Suggested Guard Dogs that Don't Shed like crazy?

Hugo wrote:
Also does that chain of training schools called Mans Best Friend work well or is it just some barley trained instructor training your dog?

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Hugo, this is a common and dangerous misconception.

Proper dog training is for you. It teaches YOU how to treat your dog so it will know the difference between play and work, commands and just talking.

If someone else "trains" your dog for you, the dog will work great. For them. It won't do anything for you, and it will lose its training within six months if it is not PROPERLY reinforced. Only YOU can provide that reinforccement.

Don't get a "guard dog", or any working dog, until you know what you are getting yourself into.

It doesn't sound to me like you are quite ready, yet.

You have the right idea, you have started researching by asking here on THR. Ask lots of other places, too. Do your research.

And think about the pound and mutts. Purebreds are bred to show and compete. They won't necessarily be what you want, just because they have papers. Papers CAN help dispel worries about certain common health ailments prevalent for a particular breed, but they are not actually any kind of guarantee.

When I was growing up we lived in a quiet not well developed part of a small city. There were other houses in the area, but not many and not too close. We had about a 1/3 of an acre that was surrounded by an ordinary chainlink fence. we also had a female labrador retriever that put up a good display of being territorial. About three years after we built the house, the government built a complex of subsidized housing about a mile from where we lived and crime in the area sky rocketed.

Well except for one incident where we had a car parked on the street instead of behind our chainlink fence, we never had a problem - but it was very evident ot anyone who walked down our street that we had a good sized dog. The black lab raised holy cane at the fence line, complete with barred teeth, raised hair and a deep resonating bark to anyone that walked by at anytime of the day or night.

When the family finally sold the house and moved to another part of the, the new owners of the house had three incidents within the first six months (we knew because we still had friends and family in the area. The new owners had a toy poodle that was very good at barking - but still did not stop someone from entering the yard one night and throwing a brick through the back patio sliding glass door while they were home.

That incident taught me the value of having the right dog - it doesn't have to be an attack or guard dog; but it does have to be territorial and large enough to intimidate.

Just my two cents.

Belgian Malinois problems

The Ky State Police post in my area had a Malinois. They got the best dog from the best bloodlines and the handler had hundreds of hours training the dog. Everything was going good for a while and one day out of the blue the dog turned on the trooper and he had to shoot it with his duty weapon to save himself. I was told after further investigation they found other trainers that had similar experiences. That is scary

You guys are killin me with the puppy/dog pics. My wife and I agreed I could get a puppy as soon as we moved out of our apartment. We moved out, but into a duplex with no yard. Thus, no puppy.

You guys are killin me with the puppy/dog pics. My wife and I agreed I could get a puppy as soon as we moved out of our apartment. We moved out, but into a duplex with no yard. Thus, no puppy.

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I'm with you buddy. We feel your pain.

brad cook

I just want my dog to bark and maybe distract any critter with unlawful entry on his teeny-tiny little mind. Once I know he's there, I've got a Mossberg 500 to tend to the messy part of home defense.

A dog that gets onto the critter when I'm trying to center the ghost ring is probably going to cause me to hesitate for fear of blowing a hole through Fido. I absolutely hate hesitating in that kind of social situation.

*shrug* That's just me, though. YMMV.

24 pounds of alert and bark.

LawDog

there was a standard poodle that held a burglar until the police came in a recent story around here.

LE is using the Maliois becuase german shepherds have been so overbread and its difficult to quality dogs wiith no hip probs...same with golden retriever and labs soon.. so many back yard breeders...
my wife to be works at a vet clinic and sees it al the time..

She is such a "breedist" as she calls it... we live in a smaller town and when we wwalk down town, she see dogs and knows their names abut doesnt remember the owners names..

try looking into a Tosa Inu.. males run almost 200 pounds!

http://www.shaku1.com/

http://www.tosa-inu.com/ ...this site for you guys in TN

Hugo,
Ifyou are anywhere close to Austin ther is a place called Triple Crown Academy in Hutto. This place is run by Purina. They train trainers well as dogs there . There are Dog shows there almost monthly. There will be a Rare Breed show there Aug 23 & 24 with many different breeds there to see. No cost to get in to walk around. You would be able to see many different breeds at one time and talk to people about their breed. Most people will be very willing to talk to you. Whatever breed you by do your homework about the breed and breeder. I spend 3 years on a Bulletin Board and talking to people before I got my current pup. a Shiloih Shepherd. Think of a German Shepherd on Steroids. At 18 months Mars is 108 lbs and 27.5 inches. He should gain 2" more and 30 more lbs by the time he matures. Shilohs have much softer temperments than German Shepherds, in fact they arenot recommended for Police work. They are very loyal to their family's though.

