Should I get Rex? - Page 1

Hi. As a hobby,and stricktly for the purpose of developing my skills in working with dogs, I've worked during my spare time with the Police K9 unit with German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois for 2 years. A friend of mine who worked there sorted me out with this favour. One of my favourite dogs with a very good temperament, instincts that were in tune, as well as a gentle nature, was a Malinois named Rex. He was very different from the rest of the Malinois I saw there:  very gentle, yet ready to handle any job.

A few weeks ago, I decided to get a puppy, andI was going for a German Shepherd, as I have cats and thought socialising a GSD with my 2 cats would be a lot easier than doing that with a Belgian Malinois, especially if I got the GSD as a puppy. After checking out breeders, I tried the police unit again, to see if they could sort me out with good breeders that they've dealt with. So when my friend asked me what exactly I wanted, I said that I wanted a dog who was not too full of drives, but with appropriate drives for a pet who's willing to guard his territory. Just appropriate as a guard and family dogs, instincts are there, but are in tune and with a gentle nature. A dog who is not afraid to bite, which is why he won't bite unless he needed to because he isn't a fear biter. So I gave him two examples, one of a German Shepherd I worked with (Max), and the other of Rex (the Belgian Malinois). He immediately asked me if I was interested in Rex, and said that he wasn't actually owned by the unit (long story short, he could be sold, I honestly didn't understand the full story of him ending up at the unit...it has to do with a previous owner abandoning him). Now I really am very very tempted to get him, as he really was my favourite, and we've bonded very well, but I have a few questions before getting him:

1. The most important question: Although I do know he has a very gentle nature, and is very obedient, I never tested him around cats. He is about four years old now, so is no longer a puppy, and I don't think he's been socialised with cats before, even though my friend told me he's been house broken. Do you think it's too late to try and socialise a dog like that with cats? When I used to work with him, all it took to get him used to another dog (because he would bark at a new dog he just met) was moniter him with a good grip on the leash as we made him walk behind the other dog for a while (giving him chance to sniff him)...and that would be it, he'd get alon with them very well. But is he to trust around the cats while I'm gone, even if I managed to get him to be nice to them while I'm around? My cats go out and play in the yard, and sometimes jump off the fence and come back later by jumping back in off the fence....I worry that if that happens while I'm gone, his instincts would kick in and he'd kill them. What do you think?

2. The set up in my place allows for a lot of play in the yard while I'm gone, the yard has a not bad space. Yet, being in a complex (living in the ground floor) I have doors very close to each other, and yards literally stuck to each other being seperated only by one fence between each two (so my yeard has 3 other yards stuck to it, seperated by just one fence with each). Also, closest window of different of one appartment looking right at my yard is about three meters high, and there are plenty of other windows much higher than that, looking right at it. So, being a Belgian Malinios, who should be territorial by nature, does that mean that he's going to be an excessive barker being in such set up? you know, being sorrounded by all these scents? Is he going to be barking and growling at people just for opening their windows? I do know for

You're asking a dog that was a working police K9 and is 4 years old, to now sit around and be a house pet?  You need a low drive GSD puppy.