What is the best breed of dog for protection and on a farm?

[Patchouli]

yes, @shanrose a Kelpie's coloring is just like a Rottweiler, Doberman, and a few other black and orange dogs. I think ours is a cross of Kelpie, Heeler, and Border Collie.

 

[shanrose]

You haven't really died until you've stepped in goose crap on a wet board porch with a goose trying to nip your butt.

Geese can be very dirty. There's a park down the street from our old house with a lake and geese. You can't walk on the sidewalk or grass because geese doo doo is everywhere.

 

[shanrose]

yes, @shanrose a Kelpie's coloring is just like a Rottweiler, Doberman, and a few other black and orange dogs. I think ours is a cross of Kelpie, Heeler, and Border Collie.

They're very beautiful dogs. I'm going to research them. I'd never heard of a Kelpie before. You reminded me of the name of the dog that a family member just got: we think it's a mix of border collie. It's not a big dog but it faced down a bear. It's an extremely good watchdog.

 

[sonya123]

Small dogs are always the fiercest. Vicious little things. Take the Chihuahua for instance. But they are pretty useless for protection since with one good kick you can make a 40 yard field goal with one.

Use the little dog to alert the big dog to get up and do something.

Our neighbor has a few of those little dogs, they are corgies or something I think plus one evil little something. One is friendly, the other 2 will try to bite your ankles literally if you turn your back to them. I make sure I never go there without boots on. I don't want to kick them and hurt them but they are annoying.
That's probably why they get away with it, nobody wants to kick the little doggies and hurt them. She just yells at them and they don't listen. I fed them treats a few times , and they went RIGHT back to trying to bite me as soon as they got done eating!!! LOL little stinkers

 

[Haertig]

I had a friend who had Chihuahua's. They were always growling and snarling. I found it best to ignore them. They would go away sooner if you did that. If you tried to show them any kind of love or kindness, they would respond with an attack.

Re: Kicking a field goal with one of the beasties ... That was in reference to one of them attacking you in the wild. Not after finding one in your friend's living room. Scoring 3 points in that scenario would be bad form indeed.

 

[App]

I had a couple of German Shepherds show up in the yard one Sunday morning. They were in bad shape and we ended up spending way too much getting them back healthy but they turned out to be fine pups. I had always owned labs but the last 2 had the hip issues associated with them and it just hurt too much.
Anyways, the shepherds turned out to be good companions. I believe that the female was used just to spit out puppies and the male was her son. They settled in and we named them Rocky and Daisy. They did not care what or whom ... it did not belong in their yard! My wife said that one day she heard a horn blowing and she looked out to see a FedEx truck in the yard. She thought that a bit weird but went out to see if they had a package for us - she was expecting one. As she got in hearing distance, the driver, sitting still and both hands on the steering wheel, asked her if she would get her dog. It seems that he was new to our area and did not know to give out treats to the pups. He had gotten out to deliver the package and without him noticing, Rocky followed him into the truck and was just sitting there staring him in the face Both of them were better than 100 lbs after we got them over their issues. Boxes were lucky to be just thrown out in the yard after that

Excellent pups. I was cutting grass one day and spotted them cutting up - there was a snake in their yard and Rocky was not having it.



I found him dead one cold January evening. He was below the house, letting the coyotes know that they were not allowed and just died. I buried him in the bottoms that he kept a watch over. Daisy is still here.

 

[Hooch]

Sounds like shepherds might be one of the best breeds to consider. Terriers are aggressive. I was walking in my front yard and a HUGE dog came up and dogs usually like me so I continued on my way unconcerned. My little terrier was leaping up at the big dogs neck and I didn't know why. She knew before I did: the big dog bit my hip. Luckily my little terrier distracted the big dog enough so that it didn't get a big chunk out of me. The dog bit me but it didn't break the skin.

That is kind of ironic...

