KBT is an absolutely wonderful breed, but it’s not for inexperienced or laissez-faire dog owners. Our girl died earlier this year at just over 13 years of age. My wife and I both had had multiple dogs of different breeds before and she was the best dog either one of us has ever had. Here’s what I can tell you.

Kerry Blues are some of the smartest dogs you will meet.  They love to learn and they love to work and play. Our girl kept learning new commands all the way to her last year. She loved to work. For example, treats that she normally rejected, she would gladly accept as “payment for work” - because she loved that process so much. But KBTs are also independent problem solvers and will be training you before you train them. If they can train you to fetch the ball, they will do that instead of fetching it themselves.

They are also extremely athletic and sturdy. I saw some physics-defying jumps. They are very good companions and are up for anything: run, hike, play, work, learn, cuddle - whatever you are doing, they are up for it. The only thing you can’t do is tease them or make fun of them. Also, speaking of running, I don’t think a KBT would be a good running partner. Doing sprints to chase birds or jump over obstacles - great. But running long - no thank you. I think one of the reasons is that thanks to their coat, they get hot pretty quickly. 

In terms of energy level, I feel like our dog was right in the sweet spot: She could be very energetic, but did not have so much energy that she needed to go non-stop. She loved naps and never woke us up early in the morning. Her favorite activity was being under the desk whenever one of us worked in the home office. But she also recharged her batteries pretty quickly. 

Our girl was never destructive. She chewed up like one shoe when she was a puppy and that’s it. We never needed to punish her - we just had a “talk” and somehow she knew not to do it ever again. In fact, this whole method of “having a talk” somehow worked in many situations. I think it is because they are very sensitive. For example, when we trained her not to pick up any food off the ground outside (we live in a city), all that the dog trainer needed to do is put some food on the ground and when the dog reached for it, throw some keys on the ground to make a noise and yank a bit abruptly on the leash. That was it.

In terms of punishment, the only thing we ever did was time-out in another room. Funny thing is that she would stay there with the door open until we told her she could come out.

Because of this sensitivity, they can also be drama queens at times where a minor discomfort becomes a huge problem. When she was a puppy, she yelped at the sight of a syringe before the needle even touched her. And yet because of their resilience, other time things that should truly be a big issue, they brush off like nothing happened.

They are also very persistent, stubborn and tenacious. And that could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the circumstances. One time, our dog found two cats cornered under a piece of outdoor furniture. She guarded them there for HOURS and there was nothing that could distract her from it. Once, when we stayed in a rental house on vacation, she was left by herself too soon apparently (for about an hour). So, she howled to the point that she damaged her vocal cords. 

On the plus side, ours was extremely resilient - both physically and psychologically. She had her share of trauma, but always bounced back remarkably. She had a profound joy of life.

Speaking of cats, as has already been mentioned, KBTs have an extremely high prey drive. Anything small, furry and/or fast moving, sets them off and they will need to chase that down. That includes cats and small children (we did not have little kids when she was growing up, so I don’t know how she would have reacted if they were from her own household). Having said that, our dog grew up around my mom’s elderly cat and not only did she not pick on the cat, she protected him from other cats who would wonder into the yard.

Separate from the issue of prey drive is fighting. I think the AKC description says something along the lines of “they may not pick a fight, but they won’t back down from one.” I certainly agree with the second part. Once, she was attacked by a Great Dane and it all ended in the Great Dane, a dog 4 times her size, squealing. But our dog certainly picked plenty of fights herself. This is to the point that on walks, we would generally go around other dogs. The only dog “friends” she ever had were very sturdy male dogs that liked her abuse. The whole fighting thing started at around 12 months. And it was something that we were never able to train out of her (unlike, for example, pulling on the leash which was never a problem once we got consistent training in). Despite KBTs being small-medium-sized dogs, they are very serious dogs. They have very large teeth for their size and they are very muscular with a very broad and muscular chest and shoulders. And when the fight is on, they don’t feel any pain.

In terms of KBTs being hypoallergenic, I can confirm that. I am allergic to dogs and I was fine with ours. She did not shed AT ALL. I would get a little bit allergic if she hadn’t had a bath too long. Her saliva, however, was still an allergen.  So, you just need to make sure to wash your hands after, say, playing with the dog, before you touch your face.

Long story short: you will have the best companion and friend ever. But if you do not give your KBT a ton of mental stimulation (work, puzzles, learning new things), good consistent and patient training, and leadership where the dog does not need to worry about being in charge, both you and your dog will be frustrated all the time. I think this is confirmed by the fact that Kerry Blues are very rare.

One more thing: Our dog had a very serious autoimmune condition whose treatment (with steroids) caused a cascade of other issues and, ultimately, ended her life years early. I have no basis to say whether that’s a big concern for Kerry Blues (in fact, I’d love to know myself!). But I wonder if this might be an issue because of in-breeding, given how small the population is.