Does anyone have a stupid dog, that is almost useless?

[ShunZu]

ShunZu, that is a GORGEOUS dog. I love the eyes.

Mitzi thanks you very much. She sends a big lick your direction. I'm an old guy, had lots of dogs through the years, including shepherds, an extraordinary dobe, yellow labs, beagles and a still-hunting-hard-at-it Britney Spaniel. This little shepherd rescue is the smartest, lowest-maintenance and self-amusing animal I've ever owned or known. If you get a chance to get this combination, I highly recommend one.

 

[weisse52]

We have two Great Danes. Very laid back, very big. They NEVER bark when I come home. But if a true stranger comes to the door they are right there, waiting.
Now they will loose their minds when the flock of Magpies show up.
We have a neighbor who has been doing some remodeling for us. He comes and goes all the time. He had a new guy come in with him and "the girls" would not let him in. He said they came off their beds and came at him growling.
When dogs that big come at you growling it gets your attention.

 

[Titan6]

He could be dumber than a bag of hammers but while I am away no one messes with Mrs. Titan

 

[Bobarino]

I had a Jack Russell Terrier once who was absolutely insane.
The dog would do laps around the living room for no apparent purpose.

haha! i know what you mean. my SO has one. it was a package deal. she's not insane but the the little Jerk Russel Terrier is. its worthless as far as a guard dog goes, but it does at least alert us to strangers or strange creatures around the house. other than that, its just good for retrieving toys. its a fetch fiend. you can see the dumbness in her eyes.

 

[IllHunter]

I believe..

in the psychological message implied by all dogs,ie: "We provide more eyes,ears noses and teeth and maybe just maybe, cujo genes."
I like the message so much, I "super-size" the sender. Your 120# Harley sends the same message to all who see him, with a factor of size thrown in at a 1/1 ratio of weight to fear. My boxer at 75# multiplies the "fear-factor" by a ratio of 76/20 over a 20# dog. (+1 added for those who mistake him for a pitty) I have often put him in a stud collar and left him in my suv with the windows open. I sometimes work claims in sh_t neighborhoods and found that no one has ever asked to "pet" him in that staging. Yet when I take him to the pet store,women and kids, who normally wouldn't approach me, ask to pet him. He lives to be paid attention to, but seems to know his role. He never barks except at the doorbell and sleeps and snores and reminds me of many drunk sailors with whom I shared berthing . Would he defend me or more importantly my honey? I believe so and more importantly others I ask say they don't want to test it. If a young child has enough instinct to avoid the business end of this dog, shouldn't most bg's?

 

[gripper]

How old is th ebOxer???He looks like a good dog

 

[JesseKM]

On a side note, maybe the original poster's dog is actually extremely smart. Imagine how uptight he had to be before you came along with a gun to protect him and your girlfriend. Now he's seen your gun and figured he can finally relax. Smart dog. As a father, I can attest that I'm looking for someone with your ready mentality to marry my daughter someday.

 

[GrizzlyGraves]

Here's Mike our miniature Pinscher. He's great at sleeping, eating, sleeping and licking. I used to work graveyard and I'd come home, open the garage, pull inside, come in the house, latch the noisy bolt, go in the bedroom and he wouldn't even stir until I touched him. Then he'd jump because I'd scare him.

Oh well, he's a heck of a swell dog anyway.

I just have to wait until I can get a Rhodesian Ridgeback...

 

[conw]

ShunZu, awesome looking dog!!

 

[Realbigo]

The grabbing a limb w/out biting is a subbmissive action that dates back to when they were all Wolves. It means that you are in charge. I'm a dog lover of the first magnitude and have had a number of great watch dogs. I hear you. I now have a "rescued" weimeraner, who has bitten me, and seems to be just plain stupid, unless he is being sneaky. After the last time he caused a real problem in the house, I told him, and my mother and girlfriend that one more [mistake], andI was going to put him down. The dog has always been a perfect angel toward company, and has been pretty well behaved after I made that decision. A few minor things, but just the sort of thing most dogs pull. The main reason I've kept him is because the three times he really reacted strongly to a noise, once was someone breaking into a car on the street, and he sent up the alarm. Once was to a power company employee who just felt he could be in my backyard w/out telling anyone, and when he took a swipe at Bo w/ a stick, he was [] lucky I was coming out the backdoor. And the third was to a pamplet walker who opened my front screen to put a flyer in it.