Keep in mind too..there are many dogs who find themselves at shelters by no fault if their own.
For example, My boxer, her 80 something year old owner got cancer and died. Bella was in the care of the owners daughter but would have been headed to the shelter if she had not found a home for her soon.
Bella, she was a easy dog to rescue. Very few issues and is overall a wonderful girl..and well past the puppy stage. Her issues are separation anxiety, chasing kitties and she has had to learn some manners because her older owner pretty much let her do whatever and never left her.
Learning manners was easy for her..she only needs reminding occasionally to not rush a door or chase the kitty's.
Her separation anxiety has been fairly easy to manage too..I don't leave her in a excited state or make a big deal comming or going. If she is overly excited when I return, she gets no attention untill she calms down. I don't feed into her excitement so she learned pretty fast calm equals attention.
But my point is many easy good dogs are available.
AND..the shelter staff can help you if you are clear about what kind of dog your wanting.

Most important than what breed...

Your energy level and lifestyle need to match what kind of dog you want..and your willingness to learn and train that dog to be well behaved will result in a good experience.

A small dog misbehaves...you can pick it up..

A big dog misbehaves..and someone or something is getting hurt, mauled and sued.

I would highly recommend finding a local trainer to help you or at the very least youtube some training videos in earnest.

Big dogs are also no guarantee that they will be effective with predators..their size is a deterrent and can give them a chance but that is it.

Livestock guardians breeds can hold their own usually if they are not outnumbered, but they usually do not make good pets and are not for people who are not that experienced with dogs.

 

[Hooch]

Sounds like shepherds might be one of the best breeds to consider. Terriers are aggressive. I was walking in my front yard and a HUGE dog came up and dogs usually like me so I continued on my way unconcerned. My little terrier was leaping up at the big dogs neck and I didn't know why. She knew before I did: the big dog bit my hip. Luckily my little terrier distracted the big dog enough so that it didn't get a big chunk out of me. The dog bit me but it didn't break the skin.

That is kind of ironic...

Keep in mind too..there are many dogs who find themselves at shelters by no fault if their own.
For example, My boxer, her 80 something year old owner got cancer and died. Bella was in the care of the owners daughter but would have been headed to the shelter if she had not found a home for her soon.
Bella, she was a easy dog to rescue. Very few issues and is overall a wonderful girl..and well past the puppy stage. Her issues are separation anxiety, chasing kitties and she has had to learn some manners because her older owner pretty much let her do whatever and never left her.
Learning manners was easy for her..she only needs reminding occasionally to not rush a door or chase the kitty's.
Her separation anxiety has been fairly easy to manage too..I don't leave her in a excited state or make a big deal comming or going. If she is overly excited when I return, she gets no attention untill she calms down. I don't feed into her excitement so she learned pretty fast calm equals attention.
But my point is many easy good dogs are available.
AND..the shelter staff can help you if you are clear about what kind of dog your wanting.

Most important than what breed...

Your energy level and lifestyle need to match what kind of dog you want..and your willingness to learn and train that dog to be well behaved will result in a good experience.

A small dog misbehaves...you can pick it up..

A big dog misbehaves..and someone or something is getting hurt, mauled and sued.

I would highly recommend finding a local trainer to help you or at the very least youtube some training videos in earnest.

Big dogs are also no guarantee that they will be effective with predators..their size is a deterrent and can give them a chance but that is it.

Livestock guardians breeds can hold their own usually if they are not outnumbered, but they usually do not make good pets and are not for people who are not that experienced with dogs.

 

[sonya123]

That is kind of ironic...

Keep in mind too..there are many dogs who find themselves at shelters by no fault if their own.
For example, My boxer, her 80 something year old owner got cancer and died. Bella was in the care of the owners daughter but would have been headed to the shelter if she had not found a home for her soon.


Livestock guardians breeds can hold their own usually if they are not outnumbered, but they usually do not make good pets and are not for people who are not that experienced with dogs.

My friend in Florida got a really cute and well behaved Schnauzer that way ( old lady died) , sometimes I guess you get lucky. My rescues were not so great. The current one we have , son's dog really was found in a garbage bag ( tied up) on the side of the road with the trash by daughter's friend who couldn't keep him. He is a pit/lab mix from the looks of it. My shepherd liked him ( which is weird, she did not like new dogs in the house) so we kept him. He is housetrained but does not behave in any way otherwise, despite us attempting to train him. But we have had him now for close to 10 years, so whatever LOL

The other one was going to be put down ( another pit mix) for biting people, including someone's kid. I took her ( had no kids at the time) and she didn't bite me, but did bite a few people that visited. I eventually had to take her to the pound when I had a kid myself and couldn't have the dog anywhere near daughter. So some dogs just don't get over having a bad start

Agree on the livestock dogs!!! They are specifically for that purpose and nothing else really. They don't listen , but they will protect the livestock. Axel our boy will sit next to a goat stuck in the fence until we come get it out. He will "escort" the bad rescue out of the pasture if he happened to get in ( he doesn't do it anymore LOL, but did earlier when we first got the other dogs) , both dogs will bark at any snake in the pasture and Axel will pick it up and shake it till it's dead. Rose gets rid of skunks coyotees and groundhogs . We did not train them to do any of this, they just do it. We got them from working dogs on another sheep farm.

