as per the old person thread, looking for a dog
 

well all this talk about us oldsters living in the wilds..Ron and I have decided we are in the market for a watchdog..we have the invisible fence system and collar and would love to find us a puppy or young dog, likely a doberman or a dane..but we are leaning toward a doberman, female..

will have her spayed..not fond of males..always had better luck with females.

we are in the north part of Michigan LP..so if anyone knows of a preggie doberman about to deliver..or anyone knows of pups in our area please let us know.

we aren't tied to doberman but are pretty particular..don't want a small yappy dog, really want one large enough to be effective..and well trainable..and young enough to learn to get along with our two cats.

or should i say small enough that they'll get used to before it gets huge.

now that we are going into summer is a good time for us to get a puppy..will be starting to check shelter and rescue sites this week, again..now that hubby is on board.

GSD would be good.
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John

I would think that a coated breed might be a better choice in light of where you live. I have owned both Dobermans and Danes in the past and don't think they are as fond of the cold as what you get in that part of the world.

I agree - its doable, but only if they are full-time house dogs.

Our Lab loves cold weather and is large enough to be intimidating. In fact she hates to run around in temps above 75.

Lots of different LGD that people like here.

German Shepard, Great Pyranese(sp?), Austrailian Cattle dog or Queensland Heeler. I'm sure people will add to this list.

I have a Heeler/Australilan Shepard mix - He's 70 + pounds, loves the cold & is a great watch dog - non barker except when he needs to be.

My daughter has a Heeler mix & I don't worry about her at all with that dog.

Lots of times Dobies don't bark (watch, then attack) & I'd rather have one that gives me verbal warning.

I loved my Dobie bitch, but as Wolf Mom said, she never gave a verbal warning, just watch & attack.

And as Oregon Julie stated; Dobie's for indoor dogs only. They are single coated and need to be housed.

That said, she (Sadie) was THE most wonderful female dog I've had (my current male Aussie X Heeler is the most wonder male I've had.)

Gentle with children and women. Hated men with a vengeous, but you only knew it if a man tried to come between her and her people and hadn't been told it was okay for them to do so. Sadie was great with youngsters of all species. My just-learning-to-walk daughter accidently fell on her while she was sleeping and all she did was look around to see who it was ... no aggressiveness at all.

One of my current dogs (on his last days) is a 13 yo male Aussie X Heeler. Smarter than a lot of people I know. Terrific with children (loves to play 'Tug-of-War' with them) and with babies from chicks to piglets to calves ... and the mothers trust him.

Anyone have any experience with Airdales? I've heard they are great watch dogs and can be trained to hunt. I have three dogs now. Believe it or not the best watch dog I have is a 34 pound Llewellin English Setter. Morning, noon, or night, anything moves within a quarter mile of our house and Ambrose (AKA Ramblin' Amber Rose) knows about it and alerts everyone else. I swear she has radar, night vision and paws that detect seismic activity. For some reason she thinks she's royalty and expects to be treated as such. She also enjoys a good dog fight. She might get beaten but never gives up. The other dogs ( 3 and 4 times her size) respect her for that, or at least dont push it when she stands her ground.

Dobies are not outdoor dogs, but for a watchdog I would want one close to me, so one that is comfortable indoors. They shouldn't be left outddoors 25/7, but they don't have a problem going outside for potty and exercise. They aren't big barkers, but can be trained to bark an alert. Their jaws are much stronger than a GSD, and they are fast biters, so they can do quite a bit of damage

A stranger pulled into my driveway yesterday to deliver some unrequested religious material. She was gone in less than a minute on seeing and hearing my 3 German shepherds. :run:

My dogs don't miss a trick. They want to be with me whether I am inside or out, and I will always have at least one. I adopted two of them as young adults and the third as a pup. They are great dogs! :thumb:

Our UPS guy stands in the road and waves at the house.

