Best Guard Dog

[brian]

German shepherds can be great - good temperament, and open to training.

However, as pointed out earlier, good training with *any* dog is essential.

The big dogs get a lot of media attention because when they attack, they are powerful enough to kill.

However, what the media doesn't report is that other breeds are responsible for most dog bites, but because they tend to be superficial, doesn;t get the press round.

Personally wouldn't go for a Rottweiler or Doberman because I'm not experienced with either breed, and especially associate them with being bred for aggression.

German Shepherds are a general all-rounder dog, and my family has had a number for decades, so would be very comfortable - so long as I ensured it was properly trained.

If getting a dog to be around children, would probably recommend against a rescue dog, unfortunately, unless you were absolutely sure of its temperament.

Too many rescue dogs come from bad conditions and that often translates into emotional baggage such as nervousness or insecurities that can be difficult for most people to train out, but can make the dog especially wary of children.

My mum's had 4 rescued German Shepherds - 3 have been great, 1 they had to return because was too difficult.

My middle brother has had 3 rescued German Shepherds, one of which had to be destroyed because its temperament was too wild, and it had tried to bite a child.

Whatever you do, with any dog, train it properly so that you and your family are above it in the social hierarchy - for any tips on training, just search for any Cesar Millan stuff - the "Dog Whisperer":
Welcome to Cesar Millan's Official Web Site | Cesar Millan

[jack08]

Originally Posted by fj1200

There's none of them safe around kids. They can turn in the blink of an eye. My brother had one of these 'toy' dogs', looked like a rat to me, but it bit his son on the face. Missed an eye by millimetres. If you leave them unsupervised, with kids around, you don't deserve to have kids.

indeed you dont leave any kid alone with any dog no matter wot dog it is thats no 1 rule
my mum keeps getting on at me dont leave kid on its own with the dog my ladys due in few weeks
she keeps saying it etc but my dog is soft as fook but still id never ever ever leave kid alone with dog ive got a parson
and hes so off his head people come goes wild shagging pillows have leave him in kitchen wen go out cuz goes mental am thinking having his balls off

[reddiesel]

Originally Posted by jack08

indeed you dont leave any kid alone with any dog no matter wot dog it is thats no 1 rule
my mum keeps getting on at me dont leave kid on its own with the dog my ladys due in few weeks
she keeps saying it etc but my dog is soft as fook but still id never ever ever leave kid alone with dog ive got a parson
and hes so off his head people come goes wild shagging pillows have leave him in kitchen wen go out cuz goes mental am thinking having his balls off

I have known a few people who have had their dogs castrated because of that behavior and it didnt make any difference.

[aquanaut]

Being an older member of the comunity i can only comment that untill last year we had always had rockys and have not had any problems , my age and health has made us no longer have a dog but we have had 4 rocys and have never had a problem the all seen to last around the 10 years mark then they either get cancer or the back end goes but out last one we had to have put down as for some reason he got cancer in his back legs , and as i said if i was still fit enough i would not hesitate to have one again we have 5 kids and 16 grandkids and they have always been used to the dogs and we have never had a problem but have always had firm control and trained them very well ,

Guys its is never a bad dog its always bad owners !