Dogs, what to have, and why!

I love dogs in all shapes and sizes, but suspect like most owners, tend to stick to a particular breed or type.

Airedale Terriers are our favourites, having had 5 to date. All had nice easy going temprements, for terriers at least! But we lost 2 out of 5 to early deaths, namely cancer, and we are getting wary of having another full pedigree. With the 5 we have taken on not only cancers/leukemia, but entropia, skin complaints, heart murmurs and hip displasia, all of which are extremely distressing.

We have taken on a Choccy lab rescue, who is now 3 and he is so different to the terriers. 

I wanted to have a dog we had in my childhood, a Basenji, but after doing the research online, can now see all the issues my parents had with our beloved pet, and would have to do some hard thinking if I wanted one.

Anyone else have a favourite breed or type? Would love to know if anyone out there got a Basenji, and if so is it an only dog or do you have other dogs with it?

(ps,if you haven't heard of one, a Basenji is a smallish african hunting dog, brave as a lion, crafty as a fox and doesn't bark!)