Types of Dogs

When it comes to choosing a new dog as a pet for the home there are many different types of dogs or breeds of dogs to choose from.  The type of dog you choose should depend on a few different factors such as how much time you have to look after your new pet and the amount of space your new dog or puppy will require (both inside and outside space must be considered). Once you have taken these factors into account and you have a fair idea of what type of home you can provide you can start to look at the different breeds of dogs that you can consider.

Below we will look at a few of the most popular choices of pets for the home from the smaller breeds such as toy dogs and other small breeds of dogs to the larger breeds such as working dogs and sporting dogs.

In general a dog that weighs less than 22 lbs and is less than 16 inches in height falls into the small dog category.  Popular small dogs that are common as household pets such as the very small chihuahua and the yorkshire terrier are a great choice for many people.  Other popular choices of small dogs include the beagle, a lovely tri colored short haired dog and the dachshund, a long haired dog that is known to be a loving and devoted pet.

There are many different reasons that people will go for a particular type of dog everything from trainability of the particular breed to shedding and how much energy that particular breed is known to exhibit. Again when choosing any type of dog as a pet you should take all these factors into consideration but you should also be aware that just because the description says that a particular breed of dog is easy to manage or train or quiet, all dogs have their own unique personalities and your dog may not fit their description perfectly, so make your decision based on what you hope to have in your pet but do not be surprised if they turn out to be quite different!

In general medium sized dogs are among the most popular with families, this is partly due to the bad reputation small dogs have gotten for being biters or nippers and that large dogs are somewhat uncontrollable. Medium sized dogs usually weigh between 20 and 40 lb.

Some popular choices for family pets in the medium sized dog breeds include the cocker spaniel, the kerry blue terrier and the springer spaniel. The springer spaniel is one of the most popular choices due to their gentle nature and they are also said to be great with children and easy to intergrate into a family that may already have other pets.

Large types of dogs are becoming more popular and if you are considering a large dog as a pet then you must make sure that you have both the time and the energy to look after them because they will require a lot more exercise and space than the smaller breeds.

Three of the largest breeds of dogs in the world are the old English Mastiff, said to be the largest in the world overall, the Irish Wolfhound and the Great Dane. Large dogs are extremely powerfull and are are a great choice for anyone with the time to dedicate to them, they are excellent guard dogs intimidating people by sheer size rather than their nature which can often be quite gentle to many people's surprise.

Another large dog that has increased in popularity is the St Bernard, this is due in part to the family film Beethoven (see clip below to see this type of dog in action!)