[9mmfan]

1) Border Collie one of the smartest dogs.

2) Shetland Sheepdog also one of the smartest.

3) Labrador Retriever also very smart

4) Australian Sheppard, very smart as well


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelligence_of_Dogs

[FS00008]

Hate to call it guys... I also dislike Chows quite a bit. I still have the scars to prove it (unprovoked too).

Those are all good breeds as well 9MMfan.


Is the dog going to be mixed indoors and outdoors or outdoors only or indoors only or what?

I still would stick with a Standard Poodle (Very clean and no shedding) if you're going to have either all indoors or mixed, plus I take mine hunting with me and he's good at retrieving.

[tlarkin]

Our border collie growing up was the most natural smart dog we ever had. We never trained it once but it knew sit, stay, heel, roll over, stay on your rug, get the kitty, don't. I mean it would herd me in my families back yards wherever we went. It was basically a baby sitter for me. They had her when I was born and we had to give her up when I was about 8 or 9. We moved into the suburbs and our yard went from about 1 acre, to about 45 feet. So we gave her to a friend of the family and she herded chickens and live stock in her last days, and she was happy.

Great dogs.

[Brother Bob]

My American Staffordshire Terrior (pit) is real smart. As a matter of fact, he talks to me. This usually occurs on Friday nights and Saturday nights after we both have a few drinks down us.

[MrsS]

I have an australian shepherd/blue heeler mix; I also have two mini daschsunds; my aussie mix is very protective of my family, but especially my little son. He watches him intently; I saw this last summer when he went camping with us; met up with my husband's cousin and his black lab and he played great with the black lab, until the black lab started jumping on my son as he sat at the water's edge...my aussie was after the black lab so bad, my husband had to get in there and drag him off. He then never left my boy's side while he played in the lake. Funny thing is, he gets along well with my mini daschs...and they were introduced after my aussie.

The only thing I regret with my aussie is the fact that I live in the city...he is a herding dog and those breeds need plenty of running room and things that will keep them busy from day in to day out (they are hard-working dogs).

We paid about $2000.00 for a trainer to come to our house once a week for about 9 weeks; aussie sheps need obedience training from the get-go, unless they will be outside, country dogs. They do have a tendency to "herd" other animals..and children; he used to do that to my little son by grabbing either his pants or shirt and gently drag him across the floor to Gosh knows where..thus the obedience training.
That is probably the hardest thing to break him from since he is a herding dog...he still "herds" my mini daschs but he is trained enough that his command to "leave it" does the trick.
Aussie Sheps/blue heelers also need to be exposed to other people and animals in various, controlled settings...it helps them to stay calm when in such a stimulating environment.

[tippmann7]

english mastif, huge but they are realy friendly and gentle and i dont think anyone would mess with you if they seen a dog that size in your house (my uncle has one it looks like a small horse, realy nice dog)

or maybe a lab, nice dogs and they will protect there owners but wont just attack someone randomly.....if you dont mind me asking why would you want to move back to ohio...most of us want out lol

o yeah and dont do what i did and get a shiz tzu, sure they look cute when there puppies but just wait til the grow...ugly and annoying

[ilovedogs]

The best protection dogs were specifically bred for that reason...good temperment and ability to be stable loving members of a family and also protect that family.

See Global Canine Security - Canine Protection Dogs. Westport, Massachusetts trained by Roy Medeiros for more information on traits of a real protection dog.