 

[elkhound]

.

A big dog misbehaves..and someone or something is getting hurt, mauled and sued.

Alderman farms in south had an Anatolian that lost its mind and tried to kill the owner. It got him down even and was working his head and neck over and he is retired police officer and only thing saved him was son he trained how to shoot was able to shoot it off him.He was ugly mess i tell you after that mauling.

 

[Hooch]

Alderman farms in south had an Anatolian that lost its mind and tried to kill the owner. It got him down even and was working his head and neck over and he is retired police officer and only thing saved him was son he trained how to shoot was able to shoot it off him.He was ugly mess i tell you after that mauling.

That's sad...they are no joke. A few friends have them around here..I wont go anywhere near their place if they are out.

 

[Hooch]

My friend in Florida got a really cute and well behaved Schnauzer that way ( old lady died) , sometimes I guess you get lucky. My rescues were not so great. The current one we have , son's dog really was found in a garbage bag ( tied up) on the side of the road with the trash by daughter's friend who couldn't keep him. He is a pit/lab mix from the looks of it. My shepherd liked him ( which is weird, she did not like new dogs in the house) so we kept him. He is housetrained but does not behave in any way otherwise, despite us attempting to train him. But we have had him now for close to 10 years, so whatever LOL

The other one was going to be put down ( another pit mix) for biting people, including someone's kid. I took her ( had no kids at the time) and she didn't bite me, but did bite a few people that visited. I eventually had to take her to the pound when I had a kid myself and couldn't have the dog anywhere near daughter. So some dogs just don't get over having a bad start

Agree on the livestock dogs!!! They are specifically for that purpose and nothing else really. They don't listen , but they will protect the livestock. Axel our boy will sit next to a goat stuck in the fence until we come get it out. He will "escort" the bad rescue out of the pasture if he happened to get in ( he doesn't do it anymore LOL, but did earlier when we first got the other dogs) , both dogs will bark at any snake in the pasture and Axel will pick it up and shake it till it's dead. Rose gets rid of skunks coyotees and groundhogs . We did not train them to do any of this, they just do it. We got them from working dogs on another sheep farm.

They are pretty amazing dogs if you have livestock to guard for sure.
I thought about it when I was raising goats but scratched the idea. I wasn't selling the goats for profit , just to satisfy my ag tax exception here so I chose to not dehorn the goats and luckily I never had issues.
Plus I had my horse hanging with the goats and my Billy would chase coyotes out of the field. That could have gone bad if a pack of coyotes came in but it seemed it was always one here n there and my Billy was a big boy. His son I kept is like 300 pounds with horns..so a lone coyote doesn't bother them.
I now only have the one big whether and his momma left. They are both old goats and are my field lawnmowers untill they croak.

Anyways,

Something I've noticed too from where I moved from the shelter I volunteered at and surrounding shelters had alot of pits and pitty mixes..and that area was overwhelmed with crackheads and drug addicts.

Here two states away, the area shelters are loaded with herding/cattle dog type breeds, huskys, Malamutes and hunter/hound type breeds n mixes.

Closer to boise, you start seeing more pitty mixes probably because there are more crackheads that way.

Of course there are other breeds but the majority in the shelters seem to match the area demographic.

Stupid people get a cute Malamute puppy because it's snow country here not realizing it's going to grow up and needs to run run run daily because they are amazing athletes while the owners can barely walk a city block and then wonder why the small backyard isn't enough for the dog.

Or like my idiot coworker who gets a red healer puppy for his two toddlers to play with when he visits the baby's momma but he lives in a apartment or in his truck half the time ..

