which breed of dog is best with young children

[hazelucas]

which breed of dog is best with children ?

[andsty]

Labradors

[woofgang]

Depends upon the children. No dog should be left unsupervised with them and children should be taught to be gentle, not pester, not wave food under the dog's nose and generally to behave sensibly. Having said that I agree with andsty that a calm sensible gundog is a good choice and no offence but personally I would avoid terriers and sight hounds as with the best will in the world, they were bred to snap at small moving things.

[iwantthatone]

I grew up when I was small with both labradors and golden retrievers - both (although there will be exceptions with ANY animal) have really good temperaments. =)

[FP]

I have two terriers. They are lovely friendly animals, but as woofgang says they are inclined to snap at small moving things. Having said that we brought our baby up with a small terrier and it was very successful. Any dog can turn nasty if a child is not taught how to behave properly with them. Children who have had dogs from birth tend to understand them better than those who are given them as pets when they are older.

[Lindy Loo]

My favourite would have to be a boxer!! I grew up with one and she was so docile and soppy it was unbelieveable, we could even dress her up!! But as mentioned, any dog can be snappy if tormented. If they are treated with love, kindness and trained properly you have a loyal friend for life.

[FP]

Lindy, Boxers are just adorable and so good with children. There faces just make me want to cuddle them!

[FP]

Their faces! Gosh my English is going to pot.

[Kay]

Labradors,so gentle and patient.

[Snappy]

Labradors! I breed them+my family have always had them. I would trust them with my life! Def the best dog there is!

[dizzydog]

Labradors!!!!!!!!!!! You can sit on them, pull their ears,bite their tails, eat their food and allsorts of other unmentionable things that children do to mans best friend and they do not seam to care...As long as you feed them and give them lots of love. My auntie has had labs since I can remember in a house with many generations of children and every dog (7 in total) has been an absolute dream. Can be prone to health problems such as hip displacia and need regular exercise but if trained well and socialised with well behaved children, should usually be an honest, loyal and lovable pet.

[PurplePixie]

I agree with Labradors & retrievers being good with young children..on the whole. There are various ways in which you can get an idea of a dogs temperament even as early as puppyhood.The breeder should be able to tell you who the pushy puppy is in the litter & the shy one etc....& you can make your selection from there. If you turn a puppy on it's back, the placid laid back pup will just hang there gazing into your eyes & the possibly strong willed pup will wriggle & want to right itself. If you apply gentle pressure to a pups ear or the skin between its toes, the placid family suitable pup would react by possibly squeaking & pulling away or licking you...the non family suitable pups reaction could be to whip round & snap at you. Obviously if you've got toddlers around who are likely to accidently tread on the dogs tail or cuddle a bit tightly...the first reaction is a dog with a safer temperament.Like woofgang says, it's all to do with training the children too.

[daddyg]

We have an old english sheepdog and he is supreme with our daughter and all our nephews and nieces. He has agreat temperament and is just really nice. Apparently they love nannying children.

[hazelucas]

Thanks a lot for your help everyone I too grew up with a Golden Retreiver but our next door neighbours had one which turned very nasty so my husband was incined not to believe how nice they are - now i have the proof thanks all !

[saffstar]

I'd agree with everyone who's said Labradors - I grew up with one and have had the great pleasure of living with another one since.  Sunny, the dog we had when I was a kid, used to let me do all sorts of  irritating things to her (walk on her, sleep on her stick my fingers in her ears....) She used to sit by my cot when I was asleep and she'd go & get my mum when I woke up! (she wasn't trained to do so) & when I got a little bigger, she'd go and get my mum when I climbed out of my cot - spoilsport! I really couldn't recommend Labradors more highly, in my opinion, they're perfect dogs.