Best Homestead Dog?

Terri,
What do you mean by "loose all the time outdoors?" I would NEVER allow my Cocker and Rotti/Pit/Lab mix to run loose (unfenced property)... they could easily be run over, attacked by other dogs or shot. btw, THEY ARE BOTH wonderful "sounder" dogs for anything/anyone on our property... so is our alpaca.

Scul, GORGEOUS DOG! I've never heard of the breed.

[quote Best dog in any situation is a mutt you've rescued from the shelter.][/quote]

AMEN
I am disabled and have trained 4 Service Dogs, all were rescues. Wonderful COMRADES.

I've had a few "mutts" and they too were wonderful dogs. I just don't so much care for the misinformation that they are automatically healthier or have "hybrid vigor" because they are mutts, it's just not so. I'd have another non-purebred dog for a pet any time, if that is what I found when I wanted a dog. We looked at a few before we got our current Collie, but nothing that grabbed our hearts until her. I wasn't looking for a specific purpose, but do really love my daughter's Smooth Collie, so jumped at the chance to get one when it just sort of happened.

I'm still sorry we didn't take the Shepherd/Rottie cross we saw in the Walmart parking lot that really caught our eye... but we weren't ready for a puppy yet then, or we would have taken her. Lovely big brindle girl! She was obviously raised in a large and busy family with small children, which is a great start for a good pet. She WAS going to be huge though, so probably better off not taking that one.

The best dog is the one you love.

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~ Carol

I would get a G.P. I have heard too many stories about people's livestock getting killed because they didn't value their livestock enough to properly protect it.

"I would get a G.P. I have heard too many stories about people's livestock getting killed because they didn't value their livestock enough to properly protect it."

Yep...I've heard the stories too. I'm not doubting anybody and there must be particularly vicious strains of predators around elsewhere. I must just be lucky. I've had cattle and horses for a long time and I've never lost a calf or foal to a coyote, ever. And there's plenty of them here. (no wolves or bears here) I lost one chicken to a hawk, and another chicken to a young pup I had that didn't know any better. I've hear coyotes yapping out in the pasture at night, but none retarded enough to tackle a protective cow or horse mother. But again, maybe I'm either just lucky or have wimpy predators.

Wimpy predators. Of course there are much more aggressive predators elsewhere. You're in Kentucky, for Pete's sake.

There are also breed specific rescue groups. My last 2 dogs have been adopted from ESRA (English Springer Rescue of America).

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

People have different situations, just because it's not something you would do doesn't mean others don't find it necessary. Can't judge people, especially on a forum this large. We have 30 acres, but 6 acres we need watched, we couldn't possibly afford to fence 6 acres nor would we want to. We have a small dog yard for when company comes over or they need to be locked up. But most of the time they patrol. We're in the middle of no where with no fear of being hit by a car, there are no neighbors period that would shoot my dogs and there is not someone else's property for them to cause trouble on. Not that they would, they are very good and trained dogs. They sleep right at the house, run and investigate and sound off when they hear something, run it off if necessary and return home.

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Our website promoting the use of Missouri Herbs. www.MissouriHerbs.com

WOW. Interesting. Never paid for a dog or gone to a shelter. I have just picked 1 up at a farm, all farm type working dogs. I find if they have a job to do and learn it they and I are happy. I am not real smart but I AM smarter than the average dog. All have been great kids dogs and all helped with the farm chores. I don't have a dog now because I think all dogs should have a job and I don't like small nippy/yippy type dogs and anything else being cooped up is not fair to the dog....James

Yes, I agree. All I've ever owned is mutts. Either they are dumped off on my land or one of my boys gets talked into bringing home a puppy.

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"Of course there is a light at the end of the tunnel; another train is approaching there". ~ Slavoj Zizek

A mutt or a rescue...I take mine to our local Humane Society for spay/neuter and all shots at a serious discount.

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Yeah, I'm sure my current shelter dog could keep the foxes and coyotes away from my chickens. All six pounds of him.

Or his predecessor.... the stupidest dog God ever graced this earth with. He sat down in a fire ant hill and cried for me to save him, for pete pity's sake. Sweet boy. Dumb as a box of rocks. Did eventually decide aerial predators were bad news, though. I can picture him against a predator; he'd cry, wet himself, and the marauding whatever would have dog on the menu as well.

As pointed out, dogs are specialized. My pet-type sheltie from reasonable parents picked up herding for me. My poorly bred sheltie had her wires crossed and instead of herding, she ripped the throats out of every duck in her path. She knew she was supposed to do something, and it was painful to watch her think she had done well when in reality, she had erred grievously.

I think there is little more dangerous to the average person's stock than a haphazardly selected/bred pet dog, TBPH. The dog is there all the time, and if there is a chink in your coop or a loose bit of fence, you're going to learn a terrible lesson.

I have checked into a few rescues, but I am not going to be told that in order to get the dog it cant do this that or the other. If it comes to my house it will do what I want.

