Best Breed for Aunty - Page 1

My aunt lives by herself in the notorious Oakland Ca, and many of her neighbor's ( mostly the ones without dogs) houses are being broken into.  That is the last thing she wants, because she runs her business out of her house as well.  She needs a dog that will be her room mate and guard her and her property.  What breed do you think would fit her best?
-Ricky

That depends on your aunt's experience with dogs, how much time she has to put into one, and what kind of living environment (yard, etc) she has for the dog. Also, I would suggest some training classes on how to use a gun along with a concealed carry permit. Never hurts to have two options.

How old is she? Is she fit enough to handle a strong dog? Has she experience with dogs?

If she doesn't feel up to handling one of the harder breeds, like a GSD, maybe a Shiloh shepherd would work for her. They are a great visual deterrent (females are a minimum of 26" and males can be as big as 30") but their disposition is more mellow, which makes them easier to handle and train. If she chooses one with a correct temperament, it will bark and protect the home. Since I have friends who are into the breed, I've heard a few stories about people finding out the hard way these dogs aren't pushovers.

One owner was having renos done on the house, and the dog was fine with the contractor. Then, his owners went out shopping, and the contractor came back to pick up some tools he'd forgotten. The dog kept the contractor penned in a corner until his master and mistress returned....

Does she even want a dog? If you go out and buy one for her, what happens when she refuses the dog? You may have the best intentions for her, but it may not work for her or the dog. You're better off talking to her about this first, and if she's on board with the idea, taking her to check out some dogs in person to see which would fit her personality and lifestyle. You have to remember, dogs are deterrents, only there to give you time to get away and either call 911 or get to a gun. In the end, it may be better to get an alarm system and a gun. In most states, sending a dog to bite is considered the same as pulling a trigger.

She is totally on board. She has had many rescues in the past usually big dogs. The dog would he with her through out most of the day, since she works from home, and would get about two hours of exercise a day.

I would suggest a Rotti. My neighbour here in the country decided to take one of her older sons friends dog that he could no longer keep ( I won't comment on that ). The dog is about two, and when she walks him, no one would want to mess with her.  To me, there is just something about a rottie that looks scary, even though every one I have ever known has been a love bug. I don't know much about the breed but if I were going by just looks alone, that is what I would pick.  I don't say shepherd because they don't scare me probably because I own one.  I just think of them as beautiful big sucks unless they are protection trained. Never met one of those though.
 

I think a well-bred Black Russian Terrier or a Doberman.  Both are physically intimidating, always alert, have very high pack drive and very trainable.  Both breeds are natural guardians and are happy just to hang out with you all day.

Depends on the temperatures, how much exercise and training she can provide for the dog, and how much grooming she's willing to take on.   
My personal preference, outside of the GSD, is maybe a livestock guardian type breed that is used to being lazy and typically doesn't require a lot of training and exercise but are pretty good deterrents.  My personal preference for LGDs is the Spanish Mastiff.   I also really like the European-style/bred Great Danes, the Neapolitan Mastiffs and the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (these breeds are not LGDs.)   All 4 breeds are giant size, easy grooming, generally lazy and make very good visual deterrents (and typically are protective too.)  Biggest downfall of these breeds is slobber and need to make sure they don't get overweight.    Since your aunt is experienced with rescue dogs she would probably be best off getting another rescue of an adult large/giant size dog that is a proven good housedog and has the temperament, energy-level, etc. that fits her well.  

I strongly recommend her checking out the Oakland animal shelter (http://oaklandanimalservices.org/). I was just there last week doing intake for my shelter and there were three shepherd mix pups (possibly dutch? hard to tell. Two were black and one was brindle). There were also two mal/GSD looking female adults in the runs outside too who were returned to OAS from a GSD rescue because they looked too "mutty."

This is an interesting question. My first thought without knowing anything about "Auntie" was the Jack Russell Terrier.  I know a few different type of folks with this breed.

It is a tenacious little bugger of a dog, and one that will not let an intruder or evil minded doer, go unnoticed. I wouldn't want my ankle bit by one of those. FWIW. When there were some break-ins nearby, it was noticed dog owners were spared. Didn't really matter the size. The old farmer not too far away, chose this dog, so he wouldn't be an easy mark after his home was robbed. That dog went every where with him in his truck and well, I always thought they define the word "spunky", for their size.