Large Dog Breed Needed

[gpena]

Thanks for all the information. I've never been to keen on German shepherds. Looks like mastiff is the way to go

Don't count out the American Bulldog, we have two now Mater is 4 and 125lbs an Apollo is 2 an 115lbs. Both are great with our three kids the oldest being 8 an the youngest being only one week old they love our kids an are very protective.

[GatorBait]

I just got one from a TBHer. I gotta say, I wish I would have gotten a mastiff sooner. This dog is awesome. We brush her a few times a day and it keeps the shedding to a minimum. She is a polite dog, but will stand between me and any of my other animals that come toward me ( my mean mustang filly) and growl low and deep until I tell her it's ok or she decides its safe. She is a snuggle monster though, lol so be prepared for that. Very loving dogs.

[Burntorange Bowhunter]

Wow, a 125 pound bulldog. That is massive. Obviously not typical of the breed.

Choosing a mastiff over GSD........not a good move.

[Burntorange Bowhunter]

I understand she wants a bigger breed, but most Labs are very protective. The Lab in my avatar....If Im gone from home and he doesn't know someone....I can promise you, they wouldn't make it out of their car. He is very protective of my wife. The only exceptions are kids, he has never been aggressive towards kids.
PS
Your food bill on a lab vs mastiff!!!!

I will not only get out of my truck......I will run your lab away. LOL.

90% of dogs can be ran off.....especially backyard bred......well, retrievers..

Come on man.

[Mudslinger]

I will not only get out of my truck......I will run your lab away. LOL.

90% of dogs can be ran off.....especially backyard bred......well, retrievers..

Come on man.

Agreed! You need a dog that might not be aggressive, but looks that will scare most people off! Not many breeds on here will do that, but I know the Cane Corso, Rotties and few others will. I have picked many a package up from UPS on my driveway with one of my Rotties standing at the door just looking at them! Same with DtoD salesman getting run off just from the looks they get!

[xman59]

Use your search function... this came up about a month ago... lots of good research posted...

Dog bite studies are NOTORIOUSLY hard to preform because very few of the bites are actually reported. ESPECIALLY in smaller breeds.

take pit for example look at the numbers of pits what HAVE bitten, then go find an actual number of the the number of pit/pit crosses in the US... then see if it is a statically meaningful difference in the number that bite as it compares to the population, pit is one of the most popular dogs in the country... You wont find one but I'd love to talk about any findings you DO have come up with.

the bottom line is your wrong lol

SOME DOGS BITE... Every breed, both sexes, old and young... 99% of bites are because of a the public **** poor ability to train a dog... And then there are the idiots that try to make a dog aggressive (the cane case in california, the owners were CRAZY). Read Ceizar Melan's book, he worked with the female of that pair... really interesting stuff.

Belive what you want, but I have spent more time with more breeds than 90% of the population. Nurture and discipline are what make a dog what it is or isn't.

Your fear of a breed or type of dog is doing nothing but limiting the scope of companions you will have. I'm sorry you do that to yourself but you do you. When you see an aggressive dog, I see one that isn't well socialized, isn't well trained, isn't doing anything daily to help with their drive to do a job, and has decided that his owner and he is best served by him being aggressive.

bet you think those long nose big headed monsters we call "labs" are well bred too...

By the way bites are "Singular instances" soooo you can't throw out the number of good dogs while at the same time you are using "singular instances" in bites to say they are bad dogs...

you sure have a high opinion of yourself,, and you will prove yourself wrong and never admit it,, you obviously don't have the experience you think you do,,, very simply you claim I am wrong but I may just be in that 10 percent that you know less than...... go ahead and indulge yourself in your "knowledge"

[Sleepy]

I understand she wants a bigger breed, but most Labs are very protective. The Lab in my avatar....If Im gone from home and he doesn't know someone....I can promise you, they wouldn't make it out of their car. He is very protective of my wife. The only exceptions are kids, he has never been aggressive towards kids.
PS
Your food bill on a lab vs mastiff!!!!

My 8 yr old lab gets behind me when my brother and his wife bring their poodle over. He also lets my wife's dachsand rule the roost around the food bowls. I have no doubt in my mind if someone broke into my house, he'd just bring them to the bedroom, or come crawl in bed with me. The only thing intimidating he has is his bark, which he will only do on command. I beat the bark out of him as a pup because I can't deal with a constantly barking dog. Labs make decent watch dogs, great hunting partners, and even better family members, but majority aren't going to scare many people, especially who know the breed. There's always the exception, but you've got to work pretty hard to make a lab mean and act instinctively. I've driven up to plenty of houses with a lab acting as you describe. Get out and walk straight at them and they back up barking or come licking you, begging you to throw a stick.

Sorry, don't mean to pick you out, but I just don't understand where people would throw a breed like a lab out for what this guy is wanting. And you're sure as hell going to have a shed problem.

[Burntorange Bowhunter]

Agreed! You need a dog that might not be aggressive, but looks that will scare most people off! Not many breeds on here will do that, but I know the Cane Corso, Rotties and few others will. I have picked many a package up from UPS on my driveway with one of my Rotties standing at the door just looking at them! Same with DtoD salesman getting run off just from the looks they get!

Uh, you are correct......but a DDR GSD definitely fits that bill. Look at the expression on mine in the back of my truck. LOL.

[Mcm1013]

My 8 yr old lab gets behind me when my brother and his wife bring their poodle over. He also lets my wife's dachsand rule the roost around the food bowls. I have no doubt in my mind if someone broke into my house, he'd just bring them to the bedroom, or come crawl in bed with me. The only thing intimidating he has is his bark, which he will only do on command. I beat the bark out of him as a pup because I can't deal with a constantly barking dog. Labs make decent watch dogs, great hunting partners, and even better family members, but majority aren't going to scare many people, especially who know the breed. There's always the exception, but you've got to work pretty hard to make a lab mean and act instinctively. I've driven up to plenty of houses with a lab acting as you describe. Get out and walk straight at them and they back up barking or come licking you, begging you to throw a stick.

Sorry, don't mean to pick you out, but I just don't understand where people would throw a breed like a lab out for what this guy is wanting. And you're sure as hell going to have a shed problem.

No problem, its all a discussion. But like any other dogs, a lot goes in to how they are raised. We live on a 5000 acre ranch and he has very little contact with other people and I don't beat the "bark" out of him because that's one reason we have him. I'm not saying that's wrong, I cant stand a yapper either
And your correct, there are a lot of labs out there that are "community dogs" and run the neighborhood and lick everyone they see. And like I said, just a discussion.....no hard feelings

[DTala]

Gotcha. What are those dogs that look like shepards but are brindle. Dutch Shepard I think?

Mals and Dutch Shepherds both come in a brindle coloration. Toughest Mal I ever knew was a 40ish pound brindle Mal female....you did not want to be the bite dummmy on that dog...

[DTala]

Labs that will protect you are relatively rare, they were not bred for protection. Fl LEO got her butt curb stomped several years ago while her Lab sat and watched the stomping.

I once said that IF I ever got back into law enforcement I wanted a 120# GSD that would just sit and stare at anyone I was dealing with....