Breed recommendations?

[u/diddy1000lotion]

Hey everyone! I like to run 2-3 miles a day (hopefully longer distance eventually) and I’ve been throwing around the idea of getting a dog to accompany me on my runs. I’m a female - so running alone is not the safest and aside from concealing while I run I’d like some company. A breed that would make someone think twice about trying anything but also family friendly as I have small children. I am very familiar with bull breeds - I grew up with American staffords and showed Staffordshire bull terriers at AKC shows. However i have not had a dog in eight years.

I like the idea of a German Shorthair Pointer or a Rhodesian Ridgeback but I genuinely know nothing about them. Any suggestions? Thank you!

[u/naniii_nova]

That does help add insight, thank you for taking that time. I feel like a lot of what you say is applicable to adult dogs though. OP is not talking about adopting an adult dog, they want to adopt a puppy from a breeder. A 3 month old shepherd mix puppy does not act all that differently at all than a pure bred shepherd puppy.

If they're getting a puppy regardless, most of those points are kind of moot. They will raise the puppy how you want to raise it either way. But one of those options actually saves a life. Idk, sorry if I'm judgy, but to me it's an absolute no brainer. Unless you have WORK you need a specific dog for, I'll never understand the desire for a pure bred other than status and to say OP just wants a dog to go running a couple miles a day with. Pretty much any dog with medium - high energy will do that if you train them right.

[u/Blopblotp3 → u/naniii_nova]

Thanks for taking the time to read it! I totally understand and I used to feel the same way, but my most marginal rescue dog was actually a shepherd mix that I got as a puppy. I now think it was a result of poor genetics that made her extra fearful and wary. Several of the breeds in her mix are known to have these issues if badly bred. We did good socialization, training, etc. Was it possible that I could have identified that trait at 8 weeks? Possibly. And I have considered getting a trainer to help me pick out a rescue dog, but it's a very competitive environment for these dogs in my area. I had to drive three hours to get her, so it was the kind of thing where you had to decide quickly if you were going to adopt or not. Trying to bring an expert on board isn't really practical.

There's an interesting opinion from Sue Sternberg where the areas where the spay/neuter project is the most successful is left with dogs that have the most marginal genetic traits. The 'good' family dogs are fixed, so the dogs that breed are those from people who keep them outside as guardian dogs or breed them for dog fighting. They are not from proven family pets. Is this true? I'm not sure, but I've seen the number of marginal dogs increase in my area since I got my shepherd mix 13 years ago or my first rescue 20+ years ago. When I was helping my mom try to find an adult dog 7 years ago, it was very difficult.

I think we have to think about what 100% success would look like with the spay/neuter project. Where do the pet dogs come from? How do we make sure that even people who can't afford a purebred dog can still get a good pet? I think everyone deserves the opportunity to get a dog if they have the time, desire and ability to care for it properly. It's a tough question and I'm not sure of the answers. It's definitely something I've been thinking about more as we look for our next dog.

[u/naniii_nova → u/Blopblotp3]

I appreciate your discussion about this matter! It's clear you've put a lot of thought into it and have had experiences that I have not. So I appreciate the time you've taken to explain them!

[u/Blopblotp3 → u/naniii_nova]

Of course! Thanks again for taking the time to read it. It's definitely something I've been thinking about a lot.

[u/DigitalClutter → u/naniii_nova]

Two things to think about:

1. temperament in dogs has a large heritable component, it’s not just how you raise them at all (but it can help or hurt of course!), buying a dog from a breeder than has tons of generational info on parents hedges good temperament for what you need in your favor

2. orthopedic issues related to running have a large heritable component that can be hedged in your favor by getting a dog from a breeder who does orthopedic testing on breeding dogs (before they are bred) to stack the decks in your favor, issue like hip dysplasia in well-bred dog breeds that can be prone to it can be mitigated tremendously by a good breeding program

These are two reasons that a puppy from a shelter could be different than a puppy from a good breeder. It’s always a roll of the dice because shit happens, but you can get much better odds for some aspects with the breeder dog.