Choosing The Right Pet: Breed Myths, Training Truths, And Real-Life Vet Advice

What Are Some Of The Most Common Mismatches Of Owners And Breeds?

Ever fallen for a dog’s looks and learned the hard way that your life wasn’t built for that breed? We’ve seen the aftermath in the ER, and we’re pulling back the curtain on the mismatches that drive emergencies, behavior blowups, and heartbreak—and how to prevent them. From high-drive herders that outsmart baby locks to gentle giants with giant logistics, this conversation turns hype into hard-earned insight.

We start with the breeds people get wrong most: border collies and Belgian Malinois that crave daily work for their bodies and minds, and greyhounds that live for the couch but need safe room to sprint. We tackle the myth of “send-away training” and explain why real obedience is owner education—clarity, consistency, and time together. Then we dive into protection breeds and the danger of tolerating behavior you fear, plus the unglamorous math of size: food bills, medical risks like bloat and cardiomyopathy, and the simple question of how you’ll lift a 170-pound dog when he’s ill.

If you live near doodle nation, you’ll recognize the next chapter. Poodles rarely eat socks, yet their doodle crosses seem to star in foreign-body surgeries: socks, cob cobs, underwear, even toilet paper. We share what ER teams actually see, why deep-chested crosses warrant bloat planning, and the practical tools—hamper management, “leave it,” crate training—that cut risk. We also unpack the pit bull narrative: how intact males and encouraged posturing skew public perception, and how training, structure, and empathy transform outcomes.

Cat guardians aren’t left out. We explore breed-linked heart risks in Maine coons and Sphynx cats, the vet-averse streak in Bengals and Abyssinians, and why most families do best with domestic mixes if they want fewer surprises. The throughline is simple: fit is kindness. Talk to your veterinarian before you choose, understand the breed’s mind and body, and match the pet you love to the life you actually live.

If this helped you rethink your next pet—or your current training plan—share it with a friend, subscribe for more vet-backed insights, and leave a review to tell us which breed surprised you most.

To learn more about Frisco Emergency Pet Care visit:
https://www.FriscoEmergencyPetCare.com
Frisco Emergency Pet Care 
11201 Preston Road 
Frisco, Texas 75033 
469-287-6767 

Transcript

Welcome And Episode Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Frisco Emergency Pet Care Podcast, your trusted source for expert insight into emergency veterinary medicine. Hosted by Dr. Mike Lasasso, Chief of Staff at Frisco Emergency Pet Care, this podcast brings you essential information to help protect the health and safety of your dogs and cats. Serving North Dallas with 24-7 emergency and critical care, the team at Frisco Emergency Pet Care is here when every second counts. Now, let's begin.

Why Breed Fit Beats Looks

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Choosing the right breed is not just about looks, it's about lifestyle, expectations, and understanding what a dog truly needs to thrive. Welcome everyone. I'm Julie Schwenzer, co-host and producer in the studio with Dr. Mike Lasasso, Chief of Staff at Frisco Emergency Pet Care. Again, Doctor, it's always awesome to talk to you about these breeds.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

It's great to be with you, too, Julie. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

That's a

High-Energy Herders Explained

SPEAKER_02 1:06

thank you. So today we're exploring the most common mismatches between owners and breeds, especially misconceptions about examples like border collies, greyhounds, and as you pointed out too, between our recording sessions is why early obedience training does matter so much. So if we could get into it, um, you know, you have a lot of experience as a pet parent and as a doctor. So what are some of the most common mismatches you've seen in terms of the person's lifestyle and maybe their education on a breed and what breed they get?

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I think that we see one of the more unfortunate mismatches I think that we see are people that don't understand when they get a high-energy herding breed, right? They think border collies are beautiful dogs, and they are. Um or the Belgian Malinois. Um these dogs are extremely active. Uh the other challenge is not only are they physically active, but they're mentally active. They are extremely smart, and if you don't give them something to do, they will find something to do. And that is not always something that people are looking for. Um, you know, when you're when you're leaving a dog home in an apartment or or in a house for the day, uh, you know, you don't need a dog that is trying to figure out how a doorknob works or how to get a cabinet open. These things that you, you know, we associate with human toddlers, but some of these dogs are definitely smart enough to uh uh to do it. And when they don't get enough exercise, they can be real behavior challenges. All

Training As Owner Education

SPEAKER_01 2:54

right. So I think that increasing their increasing their self-esteem and their understanding of where they fit in the pack and going through a lot of obedience work, number one, gets you closer to your dog because you're spending more time with them. Because this is not a this is not a recommendation to say, hey, send your dog off so somebody else can train it, but it's going through those obedience courses yourself. So in a lot of in a lot of ways, it's actually training pet owners how to think more like a dog, uh, than it is trying to get a dog to actually do anything that you're trying to get it to do. It's really understanding how they how they think.

