Hi, advice please on a suitable breed to meet our needs.
We live in a small rural village in Devon . We are a married couple with a 5yo son. We feel he is now ready for a pup to grow up with him but we do not know what breed would be best.
We liked the look of 4 breeds, the Spinone, the Wheaten terrier, the Bearded Collie and the Golden Retriever. We have ruled out the Spinone because we don't fancy a dog whose spit hits the ceiling on a bad day, on a good day........ The Wheaten Terrier because his character is a bit to independant and as he is a terrier, is liable to shoot off at any time chasing owt that he fancies.
We want a dog that is medium size (not small) and we tend to like our dogs a bit scruffy. It is important that the dog is easily trained and will enjoy growing up with our son, and that eventually they will be able to go out safely together. We will probably be able to give the dog 1  to 2 hours exercise a day, either walking or the freedom of a field where I have a pigeon loft.
We fancy the Bearded Colie but would want to cut its hair, someone suggested a 'puppy cut' as being ideal but we would not be able to show the dog. The dog would be a family pet and kept for no other reason so that would not cause a problem, is hair cutting of this breed in anyone adverse to the dog? We did read somewhere that the Beardy can be snappy, can anyone confirm this?
The second breed is the Golden Retriever and meets we think  the things we are looking for above. But again any advice, or comments to the contrary, would be welcomed to help us make an informed decision.
Finally are there any other Breeds that you would recommend that you think might meet our requirements? Any comments, advice, help gratefully accepted
Many thanks
Alan