Dog recommendations for family

[grey]

Lol, Why not cook it man? Prolly like it better?

If you cook the bones they tend to splinter longitudinally, these splinters are incredibly sharp and routinely kill dogs through perforated/obstructed bowels.

If you leave the bones out, the dogs can run into not having enough "roughage" with just the protein alone which can result in diarrhea on an epic scale (yes, I found this out the hard way).

Also, frozen is WAAAAAY less work and the dogs love the crunch/snap, the coolness is a plus for large breeds during the hot ass Southwest 9 month summer as well.

If I was raising chickens though, I would have simply gone with a "chop, scald off the bulk of the feathers, throw to dog" method. If I still had Dad's plucking machine (What? Doesn't everyone have a powered chicken plucker?) I might have added that step, but animals are pretty good at avoiding the non-edible bits.

As it was, I just didn't feel the need to save the 50% or so that raising my own birds would have given us.

 

[Oldschool]

English Mastiff (or any Mastiff variant/mix).

Stupifyingly loyal. Their bark alone is as terrifying as a shotgun blast. Having one run towards you is enough to bring on a mud check (you can literally feel their feet shaking the ground like a horse galloping).

I live directly on the Mexican border, on a river that is the major artery for illegals and drug smugglers in this state.

With my dog in our multi-acre low fenced yard I could let my daughter go outside and play without a care in the world.

Put a filthy hand over that fence and the only thing left would have been illegal flavored mastiff shit.

I live in the same type of neighborhood and I had a Black mouth Cur crossed with Catahoula Leopard that was the same. No worries. Lots of good breeds out there to choose from.

 

[Oldschool]

 

[tenpoundsleft]

For purebreds any reputable breeder will be happy to give references and results of pretty much any number of breed-specific genetic defect testing for the line.

You will end up paying absolutely top-dollar for that level of assurance though.

You'll also pay top dollar for vet bills and meds when your dog develops issues that could have been prevented through better selection.

 

[Genghis K.]

@Oldschool, I just Googled Catahoula Leopard cur. Those dogs have some cool eyes! The description reads that they don't get along well with other dogs and are notorious for killing cats? What was yours like?

 

[JJ408G]

AMERICAN BULLY

 

[TheDiesel13]

I would definitely look into the Boxer. Great family dogs and most of all great with kids.

 

[tenpoundsleft]

I would definitely look into the Boxer. Great family dogs and most of all great with kids.

As long as you stick to the approach of knee chesting the puppy when he starts to jump on you. If you do that as soon as the dog starts jumping, he'll learn to not do it in no time, don't do it and you have have nuisance of a dog for its life. Boxers are one breed where I always have a knee poised and ready in case they jump - since most owners seem to be idiots who don't know jack about training dogs.

Here's a good link:
https://littleshelter.com/the-rescue-blog/2014/2/27/how-to-get-your-dog-to-stop-jumping

Unlike many bullshit bleeding heart dog sites that can't tell abuse and training apart, usually written by females it seems, the page above gives real advice.

 

[Oldschool]

@Oldschool, I just Googled Catahoula Leopard cur. Those dogs have some cool eyes! The description reads that they don't get along well with other dogs and are notorious for killing cats? What was yours like?

I think it's all in how they are raised. You can make any breed dog very aggressive or very laid back. My dog would love or kill anything I told her to. Literally. Loyal to no end.

 

[cflow69]

Get a pit, and ask your vet to put his breed as a mix on his rabies certification and same when you go to the town hall. Just mix breed. I know many many people who do this with theirs and the insurance company is fine.

The pit bull absolutely is the #1 choice I'd say

I did this exact thing with my pit .

 

[Caizier]

American Bulldog. Pits are great family dogs if brought up correctly but I've had Am bulls for years. They're extremely loyal and protective of the home and family, even though they are large they are gentle with small kids. They are high energy for the first couple of years but chill as they get older. I'm not talking about the short legged bullies, but the original Am bulls which will run from 80 up to 140 pounds. The one I have now is best friends with my 2 cats and they all sleep together.

Best dogs on the planet!