Protection Breeds And Size Realities

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Um the other unfortunate thing is people think, oh, I want to I want a protection dog, and they walk in with an intact male Kane that they are afraid of, and and they kind of laugh when he tries to bite me. So it's unfortunate because I can tell they're like, no, no, if he jumps up on the couch, I move over because you know I don't want him to hurt me. That's not the kind of family member that you really want. And it's not that the Kane is bad, it's honestly not one of my favorite breeds, but I have met a couple of them that are the exceptions that prove the rule, right? Super, super sweet dogs. But you you kind of need to know what you're getting into, and to a certain extent, size matters. Um, you know, I have seen a couple of um really lovely 90 or 100-pound women that own English mastiffs. When you're talking about a 175-pound dog that outweighs you by 75 pounds, right? I mean, their body weight is almost twice yours. What happens when something goes wrong when he is sick, right? You can't, I get people that call me and say, hey, I need you to come out and get my dog because I can't get him in the car. I mean, it's not something that we think about when we get dogs, but the logistics sometimes of having these big ones, um, the newfis. Uh, I mean, we don't see a lot of newfis down here in Texas, but but they're around. Um, Samoids, I haven't seen a Samoyid, honestly, in probably 10 years. Uh St. Bernard's. Uh, these dogs, and the and the English Mastiffs, uh, the Khanes, the Dog de Bordeaux, uh, all of the Mastiff breeds tend to get

Sighthounds: Couch Potatoes With Speed

SPEAKER_01 5:20

really big. Uh, that they eat a lot more than people think they're going to. Um, so there is that challenge. You've got the dogs that you don't recognize, like I said, the border collis and the mouse that need a tremendous amount of exercise versus dogs that you think do, like the Greyhound, that honestly is happy to be a couch potato almost 100% of the time. However, when they want to get out and and stretch their legs and move, they need some space because they will pick them up and put them down. I mean, it is amazing to watch a greyhound move. Um, pharaoh hounds are similar to that. Uh, all of a bees and hounds, again, these are really quite rare dog breeds, at least in my part of Texas. I've seen, I think, one abese and hound in 30 years, and I think I've seen two pharaoh hounds. They're not those sight hounds, they are not that common around here. Um they happen.

The Doodle Foreign-Body Mystery

SPEAKER_01 6:20

We see a ton of doodle breeds all of a sudden. They've so so very so very popular, and they've got most of them are actually lovely dogs, but there's an interesting thing that has happened that we can't explain is that you mix a standard or even a miniature poodle with a Bernese mountain dog, with an old English sheepdog, with a golden retriever, with a Labrador retriever, whatever form of doodle thing that you want to have. Poodles don't eat socks. I mean, as a general rule, I don't see a lot of standard poodles, a lot of poodles that necessarily get into things. It's not the first thing we think of when we think of poodles. The first thing I think of with standard poodles is actually bloat, but we talked about that in a previous episode. And that that does happen in the doodle breeds too, and and that's something else that owners need to be aware of when they get dogs is do I have a deep chested dog? Do I need to get the prophylactic gastropexy done? Um, do I just need to be, you know, cognitive of the signs of bloat? But there's something about poodle crosses that turns them into foreign body scavenging machines. I have done more surgery, taken socks and cord cobs and underwear and got even even rolls of toilet paper out of doodles that I don't take out of other breeds. And, you know, people, it is, it is somewhat breedist, and I will admit that. But I mean, my first question in my ER when I see a doodle come through the door, I'm like, how many socks did it eat and how long ago? And instead of being offended, people look at me and they're like, How did how did you know? You know, it was just one sock and it was 20 minutes ago. I'm like, well, that's great, because we can induce vomiting and at least we don't have to go to surgery, hope, hopefully. Um, so yeah, it is an interesting phenomenon with some of these breeds, what they uh what we see, because like I said, we don't see it in the poodles, and we don't necessarily see it in the golden retriever. I mean, we do, but not to the extent we do in the golden doodle.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Yeah, I find it so interesting when these doodle mixes get a little naughty because we know a lot around here. It seems like every two houses has a doodle. I've been Ohio, um, but uh northeast Ohio. And um, I was curious about that too. And they're the ones likely to, you know, not go over their invisible fence line, but to definitely like kind of chase a kid along the sidewalk who's on a bike and and things like that. So um, yeah, I wonder why. I wonder why this is.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