I have passed on several Brittanys for this reason. I dont mind a mutt for a pet or general yard dog, but for most of the things I do with dogs, I will go get a breed suited for the purpose, such as my Brittanys, BMCs, American Bulldog, English Pointers or Labs

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" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

Why Do people keep saying that?
Is the paperwork handed over by a "breeder" some how better than the same papers from a shelter or owner?

Yeah, actually. It is. Because when people like me or others here go to good breeders they can actually see the parents, grandparents, etc in action. Doing what they are supposed to be doing. See any awards they've won for it, see the selective breeding done for certain traits, see the health testing, see the personalities. Really. You couldn't have figured that our for yourself?

Same deal on Rat Terriers as on the curs. People have bred them here in KY for decades, but only in the last years has the AKC took interest enough to run them into the AKC Foundation Stock Service for possible full registration at some later date. Ratties were bred to hunt farm vermin and be some of the absolute best tracking squirrel dogs I've ever seen. Mine are full sized standards from 15 to 25 lbs for the light framed and up to 35 lbs for my biggest male. Mine take care of farm pests, and do it better than any cat i've had un 54 years. They're tough, intelligent, pay no mind to any weather, and are dedicated to protection here. My pack calls an answering challenge to the local coyote packs. The coyotes have never been brave enough to test their claimed territory, even when I had 24 goat kids running the pasture. Yup, I think I'll keep em' as they also make great lap and foot warmers.

I don't put much stock in the AKC. I personally know a breeder who had a Lab get pregnant by a stray dog. The puppies were issued papers through the AKC even though they were not pure Lab. Those puppies were mutts that sold for $400 each due to their fancy papers.

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I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

THATS NOT WHAT I ASKED!
And No I couldnt figger out what others think.
Then of course theres the matter that your point seems Flawed.
When people Go to a breeders How often do people see their dogs doing what they are trained for? How often do you examine several generations ofthe bloodline?
How do you KNOW they are the dogs in the paperwork?
On the other hand when a OWNER has given me a working dog they have been OVERJOYED to show me what the dog in question CAN do. Hard to beat that!

Yes from a WORKING breeder the papers are more valuable than from the pound. The papers are the starting point of information if the dog I buy is breed worthy. By seeing the grandparents and being able to research their performance both as workers and producers, I am able to seek out a mate whose grandparents best match up. If I want to line breed a specific ancestor, I can look for that. If I want to avoid line breeding a specific ancestor, I can look for that too. Working breeders tend to be honest on their pedigrees for this reason, and when their paperwork isn't honest in deference to the registry, they tend to make sure the behind the barn action is common knowledge too. For example, everyone involved in Plotts knows that Taylor Crockett added one Dane & one pit bulldog into his bloodlines. Didn't happen on paper, but he made sure people knew the truth.
Yes with good working breeders they will not hesitate to take mom & dad out & let you see what they can do. In the case of the Dogos I would be willing to buy from Argentina, I've seen 5 generations working on video & equally important I hunted with a half dozen dogs from the two different kennels I like down there. Same kind of thing with all the dogs I am interested in buying, whether curs, hounds or possibly terriers. I can go back to the same breeder repeatedly and get a dog that works the same & has a similar personality.
OTH my Dane I got from the pound is a mystery. I know she was a registered BYB purebred & I have her vet history that was surrendered with her. But since I lack her pedigree or registration papers, I can't go find that "bloodline" & try to get another just like her. Same with my DDs "tea cup dingo," she is a fair house dog & is turning into pretty good rodent control but its all hit or miss.

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it's not a sport unless the animal can kill you back

be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet

True lots of paper hanging goes on with the registries. But working dog breeders aren't inclined to hang papers w/o letting the truth be known as well. For example Decker gladly showed everyone the collie mix gyp he bred rat terriers to to found his giant strain. Everyone knows that Wicks Camo Jug (a popular leopard cur stud) was half treeing walker. Everybody knows the cunninghams added a bulldogX into their line of coldbloods greys.
It's the puppy factories & BYBs trying to make a fast buck that hide that nonsense like the Gotti, Dagger and Whopper lines of "giant" pit bull.

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it's not a sport unless the animal can kill you back

be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet

We don't need a working dog, just a yard dog to warn us if someone is coming and run off the wildlife. Our neighbors can't have a garden, because the deer eat it. We have cats and chickens, so we don't want any wild animals in the yard. Lester stays in the yard most of the time. The only time he leaves is to run off critters that don't belong in the yard and then he comes right back to the front porch. Because we are in a rural area and live 1/4 mile from the road, we don't need to worry about him getting hit by a car or in a fight with another dog.


I like the idea of letting him train a younger dog, because it worked in the past when we got him.

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

AMEN
I am disabled and have trained 4 Service Dogs, all were rescues. Wonderful COMRADES.[/QUOTE]