Breed Research

[Tigertrea]

A well bred American Akita would fit the bill also. I know some can be same sex aggressive but, that has never been the case with the ones I have had. Both were females and got along fine with my Sibes. Super smart, problem solvers for sure, family dogs but, protective and will keep other people away.

I think all the suggestions you have been given are great!

I have looked at other breeds a few times. When I originally wanted a breed of my own to show/breed we had Alaskan Malamutes as well as Siberian Huskies. I wanted something that was more "challenging" than my Mals. It took me abut a year to decided on breed then another year to find a breeder! LOL. I looked at just about every CKC breed at the time. I even picked my "retirement" breed back then (Italian greyhound)

 

[Rosto]

Your Siberian Huskies are beautiful!

 

[Aeropennchick]

We had a rottie when I was young and she was a doll. Terrifying bark, but would never hurt a fly. There is also lots of support for great pyraneese dogs to be excellent for herd/flock protection. If you don't end up with any of those pups (which will probably be nearly impossible!!), look into the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. Bred to be all purpose farm dogs, x-tra large breed, useful for herding/cart pulling/protection or whatever...nickname was "the poor man's horse". Short coat.

I also want my next dog to be huge, and hopefully live more than six years - so danes and irish wolfhounds aren't on my short list because of their lifespan. So we're going with a swissie once there's room in our pack. I'm sure you can identify - one of our dogs is a black and tan coonhound, and she's a bit...overbearing...so we're waiting for her to slow down a bit before we think about adding the next.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

Do your Swissy research, in particular with respect to bloat and longevity in that breed.....

 

[Aeropennchick]

Redyre - you're right that i didn't mention the possible health issues drawbacks, but bloat and longevity are pretty universal concerns with any deep chested extra large breed of dog. It was only after doing LOTS of research that i became convinced that the risks of some of the better swissy bloodlines to be less than those of more popular american breeds - like great danes, st. bernards, etc - that is, if you have an owner who knows how to guard against bloat.

I was lined up to get a pup from a breeder in MD who had several generations of the dogs living at her farm - oldest was 13 years, i believe. Ended up going for a lab rescue since there would have been too much of an age difference between the pup and my rammy hound dog. My back-up plan was to get a wolfhound shipped from Ireland, but that was going to be $$$!!!