It is interesting what those what those doodles will get into. So and I'm shocked at for I mean they they are popular, so we see a lot of them, but we do see a disproportionate amount for foreign body ingestion, and I can't tell you why.

Calmer Large Breeds And Health Risks

SPEAKER_02 9:29

And then another question, you mentioned greyhounds are a lot calmer than people would expect, except you know, when they do need to exercise, they can really they can really go, which I think that's what people assume. What about other breeds like the Great Dane and other breeds that may be um on the possibly on the calmer side for somebody who is looking for that type of breed that is a little bit more chill overall?

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Sure. It's you know, for for I mean for my money. I mean, you think of you think of the prototypical, at least for my generation, you think of the the chill dog, you think of Flash from the Dukes of Hazard, right? You think of the basset hound that doesn't move. Um bassets can can be very sweet. Um tend to be sweeter than the bloodhounds that I know. Um, but they are both usually fairly low energy dogs. The Great Danes certainly do not have the hyperactivity that we would see in something like a Malinois. Um again, the the challenge with the Dane is back to size. Uh in a dog that is going to be very, very large. Does he fit in your in your apartment? Uh the the big dogs with their, they also have a tendency towards heart disease. So kind of the in the previous episode we talked about, you know, what the the downsides of of different breeds, uh Danes between their hearts and their stomachs, they can be challenges too.

Pit Bulls: Behavior Vs. Ownership

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Um, I mean, for my money, it's it's the pit bull. All right. So I mean, that's what I have. I've got a rescue pity. Uh pit bulls have a really bad rap, uh a little bit less deserved than something like the Kane, but again, as long as as long as these dogs have got some kind of training, the the bad ones are typically bad because either they lack training or they've actually been encouraged to not be such a great dog. I find in general the aggressive pit bulls are usually intact males. I mean, we do see increased aggression with testosterone, uh, but it's not just the fact that it's an intact male. It's why is he an intact male? And it's probably because he's got a male owner who's looking for something that is either aggressive or acts aggressive. Um, and so some of that behavior is is encouraged. So it's not just the fact that he's uh intact or entire if you're British. It's the whole psychology that goes along with why he is that way. So um, to a great extent, I think the challenge with pit bulls is more a challenge with pit bull owners than it is with the dogs themselves. Uh, this dog I rescued is a we think two or three-year-old. She looked like she'd been a bait dog in some fights. Uh, and she is the she's the sweetest dog I've ever had. How she we brought her home with uh a couple of small girls in the house, and they laid on top of her, and she just takes it. You know, and I say, Look, it's time to do your nails. She rolls over on her back and waits for me to dremel them. And I would love to take credit for some of that, but I don't deserve any of it. It's just her.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

She sounds wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

She's she's amazing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

And you know, I another question that I've heard is why Archivos are so angry.

Small Dogs, Big Attitudes

SPEAKER_02 13:01

I don't know if you found that in your practice, but I'm curious about these lap dogs. Your thoughts on any in particular?

SPEAKER_01 13:08

No, I I don't know why they tend to be uh so quick to bite. They also tend to be pretty quick to bark. They tend to be fairly vocal, and it is it's an uncommon chihuahua or Yorkie or miniature poodle that's going to be really aggressive that you don't know is aggressive until you're really within biting range. They they tend to get kind of growly. I don't know if that is more of a defensive issue, right? They're so much smaller than everything around them that everything seems to be a threat. I can I can kind of understand that. If I was their size, I'd be intimidated by everything and a little bit afraid. Um, now again, we have lots of exceptions that prove that rule, as I've got lots of super sweet chives that um, you know, that wouldn't even think about biting anybody. Um, but I have yeah, I have met my share of challenges uh when we've got these these little old grumpy um dogs. Yeah, they can be a challenge to work on because we don't want to induce a lot of anxiety just examining these dogs, but when they've got problems, we've got to look at them and when they don't want to be handled, it's uh it's tough.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