Are you familiar with Danes? If not I suggest doing some research on the breed and the costs associated with them. If you know all of this please forgive me :) Danes eat a lot. My almost two year old eats between 8-10 cups of food a day. You have to be careful with what you feed Danes. During the puppy months to much protein in their food can be very bad for their growing joints. Everything is more expensive for them. In order to get a big enough crate I had to order it online (www.dog.com) and was about $200. Flea protection and Heartworm protection are more expensive every month because of the size.

Rearden is our second Great Dane, our first Dane died before his fourth birthday due to bloat. Danes due not always due well under anesthesia which I believe was what caused our Dane's bloat as he had been neutered the day before.

If you like the cropped ear on a Dane the process of taping them up can be very lengthy and sometimes the ears still won't stand. Neutering and spaying should be done at different times with Danes then other dogs. Our vet in Houston (extremely well respected) recommended waiting until after a male's first birthday to neuter. When we had him neutered we also had his stomach tacked down at the same time to prevent bloat.

I don't mean to come off as overly negative but a Dane is in many ways very different then other dogs (I also own/have owned a Boxer, a Boston Terrier, Cocker Spaniel, and a couple of mutts :) ). Personally I LOVE Danes and find them to be worth every extra expense. They have a wonderful personality. They really are lap dogs in a huge body :) I can honestly say there is nothing like a Great Dane but I have met a lot of people that say that they really want a Dane but have no idea of the additional commitment that a Dane requires.

If you already know everything I have written, my apologies! If not hope it helped and if you have any other questions I would be happy to answer them!

This is a link to a picture of my Rearden: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1116980909 The link is public so everyone should be able to see it!

I have had German Shepherds most of my life. They have all been wonderfully intelligent, protective and a great pleasure as companions. I would recommend a gsd over a doberman for an all-around guard dog. I worked in a kennel that bred and raised dobermans. They were very handsome dogs. But not congenial the way gsds are. I will say, though, that gsds shed year round! Little piles of hair in every corner!

LOL...exact reason DH and I are looking at getting a Doberman puppy instead of a GSD!! All the fur...and I am not the best housekeeper to begin with :shrug:

We have 3 dobermans and a pit. Dh calls them Homeland security-first line of defense. Couldn't ask for a better pack. They get along great- 3 females-1 neutered male. All natural ears.
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They are inside dogs but do spend a lot of time outside during non-winter days. Good luck with your search. You might try www.kijiji.com it's an offshoot of ebay or something like that. Anyway, you can put in your zip and look for dogs and puppies etc... found my last two that way.

I highly recommend Dobermans......
 

We have Two Dobies........and have, for the last dozen years. We'd had rescue greyhounds........and those are pretty good dogs, too. But they are not as smart or protective as Dobies. I'd recommend getting two, for the companionship and exercise they'd give each other. We've always kept two, generally a male and a female, or two males, both neutered or spayed. It has worked out well for us. I'm 70 and retired and they are great ciompany for me.

Dobermans, as with most bigger dogs are not particularly long-lived. There are a couple health problems they are prone to. But they are worth the trouble. We had one male who had thyroid deficiency and who developed tumors. But he was a sweetheart and a great watch dog. Ours have Always been indoor dogs, They have a half acre play yard, where they spend a lot of time in Summer. Not so much in Winter. Not real good in the cold.

Dobermans are kinda strong willed and require a firm hand. They also might make your home-owners insurance premiums go up. They are in that class with Pitts, Rottweilers, Akitas and a couple breeds that Insurance Companies discriminate against.
Dobies are very clean dogs with very little shedding. And they sort of wash themselves like cats.
Good luck, IMHO, you could not make a better choice

yeah i'm familiar with both dobermans and danes and yes they would be indodor dogs, basically that is the point of having a dog, to protect us..lot of good it would do if it was outside and we were inside..so yup, indoors. Me i hate being outside in the cold winter anyway.
It would have an invisible fence so it would get a lot of exercise here, as we own a lot of acerage, and yes we also would prefer the sneak up and attack rather than bark bark bark situation, so dobermans are a good choice there..