 

[ironwill1951]

choose a dog by what it is bred to do. genetically they will want to do what they were bred for. the amount of desire to do what they were bred for depends on how far back in the pedigree they were used for that given purpose. examples are.

a retriever is bred to hunt and retrieve birds.
a border collie is bred to herd other animals. they love to chase.
poodles are bred for pets.
a pointer is bred to point birds.
bloodhounds are bred for tracking.
huskies and malamutes are bred to pull sleds.
german shepherds are bred for protection and guard dogs.
pitt bulls are bred to fight other dogs.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

choose a dog by what it is bred to do. genetically they will want to do what they were bred for. the amount of desire to do what they were bred for depends on how far back in the pedigree they were used for that given purpose. examples are.

a retriever is bred to hunt and retrieve birds.
a border collie is bred to herd other animals. they love to chase.
poodles are bred for pets.
a pointer is bred to point birds.
bloodhounds are bred for tracking.
huskies and malamutes are bred to pull sleds.
german shepherds are bred for protection and guard dogs.
pitt bulls are bred to fight other dogs.

Always had a soft spot for german shepherds. Especially the males. Their the ones with the enforcement behind the bark.

 

[Naugahyde]

Me and the wife thinking of getting a dog for the kids for Christmas. The wifes wants a dog that’s protective of the kids. She was thinking of a German Shepard but was wondering any other good family dogs that may shed less and little smaller then a GSD.
If you have any recommendations please share and post pics if it’s your current dog.

My sweet Amstaff girl - rescued from a shelter - this one likes to sleep, a lot....loves people & kids, not great with any other mammals - we're working on that. I've owned Bull breeds for nearly 30 years - a pure English Staffy, a Pitbull Blue Heeler X, and this dopey thing...Cheeky, playful, loyal, loving & tough - what's not to like?

 

[Throwback]

Me and the wife thinking of getting a dog for the kids for Christmas. The wifes wants a dog that’s protective of the kids. She was thinking of a German Shepard but was wondering any other good family dogs that may shed less and little smaller then a GSD.
If you have any recommendations please share and post pics if it’s your current dog.

A well socialized rottweiler...best breed imo for kids and families.
Ours was big for the breed 38inch neck..54 in chest and 205lbs.
He was the best friend of all the kids in the neighborhood and all my grandkids.
He would sit an watch people and if he thought an adult were a threat he would put himself between the kids and the potential threat till you said either it was ok or the threat backed off.
Only happened twice in 10 years and he was right both times...never nipped bit or even snapped at a child.
I would take him to flea markets car.. shows..everywhere with sometimes thousands of people....he never got tired of meeting people.
Sure miss that guy...died from cancer at 9.

 

[RAre]

Thanks all for your input, we had just put a deposit for first pick of 1 out of the 3 males out of a litter of 9 for a German Shepherd. There only 2wks old now and we plan to visit when we can just to get fimiliar with the males to assure we get the right one.

 

[Just Fish]

So we stayed with a BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet for all but 3 months of her life.

Mastiff's are fully capable of dealing with raw bones (large males can crack and devour an entire cow femur in a day) and meat without any other nutritional supplementation, so we stuck with frozen chicken.

Chicken legs, usually 4-6 per day in one feed, bone-in, still frozen. Roughly 2 quick chomps per each leg was all it took. Like watching a very ugly yellow-furred child eating a series of gross popsicles.

For "special occasions" I would just put an entire frozen chicken on the patio and watch her eat the whole thing in around 20 minutes.

Cost stayed at around $2.00-4.00 a day depending on corn prices.

The upside of BARF is that dog shit volume comes mainly from the fillers in commercial dog food, so on BARF my 145 pound dog (that is petite for an English) had craps that looked like most poodle shits and dissolved in sun or rain almost immediately.

Their teeth also don't plaque up with also keeps their breath smelling "better".

The 3 months we had her on commercial food I needed a fucking snow shovel to move the giant piles of shit out of the lawn. Never again.

I thought chicken bones were an absolute no go. I know beef bones are fine but never chicken bones

 

[Just Fish]

If you cook the bones they tend to splinter longitudinally, these splinters are incredibly sharp and routinely kill dogs through perforated/obstructed bowels.

If you leave the bones out, the dogs can run into not having enough "roughage" with just the protein alone which can result in diarrhea on an epic scale (yes, I found this out the hard way).

Also, frozen is WAAAAAY less work and the dogs love the crunch/snap, the coolness is a plus for large breeds during the hot ass Southwest 9 month summer as well.

If I was raising chickens though, I would have simply gone with a "chop, scald off the bulk of the feathers, throw to dog" method. If I still had Dad's plucking machine (What? Doesn't everyone have a powered chicken plucker?) I might have added that step, but animals are pretty good at avoiding the non-edible bits.

As it was, I just didn't feel the need to save the 50% or so that raising my own birds would have given us.

So if you don't cook it they are fine?