 

[Tirediron]

And a dog needs a closed in yard, or things can get out of hand pretty fast. and until you know what your doing one dog is enough,

 

[Hooch]

I agree..
I've had neighbors out here in the country that moved in and let their dogs roam because..they moved out in the country.
I have almost 9 acres..first thing I built here was a fenced back yard for Hooch and his cat Crazy. Safe, secure yard.
Hooch never roamed..he was content to be home but it gave him and the cat a secure area from predators when I wasn't home.
One of the neighbors that let their dogs roam finally fenced up them last year when 2 of them got hit and almost caused the guy to wreck.
Another neighbor chained up his dog after another neighbor got sick of them and shot one..I don't like dogs on chains 24 7 but..not my call.
And another neighbor had someone try to doggie nap her lab who roamed then a few months later both dogs died. They were younger pups didn't really cause much fuss except being in the road sniffing around but still..

 

[OldSchool]

I know people will disagree,

It's ok..it just my experiences ..

I've have always adopted adult dogs, rescues from either the dog shelters or people who are about to take to the shelter for various reasons.

That said, I have put alot of time in basic obedience training, daily consistent boundary rules, like no chasing cats, chickens, going potty outside, off leash recall dispite external distractions..and many other stuff plus miles of trail or town jogs n walks into them .

Every dog needs... exercise , training, boundries in the home and a loving place in a pack ..in that order and consistency.

I've had mutts to purebred pups. Purebred tend to have more health issues. Mutts seem less prone to health issues.

Certain breeds of canine are very drivin to what their breed was developed for and if for example, you get a Australian Shepard and do not have a active lifestyle , have very little time for training , exercise and something for it to herd..it would not be surprising to hear about behavior issues arise.

Maybe narrow down to how big a dog you and your spouse can agree on. Personally, since I live out in a rural area with serious predators..I only adopt large dogs.

Once you agree on how big a dog you want,
Research some breeds , what ENERGY level and WHAT THEY ARE BREED FOR, generally how trainable and general willingness to please are they known for.

I say general because there are always exceptions but 9 times out if 10..if you get a Alaskan Malamute or Belgian Melnoi, your going to have a very energetic dog that needs alot of exercise and training in order to avoid behavior issues.

Really access how your ENERGY and LIFESTYLE fits with that type of breed and look up your areas shelters, rescues or breeders and see what is available.

I personally prefer mixed breeds, I like older adults dogs. The only bad habit I don't like untraining in a dog is a dog with a strong prey drive who chases or kills small critters.

Prey drives need constant untraining. Some breeds are bred to have a strong prey drive, so it can be fairly futile to try to train that out. It requires opportunity to unlearn, and that requires me being home more and available to help a dog un learn chasing cats, poisonous snakes, my chickens or skunks.

There are exceptions to that ..for example I had rescued a Black Mouth Cur. A great southern breed all American ranch type dog who are breed to be ranch dogs and hunters. They are known for having a strong prey drive and it is recommended they be raised as a puppy along with the small ranch/farm animals on the homestead so they acclimate to them and not kill all your small critters like barn cats n chickens.
I took a chance on him because he was a rescue and a adult already. Luckily he is great and is not interested in killing my other animals. His willingness to please is stronger than his prey drive. My rescued boxer , boxers are not known for having prey drives loved to chase kitties. She relapses occasionally but her recall training stops her. Still I have to be on it more with her. And she just met her first skunk, was terribly confused as to why it wouldn't run away so she kept following it about a foot from it's butt all the way out the gate.
Yea..
Luckily she isn't in for the chase to kill..just to chase and getting sprayed a few times only whoaed her up once. It was kinda funny to watch but now my house will smell like skunk untill winter.
My friend had a 7 pound chiwinie. .spell? She was like a 100 pound guard dog on his ranch ..alerted him to everything and would even chase bear n elk out of the yard. She was a gift, he never wanted a dog. He kept her for a few years, he liked her alot but was afraid she would get herself killed and he wasn't home alot. So he finally found a retired person to adopt her.

I think hands down my favorite rescued pooch was my rescued pitty mix. My avatar on the thumbnail n name on here.




View attachment 158854



Me and Hooch watched the sunset one last time together. I layed behind him on his favorite bed, held his paw n scratched his ears. I stayed up all night that night with him.
His kidneys were failing, the vet came out and that was it. I buried him under his favorite apple tree that next morning.
My heart still breaks ..
Hooch was a gift.