we have had german shepherds in the past and had to part with them, to a neighbor, as they barked constantly, for no reason at all..we have also had a wolf/dog mix which we totally loved, she never barked but did sneak up behind and bite a couple of guys..scarey.

we loved her..she was after a rabbit one day and a car hit her..but generally she never left our yard...was so sad..we then got a samoyed and he was so bull headed, he didn't stay with us very long, he would climb over a 6' high fence to get out..several times a day and we didn't want a tied dog..and he didn't want to be inside at all.

we also had a dalmation and we had 2 afgans..neither of which would make a good alert dog as they were just tooooooo loveable.

that was back in the 70's..younever ever see any afgans any more

i did go on the petfinder and there are a LOT of huskies on there and some full grown dobermans, older adults, but would prefer to have a younger animal.

any one know how dobermans are with cats, our friends that have rescue dogs don't have problems with their cats..they have 3 dobermans..

i kinda agree that the danes might just be too gentle for what we are looking for and also danes are not fond of cats...in general..there are some dane mix puppies avail..we'll keep looking..so far only one husky that is about a year old that looks like a possibility closeby, have to travel a long way for the puppies, and they want $200 for them..the husky is a shelter dog and so she is a more likely candidate, i'll try to look at her soon

All you need for a dog is a small alert house dog.He will let you know when you need to get out the .38.

Have to agree with wwubben's post above; my 23 lb rescued doxie mix saved me from the Baton Rouge serial killers (yes, 2 at the same time in my neighborhood), when the police wouldn't help me! I understand tho, that some locations call for larger help -even if just for intimidation purposes! ldc

that would be the .45 and the 357 magnum..and the little gut buster and .22 that are my companions

yup best gaurd dogs you could ever have. the can be trained to be watch or attack dogs. just watch the breeding lots of junk dogs out there.

my dogs only alert on people and other dogs, otherwise they dont bark. my parents have litter mates from my dogs and they are completely different they bark at a pin droping. guess its all in the training.

growing up I had one that I trained and he was no joke, he was a loaded gun for sure. really best dog I ever had sure do miss that old boy. he had a few prowlers on the ground in his day.

My dobermans have all shed like crazy.

Thanks for posting this, I found a bunch of Black Lab pups in shelter in my area ready for adoption.

yeah there are some pups in shelters around here too that we have been checking out..one of our craigslist contacts said they can get us a shelter dog for free if we want one, as they take them when the shelters have had them too long..in our area.

Ron has surgery tomorrow, and then we'll be ready, once he has recovered, to go puppy shopping...right now have a couple in mind if they didn't get adopted at the special adoption programs they had this weekend at the tractor supplies etc....we'll see who is left once ron has his surgery

We like old fashioned farm collies but they are hard to find where I live. We were fortunate to get a half farm collie crossed with a border collie six years ago. She has good temperment with people except at night she is super gaurd dog! There are a few people she doesn't like during daytime too with good reason. Dogs have good instincts about people. She also guards the animals and loves them all.

I had a pair of male Chows and they were the best watch dogs ever!! They are so territorial, they are kind of scary if people come to your house much. they would work as a team when strangers came around, but, I can't recomend them for small children.
P.JU.

I have a rotterman (1/2 dobe 1/2 rott) and 2 chihuahuas. The chi's are the alarm system and when they sound the alarm the rottermen starts patrolling windows and doors while snarling and hollering. Works great!!!! Once DH or I say it is ok she goes right back to being a fruitloop.

Grew up with white GSDs= Amazing breed. Always looked like it was snowing inside. GSD' bark alot but not when in attack mode- then it's the border collie stare until attack.

Copperhead - we had a female chow! Best watch dog ever ! Just the look was intimidating enough let alone that heavy bark. She wasn't too fond of men except my DH. Once again, chows have their health problems most notably hip dysplasia. Plus the hair is a nightmare, but they sure love the cold weather!

