fur

But, I then found a link for the "Cardigan" Welsh Corgi. Now that I like

I much prefer the Pems, as I just can't get past the fiddle-fronts on Cardies. And all the Pems I've been around are more outgoing than the Cardies (a Cardi breeder takes my handling classes...)

 

[Bogey's Mom]

We have a lot of Corgis at our club, and the instructor for our last class had them. She said they are great dogs but have trouble learning some commands, particularly sit, because they are already so low. She said hers will NEVER do a down or a down stay. I'm sure that is not all corgis - just throwing that out there.

 

[Pointgold]

We have a lot of Corgis at our club, and the instructor for our last class had them. She said they are great dogs but have trouble learning some commands, particularly sit, because they are already so low. She said hers will NEVER do a down or a down stay. I'm sure that is not all corgis - just throwing that out there.

Started as babies, in a PK class, we've never seen that problem...

 

[MurphyTeller]

I think corgis can be very compatible with goldens - while the herding/sporting dog games are different - the corgi chase game is well suited for the golden frap/silly/chase me/zoomie game - without the potential 70lb impact aspect of the game with goldens. Corgis don't seem to believe they're little dogs- and the nice ones are pretty stable temperaments actually (though I'm with PG on the Pemmies).

Unfortunately I've seen WAY too many poorly bred corgis - lots and lots of temperament issues in the lines around here - so research is key - which I'm sure you know already.

That I could probably handle (in breed) my own corgi is an incentive too ;-) But I love my goldens..perhaps in my retirement years.

Erica

 

[MurphyTeller]

We have a lot of Corgis at our club, and the instructor for our last class had them. She said they are great dogs but have trouble learning some commands, particularly sit, because they are already so low. She said hers will NEVER do a down or a down stay. I'm sure that is not all corgis - just throwing that out there.

That's an interesting comment from an instructor teaching dog classes - dogs lay down on their own all the time and remain there for long periods of time - it's an innate behavior. If they are physically capable of doing something so frequently on their own accord, it's a matter of consistency and motivation (reinforcement) to train them to do it when we ask them to. Leadership plays a big role there too...Perhaps what she really meant was she doesn't like to teach the down or the down stay because it's harder for her to teach so her dogs never have to do it?

I've met some greyhound people that insist greyhounds/whippets cannot sit - and they should be excused from the sit in the CGC tests because their dogs can't sit. I don't buy it and thankfully neither does AKC

My two cents,
Erica

 

[Pointgold]

I think corgis can be very compatible with goldens - while the herding/sporting dog games are different - the corgi chase game is well suited for the golden frap/silly/chase me/zoomie game - without the potential 70lb impact aspect of the game with goldens. Corgis don't seem to believe they're little dogs- and the nice ones are pretty stable temperaments actually (though I'm with PG on the Pemmies).

Unfortunately I've seen WAY too many poorly bred corgis - lots and lots of temperament issues in the lines around here - so research is key - which I'm sure you know already.

That I could probably handle (in breed) my own corgi is an incentive too ;-) But I love my goldens..perhaps in my retirement years.

Erica

Having a Smooth Collie, I can attest to Goldens and Herding dogs compatability. I've had a lot of Pems here, as well - I used to handle for Pam Smith of Arbor Glen.

The poorly bred Pems that we'd seen were the result of them becoming extremely popular with the "horse set", particularly Quarter Horse folks. They seem to be somewhat less in favor now, replaced again by Australian Shepherds.

 

[MurphyTeller]

Having a Smooth Collie, I can attest to Goldens and Herding dogs compatability. I've had a lot of Pems here, as well - I used to handle for Pam Smith of Arbor Glen.

The poorly bred Pems that we'd seen were the result of them becoming extremely popular with the "horse set", particularly Quarter Horse folks. They seem to be somewhat less in favor now, replaced again by Australian Shepherds.

You know it's interesting that you say that....horse people have done a great disservice to a lot of breeds - JRTS too. They tend to have a closed community - particularly in the hunter/jumper community breeding their dogs somewhat indiscriminately to other dogs within the h/j community. Horse people tend to spend a lot of time out in the barns and their dogs with them - thus creating dogs that get (and NEED) a lot of exercise - and masking some behavior problems because their dogs are so well exercised - mousing, chasing ponies, chasing kids, etc. I distinctly remember one of the H/J people in this area had a JRT called BOING (yes, all caps). She owned a pretty large stable - several hundred acres, three barns, an indoor (necessary in VT) and probably boarded 50 horses at a time. Her dog would bounce up and down the entire time it was in her truck (moving vehicle or parked at a dog show) - literally bounce up and down constantly - had to keep moving all the time, slept with one eye open kind of thing. His offspring produced JRTS with ZERO off button - he was bred a lot because everyone thought the bouncing was adorable (and the bouncing from 8 week old puppies) - his offspring that ended up in barns were fine. The families of lesson kids who purchased puppies....well, less than enamored with the BOING!

But by the same token, horse people who come into dog sports after horse sports seem to bring an interesting sense of animal husbandry and aptitude - some of the best dog trainers I know got their start on a farm with ponies