The Worst Dog Breeds for New Owners: What AI Gets Right (and Wrong)

Is Your Dream Breed Actually a Bad Match For You?

Every new dog owner pictures the same thing before they bring a puppy home: long walks, a dog curled up at their feet, a best friend who just gets it. Then the puppy comes home and starts pulling toward every smell on the block, or barking at the mail carrier for the fortieth time that week, or chewing through a third pair of shoes, and the question creeps in. Did I get the wrong dog?

That question is exactly what Kayl tackles in this week's video. She asked AI to name the worst dog breeds for a brand new family, then held its answers up against her own 20-plus years of experience seeing roughly 500 dogs a week at the McCann Dogs facility. Some of AI's picks lined up with what she sees on the floor every day. A few of them, she pushed back on hard.

You can also watch this week's video here if you'd rather see her reactions in real time, including the moment the comment section drama about how to pronounce "cane corso" comes back up.

Where AI and 20 Years On the Training Floor Actually Agree

Kayl agreed the Cane Corso, Belgian Malinois, and Australian Cattle Dog belong on a worst-for-beginners list, and not because they're bad dogs. They're big, driven, and built for work, and in the hands of someone without dog experience they can turn into more than a family can safely manage. Same story with the Akita and the Chow Chow. Both are loyal in their own way, but neither is wired to be eager to please, and that combination trips up new owners fast.

The one she agreed with even though it hurt a little personally? The Border Collie, her own favorite breed. "For a lot of Border Collies that I see with new families, they have their family trained inside out and backwards before the family even realizes it, because they are really, really smart," she says in the video. Smart doesn't mean easy. It usually means the opposite, especially for a first dog.

Where She Pushed Back

The Beagle was the one that surprised her most. AI flagged it as a poor beginner choice because beagles are loud and scent-driven, and sure, that's true. But Kayl's seen enough beagles come through the McCann Dogs facility to disagree with putting them anywhere near a worst list. They're cooperative, healthy, a manageable size, and yes, a little noisy, but that's a trainable habit, not a dealbreaker.

The Siberian Husky got a similar half-agreement. People love to say huskies can't be trained to walk on a loose leash or come when called because it's "just in their breed," and Kayl doesn't buy that. She's seen plenty of huskies do both reliably once they're motivated the right way. They're still a lot of dog for someone brand new, so the caution makes sense, but the breed itself isn't the obstacle. The training approach is.

And then there's what AI missed entirely. German Shepherds, Boxers, and Vizslas didn't make its list, but Kayl added all three, not because they're bad dogs, but because they're popular, attractive breeds that pull in owners who fall for the look before they think through the exercise, structure, and leadership those breeds actually need.

The Real Point Kayl Keeps Coming Back To

Every one of these breeds has good examples and bad ones, and she says as much throughout the video. "It's never the dog's fault," she points out about the Boxer specifically, and that line applies to the whole list. A breed can hand you a harder starting point, more energy, more independence, more instinct to work through, but what actually decides whether things go well is whether the dog gets taught what's expected of it before life starts testing it.

That's the whole idea behind the McCann Method. We start dogs off winning, using motivation and clear guidance so they understand what's right before we ever ask them to prove it under distraction. We don't correct confusion, because a dog that doesn't understand yet isn't being defiant, it's just not there yet. And we never hand a family a "trained dog" and send them on their way. We train the people holding the leash, because that's the part that actually sticks.

If you're weighing a breed right now, or you already brought one home and you're wondering if you made a mistake, the honest answer is usually that the breed isn't the problem. The plan is.

Bringing Home a Puppy? Start Here.

The first month sets the tone for everything that follows, breed traits and all. If your puppy is under four months old, Puppy Essentials is where we start families off right, housetraining, crate training, chewing, nipping, and the early groundwork that makes the next twelve years easier. Classes fill up quickly since spots are limited to keep the group small, so if you're anywhere near Burlington, Guelph, Ancaster, Dundas, Cambridge, Brantford, Hamilton, or Oakville, it's worth checking availability sooner rather than later.

Not near one of our locations, or need a schedule that bends around your life? Online Puppy Essentials gives you the same foundation with a McCann Dogs trainer in your corner the whole time, breed traits and all.

On that note, happy training.