Good Farm/Family Dog

[ReeferMac]

We recently (finally!) moved into our new house out in the hinter-boonies. We currently have 1 dog, a Golden-doodle, great family pet.... not such a great guard dog.

I don't really want a 'working dog', you know, that lives outside, needs hours of exercise daily, professional training, collars, 'do-not-pet-me' coat when out in public. But the big white fluffy poodle mix we have really doesn't scare anyone (nor should he). There are a handful of large-ish breed dogs we've looked at, many options out there (German Shepherds, Belgian Shepherd/Malinoit, Hollandse Herder, Weimeraner, even Rhodesian Ridgebacks).... But curious what experiences folks here have had? I was looking at Catahoula's, but was told they bark/bay a lot, and like to roam....?

We have 3 kids (mostly teens), 15 acres (mostly woods) and hardly any cell service. I want a dog that the burglar hears/sees through the window and decides to go to the next house. I want my kids to be able to stay home alone and when the stranger comes up the driveway, they aren't afraid. I want them to be able to lay down on the floor with the dog, pulls it's ears, and play fetch, tug-of-war, and have friends over without needing a 10-minute lesson on what we DON'T do or say to this pet.

Thanks.

 

- K

[xsubsailor]

Every dog question gets the same answer from me.........................adopt/rescue.  If you live in the boonies, I don't recommend any type of hound though. If they get on the trail of something, you might not ever see them again.

 

[Ronald_55]

Maybe...

 

I agree with the rescue/mutt line of thinking. I had a Golden Retriever and ??? mix as a kid and he was great 

[peejman]

Doberman, Boxer, Shepherd, Mastiff, Bull Terrier, .... or some mixture thereof. I'd also recommend a rescue.  

A friend raises/trains Malagators (Malinois) for service and K-9 duty.  Properly trained, theyre awesome.  All of his I've met are big pussycats until certain words are spoken (not in English) and then it's game on.  The transformation is astonishing.  But it takes a lot of training to get there. 

[ReeferMac]

Yeah, our Golden Retriever x Poodle is a fantastic family dog, kids love him, easily trained, just a great pet. Not so great at guarding. Some friends had a gorgeous brindle-colored Rottweiler that weighed about 110 lbs. The ground SHOOK when he ran up to you, the beast was fearsome! Then the father would start slapping him in the head (gently) and pulling his ears, and he'd roll over on his back for belly rubs!  Still, no strangers ever jumped their fence into the backyard. EVER.

Was planning on using some foreign words for training the new addition, so as not to confuse the two dogs. I've also found integrating hand-signals is useful.

My sister does rescue. Great work, it's really a shame what some people will do to an animal, but I don't think that's the route I want to go here. 

If your friend has a business send me the link peejman (via PM if you want).

Thanks.

[xsubsailor]

Here you go, meet jack.  He's already in Kingsport too 

anonymous photo sharing

[TripleGGG]

Ginger is a rescue. She's small but I wouldn't want to tangle with her if someone came after my wife or myself. Sweetest and most protective dog I've had other than a couple of Malamutes. Kinda scary when she yawns. She truly thinks she's a Doberman. 

[jpx2rk]

Boxers are very protective of their family unit but great family dogs as well.  

[peejman]

5 hours ago, ReeferMac said:

your friend has a business send me the link peejman (via PM if you want).

http://fdk9tn.com/

[xtriggerman]

From what you describe, you want what is the only dog I would get these days personally.  Get a mostly shepherd mix, female pup. Once spaded and loved, she will stay with your home outside or in. I had an all black one (Belgian police type breed) that was an outstanding property dog. Some how she knew the unwanted cars coming down my 700' drive way and when the Jo-Ho's rolled in, the hair on her back would stand up and she was on that vehicle in a satisfying way! They stopped pulling into the drive way after a couple of those encounters. She was only 52lbs but a great dog. Females wont wander like the males and the mix breed bypassed the bad rear legs when older as the papered sheps. tend to have. God rest that dog.... she got a brain tumor & I had to put her down. Good Luck 

[tacops]

Boxer.  Hits all the traits you mentioned.  Excellent home protection and have a formidable appearance.  Very family oriented and tend to protect children and family at all cost.  Very high reasoning skills.  Short hair makes for house friendly.  Though energetic, they are easily trained and adapt to indoor living very well.  If it sounds like I am biased, I am.  I have had boxers all my life.  I am sure there are other breeds just as highly thought of by others but I have never had a bad Boxer.  All of mine were either rescues or unregistered except for one high end "papered, pedigreed, pure bred".  Couldn't tell the difference in any of them except for individual personality. 

[Moped]

I’m very partial to Pits. Both these are rescues and both are smart. The ginger is super sweet, but a bit skiddish around new people.  Not your guard dog type. But she is a barker, which I personally like. The gray and white is a Pit-Doberman mix (we think). He’s a barker.  With him around, it’s hard to sneak up on the house. His looks are also intimidating, but he’s not a bad dog at all. Just noisy when someone pulls in the driveway or comes to the door.

[Guest]

Check out Sequoyah Shepherds in Soddy Daisy, TN.  Top notch.

[Murgatroy]

Both of my dogs are trained by vocal and hand signal. I won't use any other method. Bandit, the older one knows more than 30 commands by vocal and hand signal, all commands are trained by both, and now followed by either. Just make sure you pick simple ones they don't have to be universal from one trainer to the other. The 'okay' sign is sit. 'Stop' is stay. I pat my chin, she barks, I pat my cheek, she kisses me, I pat my hips, she jumps up and hugs me. I have a Youtube video of her following my commands, she is truly a brilliant dog. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/Murgatroy/videos/vb.100023796713875/167538970715992/

[abusfullofnuns]

I’m friends with the person @peejman recommended. He helped me get my boy, see avatar. 