To follow up on your rescue pitty mix… that’s what I have now and is the best dog ever, in my book.

I never wanted a pit bull terrier… heard too many bad things about them. But when I was ready for another dog I checked my options for adopting. This dog just caught my attention - being so playful and attentive. The dog does love people and attention, so not a great watch dog in that since, and the dog has ‘animal aggression issues’ but is fine with domesticated animals she’s become familiar with.

Here’s a link for those not familiar with the bread.

https://www.rover.com/blog/breeds/american-pit-bull-terrier/

I’ve only glanced over it, but what I’ve read fits.

 

[Hooch]

To follow up on your rescue pitty mix… that’s what I have now and is the best dog ever, in my book.

I never wanted a pit bull terrier… heard too many bad things about them. But when I was ready for another dog I checked my options for adopting. This dog just caught my attention - being so playful and attentive. The dog does love people and attention, so not a great watch dog in that since, and the dog has ‘animal aggression issues’ but is fine with domesticated animals she’s become familiar with.

Here’s a link for those not familiar with the bread.

https://www.rover.com/blog/breeds/american-pit-bull-terrier/

I’ve only glanced over it, but what I’ve read fits.

Hooch loved people..on our walks around town, he had people, regular walkers who he got to know, like a fan club. People were always curious about him too. He was a big intimidating looking boy, but he was so well behaved and calm.
Other dogs could be around creating issues for their owners, squirrels running around..he was chill.
He did have a prey drive..that took some work. He got over wanting to chase cats pretty fast. I adopted a cat that wasn't afraid of dogs. After about a month of on leash supervised good interactions , him and the cats were good. It was more about the chasing was fun part for him.
Chickens were another challenge. 99% of the time after alot of desentizing training..I got him to the point that he could be out with free roaming Chickens and all was good. Over 9 years, tho..he relapsed a few times and I lost about 6 Chickens in that timeframe..so..I'd say that's ok.
I did find a job for him to satisfy his prey drive, he loved catching mice and rats. I took him to a ratting event once..he had a blast and was the only pittbull in the event. He was disqualified because instead of going and working the maze made out of hay bales piled on one another..he literally plowed through the last stack when he smelled where the rat was hidden on the other side instead of going around the bales. Then he peed on the toppled bales after he found the rat. The bales wernt heavy and he was 85 pounds of muscle. But it got everyone laughing .
He trained in obedience easy..8 months after I got him I entered a novice all breed obedience competition ..again only pitty in the group.
He wasn't dog aggressive even if other dogs were trying to be dominant or fight..he used his mass to bounce them off and try to get them to play or ignore them.
He was so keyed onto me I used hand signals alot on or off leash. I should have got him to be therapy certed ..he had that potential.
The shelter I got him from I started volunteering at, they had so many pittys and alot of ones that just needed training and a stable home ..if I had the money n time..I'd have alot more rescues.
This is the collection of photos my friend made for me when I had to put hooch down.

 

[hashbrown]

I have a Cane Corso we kept her completely away from everyone but the three of us for year or so. She is extremely protective of us and our place. She is a handful at a 150 pounds but I don’t worry about anything around our house and my doors are never locked.

 

[sonya123]

They are pretty amazing dogs if you have livestock to guard for sure.
I thought about it when I was raising goats but scratched the idea. I wasn't selling the goats for profit , just to satisfy my ag tax exception here so I chose to not dehorn the goats and luckily I never had issues.
Plus I had my horse hanging with the goats and my Billy would chase coyotes out of the field. That could have gone bad if a pack of coyotes came in but it seemed it was always one here n there and my Billy was a big boy. His son I kept is like 300 pounds with horns..so a lone coyote doesn't bother them.
I now only have the one big whether and his momma left. They are both old goats and are my field lawnmowers untill they croak.

Anyways,

Something I've noticed too from where I moved from the shelter I volunteered at and surrounding shelters had alot of pits and pitty mixes..and that area was overwhelmed with crackheads and drug addicts.

Here two states away, the area shelters are loaded with herding/cattle dog type breeds, huskys, Malamutes and hunter/hound type breeds n mixes.

Closer to boise, you start seeing more pitty mixes probably because there are more crackheads that way.

Of course there are other breeds but the majority in the shelters seem to match the area demographic.