 

[Thernlund]

Since everyone is posting pics, here's my pair...

Beagles are awesome dogs.


-T.

 

[freddd]

I wonder a lot about our dog. She's a Australian shepherd. She acts tough, but sometimes seems more likely to bark at a neighbor closing his car door down the street than concern herself with a real threat. She lets us know when someone knocks on the door, but has never met a stranger when they actually walk in the house. Is she useless or very effective? I certainly hope I never have to find out either way for reason completely unrelated to her of course.

 

[earplug]

If people were bred as well as fine animal breeds we would be accused of some sort of master race illegal thing.
I'm very happy with my Dobergirl. Years of selective breeding has given us a nice family companion that is safe around kids and alerts us about stangers and things that are out of the ordinary. She can tell the differance between the good mail guy and the bad mail guy, and she is not crazy about the new paper guy. I think she has a point. '
Trust your dog.

 

[leadcounsel]

To the OP, your dog isn't 'worthless...' He's doing exactly what he is supposed to. He's a good companion for your girlfriend, and that's probably 80% of the reason she got him. A dog acting as a 'guard' dog is a benefit, make no mistake, but heck for $50 you can buy motion detector alarms and install them around your home at the entry points and cover the same needs.

These are my two guarddogs. I rescued the cattledog from the shelter when he was young and the black lab was a stray pup.

The cattledog was simple to train and is very instinctive and a great guard dog; he is very calm and obedient and just knows who belongs and who doesn't and he's a FIERCE fighter - a few dogs have picked on him at the dog park and regretted it. And he has an unbelievably fierce bark. He shares the [excrement] out of strangers when he barks at them when they come to the door! And he also barks at deer, squirrels, and other wildlife as if to say "If I were ONLY outside, you'd be mine!"

The younger lab coincidently looks just like the older cattle dog, but she has a wildly different personality. She is excitable, playful, digs, jumps, and just loves everybody.

Part of this is my fault because I got the cattledog when I had time and space to train him, but got the lab when I was very busy and didn't have the time or space to properly exercise or train her.

When I come home from deployment I will spend more time with the dogs and training.

 

[ilbob]

Current beagle is not completely useless, nor stupid, but is not much of a guard dog or a watch dog.

Previous beagle was on duty 24/7 and when she was concerned would make a growling sound that you would have thought was coming from a much larger and fiercer dog. I actually saw a delivery guy open gate, ring the bell, hear the dog, and go promptly back behind the safety of the gate. Very little got past her. Somehow she even knew sometimes when rabbits and other critters were in the yard from inside in the dead of night. Pretty good watch dog, but not much of a guard dog.

 

[alemonkey]

I had a friend staying at my house one night but he wasn't getting into town until 1:00 AM so I just left the back door open for him. My Lab's bed is right next to the back door, and the dog didn't even wake up when he came in.

He's worthless as a guard dog because he loves everyone he's ever met. Still my best buddy though.

My parents used to have a Collie/English Shepherd mix who weighed about 130 pounds but looked a lot bigger because of all the hair. If my mom was home alone (they live on a farm) and a car he didn't know pulled into the drive he would raise holy hell and wouldn't even let anyone out of the car. When my sister brought her future husband home for the first time they were rough housing in the front yard and the dog took after him and chased him into the house. Good cattle dog too. A dog like that is worth it's weight in gold if you know you can count on him to protect you.

 

[ferretray]

OP:
No offense intended but if your GF is too lazy to lock the door I'm guessing that she hasn't taken the time to train her dog either.
I have to say that there are no bad dogs, only owners who don't know or care how to get the most out of their dog. A dog is inherently a pack animal and wants a pack leader. Once thats established you'll find a completely different animal.

 

[Fred Fuller]

OK, folks, that's enough beating on man's best friend. Let's move on to something more constructive, shall we?

lpl