Hello New here

[Sadenna_And Zoo]

My husband and I have turned our home over to quite a Menageri of animals and included in that menageri we have 2 dogs Dolittle is 7 years old he is a Black Lab/Chow/Daschund mix, and Tibet is 6 years old and she is a Lhasa Apso both are fixed.

 We have been considering adding another dog to the family and have been thinking about a larger dog, partially due to the fact I am home at night by myself as my husband works right now 4pm-4am, now Dolittle tries to act tough but due to the fact he is part Doxy he is vertically challenged and many strangers that have come up on our porch sales people, survey people are not bothered by him at all granted he does the whole thing showing teeth hair brissled up on his back the whole nine yards people hardly flinch at him.
Now I am not looking for a dog just for watch dog, guard purposes but a loving family member. We are looking for a dog that is large, but yet not aggressive by nature if raised with our other pets will get along ok with cat and other non canine or feline animals as we have birds and reptiles..now a few dogs have been suggested to us everything from English Mastiff, Bull Mastiff, Great Dane, even a Bouvier De Flanders..we are also limited on the breed of dog due to the fact our home owners insurance has certain dogs listed we can't have in order for them to insure us and those dogs are Akitas, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Great Danes, Chows, Pit Bulls or any dogs mixed with the breeds listed..now we got lucky with dolittle he does not resemble a chow physically he looks like lab thats been shrunk down and had short legs put on him so we got away with saying he was Lab/Daschund.

 We are not a active household neither of us jog, nor hike so we are looking for a dog that is not high energy that would be just as happy puttering around the backyard when we are out there, going for a slow walk or just being a couch potato. We are also very much trying to avoid a high prey drive instinct due to the fact we have birds and cats. Also looking for a dog that will be good with kids as we have plenty of neighbor kids who love to come over and see all our animals and I do my part and educating them on their care and their needs when they ask they are mostly fascinated with our reptiles and birds.

Our work schedules work out well my husband is home during the day and works nights, I am home at night and work 4 days a week with, so someone is always home and we live close to several relatives (all live on the same block) so someone is always able to come over and let the dogs in between my husband leaving for work and me coming home or if we are out running errands.


So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, we want to make the right decision on the right breed of dog so we are in no rush to run out and get one yet...And yes mixed breeds are also a consideration to.  Since we also have a female and male dog I do worry about same sex dog aggression now our lab mix who is male  is the more dominant dog and our Lhasa is very submissive female I have been told we would do fine with another female dog in the house.

[chaos270]

Welcome to BPO....I'd suggest looking throught the different boards so you can get an idea of what different breeds are like and also I'm sure if you had any specific questions on breeds everyone would be willing to answer your questions.  As far as breeds for you how much hair and/or drool would you be able to stand and how big are you willing to go as far as size? That can help narrow down the possibilities.

[Sadenna_And Zoo]

well I love the size and stalkiness of the BullMastiff but I also don't mind the size of the Dane either..as for hair I would prefer short but don't have a problem with having to brush everyday I brush our lhasa each day and we have a himalayan cat that requires alot of brushing. As far as drool goes well our lhasa tends to drip water on your lap after she has taken a drink of water same with our lab mix. I have spent time online looking differnent breeds I am interested in, and we even attend or local kennel club dog show each year and spend alot of time at the meet the breed booths. But just when I think I found a breed that would work there was the one thing that worried me and it seems to be more in working breeds and other large to giant breeds same sex dog aggression or just  does not get along well with other animals such as cats and small animals..I have talked to people regarding the bull mastiff and have heard mixed opinions from they would be ok in our home raised from a puppy to wouldn't work at all but that had been said alot about the males seems about 10 months they can get a bit full of themselves so to speak even when neutered and I have been told females are stubborn. I have also checked into Saint. Bernards there is a breeder local and on their site she has put her philosophy regarding Saints that a well bred Saint would be able to tolerate any abuse a child could offer such as pulling on ears, sitting on back etc. and be tolerant of other animals in the house..Saints from my research are not guard dogs at all but would rather show a stranger to your valuable than guard them but their size alone is enough to deter someone with bad intention. 

