I have had all rescues too, Kelly, and all have been successes. One is Mr. Calming Signal, in fact, and he joins me when I work with a scared/nervous/shy dog. He also demonstrates obedience commands.

If I had no dog experience, I would take along someone who did when looking in a shelter or a foster home.

I agree with Kelly about rescues. Don't let one negative experience turn you off to rescues forever. There are a ton of wonderful dogs out there. I've had 3 rescues and they were wonderful....sweet, good and great companions.

Dogs in shelters need a chance and I'd hate for people to read a post about a negative experience with a rescue and mistakenly think that all rescues are big risks. They're not.

I'm not saying that they all are, by any means. Just that for us, with the young ages of my littlest 2 (3 yrs and 19 mths)we're now leary. It was a heart breaker to have to return him, my 9 yo sobbed for hours. I just don't want to put us through that again. If we're still dogless 5 yrs from now, we'll revisit the rescue situation...but not while the kids are just still so young. As it is, I figure we'll be waiting a year, if not 2 before welcoming another dog into the home, so that the kids are a bit older. We're still thinking of owner rehomed dogs too, so its a known history.

My brother had a female Golden when his daughter was born. The dog was laid back and friendly and did very well with his little girl. But the thing I remember most was dog hair everywhere. Whenever I complain about my GSD shedding I think back to this Golden. Do you like to vacuum a lot?

lmao Rich! Vacuuming isn't a problem. With 2 adults in the house, plus a 9 yo and 3 yo that thinks vacuuming is a TREAT, its not a worry, lol!

(yes, my children are odd P)

Your rescue dog came from a shelter, right? There is a big difference between adopting a dog from a shelter and adopting a dog from a good rescue organization.

A good rescue thoroughly evaluates the dog and the potential family before placing the dog. You have the best possible chance of getting a dog that fits well with your family when going through a good rescue group. They will know how the dog does with kids or other animals, the dogs energy level, the dogs general health, etc. The dogs usually have some training during their time in a foster home as well. And it's not uncommon to be able to get a life history on the dog.

I would go through a good rescue group before I would get a dog that the owners was rehoming, unless I was 110% sure that the owner was being completely honest and above board with me. I have a dog that the owner rehomed to me and, while I wouldn't trade her or my time with her for the world, he did not give me a very good description of her personality, etc, because he didn't spend enough time with her to know what she was really like.

Anyway, if you feel a pup or another dog is best for your situation, that's fine - I still haven't decided if I'm getting a well-bred pup or a rescue for my next dog. But I just wanted to to point out the benefits of going through a good rescue group.

And, BTW, a family I know has a standard poodle who is an excellent family dog. Sweet, smart, loving and gentle - the children in the family are 2 and 3 y/o. As far as grooming goes, I think she just gets trimmed/bathed once a month - it's pretty simple as far as dog coat maintenance goes!

Flat Coated Retrievers are wonderful family dogs, notable good in the house, calm and all. They do need regular exercise but its easy, just throw a ball or go for a walk. They are very sweet natured, soft temperaments, friendly, intelligent...etc. They have absolutely beautiful coats too that are easier to maintain than goldens and labs.

I don't believe much in breed typical disposition in dogs. Some breeds may have more energy than others but any breed can produce an aggressive or non-aggressive dog. Like the others said the breeder is the one to look to for information on the puppy's temperament. Same thing goes for rescues if you get the pup from a reliable rescue.

Best dog around children I ever had was a GSD. She had an uncanny knack for knowing just how much play any person or other animal could stand. When I first got her I imagined a GSD that I could train to kill on command (I was young then). Turned out that somehow in the training for that there was a communication problem and she thought I meant kiss on command.

She was only aggressive on two occasions. I moved out and left her with my mom who lived alone. Once she got aggressive with some men who came to the door late at night and insisted on using the telephone inside after refusing to use a cordless phone. Another time was when my mom was babysitting a 2 year old and a stray dog tried to attack the baby. Both times were absolutely appropriate.

Another dog who was great around children in my experience was a beagle. Might not be the size range you would want but I'd consider it if I were looking for a dog. She was a member of our family for fifteen years. She died when I was 14. My parents used to put me out in the front yard and Sugar would babysit me. When I would get out of the yard she would scratch at the door and tell on me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v176/MattNW/ShugarMe.jpg

Oh, I don't know Matt. Generalities exist for a reason. Large sweeping statments can always be found wrong with close examination, but for the most part are always true.
If one has a narrow criteria, then it's only sensible to look in the range known to hold mostly to the framework you're looking for.

Size and fur not withstanding, I vote for a Newfie. Couldn't ask for a better easy going family member.

Randy

I have never met a dog better with kids than my dobermann Veeda. She is the patient and docile when it comes to children. And then I know some dobes (usually fairly behaved around adults) that whould very likely kill a small child. My frenchies were both very good with kids and I know one that whould attack the instant he saw a child.

I agree that alot of general info about breeds is true but when it comes to getting alog with kids, it is in a very large part a matter of raising and training the dog.