Home/Family/Protection dog recommendation?

[GDawg]

My vote goes for the German Shepherd. They are extremely smart, loyal, friendly, alert and intimidating... Most "criminal" types won't come close to my front door knowing who lives with us.

Magnum died a few months ago (pictured below) but now we have "Buffy" and she's a bigger female than Magnum and she is awsome! (I'll upload a picture of her later.)

[mym1a]

I don't know how well the family dog would protect you but, they definately have a good pair of ears on them!!!!!

[gak906]

Hey, Patriot nice to meet ya.
Thought I would chime in on this one. Although I will be Partial.
<<<< ( belgian Malinois ) .
I would like to say the GSD ( german sheppard dog ) , Doberman , malinois, or even the Dutch Sheppard will all do what you are looking for. But are you wanting a puppy or a trained protection dog? I bring up the trained because it's an option most don't think about. Cause really most Gsd's from the states have had alot of the good traits (drives) bred out of them in favor of looks. This is why just about all police service dogs still come from overseas. And what you might be interested in looking for are police dogs that don't really make the grade for patrol work. Meaning calling vendors for LE and seeing if they have any dogs for protection work.
Short of that i would suggest finding Sport/Shcutzund trainer and getting a puppy from a well balanced set of parents(social). And raising the puppy with your children. That way it will think of your family as it's pack and will naturally protect them. That along with other good drives will give you what you want.A social well behaved friend for life.

[Seabeescotty]

I didn't catch a hint of the dog I would suggest, so here goes. Ever thought about a border collie? They come from Scotland, and were bred to take care of sheep herds. They are extremely intelligent, gentle with children, and protective of their territory. They're a fair sized dog, big enough to take on anyhting that might want what they're protecting, and they don't go haywire in later years, like some of the inbred guard dogs. They're very active, so you need quite a bit of open space for them. But they have good manners when in the house. They are very easy to train.IMO

[PistolCity]

I had one of those a few years back scotty, very very very good dog. Another ex and I split up and things was in the dump back then to. I found a farmer looking for a dog and sent that dog home with him.

[ghost_raven]

How about a miniature Pomeranian?

Just kidding... I'd go with a German Shepard (spelling?). They are highly intelligent dogs... they will help you raise your kids, and will protect everyone with its very life.

[Dookiebutt]

When we were kids we had a border collie. She would have died defending her family and her home. She dove through a picture window once to chase a delivery man out of the yard. She was very intelligent and loyal.

We have two dogs. A large male black lab and a male golden retriver. My lab is the neighborhood tough guy. I could tell you stories for hours. Ask me about the painter he trapped on a ladder. The golden is the alpha, but my wife is the pack leader. Those dogs worship her. Both are very smart and aim to please.

[LarryO1970]

SKS NOOB ... I would agree with a retriever. They are great with kids, are territorial, have an appropriate size for defense/deterrent and bark...

... but I also agree with having a shotgun or pistol with CCI shotshell in the house. Aside from a barking dog, the sound of a Remington 870 being chambered should send a yellow trickle down the leg of any would-be robber.

[Seabeescotty]

Ain't nothing like the sound of a shotgun being racked to take intent out of a burglar. Bad thing about my old Remington humpback is it don't give advance warning. But it's pretty distinctive when you pull the trigger!

[Cyrano]

With any dog you get from a breeder, talk to the breeder BEFORE you go into the kennels (lest you fall in love with one of the critters) about the temperaments of the dog's sire and dam, and the ancestors back at least 3 generations. It's not 100% reliable, but if you have a gentle sire bred to a gentle dam, you'll have a dog that's safe with kids, a factor in this case.

This is very important if you are looking to get a dog from one of the breeds that have been overbred, like German Shepherds, Dobermans, Rottweilers and Pit Bulls. Yes, a great deal of a dog's temperament is due to how it's raised and trained; but there is the genetic factor to consider as well. If you have a dog whose ancestors were mean and nasty, no matter how carefully and well you train it and love it up that strain is lurking in the background. It can come out when you don't expect it.

