Thinking of getting a dog?

It's no secret that we may be a little be in love with our Cockapoo Bisbee and it's clear the longer we have her just what a great decision we made.

Not only do we love being dog owners but owning a dog has opened up our world. Not only have we made new friends but we have also discovered new places. We think far more about staycations than we ever did before and a main reason for that is to holiday with the pup.

Our Isle of Skye road trip, recent trip to Stonehenge, Sheffield Elephant Hunt, Stratford-upon Avon,  Lumiere London and all recent prides are just a few of the places Bisbee has been. On top of that the Cockapoo games and other dog walk meet ups mean that our calendars are busier than ever before.

We didn't choose a Cockapoo just because they were cute though. But that is an added benefit. We actually spent quite a bit of time researching into dog breeds and attributes and checking that our lifestyle would meet their needs.

I had the requirement of floppy ears and Laura had the requirement that it looked like a proper dog. We both got our wish.

Well a 'proper' dog of sorts :) 

Our other areas of consideration were:

• Amount of time they needed to be walked: over 2 hours a day wouldn't be possible
• Size: our house couldn't fit a big dog so smaller would be better
• Shedding: I have eczema and while i'm not allergic to dogs we thought it best to go for a low level malter or one that doesn't malt at all
• Can it be left at home alone or is it anxious breed

In our decision making process we Googled tons and found a flow chart that asked us a series of simple questions with the output being suggestions of the types of breeds that could work for us. Cocker Spaniel and Poodle featured on quite a few of our results. 

We were recently sent a similar flow chart from Puppy Spot and wanted to share:

On this one we actually got The Easy Going Playmate. Golden Retriever would have been my pick from the ones suggested.

PuppySpot (for those in the USA) is a service to match families or individuals with breeders. The company have created a network of support that celebrates dogs for how amazing they are. If you are interested you can check out available puppies by clicking here.

We can't recommend getting a dog highly enough but it is a big responsibility. We are lucky that Bisbee is happy to travel anywhere with us, be left in the car (if we need to pop in somewhere), or at home. She's happy staying with family, friends and dog sitters. Other than really big dogs she's also happy to socialise but best of all she is incredibly loving.

What did you get in the flow chart?