Bob

First be sure you know what you want, like others here said. A guard dog is not the same as an attack dog.

Seems to me if you want warning but low liability you should stick to smaller alert breeds. They won't intimidate anyone by themselves but goblins will know YOU know they're there. If you want the dog to protect the property when you're not home you'll need to go bigger.

"But with great power comes great responsibility." If you have an animal capable of injuring a grown man when he enters your house you must prepare for the possibility that same animal may injure a neighbor, visitor, or other person if it gets loose. Some people here are suggesting monsters that could easily go through screen doors or other light barriers to get at its target. I notice my homeowner's insurance company is biased against a few breeds, like Rotties, since they asked me if I owned any of a list of specific animals.

I have a 120 lb purebred chocolate lab. He's an intimidating monster and he makes plenty of noise. But I doubt he would actually bite. And he sheds like crazy so that's not your answer. If I wanted a short-hair all-around protection dog I would go to the pitbull family myself. I'm a fan of the 40-lb Stafforshire Bull Terrier (not the AmStaff). I've never warmed up to Dobies (narrow heads imply lack of intelligence to me). The Rottie is a larger choice but I wouldn't see any benefit over the Terrier, if anything the Rottie might be a quieter dog (silent but deadly, no wait, that's an Akita).

I'd like to throw my opinion into this if it's not too late. I have a sharpei and it makes a great guard dog for the house. My dog is now two years old and weighs 75 lbs., none of it fat. Sharpei's were originally breed in China to be guard dogs and that they do very well. "Chino" has a great bark (deep and scary) and will follow people when they walk by our fenced yard but doesn't bark at them or harrass them in any other way.

Sharpei's do shed twice a year though, when they lose their winter coat and when they lose their summer coat. I paid roughly $1,000 for him from a breeder in Florida and the money was well spent. I trained him the basic commands and he is very intelligent.

Make sure you read up on the temperments of Sharpei's if you're considering one first though. They are very independent and stand-offish and not very "people needy" like a lab or golden retriever that just has to put its head in your lap at every possible moment.

Don't let the cute wrinkled puppy look fool you. When they grow up, they look very serious.


Inspectorlee

although it's a smaller dog...

... those looking for one that will actually defend the territory might consider the basenji: short hair, about 22 inches at the shoulder, unable to bark, and temperment twords strangers invading their territory ranges from very distrustful to openly psychotic. The one we had when I was a kid whipped three german shepards (who had crossed into our yard), coming out with only one small hole (and fairly pissed that they got away).

While they're not the safest thing for strangers, they usually have a VERY good attitude twords "family": ours never actually went for anyone she knew without a fair amount of provacation (like 7 year-old me saying "ouch!" while boxing). All in all, a good dog for those that just want to clean the mess after an intruder is dealt with...

Akitas are extremely territorial, extremely strong and extremely loyal. My mother's had hers for eight years and her doors can literally remain unlocked with little fear. This one at least is a very serious shedder. They were bred in cold-weather northern Japan and have a very heavy winter coat. When the shedding starts, it means running the sweeper every day to just keep up, in addition to a good brushing several times a week. All the books say these guys need to be aggressively socialized with a lot of new people contact when pups or when grown it will be very difficult for them to let their guard down with anyone they haven't known since young. This one has proven that true. An interesting exception is my mother's sister who suffered brain damage after a stroke. She never showed any fear and he seemed to sense she wasn't a threat and became protective of her. My brother-in-law -- introduced them slowly to each other, but as soon as given the chance Magnum lunged. I had his collar but his mouth was aimed at a throat.