Stupid people get a cute Malamute puppy because it's snow country here not realizing it's going to grow up and needs to run run run daily because they are amazing athletes while the owners can barely walk a city block and then wonder why the small backyard isn't enough for the dog.

Or like my idiot coworker who gets a red healer puppy for his two toddlers to play with when he visits the baby's momma but he lives in a apartment or in his truck half the time ..

I see quite a few posts on our club website for livestock dogs people try to get rid of because the farmers died and the livestock got sold, or the farmers got too old to farm and the livestock got sold, and the dogs are still alive. We are thinking about this now since our dogs are getting old ( they are 7 this year, most livestock dogs don't reach 10) . What if we replace them and then something happens ( like injuries) and we have to get rid of the livestock? It's not that easy to find a new home for an older livestock dog.

And yes, more pit mixes in the city. We got ours in Orlando. The ghetto is full of pits and mixes.

I had my previous shepherd in downtown Orlando, but we had a large fenced yard and I took her to a really nice big dog park several times a week, plus took her jogging all the time. BUt you are right, city people that don't exercise should just have little couch potato dogs. We had one ( a Shi Tzu) when the kids were little, he was a good guard dog also, barked if anyone came up to the house. But didnt; need much if any exercise and was happy enough to run around in the yard

oh and I have tried teaching Otto to herd the goats when they misbehave and don't go into the pasture gate or something ( I hold him on a leash and tell him to bark) and the top goat , Walnut comes over and tries to headbutt him LOL, she is not afraid of him at all. All our goats have horns too, they are meat goats. That's why they can get stuck in some of our fencing

 

[lonewolf]

any dog can be killed if the intruder is armed, I know most people go for a large dog because they think its the most aggressive but terriers are more noisy and cheaper to keep, you can keep several terriers on the cost of keeping one large dogs, if I had the space I would have 3 or 4 terriers.

 

[shanrose]

anything in terrier group is bred to just kill...kill drive like no other...hence name at ending of various breeds...fox terrier...the jacks and patterdales and jagdterriers.

I love terriers. I read somewhere that they are fast enough to kill snakes. I dislike all snakes but we have copperheads. After reading others' views, if I was younger I'd have a big dog and a terrier. Our terrier was small but fierce.

 

[elkhound]

I love terriers. I read somewhere that they are fast enough to kill snakes. I dislike all snakes but we have copperheads. After reading others' views, if I was younger I'd have a big dog and a terrier. Our terrier was small but fierce.

my friends lived in africa for over 11 years and they had terriers to keep cobras out of the house.

 

[shanrose]

any dog can be killed if the intruder is armed, I know most people go for a large dog because they think its the most aggressive but terriers are more noisy and cheaper to keep, you can keep several terriers on the cost of keeping one large dogs, if I had the space I would have 3 or 4 terriers.

You have a good point. A big dog requires more food and terriers don't. I'm just afraid that my terrier could be attacked by coyotes because terriers don't back down. Our little terrier went after our neighbors two large Rottweilers and she was a small terrier. The two Rottweilers could have easily killed her but our neighbor had them on a leash. Terriers have a strong spirit and are very loyal. A dog can be killed by an intruder but the main thing I want is a dog that will alert me to danger. Dogs seem to have better hearing and sense danger before people do.

 

[shanrose]

We used to have a Wire Haired Fox terrier.

 

[shanrose]

my friends lived in africa for over 11 year and they had terriers to keep cobras out of the house.

That's good to know. I read somewhere that terriers were bred to kill snakes. I read that a dog must be faster than a snake.

 

[shanrose]

my friends lived in africa for over 11 year and they had terriers to keep cobras out of the house.

That's good to know. I read somewhere that terriers were bred to kill snakes. I read that a dog must be faster than a snake.

 

[elkhound]

That's good to know. I read somewhere that terriers were bred to kill snakes. I read that a dog must be faster than a snake.

they had jack russell terriers.

 

[Mountain trapper]

The best dog I've ever owned was an English lab. I bought him from a breeder in Mississippi and flew him to Alaska at 10 weeks old. Any time he thought we were in danger he'd take us by the hand and lead us away. He never did like the cows so he'd always try to lead us away when he thought we were getting too close. He seldom ever barked, but when he did it meant something was there. One year he got bit by a rattlesnake. We gave him some benadryl and he survived just fine. When I was sick he never left my side.
We had to put him down about 3 years ago. The hardest thing I've ever done, and the saddest day of my life.

