The 7 Groups

Ewwww......Did you just stick your tongue in my ear????

There's a little question going around some blogs I frequent and I thought I would play. The question is: "If you had to choose a dog from each AKC group, what would you choose and why? (excluding your own breeds).

Drumroll to my highly stereotyped breed list....

1. Sporting- Flat Coated Retriever. I really like the bounciness, overall engery, and happy attitude of the breed. I haven't met too many in real life but have heard that they have more of a quirky happy, silly attitude about everything- way more then a golden or lab.

A close second would be the French Brittany Spaniel, but they're a bit too small for my liking and technically not AKC registered to count for this poll :)

2. Hound- This is a tough one since I really am not a hound person. I can't stand the constant baying of the scent hounds! I think I would choose the whippet. I would feel like I'm going to break it, but they can be pretty playful and obviously are very athletic. Whippets seem to do wonderful in agility. I'm not a huge fan of their looks, but the black ones can be kind've cute :)

image byPleple2000

My second choice would be the Rhodesian Ridgeback since besides being gorgeous, I feel like they are the least hound-like of the hounds. But Ridgebacks are way too laid back and couch potatoish for my liking.

3. Working- Bernese Mountain Dog hands down! I LOVE these dogs. Such great cuddlers and yet so bouncy! Someoday I might own one, far far into the future. They just make such great foot warmers :)

Second place goes to the Siberian Husky. I love how they talk and of course they are absolutley gorgeous dogs!

4. Terriers- Another hard one, I have always said that I don't like terriers. Although recently I have started to reconsider my true feelings as I do like the high energy crazy dogs and terriers fit that bill to a T. Of course I also say that I like a strong working drive and terriers have strong drive but not really to work (unless it's ratting!) but maybe the working drive doesn't matter if you can harness that motivation. Anyway, the Jack Russell wins. Who knows, maybe I'll even have one some day.

Image by Christian Gildlof

Second place goes to the American Pit Bull Terrier. I think they are great dogs and have decent drive, excellent family dogs, but still wouldn't want to own one. I just don't like their big heads :)

5. Toys- another group that I'm not really a fan of. I think it's more the people who own these type of dogs than the dogs themselves. A lot of people turn their little dogs into yappy, out of control, little monsters. Winner out of this group would be the Papillion. I think they are super cute, highly trainable, active, and super smart. If they came in a bigger size I would get one in a heartbeat!

Second place goes to the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I think these dogs are such sweethearts. Really they are the perfect family dog, not an aggressive bone in their body and are also really easy to train. Perfect therapy dogs!

6. Non Sporting- Hands down this goes to the American Eskimo Dog. Again these dogs are active, smart, and highly trainable. They make perfect circus dogs :) I really think I would have a blast doing agility and obedience with an eskie. Super cute. I can see myself owning an eskie in the far future.

Picture by SheltieBoy

Second place is a toughie. I wouldn't own any of the other dogs in this group, ever. If I wanted laughs I guess I might go with a frenchie, but realisticaly I guesss I would have to go with the dalmation. At least dals have athletic ability despite thier reputation for an iffy temperament.

7. Herding- Now here's a great group of dogs for me! The Border Collie is my obvious answer. Great athleticism, working drive, playfulness, really everything you want in a dog- if you have an outlet for it all. I would really like to own one someday but am scared about the lack of an "off switch" :)

Second place goes the Cardigan Corgi if that counts. Really it is very different from the pembroke in personality! If it doesn't count, I choose the sheltie but their barking would scare me from ever owning one :)

So there's my picks. What about yours?

Dexter – ( October 17, 2009 at 6:14 AM ): That is a most fun game for sure. Gosh, Lance and Vito must be a bit miffed by your choices, though. Momma LOVES terriers, but I have a no terrier rule myself.

Slobbers,
Mango
Achieve1dream – ( October 17, 2009 at 9:07 AM ): Oh what fun!! I will definitely play this one. Thanks for telling us about it. :)
Achieve1dream – ( October 17, 2009 at 5:28 PM ): I know it is fun! I agree about the German Shepherds that's why I wrote what I did about what people have done to them. Its soooo sad. One of the GSDs I had as a kid was fear aggressive (mainly because we didn't know to socialize) and another one was insanely shy but not aggressive about it. The others had wonderful temperaments but all died WAY too young of genetic health problems. Very sad, but I still love them. I think someday if I have the time and money to research bloodlines and find a healthy, sane dog I might get another one. We'll see. :)