What about Yorkis? Because that that's super popular that we've seen around here.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

They Yorkis are sensitive. Um, I mean it's it's one of the few breeds that if you if you stress them while they're given birth, they'll just stop. How do you stop that process, you know, just by looking at a dog? Um so they are um very easily stressed, um, very nervous little dogs. And a lot of that, I think, again comes from a lack of any kind of obedience training. They're carried around, whatever

Cat Breeds And Hidden Heart Disease

SPEAKER_01 15:15

they want, they get they have this feeling that they're in control, but they know they're not in control and they shouldn't be in control. Um, so there's a lot, a lot going on. I have lots, I have more sweet yorkies than than aggressive ones. The chihuahuas are probably closer to 50-50.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

And a last question for you about cats, and I know we spoke about this before between um podcasts, but you mentioned you know, you don't obviously see as many um uh cats or or there's a lot of mixed, right? A lot of mixed breeds that you can.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

We see more dogs and cats in general. Uh, and I think that that is true for veterans across the board. Some of that is because dog ownership is more common. The other part is that dogs are a lot easier to bring in. Uh cats kind of a hassle to bring in, whether it's for routine or whether you think they're sick. Uh dogs don't hide illness quite as well as cats do. Um so there are a lot of reasons, you know, but there are there are some breeds of cat that people don't realize what they're getting into until they've gotten into it, right? So they get they come in with these great big, with these panthers, these um these great huge main coon cats, or these Norwegian forest cats. And, you know, he's beautiful, he weighs almost 20 pounds, but he's a healthy weight because he is he's a lynx. Uh, and they say, What do you mean he has a heart murmur at three? Like, why why are we talking about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy? And I'm like, because it's a known problem in the breed, this is why you need to talk to us first. You know, people that get a sphinx, which is the the hairless cat, they're more prone to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy than the than the mancoons are. So, and somehow folks are shocked by that when to the veterinarians were like, this is for us, this is common knowledge. If if you talk to us about what you're thinking about doing, we can at least tell you questions that you should be asking breeders and and things. Now, a lot of people will find these things out in forums, and and some people are very well informed, but sometimes it's a it's a real shock. And dealing with dealing with a sudden death in a in a two-year-old cat because nobody knew he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And sometimes, unfortunately in cats, sometimes sudden death is the first sign of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. That's a really difficult thing to deal with. Um I mean, they can be great cats. Uh people get bengals because they're very exotic and they they are beautiful cats. I'll give you that. They do have a personality that can be a little challenging for the veterinary team. Uh but you know, they they are pretty.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

Yeah, I've heard that. I've heard about uh a few of what you just mentioned, especially uh uh and and bang bangles. I mean I don't know if you've seen a lot of those.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

We the Bengals and the Aussakats uh are

Most Cats Are Domestic Mixes

SPEAKER_01 18:30

are both prone to um, I would say excitable behaviors. They do not like coming to see us as a general rule. Uh I've I've met a couple um that are really nice. Abyssinians also tend, in my experience, to be not happy outside of their own comfort zone. I mean, that's true of all cats, right? But um, you know, but the but the vast majority of what we see, 98% of the cats I see aren't uh aren't main coons or British short hairs or Scottish Rexes, uh Devon, sorry, Devon or Cornish Rexes or Scottish folds. Um they're not sphinxes, they're what we call a domestic short hair. You're walking down the street, short haired cat, or a domestic medium hair, domestic long hair. It's kind of the way we say mutt when we're talking about cats. Um, just the thoroughly mixed, just domestic cat. It's nice to see them. It's a challenge for people who are like, oh, I didn't think this long-haired cat would shed this much. Really? Did you did you not think that? Um, if you're on a cat that doesn't shed, you have to get a hairless one. But they like I said, they've got their challenges.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

Yeah, this is it's really fascinating.

Closing And Clinic Details

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Thank you again, though, for all this reminding us about how important education is and training and knowing what you're getting into before you're, like you said, before you're in it.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

All right, well, thank you so much, Dr. Lasasso.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Thank you for listening to the Frisco Emergency Pet Care Podcast. To learn more, visit FriscoPetER.com. Call 469-287-6767. Or stop by 11201 Preston Road, Frisco, Texas, 75033. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Frisco Emergency Pet Care is always here when your pet needs us most. Until next time, take care of your pets, and they'll take care of you.