Hi, my name is Stacey and I have just joined this forum in the hope of getting some advice regarding dog breeds.

In our house, there are myself, my partner, and 4 children aged 11, two 7 year olds, and a 1 year old. We also have an amazon parrot.

We have decided that spring would be a good time to get a dog to join our family as we then have fairly ok weather to get outside as much as possible with our new dog for training, and lots of walks, before the children break up for the summer holidays. It just gives me maximum time whilst the children are at school for training and getting to the know the dog one to one without the kids wanting to play and come out for walks in the day time.

We also would like this time to do as much research as possible into what breeds would suit our family. We would love to rehome a dog needing a new home however we havnt discounted getting a puppy, it depends whether they are any dogs that suit us and that we suit them when we are ready to get a dog.

I have had a springer spaniel before and my partner has had various breeds before. All apart from his labrador, were working dogs so we cant really go off those as they werent family pets.

The one condition my partner has set is that the dog must not be too large. With 4 kids and the parrot we havnt got the room for a large dog, along with a large bed, and have to take into account we have a 1 year old who will be toddling around liable to get knocked over by a bigger dog.

I so far, have 3 breeds in mind but am soooo open to ideas of what ppl think would suit our family.

Springer spaniel (bouncy and mad i know but we are a lively household and relish long walks out - plus I have had a springer in the past)

Sprocker spaniel (I am unsure how much of the springer they have in them but love the fact that they have the personality of the dogs i love but are slightly smaller in size)

Border terrier (these would be a fantastic size for having with the kids, but I have read they are not good to have with other small pets inc birds as the hunting instinct can come out and i cant have a dog trying purposely to attack my parrot. They wouldnt be out alone together whatever dog we get but I dont want one that goes out of the way to attack her.)

Any help suggestions advice most welcome.