  We looked and researched boxers but I feel the energy level maybe to high for us, and with them seems same sex dog aggression is the common trait, Another person wrote a breeder at that won't place a boxer in a home with cats even if they are raised with them if a cat runs they will chase and sometime the outcome is not good and that got me rather nervous we have cats... the boxer was another one with a very good description very easy going, not aggressive by nature, good family dog and companion love to be with their people and very devoted...

So we are at a point where we don't know what breed is right for us, we definantly would be going through obediance training I now is a must....and because we just can't seem to find the perfect match we have thought about a mixed breed or even going with a smaller dog and we have a few my husband and I both like.

I would love a Irish Wolfhound but they are sight hound and would not do well with my cats and birds. Another dog that has really caught my attention is the LeonBurger found those in our Puppy 2006 Magazine and have found 3 breeders in our area for them.

[Sadenna_And Zoo]

I am really bad about not using the terms large and giant dog..I just consider them all large dogs and I have to agree definantly a great deal of size difference between and English Mastiff and a Boxer we went to a local canine event at the local fair grounds and I must of counted at least 6 English Mastiff that day all from people who also came to enjoy the event as you could bring your well behaved dog the one I saw was just monsterous and was a male but gentle as a lamb I did find it a bit amusing to watch people go completley out of their way to avoid gettting anywhere near them, the bull mastiff that was at the meet the breed booth I was actually on the floor with giving belly rubs they just have that face you want snuggle I think they are adorable but again people were going out of their way to avoid getting close to them we must of spent a good hour or so with the bullmastiff talking to the person who was in charge of the booth.

As for Danes I have seen some huge ones and some ones that are on the smaller side I have been able to see that with alot of different breed at the local kennel club dog show each year.  I grew up around Black labs granted they are not a huge dog but they left a good sized pile in the yard that my father cleaned up after, and they both ate quite a bit, and a friend of my dads had a dane, and a friend of my moms raised Great Pyranese I spent a good part of my childhood around animals of many types so having that experiance of being around a few large and giant breed dogs I have a healthy respect an appreciation for them...plus most of the giant breeds from alot of my reading are gentle giants and tend to be more of a lap dog or at least they think they are when raised right.   

As much as I love our little lab/chow/daschund mix and our lhasa I am very much drawn to the larger breeds always have been but wanted to make sure it was the right time, that we had the time to put towards a new dog, and really wanted to wait till we had our own home which we have had for a year..previous ly lived with inlaws.  We are not ready to jump into anything just yet, I want to make sure I do more research and talk to more owners of the breeds we are interested in  to get their experiances and as well as breeders which we have I also would like to hear from owners who may also share their homes with other animals cats, reptiles, birds etc. and Large to giant breeds.

[ZooCrew]

Well, I can tell you right now........... ...any dog that is raised around small animals will be fine with small animals within the home.  Outside the home is a different story.  I have a great dane male, and he has absolutely no prey drive whatsoever.  He has recently learned from my other dog to chase squirrels and birds, but it is more of a game for him and he wouldn't know what to do with it if he ever caught one.

Now my other dog is a husky/shepherd mix with a HUGE prey drive (due to her husky half).  BUT, she knows she is not allowed to mess with any of the animals inside the house.  I have 2 birds, and have had cats in the house before.  She is perfectly fine with them.  The birds will even climb on her and pull her whiskers and there is no response from her.  We have an ongoing problem with mice around here.  Now you would think she would do something about that, but no.  They are in the house, and she considers them part of the family if they are in the house.  The mice were ever stealing her food (I found a stockpile behind some boxes) and she didn't care.  But, if they had been outside, she would have given chase and killed them, as she has to squirrels and other critters before.

It all depends on how you raise them.  Even greyhounds, which have huge prey drives can learn to get along with small animals such as cats.  So I don't think any breed you are looking at and mentioned would be a problem if you are planning on getting one as a puppy.

