my future big dog...which breed (corso, am-bull, great dane)

[bagendhens]

well...
i bought my house which has 4 1/2 acres...
eventually i plan on fencing the entire 4 1/2 acres, but for right now aproximatly 1/4 an acre is fenced with 5ft tall feild fencing...i also dont let my dogs out unsupervised.
i obviously own the house so no worries about landlords opinions, i already checked with my homeowners insurance and theres no breed restrictions.
my only close neighbor has a very dog frinedly APBT, so obviously the neighbor has no problems with bully breeds lol.
personally i have experience with all kinds of dogs form itty bitty wowies to giant mastif and everything inbetween, i have worked around hard to handle breeds like sarpies and CAO's, as well as many bullies and mastif. im not worred about being able to handle any breed and infact am looking forward to having a more mentally challenging breed again.
i did foster for a great dane rescue for a few years and my aunt used to breed them...but in terms of am-bulls and corsos, ive only worked with a few but thos e have worked with ive LOVED!

i do have 2 small dogs with plans to add another chinese crested ot the mix sometime over the next few years...i am also planning on having livestock on my little homestead eventually.
i KNOW theres no such thing as a 100% safe dog, all dogs are predators and must be trained to respect smaller animals, i also personally dont belive any dog is automatically dog agressive but understand some breeds do have a tendency towards dog agression...because of this i do want to make it very clear that i crate train and the big dog wouldnt be left loose alone around the little dogs or other animals.

im planning on getting a male (because in my experience females tend to be more prone to same sex agression than males) and he will be neutered when fully grown.

in terms of what im looking for in a dog:
medium-large dog
naturally protective (but not randomly agressive)
eager to please
strong desire to learn (stubborness is ok, im more than willing to work for it, but i would like to do basic ob and eventually hopefully get our CGC at minimum)
VISUAL deterant...(a dog who would protect if properly trained is great, but i personally belive dogs are not bulletproof so i never rely on an animal of any kind as protection...however having a dog that makes most people stop and think...hmm, is it worth the risk? is what im looking for)
incredibly loyal
medium energy level, a good run around the yard and 2 daily 1 mile walks, occasional hiking/trail ride companion ect...
low grooming
drool and shedding is fine

i know this describes pretty much any breed lol...

in terms of breeds i like both the look and personality of
dobermans, but ive rulled them out overall after being told by almost eveyr dobie owner ive met that they are highly prone to same sex agression....in all my years with dogs, dobies seem to get the worst reveiws by the people that adore them for same sex agression.
cane corso, i love these guys, looks, personality...i do worry a little bit about their tendency towards dog agression, but im told as a breed they tend to be fine wiht the animals they are raised around
American Bulldog, i fell inlove with chance many years ago when watching homeward bound and always loved the look of the american classic...ive not been around too many personally but am told they were developed as an all aorund farm dog...again can be dog agressive but again im told typically ok with the animals there raised around...
great dane, i love danes, alot, but their short lifespan realy terrifies me, im so used to breeds that live 15+ years that such a short lived breed would just kill me...
i like rotties but im so inlove with redyre rotties that i dont think i could settle for anything less lol and i know what that waitinglist must look like

pressa canarios interest me but ive never worked directly with any
bullmastif
bouvier des flanders
wolfhound
mastif
dogo

i think of the list ive narrowed it down to the cane corso, american bulldog and Great dane...though i think in reality the corso and the Am-bull are my 2 prefered breeds simply because danes are heartbreakers...

so id LOVE any personal imput on those breeds.

in the future i plan on adding a couple of CAO's, anatolians, or Sarpies as LGD's but they would be working dogs...
in terms of house dogs he would be the only "big" dog in the house.

 

[Smartie_Pants]

I know this isn't on your list, and I know that they shed like crazy so that violated your critera too...but I just had to mention Huskies! They are SOOO smart, protective, loyal, and just amazing dogs. Thought I'd just put that out there.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Bouviers are awesome dogs!!! If you keep their coat cut shorter and don't mess with the proper grooming, they are pretty low maintenance. If allowed to keep their full coat though, they are VERY high maintenance. They are fantastic dog. I can't say enough good things about them. Danes are not medium to large....they are GIANT. They can exceed 40" at the shoulders, especially the males. Rotties are awesome dogs too. I had Rotties for years. LOVE them!! Wolfhounds have a pretty short lifespan too and they are not medium to large...they are VERY tall. Never had one but I understand they are cool dogs.

 

[bagendhens]

carolina, that was the other reaosn i ruled out wolfies mastif and danes, there a little "too big" for my wants, my house is relitivly small and while i know the giants can also be ginat couch potatoes, i still need to be able to walk around the dog lol.

smartie...
i love huskies but there a little too much for me...ive never found a fence thatll keep a husky in supervised or otherwise...lol, they also shed hairballs bigger than my little dogs LOL!
they are betuiful though...and ive always admired the breed...

i shoudl mention i will be living in TN so id rather not have a northern / double coated breed, i dont think it would be fair to the dog...

 

[dainerra]

I must say, those are some pretty varied breeds, personality-wise.

Have you had hands-on experience with all of them? That would be my first recommendation. Join some internet forums specific to the breeds and chat up the people there. Any good breeder will tell you "yes" or "no" if their breed is right for you.

Once you have narrowed that down, then meet dogs of each of the breeds if at ALL possible. This is also good because if you meet a dog that you really like, you can find out what breeder it was purchased from.

