Someone seriously asked Google this question, and Google found a post that seriously attempts to answer it. According to a poll taken at a site called Pitpat, the top ten list of dogs perceived as friendly, gentle, lovable, sweet, and nice includes:
1. Golden Retrievers
2. Boston Terriers
3. Labrador Retrievers
4. Poodles
5. Border Collies
6. Beagles
7. Irish Setters
8. Staffordshire Bull Terriers
9. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
10. Cockapoos
"Cockapoos"? The mind squirbles. Dogs that can stand being called that probably are sweethearts, but what kind of humans can stand being asked what kind of dog they're walking and having to say it's a cockapoo?
Anyway, they didn't even know about Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, the official animal emblem of Maryland. This breed was created by crossbreeding Labrador and Golden Retrievers, and it's easy to find similar DNA in shelters everywhere. All the Chessies I've ever known were very gentle, friendly, lovable dogs. They were not free from bad habits, such as swimming in filthy water and then shaking that water out of their thick, fluffy, super-absorbent coats all over the nearest human, but if a person didn't like dogs, I would think living around Chessies would just about have to convert the person.
This web site has featured retrievers, poodles, and collies lately, and Irish Setters and spaniels aren't always easy to find in shelters. Terriers are, unfortunately. The phobia-trigger phrase "pit bull" does apply to one of the many breeds of terriers, and other terrier breeds' faces look similar enough to trigger some phobic reactions. If you would consider moving into a new apartment, you might want to look for a smaller dog with a different kind of face. Nevertheless, the huge majority of terriers are well-behaved, quiet, lovable dogs. Their typical bad habit, if they have one, is digging up the lawn. Usually they do that when mice and rats are burrowing close to the house.
They are intelligent animals and need to have "jobs." All pet animals are most likely to misbehave when they're bored. As the gremlins were counting on in the movie of that name, any animal that's always kept at the back of a closet and not given water will either break out and turn into a gremlin, or die.
I tend to feel that the best looking terriers are the mixed breeds who look more like hounds or spaniels or something. I'll try now to detach from that feeling and pick three of America's most photogenic adoptable terriers.
Zipcode 10101: Mango from Long Beach
One year old and probably close to her full healthy weight at 39 pounds, Mango comes with the warning that she's very energetic. She needs humans who like to walk or jog every day. She's described as very clever, a fast learner of all the basic training skills she's been taught. Because she is so active and always looking for things to learn and do, they recommend keeping her in a crate when nobody's watching her. But she is, according to the rescuing agency, nice to other dogs and children.
Zipcode 20202: Luna from Fairfax
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/luna-59958953/va/fairfax-station/homeward-trails-animal-rescue-inc-va210/
She's staying at a foster home, and they don't rave about her wonderful personality. They just say she's cat-friendly and child-friendly. So you know the foster family are getting attached to her wonderful personality. If they refuse to let her go, please notify this web site and we'll have another terrier post.
Zipcode 30303: Barkley from Winder
The shelter staff don't take time to do professional-quality web pages for their animals but it sounds as if there are good reasons. They spend more time taking the animals out to meet potential adopters. About Barkley they say he's a young, playful pup and behaves well with other animals.
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