Best Dog Breeds for First-Time Owners

The kindest first dog is one that forgives your mistakes. That usually means a breed that is quick to understand what you are asking and not so driven that a missed walk turns the house upside down. None of these are effort-free — every dog needs training, exercise and routine — but they leave more room to learn as you go.

9 breeds in our library match

How we picked these: breeds we rate 4 out of 5 or higher for trainability while sitting at 3 out of 5 or lower for energy. The list is generated from our own breed ratings rather than hand-picked, and refreshes whenever we update a breed profile — so any breed we have not rated yet simply is not shown.