Thinking about getting a dog...
I refuse to get anything other than a 'working' dog. Labs, retrievers, Shepherds, etc, no crapzu's, pugs, or anything shorter than my knee. Will most likely be a puppy from a reputable breeder. I want a dog that is obedient, will execute commands, and is for the most part quiet unless they need to be loud(i understand puppies will probably be loud). For the most part, i think those things come out of good training and not so much the breed. I may be wrong.
Right now, number one choice is a GSD(German Shepherd), while my second choice would be a Black lab. I am open to others...
I really like the looks of the GSD's and i like the possibility of having a real guard dog on the premises. Do they have any inherent hunting ability? I know they can track(like a lot of dogs)....but any natural hunting abilities? Can i train one to be a guard dog and still play nice with kids and other dogs? I have seen some dogs that have a command to 'turn on' and become more aggressive but are calm and easy going when 'turned off'...is that true?
Black lab pluses are shorter hair, inherent hunting dogs, but i just haven't seen any labs that would make good guard dogs. They all pretty much roll over and want to be petted by pretty much any stranger.
Any other breeds i should look into? Anything i should look out for in the GSD or Lab?
Advice of any kind would be appreciated. I don't know much(this is probably obvious from this post).
I refuse to get anything other than a 'working' dog. Labs, retrievers, Shepherds, etc, no crapzu's, pugs, or anything shorter than my knee. Will most likely be a puppy from a reputable breeder. I want a dog that is obedient, will execute commands, and is for the most part quiet unless they need to be loud(i understand puppies will probably be loud). For the most part, i think those things come out of good training and not so much the breed. I may be wrong.
Right now, number one choice is a GSD(German Shepherd), while my second choice would be a Black lab. I am open to others...
I really like the looks of the GSD's and i like the possibility of having a real guard dog on the premises. Do they have any inherent hunting ability? I know they can track(like a lot of dogs)....but any natural hunting abilities? Can i train one to be a guard dog and still play nice with kids and other dogs? I have seen some dogs that have a command to 'turn on' and become more aggressive but are calm and easy going when 'turned off'...is that true?
Black lab pluses are shorter hair, inherent hunting dogs, but i just haven't seen any labs that would make good guard dogs. They all pretty much roll over and want to be petted by pretty much any stranger.
Any other breeds i should look into? Anything i should look out for in the GSD or Lab?
Advice of any kind would be appreciated. I don't know much(this is probably obvious from this post).