 

[OldSchool]

Hooch loved people..on our walks around town, he had people, regular walkers who he got to know, like a fan club. People were always curious about him too. He was a big intimidating looking boy, but he was so well behaved and calm.
Other dogs could be around creating issues for their owners, squirrels running around..he was chill.
He did have a prey drive..that took some work. He got over wanting to chase cats pretty fast. I adopted a cat that wasn't afraid of dogs. After about a month of on leash supervised good interactions , him and the cats were good. It was more about the chasing was fun part for him.
Chickens were another challenge. 99% of the time after alot of desentizing training..I got him to the point that he could be out with free roaming Chickens and all was good. Over 9 years, tho..he relapsed a few times and I lost about 6 Chickens in that timeframe..so..I'd say that's ok.
I did find a job for him to satisfy his prey drive, he loved catching mice and rats. I took him to a ratting event once..he had a blast and was the only pittbull in the event. He was disqualified because instead of going and working the maze made out of hay bales piled on one another..he literally plowed through the last stack when he smelled where the rat was hidden on the other side instead of going around the bales. Then he peed on the toppled bales after he found the rat. The bales wernt heavy and he was 85 pounds of muscle. But it got everyone laughing .
He trained in obedience easy..8 months after I got him I entered a novice all breed obedience competition ..again only pitty in the group.
He wasn't dog aggressive even if other dogs were trying to be dominant or fight..he used his mass to bounce them off and try to get them to play or ignore them.
He was so keyed onto me I used hand signals alot on or off leash. I should have got him to be therapy certed ..he had that potential.
The shelter I got him from I started volunteering at, they had so many pittys and alot of ones that just needed training and a stable home ..if I had the money n time..I'd have alot more rescues.
This is the collection of photos my friend made for me when I had to put hooch down.

My dog pays attention to everything in her surroundings, even when chilling or relaxing. And she has learned to chill, doesn’t care about squirrels and lets them be. But raccoons… I’ve broken up several fights. Once I was inside and didn’t hear the ruckus. The dog got tore up a bit. The raccoon… it’s corpse made a few meals for the turkey vultures after I tossed in the woods.

I have an idea how the dog would react in open county with the likes of a coyote, but I don’t let this dog run loose. I figure the coyote would run rather than fight. And yes - the chase and even the fight is fun for these dogs. Mine catches mice… good times for her.

I had the dog for a couple months when I realized opossums really do play dead. I pulled the dog off one and figured I’d have to take care of the corpses. Nope… an hour later it was gone. Two other possums didn’t fair so well.

As much as she likes people she’s still on guard and will bark when a stranger passes by unexpectedly.

I’m not meaning to sidetrack the thread but these stories could help a person decide what breed of dog they want and consider their options for adopting.

Mine dog, the pit bull, was a favorite at the adoption agency. They had her 10 months, way long than they’d keep most dogs before euthanizing. Her failure to get along with other animals was the problem.

She was a street dog in a small town down south. The dog catcher impounded her. A church based organization rescued her from there. Then another organization brought her to Michigan for adoption. She was adopted once and returned… The single mother loved the dog, but the dog wouldn’t share her toys with the woman’s young child.

That background probably has something to do with how the dog has bonded with me,… she knows I’m here for her, caring for her and will never give her up.

 

[Sourdough]

a thundering herd of "blood-thirsty" Toulouse Geese, keep everything out of the yard. Even run the Grizzly Bears off the property.

 

[shanrose]

The best dog I've ever owned was an English lab. I bought him from a breeder in Mississippi and flew him to Alaska at 10 weeks old. Any time he thought we were in danger he'd take us by the hand and lead us away. He never did like the cows so he'd always try to lead us away when he thought we were getting too close. He seldom ever barked, but when he did it meant something was there. One year he got bit by a rattlesnake. We gave him some benadryl and he survived just fine. When I was sick he never left my side.
We had to put him down about 3 years ago. The hardest thing I've ever done, and the saddest day of my life.

Labs are supposed to be loving. Sounds like you had a gem. I know that sadness. I still miss the terrier we put down.