ETA: Ours had no problem with children or cats

....................Seems logical that you would choose a breed that is compatable with the winters for the climate where you live !:cowboy:

We have a resued Siberian Husky female. Smartest dog I've ever seen, but she was a runner - lickity split down the road. We have the yard fenced with chain-link and she would climb that. DH put in an invisible fence. He had to wind the wire thru the fence in order to keep her off it, or she would be gone. (Double defense). He left the gate unwired so he could take the dogs in and out and one day she fiqured out that the gate wasn't wired and was climbing it when DH caught her. He punched her right between the eyes while she was hanging over the top rail on her way over. It knocked her back into the yard . She hasn't tried that stunt again.

I agree with everything said in this post. Plus they sometimes have eye problems. The inner lid wants to grow over the eyes, causing necessary surgery.

I have a rescued Airedale mix that is an excellent watch dog and has quite a nose on her, though I have never trained her to hunt. (I got her when she was 5.)

Never had the breed before, but this particular one is very protective, has good sense about who to trust and who not to, has the typical terrier problems in that I would not trust her around small animals, but definitely wants to be by my side all the time and would not be happy as an outdoor dog.

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Find a working club in your area, they should be able to point you to some good breeders of sound dogs and assist you with training.

Gunsmithgirl has a really good suggestion to which I'd like to add that sometimes breeders give away their valuable purebreds to good homes: perhaps a puppy that doesn't come up to standard which they would not want to be bred, or one of their breeding stock they want to retire. A free purebred doberman wouuld be much better than a mixed breed (now this is my opinion based on my experiences so cut me some slack here) from a shelter which might have stiff adoption fees and youu'd possibly acquire a dog which may have been turned in because of some neurosis and now has rejection problems added into the emotional difficulties. Hey, maybe you could get a retiring schutzhund, even!!

checked the doberman rescues and all their females were 2 years or older..strays..all their other dogs were either elderly or males..not aware of any doberman breeders around here..but all our friends have gotten theirs from the rescue..i want a younger female than what they have right now.

they are also very very expensive through the rescue.

We adopted Sam last year, a 6 yr old Lab/Chesapeake/? mix (now 7). He is 60#s of intelligence, protectiveness, and wouldn't harm our chickens or rabbits (had never been introduced to them until we got him & then got the chickens/rabbits). Sam alerts us to any who walk or drive down our driveway, doesn't need a fence (!!!), never runs off, doesn't bark EVER unless there is a good reason, protects our chickens/rabbits, and has put down dogs almost twice his size. We also clocked Super Sam running @ 35mph (top speed). He maintained 25mph for over a mile. With the Lab in him, he has no trouble with cold weather, doesn't shed hair, and I wouldn't hesitate to get another of this breed! He lives outside, hangs out in the shop with DH, patrols our property, and comes inside to visit occasionally. Sam likes being out in the garden with me.

On dogs? I consider them "the 1st warning system," our security system "2nd," and I am the "3rd," with my hypersensitive hearing. I don't consider Sam a defense, just for warning us. He could do some real damage to an intruder, but be taking out very quickly. At a distance, easily shot. DH & I are prepared to defend ourselves.

We had Good luck with the Rescue Dobies.........
 

WE got a couple from the SW Ohio Dobie Rescue. They are priced by age.
IIRC, the pups, under a year are $400, Over a year to Two years are $300.
2 years to 4 is $250. And over 4 years is $200.......With their Papers...IIRC.

But have you priced a Dobie Yearling or Weanling from a good Breeder or even a Backyard Breeder. You'll likely pay over $1000.
We are very happy with our Rescue Dogs

as i said i checked the local rescues and breeders..rescues only had 3 females and they were 5 hour drive from here and they were older..and the breeders have no pups now..some due in May..and yes they were fairly high priced..

still going to watch the shelters for a nice dog i guess...ive been checking them every day

ronbre. is there anyway to check shelters at a greater distance? Sometimes there are volunteers who will drive the dogs from a no-kill facility to their new home. Anyway, please don't give up; you need/want what you need/want, and dobies sound good for you! ldc