Toughest Dog Breeds to Care For

Don't let their cuteness fool you. They can wreak havoc.

Toughest Dog Breeds to Care For

Having a home goes hand in hand with having a dog for a lot of people. And that makes perfect sense. Getting the right type of dog can turn a house into a home. And the right type of dog can be a beloved member of a family.

But sometimes, the wrong kind of dog can turn your house upside down. And some breeds have more of an appetite for destruction than others.

These dog breeds could potentially destroy your home — literally and figuratively. They are the toughest dog breeds to care for.

German Shepherd

Average weight: 60-90 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-13 years

Cost for puppy: $1,500-$3,000

Bottom Line: German Shepherd

There is no way to get you up to speed on what kind of brushing you will do if you bring a German shepherd into your home other than to say constantly.

The benefits of having a dog like this, with the loyalty and the intelligence, are almost canceled out by the sheer fact you'll have every single part of your home covered in dog hair. You can't get it all. You never will. It will be everywhere.

Is it worth it?

Boxer

Average weight: 60-70 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-12 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-$2,000

Bottom Line: Boxer

Few dogs are as easy on the eyes as the boxer, but few dogs have as much energy and ability to tear your house to shreds as this breed, either.

It's not exaggerating that once a boxer puppy reaches 3-6 months old you probably need to get them 1-2 hours of exercise per day in order to fully satisfy their need to run and play. Which is a big ask of any dog owner.

Also, they stink. Boxers have a lot of food allergies that make them prone to flatulence so be careful with that diet.

Chihuahua

Average weight: 5-10 pounds

Life expectancy: 15-20 years

Cost for puppy: $1,500-$2,000

Bottom Line: Chihuahua

The biggest problem with chihuahuas is their propensity to bite and nip at people. Small dogs need a lot of attention and can be anxious, but this breed can just be downright mean.

It's not like you can take these little guys on long walks, either, because they're not great dogs to take on walks because they like to shoot here and there too much.

Don't expect to be entertaining guests too much with the chihuahua in your home. They're not prone to making friends. But in case you want to give it a shot, make sure you have an abundance of chew toys on hand.

Beagle

Average weight: 20-25 pounds

Life expectancy: 12-15 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-2000

Bottom Line: Beagle

The reputation of the beagle boils down to one thing — they do what they were bred to do. They make a lot of noise, which was their original purpose to let hunters know where the animals they were in pursuit of were trying to hide out.

Beagles are actually pretty well behaved and pretty intelligent (and cute), but the real way they're going to destroy your home is when you leave. It's when they'll turn up the volume — because they miss you, of course. But that's not something your neighbors are probably going to appreciate very much.

Golden Retriever

Average weight: 60-70 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-12 years

Cost for puppy: $1,500-$3,000

Bottom Line: Golden Retriever

It's easy to understand why the golden retriever is such a popular breed. They're smart and friendly and pretty easy on the eyes. Not qualities that seem to lend themselves to picking your home apart, bit by bit.

But that's what they'll do. The golden retriever was bred to, well, retrieve things. And it's in their nature to have something to chew on or carry around and they will absolutely decimate every pair of shoes and couch corner and favorite concert T-shirt you ever had before they're properly trained.

Consider yourselves warned.

Pug

Average weight: 15-20 pounds

Life expectancy: 12-15 years

Cost for puppy: $1,500-$2,000

Bottom Line: Pug

Like a lot of flat-faced dogs, the pug has some gastrointestinal issues that can lead to some big-time stinkiness, and because they have the flattest of the flat faces, there's a lot of nastiness that can get caught up in those face folds that can make them smell pretty bad.

The pug also has a reputation for being an extremely stubborn dog, which makes them one of the most difficult dogs to house train. The accepted way to make them a little more prone to house training is to give them treats.

Which is a bad idea when you consider they also have issues with weight.

Dalmatian

Average weight: 50-70 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-13 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-$1,500

Bottom Line: Dalmation

Dalmations are another breed that's notoriously hard to house train, and decades of in-breeding among breeders have made their bloodlines not quite as pure. The dalmation isn't necessarily the go-getter it was as a dog 20-30 years ago.

This is a breed that needs a lot of daily exercise — not unlike the boxer — which a lot of owners don't realize until they've got the dog in their home.

It's going to take a lot of work to train this dog, and in the process, they're going to take your home and create a black-and-white spotted tornado of destruction that tears it to shreds before they're where you want them to be.