You mentioned a few mastiff breeds.  Have you looked into other mastiff breeds as well?  American mastiffs, dogue de bordeaux?  tibetan mastiffs?  neopolitans?  among others?  What about an anatolian shepherd?  I think you mentioned leonbergers.  Just throwing some out there, I'm sure not all would work for you.  I'm glad to see that you are really looking into these breeds before getting one so you will know what to expect.

[chaos270]

Have you considered setters....if you get them young the prey drive isn't as much of an issue.  Greyhounds need time to assimilate so if you end up adopting one make sure you let the people know what animals you have.  They make great pets but are more apt to lick people to death rather than guard you against them.  There are also newf...who love any type of animal.  I'll keep thinking of others and if you have any questions on Setters, greyhounds, newfs, or aussies I could probably help you.

[Sadenna_And Zoo]

when it comes to the Mastiffs I have not heard alot of really great things about the Douge De Bordoux  I mean i have but when talking to the a few people at the seattle kennel club dog show and explaining our home environment the DDB was really not recommended, I read what I liked about the American Mastiff but no breeders locally for them for us, Tibetian Mastiffs I have not done to much research on but have read a bit about them on the internet the one site I spent alot of time looking at was www.dogbreedin fo.com.

Anatolian Shepherds are very cool a friend of ours has 2 she lives way out in the boonies on a farm and they have been doing a great job running her farm as she has live stock as well few breeding pairs if Moluccaon cockatoos that reside in Indoor out door flights and so far no problems with strangers coming on the property these dogs don't let nothing get by them and if someone comes to the gate the female will actually stand between the gate and whomever is on the other side and our friend and they are not even a year old yet she is so happy with her Anatolians but not sure if an anatolian would be happy in our home seem they would want be more active and we are looking more for the couch potato be where we are, is happy with slow walks and  puttering about the yard.  I looked up the Newfies when I was researching the LeonBerger as a matter a fact all 3 breeds that they used to produce the LeonBerger are all great dogs with wonderful temperments according to what I have read.

My husband and I both have been looking up alot of different breeds for the past 6 months and still have not come to any conclusions due to the fact we get contridicting information regarding breed temperment and it's ability to get along with other dogs, cats, animals inside the home so it does get a bit frustrating..l ike with the bull mastiff we have been told a female would do fine in our home and have talked to several owners who couldn't be happier with their big snoring couch potatos who seem unalert but really are aware of all that is going on around them and only do their job when they have to..then I have talked to be people that say no a bull mastiff would not work in our home they have to much prey dive..so it does get a bit disheartening and frustrating at times...when it comes to the dog my main concern is since we have both a female and male dog already how do we go about deciding which sex to get next...my other concern is for my cats, and other non canine or feline animals right now everyone co-habitates very well the dogs and cats were rasied around the birds and take no interest in them we have worked very hard to have a multiple pet home..granted most people think I am crazy but what can I say I prefer animals to most people...lol I want to thank you very much for making me feel welcome, and when I come up with a breed question I will definantly ask but right now the birds are all hollering they all want their dinner...yes I cook for them and my dogs..can we say spoiled...lol

[newflvr]

There's a great book called "The Right Dog for You" by Daniel F. Tortora that takes you through steps to narrow down your search.  That's how we ended up with Newfs....we wanted a large, (okay, GIANT) dog who was gentle, sweet, mellow, and patient.  Dr. Tortora designed a series of questions that you answer which leads you to more questions and in the end you end up with 4 to 5 choices.  Then take those choices and look them up in the book "Paws to Consider" and that book will give you the pros and cons of each breed.  Come back here (BPO) and badger everybody with your list and you'll probably come pretty close to the perfect dog for your family.

Modified to add:  Good luck and make sure you post LOTS of pictures when you end  up with your new baby!!!

