HELP! Good Beginner Dog For These Conditions?

The most important thing to remember here is that breeding does NOT a protection dog make!  There are breeds typically used in protection, mainly b/c of 1) visual deterrence (the dog *looks* scary) and 2) willingness to be trained and adhere to the handler.  A true "personal protection dog" (PPD) involves YEARS of professional training.  It's sort of like getting a SAR dog or a service dog - a lot of dogs begin training and are eventually washed out b/c they just don't cut it.

What it sounds like is that you want a visual deterrence more than an actual PPD - a dog that looks scary, but that's about the end of it.

Since you want one that isn't high energy, maybe a mastiff type?  I've never worked with them, but I assume they require less exercise and physical training than say, a German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois (both of which would require hours of exercise each day).  A bull mastiff?  American bulldog?

It really depends though.  I would actually suggest adopting an adult from a good rescue.  You could feasibly find an adult German Shepherd with a lower drive and lower energy level.  You can also find a dog that has been raised with cats.  I adopted a 3 year old German Shepherd and there has not been one single incident with any of my three cats.  We then adopted a one year old mutt who also lived with cats, but he is still in his puppy phase and teases them.  Remember, larger breeds take about 2 years to mature, so you will have a 70lb puppy!  Since you have specific criteria (lower energy level, good with cats, good in the city, first time owner), I strongly suggest going the rescue route.  A reputable rescue will have dogs in foster homes, so the foster family will know exactly how the dog behaves in those situations and whether or not it will work out.  With a puppy, you can train it, but it's still a gamble.  Some of temperament and drive IS genetic. 

With the conditions you've outlined, I tihnk there's a lot of breeds that COULD work. What I would do, though, is go to your local municipal shelter and look for a 4-5 year old large to very large black dog with a laid back personality who is good with cats and has good leash skills. Black dogs typically look more intimidating and frankly, you're looking for more of a deterrant than a protection-trained dog, and you don't have the time or skills to handle a protection trained dog to the level you'd need to for the dog to be safe- a protection trained dog (not talking sports here) is in a lot of ways, a loaded weapon waiting to go off. A big black dog is a fantastic visual deterrant and will deter anyone who would be stopped by a dog anyway. Even a protection-trained dog won't stop someone who is willing to shoot that dog.

^^  Agreed.  After I posted I got to thinking, a black lab can be pretty menacing to a stranger!  I think my Coke (the mutt pictured in my signature) is friendly looking and my shepherd is quite small, but I was out walking both dogs the other day and this guy came out of his front door and went "Ooooooooh!  You be to small to be walking them two big@$$ dogs!!" and then stopped going to his car until we passed b/c he was scared of them!  Even people who don't know much about dogs usually understand that dogs in general are pretty loyal, so just having a larger, darker dog of any variety should do the trick.  Instead of true protection training, you can easily train a pet dog to bark a certain amount of times if someone approaches the house.

If you want a dog that "isn't high energy"  don't get a lab, or any of the medium sized "working breeds" or "hound breeds" - they will go crazy with limited exercise.  Maybe a Great Dane? Or a Mastiff? ( or any mix of either breed) They are large and impressive, although I cannot speak to their energy requirements - maybe if someone who owns these breeds can chime in?

I would shoot to find a large, scary "looking" dog - because if you are in a city/limited exercise environment, the kinds of dogs who are really trained for protection will go nuts without enough exercise. Kind of a "deterrent" dog, you know what I mean? Nice and easily trainable, but *looks* intimidating.

Hey again! I also answered your thread elsewhere...

Chow/Chow Mix! that's my favorite of the ones I've tossed around.

How about a Leonberger? OK, so definitely not a "medium" dog, but loyal, less exercise, gentle giant.  I wouldn't mess with one of these!

Not sure what the OP's finacial status is but a good Leo is at LEAST....$1500-2000. That is prohibitive to me lol. That's the only reason I don't already have one, that and some of the health things.

Liesje

How about a Leonberger? OK, so definitely not a "medium" dog, but loyal, less exercise, gentle giant.  I wouldn't mess with one of these!

 

rwbeagles

Not sure what the OP's finacial status is but a good Leo is at LEAST....$1500-2000. That is prohibitive to me lol. That's the only reason I don't already have one, that and some of the health things.

rwbeagles

Not sure what the OP's finacial status is but a good Leo is at LEAST....$1500-2000. That is prohibitive to me lol. That's the only reason I don't already have one, that and some of the health things.

Shush, you!  I just wanted a good excuse to post a Leonberger

Yeah, I want one too.  There's one in the therapy dog class that comes in as we finish *drools* 

 Well, if you're into the big, fluffy ones, how about an English Shepherd....

or, Shiloh Shepherd?

where are you located? I would look on petfinder.com, and see what you can find in your area. You would be suprised at the number of pure breed dogs that pop up in shelters because they are no longer the cute fluffy little puppy they first got. If you are looking for lower energy, I wouldn't go with a puppy. You can train an older dog, but he wont as active as a pup.

I agree with Gina's sugestion about a chow mix. They LOOK scary, but generally are the sweetest babies - I would visit multiple times with the dog, at different times throughout the day, to get a real handle on his personality.

I agree - www.petfinder.com -- by far the BEST comprehensive shelter and rescue listing site...you can search by breed, by state, by anything. I adopted both my cat and my dog via rescues I found on that site

i like the idea of a chow mix BUT do your homework!! if you have no fence and your dog escapes ... well... you better be doing a LOT of obedience training, especially focusing on a next to perfect recall.

i recommend a doberman or dobermix..... they have never failed me.... infact its tempted to consider getting another doberman in the future (when i dont have nearly as many dogs as i have right now) mine all did great indoors and out.. i did however work with them constantly, but they trained quickly for me.... AND the bonus is they get along with cats!

well... all of mine did anyway.. but they were raised with cats, rats, parakeets, horses, etc.... so i say check the local doberman rescue and see if they have anything there. they are naturally protective, they arent psychotic about it like say... an American Bulldog(meaning if you tell your dobie to be nice they will listen... as opposed to a bulldog that insists on giving dirty looks and growling the whole time the stranger is present), they are loyal, smart, and scary looking as heck!

but again.. read up on them. dont take my word for it. i have had amazing luck with dobermans and dobermixes... never had an incident.. well ok one incident with a mix.. he stampeded some cattle through a piece of crap fence... it was only one strand of barbwire keeping fifty cows in so it was only a matter of time anyway!! but it still got me and my dog in trouble!! but it never happened again!! when i needed to catch my horse i could get him to bring the horses to the barn - he was australian shepherdxpit/doberman - so he still had some strong herding instinct. But each dobie dog i had all lived indoors with us. they were content to stay inside while i was at school all day.. they were not maniacs on leash, dragging me all of the place... they walked very calmly.. they let us know when we had company, and were protective enough to get the point across without actually getting physical..... but again i say.. those were MY dogs with MY training.... and i had all the time in the world to train them the way i wanted them... the one i mentioned above - that stampeded cattle- i taught simple bite work and the release command. no i never sicked him on anyone, but it was still cool to have a dog that knew that stuff :D