Originally Posted by JoeMama
Much good advice already given.

I have seen some outstanding beagle-Jack Russel crosses. We, personally, owned two beagle-cocker crosses that were great dogs.

A beagle is a 25 pound dog with a 125 pound voice. Terriers are ferocious defenders and very attuned to scratching noises.

A beagle sized dog is about the minimum size dog that is practical in Michigan. Shorter and they don't want to go out in the snow to do their necessary business. Lighter and they get too cold, too quickly.

We are currently a German Shepherd family and will probably stay that way. Unless you have very high quality information, most mutts are a crap shoot because you do not really know the male parent(s).

We also once picked up a dog from the pound. In hindsight, I am 90% sure that the original owners dumped the dog because it would vomit pools of phlegm from May 15 until July 1. Folks with fancy houses and lots of carpet cannot work around that issue. We figured out a way but it was a pain in the butt.

In the end, dogs are individuals. Every breed or cross has good individuals....ones that would die for you and you, in return, would kill for them...and ones that are an embarrassment to the species.

Super-popular breeds, especially ones that just recently ascended to peak popularity (like the French Bulldog), and super-rare breeds have more than their fair share of clunkers. The super-popular because unscrupulous breeders breed every fertile bitch to cash in while they can. The super-rare (like foxhounds) because of the narrow gene pool.

An exception is if you know that most of the dogs are NOT registered but are owned by people who work them and cull ruthlessly. For example, people who hunt raccoons or keep ratting terriers in barns seldom care about "papers". They care about dogs that get the job done. You are blessed if people like this will sell you a puppy.

It is my unscientific opinion that you are very likely to be a happy man if you choose any breed that has been popular for more than 20 years and is in the top 20 registered breeds Link . A further piece of advice is to pick a dog that looks like, well, a dog. Dogs that have punched in noses or other extreme features have "issues" and are often in-bred. English Bulldog and Basset Hounds is an example of this kind of dog.

Best regards and good fortune

-Joe

FWIW, great words...

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]