A few more thoughts from my end.
Obviously there is a dicision that needs to be made here in regard to what you want out of the dog. In this case, do you want a dog that barks to alert you to an intruder, or do you also want a dog that also will do something about the intruder.
For me, I want a dog that is more than a barker. A lot of people post that all they want their dog to do is bark and then they (the owner) will back them up with a firearm. There is nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't suit my needs. One problem with this is, what if you are not home ? A guy breaks into your house and no one is there to defend it. The dog may scare the guy off by barking or he may not. If the guy ignores the dog and goes in anyway, you are out of luck. This is like the old saying "If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise ?" If you arn't there, the dog barking very well might do little good. Something to consider is someone that is "casing" your house. He drives and or walks by your house a few times to check things out. He sees you happy little lap dog running around the yard, or maybe you walking it. He knows before hand that the dog is no threat. On the other hand, let's say he sees you out in the yard training with your 120 pound Rottweiler. Just like armed people, this burgler might decide your next door neighbor is easier pickings and won't even bother with your house. I work an odd schedule compared to most of you. And, I am single. We work a minimum of 56 hours a week and I usually work about 96 hours of overtime per month. I am not there to back up my dog with a firearm. When I am at work, my dog holds down the fort. And he has proven himself when I had a home invasion some time when I was at work. My dog stopped it immediately with his application of force. And it wasn't by barking.
Danger. A lot seems to be discussed about the danger of owning a large dog. This is no different than firearms ownership. You have to be responsible. You can't just be like Bubba and tie it up to a tree with clothsline. You can't, not train it. You can't treat it like an old pair of socks. YOU have to be responsible for it. If you arn't willing to do that, then it is not for you. If you understand the potential, and are willing to ensure that nothing untoward happens, then there are a lot of advantages for you.
Another common misconception is that if you have a large dog that is willing to defend itself, your home, your family, and you that somehow this means that the dog is not safe to have around. This is utter nonsense. You can have a dog that will love you with all it's heart, be very well manered, have a great temperment etc. that will also defend you to the end and if nessessary, put it's life on the line to defend you or your family.
Breeding: I am no vet. Nor am I a dog breeder. But I am not sure I buy into the idea that a dog breed has been damaged by over breeding. I believe it is the result of breeding genetically inferior dogs in the first place. The breeders either don't know the health and temperment history of the dogs they are breeding, and breed them anyway, resulting in inferior pups that are also bread with other inferior dogs. Just breeding good proven healthy dogs isn't going to introduce genetic abnormalities into the breed.

If you want a compadre, who will love, warn and protect you, at least try to go first to your local shelter or organizations like "Rottweiler Rescue" http://www.rottrescue.org/ or Ridgeback Rescue http://www.ridgebackrescue.org/

People there will have done already basic obedience training (plus sorted out the ones who are unpredicable), the dog won't destroy things or go potty in your flat/house as young ones do. I can really recommend Rottweilers because they are usually more "relaxed" than Dobies and Shepards, but if the **** hits the fan, you can count 100% on them.

What makes me cry is, that so many poor dogs are killed every year in shelters because of a throw away mentality and because people don't consider all the time&money necessary. Breeders keep breeding in spite of full shelters & millions of dogs killed. I would not want to give money to someone like that, so the shelter is defenitely the first place for me to visit for a new animal friend. And please don't forget to neuter your dog! It will be easier to handle for you, has less agression towards other dogs & less health problems.

Regards

Cato

How about a Weimaraner.

We have a 4 yr old female at just over 90 #'s.
Great family and guard dog.
Family consists of Wife, 3yr old boy, 2 cats and one more tax deduction on the way .

'Bailey' has been w/ us since she was about 5 mos. of age.
Adapted very well to the original cats when she was a pup; had to put both of the cats down and ended up getting two more kittens. Even after Bailey had grown to a year she adapted to the new kittens just fine.
Non issue also when we brought our son home from the hospital.
Matter-of-fact; don't know who picks on the dog more; the male cat or our son who likes to sit on 'Bailey' while watching TV.

While being a great family dog; she can also be VERY intimmidating and don't think I would want to mess w/ her.

Weim's are short haired and do not shed very much.
They NEED to be taken control of; such as the master of the house assuming the role of the Alpha Male.
They also want to be involved in whatever activity that is going on.
Loves to play ball, frisbee, and chase squirrels (actually caught one once).
One of few breeds that has all three traits of Pointer, Retriever, and Scent Hound.

Don't have any evidence, but have heard some negative comments regarding Man's-Best-Friend.
We took 'Bailey' to a guy for boarding-training some 45-60 minutes away who was very experienced w/ Weimaraner's.
As earlier mentioned, the training has as much to do w/ the owners as the dog. We would drive down twice a week for 3 weeks to work together.

Dutch Sheperds?

Anyone got any good info on Dutch sheperds?
I have been told that these dogs make excellent security dogs (handler protection, crowd work, bomb detection, etc).

I think TheEgg had the most practical no-shed suggestion with the Standard poodle. They're very reliable watchdogs. You could even go down to a Miniature (or two); they live longer and of course take up less room. Toys suffer from poor breeding with retina and rear-leg-joint problems (we have one; he is a good watchdog in personality, but can't see ten feet).

If you have to leave the dog alone a lot, get two small dogs instead.

And consider mixed breeds where you know the breeds; for instance, a Mexican Hairless/Dire Wolf cross might take care of your no-shedding security needs.

I have a pair of Great Danes. Although very large, I do not know of a breed of dog that needs more care than them.

OTOH, when they catch a burglar, you better call the local hazardous material disposal company to make sure nothing's left of the perp. However, chances are small they'll find anything.

The most dangerous thing about them is their ability to remove any cosmetics products on your face post haste, and that sometimes, people are very afraid of them.

OTOH, they don't shed too much.