[chaos270]

Kali our newf can be a little rough with her kitties but a cat that stands their ground will quickly discourage that my two don't stick up for themselves but she never hurts them.   She's generally sacked out on the floor and only gets spurts of energy.  She can be rather opinionated but we've let her get away with it.  Just be prepared for drool and hair everywhere.  When she's in play mode she loves soccer.  They are such teddy bears.  Just be sure to find a good breeder for any of the big dogs. 

[Sadenna_And Zoo]

A Reputable breeder is a must, I am not one to buy a dog from just anyone who advertises we have a great vet who would be able to recommend someone  if he knows someone who breeds the dog we are interested in and I have been told to go through the local kennel club which for us is the Seattle Kennel Club to find a good breeder.

Slobber does not bother me in the slightest, being that I have been around babies who spit up, I work around birds and have birds of my own so having baby bird handfeeding formula spat back at ya or being pooped on by a bird  or even better a bird that wants to regurge it's seed for you which is a sign of affection with them is everyday norm for me...plus growing up my dad worked on a dairy farm and my fave place to play was the calf barn and having a calf suck on  your fingers is the oddest sensation in the world..so it's pretty hard to gross me out lol so slobber thats nothing just invest in more towels. 

[Gypsy Jazmine]

Hello & welcome to BPO!!!!...I'm Chelle & from what I am reading from you I think you might want to look into a Great Pyrenees!...I have 2..Samson just turned 1 &1 /2 years & Pippin just turned 11 months...Here are my 2 big mellow guys.

[Kiahpyr]

I would highly recommend a great pyrenees also. My pyr Kiah is 11 months old and I am so glad I have her. She is very sweet and affectionate. She's also very mellow. I know she will protect me if anything were to happen. I am a stay at home mom and have a 2 year old. I feel very safe with Kiah around. The pup in my avatar is Sahara, who the shelter said is a pyr mix. Here's a picture of Kiah.

[Anky]

Have you considered setters....if you get them young the prey drive isn't as much of an issue. 

If you don't want an active dog, do NOT get a setter.  I have one, whom I love to death even though she is the spawn of Satan, and she is off the walls.  Literally bounces off the walls, and she just turned 4. 

I would suggest looking into Mastiffs.  However, ones I would stay away from, as they're high maintenance temperament wise, is any of the latin ones (ie:  Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasilerio, ect), the Tosa Inu (Oriental mastiff), and the Neo (It's the one with all the wrinkles).  I would stay away from any herding breeds (Livestock guarding dogs like Pyrs, and Leos aren't herding dogs persay, so they don't fall into this category) as they have a tendency to herd (read: nip) kids and they're VERY high energy.  Look into LGDs, or Livestock Guardian Dogs, as they're very gentle and protective.  They do have a tendency to be aloof however.

Oh, and my name is Ang and I have a Great Dane named Sanity, the afore mentioned Harpie named Araby and a Chinook named Hobo.    Welcome to BPO!

[Kiahpyr]

We don't mean to confuse you, pyrs are considered LGD's. I think Ang meant to say herding breeds such as border collies. They have a high herding drive that they will herd anything. They also are high energy.

[Sadenna_And Zoo]

lol I am very much aware of then energy of herding dogs I know people who have border collies, aussies, and such definantly way to high energy for us as cute as they are not for us thats definantly.  As for the Mastiffs yes the Presa Canario, and the Fila were also very much not recommened the Fila was actually used to track down run away slaves and I have even heard kill them do not know how much is true but according to what I have learned this has never been out of their blood lines. And I believe it was a Presa Canario that mauled a lady down in California what I gather the fila, and presa don't have the best of stable temperments but again thats from reading and talking to others who are very much into mastiffs, breeding or even rescuing so don't know how much truth there is to that.

 Mastiffs definantly require you to be the dominant one in the pack so to speak and  require lots of training and you can't just let them do as they please no dog for that matter once you let them have run of the house good lucking getting back any control...lol. I like the pyranese, Newfies,Leonberger, Saint Bernards, Danes, Anatolian Shepherds, Bull Mastiffs you name it which is why making the choice  is even harder all have qualites that I really like and am looking for.. thats what makes it difficult.