A dog trainer has shared the five dog breeds that he’d never own himself, including the one that he wouldn’t have unless his ‘life depended on it’.
Elijah Boateng (@apex_dogtraining) regularly shares training and behaviour advice online for pet owners, having built up a huge wealth of experience with dogs over the years.
The Sydney-based trainer recently posted a video about the five breeds he’d never own, saying in the caption: “This is not a list of dogs you shouldn’t get, just dogs I wouldn’t own after training and looking after many.”
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He added as a disclaimer: “THIS IS MY OPINION AND PERSONAL PREFERENCE. I UNDERSTAND YOU MAY OWN ONE OF THESE DOGS, AND THEY MAY BE LOVELY. I HAVE TRAINED ALL OF THESE BREEDS SEVERAL TIMES, I GET IT.”
In the video, Boateng walked us through the dog breeds and his reasoning behind his choices.
“First off, we have the Husky,” he said.
“This is quite a stubborn dog, I don’t love the temperaments on them, they feel to me like they still need to be in the wild rather than in people’s homes.”
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Next up was the Maremma Sheepdog, which Boateng said are ‘very serious dogs’.
“They’re not fun to train,” he explained.
“When you train them it feels like you’re forcing them to do stuff, rather than working with them.”
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Boateng also listed the Pug, a ‘very silly dog’ that has ‘many health problems’.
“I don’t like how they look, I don’t really like what they represent,” he added.
“Next we have the popular Cavoodle [a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle that is also known as a Cavapoo].
“To me, these dogs are a little bit anxious and a little bit annoying.
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“I don’t love them. It’s not a dog that I would want as a dog trainer.”
Lastly, Boateng also said he’d never own a Greyhound, stressing that ‘there’s nothing wrong’ with the breed, they’re ‘just a very boring dog’.
“Great for lifestyle, but not if you’re someone who’s into training,” he said.
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In an interview with news.com.au, the 24-year-old said the Husky would ultimately be the last breed he would own.
“I wouldn’t have one of those dogs unless my life depended on it,” he said.
“I don’t love their personalities, I train a lot of them. They make a lot of my clients’ lives very difficult … They’re not the hardest dogs in the sense that they have the biggest energy levels, but they’re the most dominant.”
Boateng said there had been two occasions while training Huskies when they proved particularly difficult as soon as he attached the lead.
“As soon as they thought they can’t get away and run off, they just started howling and screaming like they were going to die, and it’s literally never happened with any dog,” he recalled.
Jess Hardiman