And before you settle on a particular dog, spend at least an hour with it in a controlled environment, not its cage or run. Watch him/her closely. If you know how to read animals, you'll learn more about your prosepective pet/partner/new family member in that hour than the breeder can tell you in a day. Trust your instincts, not your heart when you are choosing a dog that will be around your kids, and you'll do all right in the end.

[two-70]

well i have a male and female corgi and an english bulldog, these are very sweet dogs but will let ya know if something isnt right, I had a rottweiler and she was a very good dog, if it was for family and home defense no doubt about it the rottweiler is a good deterent for scum bags

[nighthawk80]

You could try Dog Breed Info Center®, DBI
a very informative site. Even lets you break down the breeds into catagories (ie. hunting, guard, good with children).

[tlarkin]

When I was real young we also had a border collie, that was just naturally very smart. She would herd me outside in the back yard and my mom didn't have to keep her eye on me the whole time. I would climb our fence and try to jump over into the neighbors yard and that dog would not let me. She would literally jump up and bite me by my pants and pull me off the fence, and then herd me back up to the back porch. I couldn't do anything with out her always keeping watch on me. I was born when they had her, and we got rid of her when I was like 6 because we moved.

She would run out in the snow, rain, and get all wet and dirty and when she came back in my mother would tell her to stay on her rug until she was dry, and she would do exactly that. My parents never trained her, she was just naturally that smart.

My father used to get her are riled up and tell her to get the kitty. That dog would hunt the cat down in the house where ever it was and drag it back to my father and present it.

She was probably the smartest dog my family has ever owned. We moved from one house to another and the new house we had, was a really small yard (the new suburbs) so we gave her to a farmer. Last I heard of her she spent her last days herding farm animals on the farm.

[The_Patriot]

Well, guys, I appreciate all the input and advice.

I still have a few months to think about this as we'll probably be looking to bring a dog home sometime around 1 May.

I think I'm going to consider a German Shepherd first, or some mix thereof. I'm also going to do some other research based on what you guys have told me. I have a lot to learn about this particular topic. I'm glad I have time to do that.

Again, thanks for the responses. I wish I could address each one separately, but I don't have the time this week.

Keep posting if you like...I'll read them all.

Again, thanks.

[vel525]

Lots of great recommendations here. Just a note for German Shepherds, they shed like CRAZY! If that's going to be an issue I would go with a doberman or some other breed. How about Rhodesian Ridgebacks? They are very cool dogs.

I have a mutt from the shelter. She's about 50lb (her bark sounds like she's bigger) and has a great tempermant. We have no idea what she is, but she looks like a huge jack russell terrier. I don't think she'll be able to rip apart anyone, but she did keep a maintenance person from entering our apt few years back..hehe.

[cooker300]

i have a very unique little dog he's part basset houng part lab. looks like a lab but is the size of a basset. is awsome with my 3y/o who will pull his ears and tail and he think its a game. and is very well behaved over all. and has a very loud bark that has really scard the shit out of people walking down the street. and is good with all dogs he has meet. and he was very easy to train.

[jerry]

Originally Posted by SKS NOOB

Retrievers, Austrailian Shepard (my mom has that one). Those are the only ones I could recommend.

+1 on the aussies. They are almost spooky intelligent. Very loyal, great with kids, very very territorial. Great dogs. Not a very popular breed like Shepards , but very cool.
The Tri-Color is our Trip. Photos by my daughter.

Trip, Oliver, Ruby, Baily & Koda (trip and oliver are out of bailey)



Trip

[Dookiebutt]

Don't forget, there are many good dogs im sheters and foster homes that need a home.

[jerry]

Good point. That's Trips buddy Sandi the lab Mix on our end.

[CrazyIvan]

I grew up with a German Shepherd and my mom has worked for an animal hospital since I was a small child, so I guess she was a pretty good judge of a good dog.

German Shepherds are awesome dogs. But please understand this. If you don't train them or spend time teaching them...the are the stupidest F-in' dogs in the world. If you spend time, money and effort on training them and teaching them to be a family dog, they are protective against malicious folks, nice to nice folks, fun and the smartest dog I've ever seen.