[UK Fisher]

Without opening a can of worms, in your opinions what is the best breed or xbreed to have around your smallholding with your livestock,,,,,i personally have a really old collie x (best dog ever,,,great temperment, and soooo loyal) ,,loves the outdoors but is in his 15th year,,,was thinking of maybe another collie / x and possibly a jack russel.

Your opinions would be great though.
Andy

[Jackie]

I should think any of the pastoral breeds would be ok.

I'm having 2 German shepherds and some golden retrievers around my stock, the sheps will be herders and the goldens will just look good.  or give the poultry a nervous breakdown!

They will all be stock trained though.

When I was first married the only new (apart from our bed) thing we bought was 2 Samoyed pups and they were great later on with our kids they herded them and rounded them up all the time. Each child learnt to walk holding onto a sam.

Wonderful breed but horrendous coat care.

[HappyHippy]

As a kid we always had labradors or lab x, but they never really had much to do with the livestock (beef cows)
I've got a big daft German Shepherd, Boris, who just loves playing with the pigs. I do like collies and if we had sheep then I'd definately have one, but don't know that I'd trust it with the kids the way I do Boris.
I suppose it depends what stock you've got and whether it's to be purely a 'working' dog or family pet.

[Roxy]

I always had collies, but my OH likes GSD, and we are on our second of those.  Also have a labrador x.  Personally, I  still prefer a  collie, but once these 5 dogs go, we are not having any more.  We travel a lot to shows round the country with the ponies, and whilst the other livestock can cope all day, its not fair on the dogs to be  shut in....although they are outside dogs.

[sagehen]

I think if I had livestock probably a border collie, although shetland sheepdogs are good too. For a family pet, I've always been partial to big, flumpy dogs like neo mastiffs or rotties, or a cane corso. If I wanted a small toy one, it'd be a mini schnauzer or a scottie

There's this website, that's pretty good if you're looking for (a rescue) one:

http://www.dogsblog.com

[doganjo]

Whatever you do, don't get a Brittany - neither you nor your animals will ever manage to keep up with it!   My four have me run ragged.

[little blue]

Will second the recomendation for Dogsblog - its where I found our beautiful, bonkers German Shepherd!
She's too disturbed to be let loose round anything, but having the goats has helped calm her down as they seem to accept her as part of the 'herd!'

A Shep with a good background (not like our girl) would be great, as a herding, guarding, good looking burgular deterrant!
A JRT would be a great ratter, and my neighbours' jrt chases foxes !

[sagehen]

Is that where you got your dog Littleblue?  I always think we ought to get rescue dogs, and not buy one, but Annie will go out of business if we all do that 

[marigold]

I have a parson russell and a jack russell x. We had a couple of mishaps early on but they are great now. Mind you a hen actually flew into Ambers mouth one morning - she couldn't really be blamed for biting it.

Personally I would always want to have a JR. They are so lovely and lively and fun. Ideally I would have an alsation x labrador and a JR for contrast but with so many kids I cant get a big dog in the car for holidays.

Also JR have little poos and don't eat much which is good in terms of clearing up outside and saving money.
 

[little blue]

yes, dogsblog list them by breed, or age, or rescue centre, its like a national data base!
We'd asked at local centres for a gsd but not v helpful. I saw her and that was it!  She had a really rotten start which has left her with a lot of problems... but she's the most affectionate dog in the whole world & as my o/h is agrophobic it doesnt really matter that she cant cope well outside either!
Yes, shes abit big and has an enormous bark (currently directed at poor old Barney - my late parents in laws' poodle!) but we love her.. and she knows it.

Our house is like a submarine - you cant open one door without knowing the next one is closed - because she chases the cats, cant be off lead outside, and frightens the postman!  But we have a good system, and at the end of the day, its not her fault - she didnt asked to be chained up & rarely fed.

Dont mean to offend, or be contraversial, but wouldnt it be fairer to limit how many dogs (and other animals) are actively bred, until rescue centres are cleared?  Particularly breeds like gsds, staffies, etc (not Annies rarer Brittanys!)
Sheba is a gorgeous pedigree who was bought by people who couldnt cope with her and left it rather than admit it, so had little socialisation, no manners and finds life just abit too much for her.  Its just such a blooming Shame!!

(*shut up now, woman... thats enough ranting!!*)

[doganjo]

Is that where you got your dog Littleblue?  I always think we ought to get rescue dogs, and not buy one, but Annie will go out of business if we all do that 

Don't worry, I'm just about at the end of my breeding life - and you don't make money at this anyway.  Not unless you have Labradors that is

[sagehen]

I agree Little Blue. It's heartbreaking to see so many dogs in rescues, and then there are the breeders who don't care about their dogs and just use them as little money making factories, and then dump them at rescue centres after they can't breed any more

Annie, if all dog breeders love their dogs as much as you, and socialise them etc, there wouldn't be so much problems rehoming them. And what was that about Labs, do they make a lot of money?

[sandy]

We have labs and would happily keep them all. Labradors are so layed back, ours do not flinch at chasing anything, Ben, our rescue boy would go into feilds just to eat the poo, thats what attracts him NOT the sheep or the chickens. Ben is a treat to have but hard work too, he loves his pups. I love the pups too and find it easy to clean up some poo and wee, the benifits they give you is much more than any rewards money could buy!!! we love our pups so much that we have bought another to grow up with ours, that labrador was brought up in a purpose built unit and did not see people except thier owner, ours see loads of people, have experienced lots of differents sounds, dogs barking, hoover, general household noise and so should not be shy when they go to thier new homes they also mix with our other dogs and they go outside to play and get daily cuddles not like some breeders who just feed, and clean them, the example is where we got our chocolate Lab from, well looked after but no real affection. Our dogs are a part of our life and pack and all the owners who have bought them will remain in touch and will meet up for a professional photographer, as long as I have enough money to repay the money I have spent I am OK, to me they have been better than nights out, pubs, Bingo or shopping trips. People breed dogs for all different reasons, it is not right that people should judge without fully understanding why an indivdual may breed?? we have seen that the new owners/pack leaders are going to experience a richer life with our pups and we are very happy to give them the oppertunity, how much fun can you have for free with a dog? LOADS..!!!!!.

[sagehen]

I think labs are great! We actually wanted to start an autism service dog charity and labs were of course our first choice, but the charity didn't work out because of funding and kennels were a problem etc. I hope I didn't sound like I was judging Sandy - I'm sure you provide a great service, but I do think there are lots of people out there who breed with no thought for their breeding dogs, and it's really sad when that happens.

[sandy]

We understand and its a bonus we love our dogs and our at home, we were very propared to give any we did not sell to RNIB but we have had so many phone calls and it gives us a very warm glow to know we have given some joy and love to others...Labbs are so adaptable, ideal dogs but they can destroy things very quickly if boared...I thank our dogs all the time for enabling me to enjoy where I live!!! No offence taken!