 Barked: Sun Feb 3, '13 10:20pm PST |
 | |  | | Honestly, a lot of breeds could match your criteria. When you say trained to protect, you mean trained to bark at people? Many dogs will bark at someone arriving or coming into their house, and any large dog will be enough of a deterrent to keep you safe from most people with ill intent when you're out and about. Real protection training, where the dog is actually trained to bite on command, takes a dog with very specific breeding/temperament, thousands of dollars in training, a very good trainer, and a knowledgeable handler. I'm guessing that's not what you want/need. It's generally very easy to teach a "watch!" command where the dog is trained to bark at a person, which I gather is what you're looking for? Pretty much any dog that will bark can be taught to do that.
If you're amenable to an adult dog, a good shelter/rescue could pair you up with a dog that's in your size range, good with children, lower energy, easily trained, intimidating looking, ect. With a puppy, you don't know for sure what kind of temperament you'll end up with, an adult is a more sure bet. Herding breeds often have the natural protective instinct you seem to be looking for. A German Shepherd would be an obvious suggestion, and there's no shortage of them in shelters, including many breed specific rescues. Herders do tend to be high energy though, which again is where an adult rescue might be better than a puppy, since you could look for one that's a little more of a couch potato. |  |  | |  |
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Im not picky on the breed but am not a fan of the terrier group. Any suggestions? IMPORTANT, I will be in an apartment and would prefer a lower energy dog, but definately not a small one.