Make no mistake, there will be lots of training needed if you go this route. It’s fun, though. My guy is a perfect gentlemen and lays on his back under the covers with my two young daughters. He will not let a stranger between him and them.  Although, he will lick anyone who will let him until there is an act of aggression. Then with the command he will straight eat you.  I can tell him to do just about anything, to include climbing a ladder and walking on the roof.  Getting down didn’t go so smooth, though.  

You need to decide if you want a dog that looks scary or really is scary. Without training and testing, I can guarantee you that it won’t protect when pushed. Everyone thinks they have a watch dog until it gets kicked in the face. Most don’t even need contact to be punked out.  The willingness to stay in the fight is something that’s bred into dogs and can’t be just trained. I’ve seen very expensive dogs retreat when pressed by a serious threat. 

[bersaguy]

Just thought I would post a picture of my Rescue dog. I kind of think we rescued each other. . I don't know who owned here before but she is very well trained and I began learning this by accident. I was messing with her one day and I said I have to sit down and she sat down. Then I tried lay down and she laid down and I said roll over and she rolled over. She loves to play fetch both on dry ground and at the lake . I sure there are many of you that remmember the story behind my reason for getting her as many many folks here helped me in a time of need when I lost my Kasey and many of yall, contributed to allow me to have Kasey Cremated. At that time in my life I didn't know if I could take care of another dog so I decided to give it some thought.  Well the house was empty with out Kasey begging for snacks  or wanting to go out so I thought it won't hurt to look at some rescue dogs and I did look at probably 50+ dogs  and they were probably all great dogs but I had just not felt it was the right one till one of the girls brought Darby to the visiting room . I knew in about 1 minute that this was the one going home with me . We visited for about 15 minutes and it took a few minutes to get her to more attentive to me and then even show signs of warming up to me . It about 10 minutes she was in my lap and the girls that brought her into the room where satnding behind the glass and 2 of them was crying. I told them to get me a collar for her. She was going home with me and it was only then that I learned she was scheduled to be put down in 3 days. She had been at another rescue center for 6 months before being transfered to this one and she was on her 87th day there and their policy is 90 days if they transfer in from another facility. So she saved me and I saved her. Her bed is a Twin size memory foam Matress  and i just added the old comforter and threw Kaseys old one in a box after washing it so it is stored. 

 

 

[ReeferMac]

Great suggestions guys, thanks for the info!

 

- K
 

[ReeferMac]

Well, Dante joined the family on Sunday! We start training with him in a few weeks. Great little guy... now if he would just learn to go to the bathroom outside. 

[Mark A]

Where is the rest of him? Just kidding, nice looking pup.

Daisy the Blue Tic Hound gives 3 howls, her highest praise.

[RED333]

1 hour ago, ReeferMac said:

Well, Dante joined the family on Sunday! We start training with him in a few weeks. Great little guy... now if he would just learn to go to the bathroom outside. 

GOOD LOOKING PUP!!! Gona make a great dog.

[tnhawk]

1 hour ago, Mark A said:

Where is the rest of him? Just kidding, nice looking pup.

Daisy the Blue Tic Hound gives 3 howls, her highest praise.

I'd be happy if my Blue Tick would stop at 3 howls.

[ReeferMac]

Thanks, but Adam @  http://fdk9tn.com/ deserves the credit, he was the breeder, and will help with the training, too.

 

LOL@ TNHawk... yeah, that's why I stayed away from any hound-type dog. We had a beagle once, and she was a great pet, but she was also the last one I'll ever own!

 

- K

[Trekbike]

On 2/7/2019 at 1:46 PM, ReeferMac said:

 

My sister does rescue. Great work, it's really a shame what some people will do to an animal, but I don't think that's the route I want to go here. 

 

Regarding not wanting to go the rescue option, there are some rescues that also have puppies available that wouldn't come with the typical "baggage" of older dogs.    My wife and I mainly do puppy fostering for the group linked below.   The link should take you to the browse dogs pages.    I did a quick scan and there are numerous puppies currently available.    There are currently 3 pages of dogs to browse.   New dogs are being continually added so check back often.    The individual dog's bio will tell if they are currently available for adoption.    If you really take to a dog and it says, "adoption pending" you can still apply to adopt since the pending adoption might not go through.   

https://www.proverbs1210rescue.org/animals/browse?Species=Dog

Edited March 5, 2019 by Trekbike

[beebee233]

On 2/7/2019 at 7:47 PM, tacops said:

Boxer.  Hits all the traits you mentioned.  Excellent home protection and have a formidable appearance.  Very family oriented and tend to protect children and family at all cost.  Very high reasoning skills.  Short hair makes for house friendly.  Though energetic, they are easily trained and adapt to indoor living very well.  If it sounds like I am biased, I am.  I have had boxers all my life.  I am sure there are other breeds just as highly thought of by others but I have never had a bad Boxer.  All of mine were either rescues or unregistered except for one high end "papered, pedigreed, pure bred".  Couldn't tell the difference in any of them except for individual personality. 

My grandpa had a boxer named Chief. A dozen or more grandkids would ride him, pull his ears, tail, feet, tongue and probably a few more body parts. He played football with us. Nobody that didn't know him got out of the car when they drove up. They waited for Pop to come to the car. 

[tacops]

You just described a several of mine to a tee.  My current Boxer is 13 and still going.  I am getting a new Boxer pup at the end of the month. Mine were Leroy, Baron, Chief, Buster, Sport, Bo, Rebel and I have not decided on the name for the new pup.