Chow Chow

Average weight: 60-90 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-15 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-$2,000

Bottom Line: Chow Chow

The dense double coat of the chow chow sheds just as bad or worse as the German shepherd. You can't really show potential owners this fact until the dog is in their home, and by then, it's too late.

Here's the thing to understand with the chow chow. Make sure you pick out a color of dog that you really, really like when you're finding that perfect puppy.

You need to do this because you will be covered in that same type of hair for the next 10-15 years, so you want to make sure it's a color you're comfortable with.

Basset Hound

Average weight: 50-70 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-12 years

Cost for puppy: $2,000-$3,000

Bottom Line: Basset Hound

Here's the thing about getting a basset hound. Understand the challenges ahead of time or suffer the consequences. Where do we begin? For starters, if there's any sort of steps or places that say, an older person might have trouble navigating, the basset hound will too. Because they have short, squat legs and a long body they're not very adept at going up or down stairs.

Next, there's the smell. Oh man, that smell. All of that loose skin that seems so smooth when you hug one or pick one up means this dog is going to stink constantly. Doesn't matter how much you bathe it or wash it. The smell never goes away.

Finally, there's the slobber. We've got some real slobberknockers on this list, but the basset hound is in the mix with the very best of them. You'll be covered in it.

Rottweiler

Average weight: 80-120 pounds

Life expectancy: 8-10 years

Cost for puppy: $1,500-$2,000

Bottom Line: Rottweiler

Rottweilers have a bad reputation from movies and television shows, but they're actually a great, good-natured dog to have.

The problem is that you can't underestimate the world-class amount of slobber these dogs produce. And as their parents, they're going to want to constantly be in contact with you and loving on you.

So as long as you have a rottweiler, you can expect to be covered in slobber. Which isn't the worst thing in the world. Unless you hate slobber.

Saint Bernard

Average weight: 140-180 pounds

Life expectancy: 8-10 years

Cost for puppy: $1,500-$2,000

Bottom Line: Saint Bernard

The lovable Saint Bernard has no concept of personal space, and that's not something that's going to change no matter how well they're trained.

That being said, you need to understand that once you bring a Saint Bernard into your home you've essentially sacrificed your couches and recliners and other household items to the Dog Owner Gods.

They will shed and drool over every single inch of your entire life.

Akita

Average weight: 60-90 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-12 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-$2,000

Bottom Line: Akita

Not too many dogs have the regal presence of the Akita, but just like most royalty, there's an attitude that goes along with that.

This breed has the temperament more in line with a cat than a dog in that they're incredibly aloof — and prickly when it comes to meeting new people. And their thick coat that was meant to keep them warm in the mountainous regions of Japan? It will be matted on your floor every single day.

On top of that, they don't really like to cuddle. So you get all the drawbacks from having a dog that sheds and none of the benefits that come with it.

Corgi

Average weight: 25-30 pounds

Life expectancy: 10-15 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-$2,000

Bottom Line: Corgi

Yes, we think Corgis are cute. We're not monsters. But we've actually spent time around these dogs, and it's evident very quickly that one of their downsides is they like to nip at ankles — anyone's ankles. Sometimes, it seems like it's not even possible to train them not to do it.

Another weird thing about a Corgi is that it's a small dog that doesn't think it's a small dog, which means they can't really be around other small dog breeds. Because there will be problems.

But yes, they're adorable. We get it.

Great Dane

Average weight: 130-175 pounds

Life expectancy: 7-10 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-$2,000

Bottom Line: Great Dane

The Great Dane is included because it will destroy your home. Just not in the literal sense.

Here's the thing. Great Danes don't live very long. Usually 10 years, if you're lucky. We put them on here because these wonderful, sweet and gentle giants will break your hearts because their lives just aren't long enough, and that's not fair at all.

We love Great Danes. It will break your heart when they're gone, but it begs the age-old question to be asked — is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?

Cocker Spaniel

Average weight: 25-35 pounds

Life expectancy: 12-15 years

Cost for puppy: $1,000-$2,000

Bottom Line: Cocker Spaniel

If you get a Cocker Spaniel be ready for some issues with the skin and food allergies and everything else you can think of — they have a lot of infections in their coats and they smell and they get sick pretty often.

While the Cocker Spaniel still looks essentially the same as it always has, decades and decades of inbreeding have made them way more difficult to train as well.