Which breeds are good guard dogs but gentle enough to have around children

[Wendy31]

I love Pyrs & GSDs, but I still say you need a Keeshond!

They're low-maintenance & cheerful w/ relatively long life spans, but they're still really good "alert" & watch dogs.

 

[mamacatnv]

Oh and since I didn't ramble on enough
A couple other things we also considered before getting our Great Pyrenees.

We loved the Bernese Mountain Dog, Great Dane, English Mastiff and Saint Bernard as well.
The Pyrenees overall is healthier and has a longer life span and while it does shed, it does not drool. It was a good trade IMO
The lifespan and overall health were big considerations for us as well as temperament etc

 

[azdisneylover]

I haven't read through the whole thread. Saint Bernard. But you have to be willing to deal with their bigness and shedding. They are great family dogs. And are gentle. But people are afraid of them because of their size. We used to live in a neighborhood where we had issues but everyone that didn't know the dog was afraid of him. He might've licked them to death. But we never had problems with either of our Saints. Our first Saint was 3 when our daughter was born. He was very good with her. Just a thought.

I have to second Saint Bernards. They are great around families, especially with children. The shedding (especially with the long haired ones) is something to getting used to, along with all the slobber everywhere. Our 200# Saint drooled like everywhere he looked he saw steaks or something! Their bark is very low and scary if you do not know the dog. Ours loved having his belly rubbed! St Bernards do take a lot of work, but, they are worth it.

We have a mini schnauzer now who is a handful. Very smart and very stubborn! Schnauzers love to be in the middle of things, especially with people.

 

[Skywalker]

I have a couple of dogs, one is a Lab / Border Collie / German Shep cross and his bark is so scary but to us its hilarious because he is a 100% sweet and gentle soul. Even my husband jokes that if he did not know better, he would be scared to death of this dog. From outside the door he sounds like a vicious, mouth-frothing mess. lol. But if that fools people that is fine with me.

 

[CPanther95]

My parents used to breed Berners, and yes there can be health issues. However, any reputable breeder will do their best to make sure their lines are "clean". My parents had all their dogs hips checked, and even put in the contract, that the people purchasing a puppy, had to do the same. They keep records of the hips, and any time a dog from their line gets cancer (only 3 dogs in 23 litters, over 100 dogs) or some other disease. The breed does have a shorter life-span, as do most large breeds.

I've always wanted a Swissy, but never enough to get a purebred over a rescue mutt. Finally decided to go for it - pick him up next month - but found a breeder that has hybrid Swissy/Berners. Don't know if it will help dilute the inherent health issues, but figured it couldn't hurt.

 

[C&G'sMama]

I have to second Saint Bernards. They are great around families, especially with children. The shedding (especially with the long haired ones) is something to getting used to, along with all the slobber everywhere. Our 200# Saint drooled like everywhere he looked he saw steaks or something! Their bark is very low and scary if you do not know the dog. Ours loved having his belly rubbed! St Bernards do take a lot of work, but, they are worth it.

We have a mini schnauzer now who is a handful. Very smart and very stubborn! Schnauzers love to be in the middle of things, especially with people.

We so loved our Saints. The first one we got as a puppy. Biggest baby ever. And yes you have be able to deal with hair and slobber. But such loyal friendly dogs. But as for shedding, our 2nd one was a 7yo rescue. He LOVED to be vacuumed. So that made his maintenance a little easier (though it sometimes made it hard to get actual vacuuming done!) Our lifestyle and the house we have now isn't conducive to a Saint. And Saints don't need a lot of room like you might think. We lived on a 40 by 120 city lot with a fenced in back yard when we had our Saints. And we went for walks but they really don't like to be that far from their humans. One down side is they don't live a long time. But man they're awesome. Sigh.

 

[robinb]

I don't know if someone brought this up already, but the problem with a protective family dog is that they may be protective when you don't want them to be protective. We had a Japanese Akita who was very protective, but after she died we chose a more family friendly breed. The protectiveness was fine when it was just my DH and me and we had adult visitors. But once we had out DD, I was afraid that the protectiveness would extend to visiting children when we were not there to make sure the dog knew the kids were "OK". The last thing I wanted was for a child to be bitten by an over-protective dog.

 

[luvsJack]

We have a Curr. He is protective of us and barks at anything/anyone strange coming to the house. More of a watch dog than a guard/protective dog.

When we had some guys out working on the a/c, they were there when I got home and Draco was running from them to the front door seeming a bit worried. I went around to say hello and he stood between them and me and wouldn't move.

He hasn't chased off anyone yet but we tend to go out when the UPS guy drives up or company comes over to get him to hush. Once we tell him to stop, he lays down at our feet until we go in or the person leaves. He has never growled or snarled or snapped at anyone in our presence.

Curr's are short haired and not bad on the shedding part. They love to play with their humans, Draco would chase a ball or play tug of war with his rope for hours on end. They are very active. Our dog would rather be outside than inside at any time, we keep the electronic collar on him and he can go and come as he pleases. He loves the little kids and its funny to watch the difference in him when he is playing with a little one compared to playing with dd. He will hold the rope in his mouth and not pull as long one of the dgd's have it. Let dd take it and he knows the game is on! Curr dogs are very smart and learn quickly.

Their activity level is the main drawback to these kind of dogs.