Then, when you have narrowed down what breed, start interviewing breeders in earnest. They should ask you more questions than your mortgage broker and mother rolled into one! Ask to see proof of the appropriate health-testing for the breed (they should actually volunteer this). What is their purpose behind breeding? What things are they tring to improve in their bloodlines? (no dog is perfect, so if they say "nothing" I'd keep on looking)

What kind of a contract do they have? It should protect you and them. Health guarantee, right of first refusal, spay/neuter are just a couple of the things to look for. Many breeders also offer a refund or a discount on a future pup if you put titles on the dog.

 

[dainerra]

Quote:
those thick coats also help to keep the dog cool. The insulation works both ways. That's why you should never EVER shave a dog that has an undercoat

 

[TigerLilly]

I am also a large breed dog lover (only have had 2 small breed dogs in my life). Very familiar with danes, am. bulldogs (in fact, my ex owned one that was grandson to the one in homeward bound & my son still has the gg grandson--I've never seen the movie), dobies, rotties & mutt mixtures of other large breeds.
As to your comment about dobie's being ruled out, I had a 2 yr old dane & got a dobie pup, both females & they got along great. Lucky? Don't know. Happy? Very! They were awesome together until the dane died of old age. About 3 yrs later, the dobie also died. Both great till the end. Both breeds can be stubborn, but the challenge it totally worth it in the end.
OBEDIENCE TRAINING is the key, IMHO, for any dog, but def the huge breeds. Took the dane to basic & advanced, she was hand-signal trained. From there I've retained the knowledge & trained all my big dogs myself in basic obedience.
I've had 6 dif abd (painter & johnson types) & only 2 have been female. One was just as sweet as she could be, loved her! The other was an adult when I got her & although she was sweet as well & I loved her, they didn't tell me she was an escape artist & runner. Sparing you the gruesome details, she is no longer with us. I've had 4 males. I more of a female-dog person, just because male dogs are easily distracted by females in heat; little distracts a female from the task at hand. But I loved the last one I had, to death. Never have I had so much affection for a male dog--ever! But he was so great. Unfortunately, the older he got, the worse his aggression issues became with other dogs. Not the ones I had at the same time, but others coming in the yard, walking down the street, at the vet's office...got him fixed when he was 4 (maybe 5) yrs old. Didn't help a bit, even six months later. Finally had to have him put down. Still make me teary-eyed.
I've even had a st bernard/dane/mastiff mix--another awesome dog. Had to be put down in his old age due to his health.
If I was told I could only have ONE breed of dog for the rest of my life, I would have to go with the dane. Overall, they are calm (when they are settled adults), loyal, majestic animals. The intimidating deep bark doesnt hurt either. They are great with kids, both in playing with & protecting, as well as putting up with stuff kids do. Mine used to crawl all over the dog--and they were 6 yrs & older. The dane temperment is awesome, but at the same time, people that arent familiar with them are intimidated enough to give you a wide berth in public (all the while, I'm laughing inside about how much of a sweetie pie she is). At the house, forget about it--had people tell me once they heard that bark, they thought twice about coming to even visit!
Whatever you decide, check further into the breeding. Does the breeder breed for temperment or just $$$? If you can check the temperment of the parents (grandparents? even better), do so. I'd pay twice as much for a well-bred breed of anything without registration/papers as I would for something that was just thrown together to see what would come out.
I just have one question to you...why would you want to wait until the dog is full grown before spaying/neutering? I think any aggression related to hormones would be ingrained already (as with my last abd). Also, once they get the 'scent of a woman' so to speak, a male dog will still have a tendency to hump a female in heat because it's what he 'knows' is associated with the scent.
I could go on & on about my experiences with big breed dogs, but I can see I may have already bored people to death...so good luck in your search! Hope to see pics of whatever you get.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I will ALWAYS love Great Danes.

 

[Kevin565]

I'd vote great danes. They are by far one of my favorite breeds. They are so eager to please and loving. Grooming is a breeze. However the life span is a drawback. Also IMO sometimes great danes are very needy. They constantly want to be a part of all of your activities.

 

[bagendhens]

i am lucky, i have experience with most of the dogs on my list, ive never worked directly with a pressa or a bouvier, and only met 3 dogos, but have worked with all the others.
i used to work as a vet tech and at a dog daycare. after that i was a zoo keeper and worked with cheetah, hyena, orangutan ect as "large mammal" keeper. im actually an animal behaviourist by schooling, but unfortunatly a pretty severe head injury has made it impossible to continue work directly with large carnivores and great apes

the good news is that direct experience put alot of things into perspective lol.

ive also been lucky in that ive been brought up in the "dog show" world and while its taught me exactly what to look for in terms of a good breeder, it alos taught me exactly how much damage the likes of the AKC (and similar) can do to a breed.
im less concerned with confo showing but no worries i will be extra diligent with health testing if i go the breeder route.

needy dog is no problem lol.

Ive lived with a total of 8 danes short term over the years and had one as a kid, he was a solid white from a harl to harl breeding, 100% deaf and no vision in his right eye, i was little more than a baby when I got him (i was very young and the breeder was drowning his puppies so i gave him 5 pounds (all my pocket money) for the 5 week old male...
needless to say my parents wernt happy but he lived to almsot 10 years old and i raised him myself (parents helped with paying for vet, but i paid for his food and did all his training) taught him using sign language i made up...he was my angel, but that short life span...i got incredibly lucky given he was such a genetic mess he was increidbly healthy overall, never bloated, no torsion, (didnt pexy him either because i had no idea what that was lol)
they are heart breakers...if i were going dane id probably rescue a deafie again, i just dont think a dane would pysically fit into a 700sqft house lol. not if i ever want to sit on the couch at least