06/13/2026
Fb is silly and is only sharing the video
A post from Samantha Stone
One of the most annoying terms in the dog world is âbeginner breedâ because the real question being asked when people use this term is âwhat breed can I neglect the most with minimal impact to my life?â
A golden retriever still needs training, exercise, enrichment, dedicated walks. Theyâre a working breed, just like a Belgian Malinois, bred to work. But Goldens, unlike Malinois, generally only develop âquirkyâ neurotic behaviors that their neglectful owners can laugh about and think are cute and funny. A Malinois will destroy your home.
If you source a golden from a byb, theyâll probably bark nonstop, get super fat, need constant PICA surgeries, spin in circles and then drop dead of cancer and break their owners hearts. If you source a Malinois from a byb theyâll probably bite your kid, bite your neighbor, bite your other dogs, and bite you for anything and everything.
Does that mean the golden is âeasierâ? I donât think it does. The only thing that is easier is the ability to not be impacted by how badly one messes up so that only the dog feels the impact of neglect.
There are also plenty of first time owners who excel with a malamute, and people whoâve owned 25 dogs and every single of one of them ran loose in the neighborhood and then only felt the impact of that neglect when their malamute got shot raiding a chicken coop. âBeginnerâ does nothing to define how a dog will succeed in a household.
I think a better way to look at things is âwhich dogs have thinner/wider margins of error?â Which breeds give you more leniency to correct your mistakes. The ones with wider margins of error still deserve to be sourced from breeders that actually care about their dogs QOL, and still deserve owners that will correct their mistakes instead of just letting them live in neglect because theyâre âeasyâ.
I have two Czechoslovakian Vlciak; this is a breed with a thin margin of error, and have an even smaller pool of good breeders. All breeds have more bad breeders than good, but because this breed has a thin margin of error sourcing is even more important because you donât have much wiggle room to make mistakes in sourcing.
They also need an owner who will put the time into their foundations from day one, boundaries and crate training and socialization. Boundaries crate training and socialization arenât in themselves difficult, and ALL dogs need it, but because CSV have a thin margin of error if you donât do those things youâre going to know very quickly why not doing those things is a bad idea.
A properly sourced and raised CSV however is not a difficult dog. They can be good apartment dogs for the right owner as they are very attached to their people and donât make much noise. They are great travel buddies. Their standard calls them to be suspicious of strangers, but suspicious means questioning intent and if humans have good intent they should be amiable with those people. They are absolutely trainable but need someone who builds a relationship with them if theyâre going to work with them. Theyâre adaptable and love to travel and do all sorts of sports if itâs with you.
Whether or not this is someoneâs first dog or 36th dog, if the breed is the right fit for the persons lifestyle they will succeed and if theyâre not theyâre going to fail. I know plenty of people who âhave owned and trained dogs their whole livesâ who couldnât handle a CSV because they failed the dog. I also know plenty of âthis CSV is my very first dog ever, didnât even grow up with oneâ owners who have the best behaved and happy CSV. Or Malinois. Or husky. Or Great Dane. Or Shiba Inu. Or rescue dog.
Today my 16 month old dog came to work with me, like she does often, and greeted everyone happily, settled politely at my desk, engaged people who wanted her attention and disengaged easily. I got a migraine when I got home, and even tho we didnât walk the day before she curled up in bed with me with my other CSV and slept politely while I suffered. She then had her dinner and went to sleep in her crate. She is one of the âeasiestâ dogs ever, as is her sister, but that does not negate the breedâs margin of error. The margin of error similarly doesnât negate how âeasyâ they are if you operate in that margin of error.
All dogs deserve the home that will source them ethically and give them what they need, and each home is unique in what kind of needs they can meet. First time owner or not.
(Brought to you by post migraine thoughts)
