What breed would you guys reccomend for me?

[HayleyMarie]

I am looking at all my options when it comes to what dog would be best for me in the future.

Although its a few years away I want to get a head start on researching the breed and looking and developing a relationship with a breeder if possible.

I am looking for a guardian breed as I will be home alone and the area where we will likely be moving is a remote are that has lots of crime (down town) we will be up town.

Has to be a breed that will be good with children as children is a great possibility in the future.

We have cold winters and hot summers. It will be an inside dog. I would pefer a lower shedding dog. ie not a shedder like a pug

I would pefer a breed that has little DA tendencies, but if the breed I have fallen in love with can develope it I can work around that and I know looking for the proper breeder is very important.

I have closely looked into the Fila, and the Cane Corso. The mastiff breeds I love, but I have not really done extensive research on the other mastiff or guardian breeds.

I know that training is a must with a large breed that will weight more than little me and that has a powerful temperment drives ect ect

So Chazers what would you reccomend for me??

 

[Adrienne]

Greater Swiss Mountain dog? Although I am unsure of their shedding capacity. They are natural watch dogs, large, gentle with children, usually good with other dogs/animals.

 

[drdamian]

How about a boxer?

 

[Hillside]

Boxers shed like a mofo though. All those short hairs embedding themselves everywhere. Ugh.

 

[Romy]

You might look into a giant schnauzer or black Russian terrier. I have never met either one, but they do have wire coats which typically shed less hair than a regular coat. Worth learning more about anyway.

 

[Xie]

Greater Swiss Mountain dog? Although I am unsure of their shedding capacity. They are natural watch dogs, large, gentle with children, usually good with other dogs/animals.

My Swissy, and every other one that I've met, shed pretty decently about twice a year. The rest of the time isn't bad.

I can say when we were looking for a Guardian breed and had basically the same stipulations as the OP it came down to dealing with shedding or dealing with drool and we decided we could handle the shedding better .

Given what the OP put though I would still encourage her to consider a Swissy. We went with them because they are definitely a guardian breed but not quite as hard as many of the others. This was important because we have kids, which means we have their friends and parents coming and going all the time. We wouldn't have easily being able to deal with a harder guardian breed in our case.

Our Swissy, Carol, has proven to be exactly what we were looking for. She's been socialized out the wazoo since we got her and will accept pretty much anyone in the house with minimal barking (hey, she is a Swissy, alert barking is what they do) as long as we are there. When a friend walked in that Carol had never met and we weren't there... Well, she was perfect then also. She didn't attack, but she also made darn sure they weren't leaving the foyer without our permission. She stopped them right inside the door and stood barking until we came and let her know it was okay. Given her size and look, had that been an intruder and not a friend, they wouldn't have been hanging around.

She's also great for getting rid of annoying solicitors, lol! I just answer the door holding her collar and she does her barking bit. I've never seen someone back up so fast in my life, lol.

 

[PlottMom]

She's also great for getting rid of annoying solicitors, lol! I just answer the door holding her collar and she does her barking bit. I've never seen someone back up so fast in my life, lol.

I LOVE THAT ABOUT BIG DOGS! I always try to make it seem like I'm having a hard time holding them back, too, and softly saying arbitrary things they've never been taught, too, like "easy" or "settle"

That being said, I've loved the swissies I've been around, but they can be loud and intimidating to people they're not introduced to - I'd look into them as well... they're really neat, loving dogs.

 

[Taqroy]

Having never heard of Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs I just googled them and holy wow now I want one! Also they look incredibly similar to the Bernese Mountain Dog, only with short coats. Are they an offshoot?

 

[Bostonz]

I would suggest:

American Bulldog

Doberman Pinscher

Dogue de Bordeaux (aka the French Mastiff)

Rottweiler

Neapolitan Mastiff

Boxer

English Bulldog


Thats all the one's I can think of that would fit what your looking for, but I am not sure on the shedding thing..?? You would have to look that up on those breeds.

Good luck!

 

[Bailey08]

I looked into Swissys for a while, too. It was primarily the short lifespan that swayed me away.

 

[Hillside]

I would suggest:

American Bulldog

Doberman Pinscher

Dogue de Bordeaux (aka the French Mastiff)

Rottweiler

Neapolitan Mastiff

Boxer

English Bulldog


Thats all the one's I can think of that would fit what your looking for, but I am not sure on the shedding thing..?? You would have to look that up on those breeds.

Good luck!

Dobermans shed year round due to their single coat and also are prone to being same sex dog aggressive.

 

[*blackrose]

I second the Black Russian Terrier idea. It will have a lot of coat upkeep required, but I think they are stunning dogs.

The Black Russian Terrier is a calm, confident, and courageous dog with a self-assurance which sometimes is rather aloof towards strangers. They are highly intelligent and extremely reliable. They were bred to guard and protect. The BRT requires human contact and is not a dog to be left outside. They want to be close to family members at all times and are very loyal companions. Obedience training and early and continued socialization are required in order to keep the breed from becoming overly protective. Because of their intelligence, they excel in Obedience and Agility competition, and other working dog sports.

Black Russian Terrier Information

I knew someone from another forum who imported a BRT puppy to use as her service dog and she LOVES her.

 

[Xie]

Having never heard of Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs I just googled them and holy wow now I want one! Also they look incredibly similar to the Bernese Mountain Dog, only with short coats. Are they an offshoot?

Not an offshoot exactly, more like complimentary and depending on who you talk to they were possibly the original breed. They were called "Butcher's Dogs" and the early references sometimes talk about short coat and sometimes a long coat. The Bernese were the first to be recognized though.

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Bernese Mountain Dog, Entelbucher, and Appenzeller are the 4 Swiss mountain breeds. The Entelbucher and Appenzeller are smaller sized herding dogs (in the 30-50lb ranges) and have closer to an Australian Shepherd or Border Collie temperament. They all have the same coloring though and when my Swissy was a puppy I had someone ask if she was an Entelbucher, lol.

This is my girl sitting next to a Bernese boy at a dog park. She has a blue eye which is a no-no in the breed, but I think it's cute

I looked into Swissys for a while, too. It was primarily the short lifespan that swayed me away.

Actually it was there life expectancy that swayed me towards them over some other breeds. For a giant breed dog to have a 10-12yr life expectancy is actually really good. A Great Dane for example is more like 6-8yrs and even a Berner is 7-9yrs. Not that the breed doesn't have health issues, but of the giant breed dogs they are actually pretty good.

 

[BoandAbby]

I would say boxer might be a good fit. How bad the dog sheds kinda depends on the dog. Like with my boxer he sheds quite a bit, but with my friends boxer she sheds very little. I'd say a good brushing with the zoom groom every other day or so really helps with the shedding.

Here's some of Bo with the kids

 

[Ozzy's mom]

As far as I'm concerned... you already have the ideal breed. bouvier des flandres. Hands down, great therapy dog, good temperment, doesn't shed much, great gardien, loves the cold weather, and handles the summer when clipped down. What else could you ask for?

 

[Laurelin]

My first thought was bouv, BRT, or Giant Schnauzer too.