Best breed for a not-huge mountain dog?

[mccallboater]

Keep it coming! So I'm hearing dogs with poodle-type hair have problems in snow?

 

We get 150 inches of snow a year in McCall. Generally it runs 2-4 feet deep outside the door, mostly dry and light, from December through March, with November less snow but still cold and April and May the melt months. This past year might be the rule to come though, with all snow gone by May 1. So snow performance is a big deal.

 

In Boise in the summer, we get quite a few 100+ days. Like today for instance. I hate to see the huskies and malmutes and sammys around here roast. I was thinking a dog with a coat that one can shear or let grow as needed might be a good compromise.

[Aya]

My dog has long hair and she frequently gets snow balling up on the insides of her toes which she has to stop and chew out. I made her some fleece booties in about twenty minutes and it solved the problem. Once she sheds, she does fine in the summer.

 

 

[PLC]

I hate to see the huskies and malmutes and sammys around here roast

 

Actually, Siberians can pretty well tolerate a very wide range of temperatures. Their coat actually keeps them cool in the summer, which is why you should never shave a husky.

 

My husky tolerates the heat better than any other dog I've ever seen. If it gets too hot, he'll dig a hole under the porch and crawl inside...

[wfinley]

To keep snow from balling up in the paws rub vaseline between the pads. Works like a charm!

 

As for huskies -- keep in mind that in interior alaska - which has more huskies than people - summer temps are often in the 80s and the dogs do just fine.

 

PS - I have not heard of Labordoodles having trouble with snow balling up on their fur. I've heard they're awesome ski dogs but this is all hearsay. Personally I think they're a passing yuppie fad.

[bonathanjarrett]

[jrmycarr]

I second the Siberian Huskies. My wife and I have two of them and they are great. They are also great with our daughter. The only negative is that they tend to run off and should generally be kept on a leash. During the summer I usually have them on a leash but while skiing I take them off on the downhill. They do great in the snow and handle the heat fairly well. We live in Lewiston were it gets well over a 100. Although there energy levels definitely increase in the winter.

[AlaskaNative]

I don't know if this is way off, and I have never owned one, but I'm considering a Harrier as my next dog, and it seems to fit at least some of your critera.

 

Harrier info here

 

General dog breed info here

 

It's not definitive, but a good place to start if you're interested in comparing dog breeds.

[Chris_Moorehead]

I have 2 half German Sheppard, half Black Lab dogs. They are nicely sized at roughly 60 lbs. They also enjoy carrying their own weight! They are big time swimmers and love the snow. They shed a bit, but not terribly.

 

[Alpine_Tom]

I come down pretty strongly on the pro-mutt side. That said, some of my personal experience:

 

The best climbing companion I ever had was a yellow lab-coyote mix. He did shed a lot, and he was more like 70 pounds than the size you're looking for. Snow came right off him like he was teflon, and he never seemed a bit cold. I did a one-day climb of Glacier Peak with him, and between chasing marmots and other things, he probably did twice the distance I did.

 

Our Westie is pretty game in the mountains, and doesn't shed much at all, but the snow does ball up on her fur pretty badly. And, being small, she's on the wrong side of the square-cube law, and tends to get pretty chilly if she's just standing around in the cold.

 

A good friend of mine has a Weimeranner, and he will go for hours, in fact he's more like a 60 lb Jack Russell Terrier than a calm large dog. (Don't get a weim if you want him to sit regally next to the fireplace!!) I've had him out in the snow, and he's crashed through ice into streams, but never acted cold. Again, he's kind of big. They don't pick up any burrs, though!

 

Standard Poodles are supposed to be smart and well behaved, and they shed very little.

 

I have thought that a Brittany Spaniel would be a very conveniently sized dog (my parents have one) but I have never hiked with one. I don't think he sheds much, and he is pretty smart.

 

I suspect that nearly any dog would adapt well to being an outdoors dog. A crucial trait is the willingness to come when they're called, and the Weimeraner mentioned above is the only do I've known who will ignore absolutely every other stimulus to come when he's called. I have no idea if that's a characteristic of the breed, though.

 

[robertjoy]

HypoAllergenic dogs, such as the poodle, or wheaten terrier, are single-coat dogs. Snow dogs (camping in snow etc.) calls for a double coat with strong insulating/precip shedding qualities. There appears to be NO overlap between these criteria. But I have run across one exception, although I am suspicious of the claim. The Native American Indian Dog, is a cult "breed" and its proponents claim it is hypoallergenic

Note that in almost every respect these dogs appear to be very closely related to Malamutes, and Huskies.

[carversprint]

 

Our bubba (Sybill is her non-board name) is a mutt, maybe german short hair, boarder ollie- when people ask what bred she is we say 'she's mostly dog.' This pictiure is at Black peak after blowing past three marines who wanted to show off, she's also done three finger jack, Illlumination, dozens of hikes up the Gorge. She hates alpine starts- which is why she fits in with so well with us. She simply goes nuts when she spots the glaciers. We got her from the Oregon Human Society, having been rejected by another shelter. She doesn't wierd out at the base of a climb, hangs out in a tent, barks at floating plastic trash bags, prefers Oberto's turkey jerky. all-in-all much better than a child.

Edited July 24, 2007 by carversprint

[mccallboater]

 

 

Meet Suzy, the mutt we rescued from the pound in answer to my question that started the thread.

 

 

cute, huh?

 

at 32 lbs, she fits nicely in the tent.

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2007 by mccallboater

[mccallboater]

How does one imbed pictures in a message?

 

[billcoe]

How does one imbed pictures in a message?

 

 

Copy the location by right clicking on the pic itself, highlighting properties, and copying the text which ends in .jpg. 3rd button up there if you mouseover it says "enter and image". Click that - paste the text which ends in .jpg and it looks like a good looking dawg: like this!

 

[Adam13]

I have a pitbull lab mix and she is the perfect outdoor dog a little smaller than a lab but stronger and better built because of the pit, and not that all pitbulls are vicious but breeding a smart low key dog with them makes quite an animal, she has fairly short hair, shorter than a labs and she is way smarter than a purebred pit would be.

p.s. im sure u know already but pitbulls are terriers, which is why i replied to your thread.