horsegirl - 2018-01-31 5:58 AM Growing up, we had a Rottweiler that lived in our barn. He would herd the horses, and he was gentle as can be, so I know he'd never actually hurt anyone.....but he looked fierce! lol Probably not as dominant and protective as you are looking for. I still am very fond of the breed because of the experience with that dog. The most gentle and kind dog we've ever had.

dRowe - 2018-01-31 8:16 AM

My husband has a German Shepherd. The dog was 2.5 years old when I met him. He had recently bit the FedEx guy and put a hole in his uniform. A few years later, he bit the pool guy and drew blood. My stepson was outside when it happened and everybody (including the pool guy) was convinced the dog bit (after plenty of warning - growling and stare down but the pool guy kept walking towards him) because he was protecting my stepson.
The following year, we moved in together. I was feeding the dogs one night and the GS started eating another dog’s food. I yelled at him and he didn’t stop, so I went to grab his collar. He turned and bit me and drew blood.
I think he’s great with his family her grew up with (my hubs and step kids), but I don’t trust him one bit with my little kids.
But, he does his job.

I’ve had two Dobermans and although they looked threatening and had deep barks, they wouldn’t have hurt a fly. I would not consider them guard dogs but they’re great family pets and great with horses if raised around them.

Just my experience with ONE gs. I don’t know if that’s typical of the breed.

heidiinaz - 2018-01-31 6:45 AM


 They are amazing dogs

heidiinaz - 2018-01-31 5:46 AM

 We have a Bull Mastiff. It is our second one and I will never not have one. They are amazing with kids and very loyal. Excellent guard dogs. Very rarely bark but when they do they are all business. She loves loves kids. I would highly recommend them

07milch - 2018-01-31 6:59 AM One of my husband’s co-workers is going to have English mastiff puppies and is what started us down this road. I wonder if Bullmastiff and English mastiffs are similar, I’ll look into it!

Griz - 2018-01-31 3:48 AM

Absolutely LOVE my Great Pyrenees (sp?)! He keeps the coyotes away, doesn't bother the horses and is always by my side. He patrols the property all night. If ANYTHING is out of order, he lets us know.

rpreast - 2018-01-31 7:58 AM

I would imagine they'd be hard to find, but we have a Great Pyrenees/Akbash cross, and NOTHING gets past him. He is a big big dog with the shorter hair of the Akbash, and he is not the dog I'd want to come across if I didn't know him. He's caught a couple people snooping around the neighbors tractors (he has permission to be over there, they love him) and chased them off, and he keeps the coyotes/mountain lions/bears far far away from our place. Heck he's brought back legs of coyotes. But to people he knows, he's the most love-able, snuggly, easy to be around dog in the world. The kittens used to sleep curled up at his side. Once he accepts someone/something as a part of his family, there's no need to worry about him.

07milch - 2018-01-31 12:36 PM


I've actually had this exact cross! I loved him. He was amazing with our immediate family and very standoffish to strangers. We didn't live at our current property when he was with us so I'm not sure if they are wander-ers or not.

Griz - 2018-02-01 4:54 AM

I guess I should clarify, mine is a Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepard cross, he doesn't wander BUT we had him neutered. A guy at work had a brother of my dog whom he didn't have neutered and he wandered a TON. Mine stays on the property. I can't imagine mine would bite someone BUT nobody has ever challenged him either. Our kitties curl up on him when it's cold and he protects our chickens too. Before we got him, the coyotes got all my chickens and barn cats. Now he keeps everybody safe!

donk - 2018-01-31 11:26 AM

Will a Great Pyrenees bark if people drive up? I've heard they are gentle natured.

TSlashO - 2018-01-31 5:42 PM

I have an Anatolian Shepard. He is by far the most intelligent dog ive known. He is a livestock guardian dog. So he does not chase horses, cows, cats, our cow dogs, goats, ponies or any other animal on our place or our neighbors. He is a big 90-100lb dog and can flat out run. He will chase deer, crows and elk. Ive personally witnessed him kill several coyotes - thats what he is bred to do. He is socialized to people so he loves his family. But has a big bark and presence if someone new comes on the place. He has a good judge of character. There are people he is cool with and others that he gives his warning bark to and darts around with his heckles up. His judgemwnt is pretty spot on. Hes kept a few people in their cars. He is like a cat though. You cannot tell him what to do. He does what he wants when he wants. He cannot be tied up or locked up, its in his nature to roam and protect. I have one neighbor who is scared to death of him thinking he will attack his grandchildren. But i know that dog has never and would never go out and bite or attack someone for no reason, especially children.. He goes with me when i ride but he will not get in a vehicle unless you trick him and wrestle him in. They are great dogs if you have enough room for them. Definitely do the homework on one of these dogs to decide if they fit your needs, but if they do, great dogs!

Vickie - 2018-02-03 1:41 AM

Get  a pound puppy.  Large breed and old enough to be grateful to have a home.  They are the most loyal and protective dogs ever.  Like someone said, it is always a crap shoot but  I have never gpme wrong with a rescue puppy.
 

KatieMac88 - 2018-01-31 7:02 PM Catahoula Leopard Dog! They are the best at being protective family dogs however they might possibly bother the horses and are hard to keep in a fenced in area. Doberman Pinscher is another great one. I have one who is extremely attentive and pretty protective. She’s excellent wifh the family and anyone who we are comfortable with but if the person or animal seems unwanted she fiercely protects. She’s actually a Catahoula/Doberman mix we adopted. Same with the purebred Catahoula we had - would do anything to protect you from any perceived threat. He did not warm up to strangers like my Doberman mix does though. He kept his eye on them at all times, but the most loving family dog.

Last Catt - 2018-02-03 12:46 AM Love our Great Pyrenees. His dad was a wanderer, but we got him neutered around a year old and he stays in our yard. Gentle with children, wary of adults. He's gotten better as he's gotten older (he's about 9 years old now, looking to get another to help take over his duties), but when he was younger he wouldn't stop barking at someone even if we were there with them. I'm mainly out with him with the horses and when people are there, so long as I am welcoming to them, he backs off pretty quickly and goes to lay down away from everyone but where he can keep an eye. When he was younger he would actually lay in my lap to keep others away from me if the chair was big enough to hold him. Have had a few coyote issues recently, again, he's getting older, still does a pretty good job though for being an only dog. He is on the smaller side of males as well, about 90-100 pounds. I've seen some closer up to 150, and not overweight, just big dogs. He's gotten ahold of a few of our chickens when they basically run into his mouth, and a few doves as well when they just wouldn't fly away from him (we had some we raised), but he typically knows better. Just this evening feeding him he was sharing his food with one of our big laying hens. Doesn't bother the horses at all, and if they come towards him to check him out, he runs from their corrals (none of our horses are dog aggressive, but he's wary). He'll chase strange cats out of the yard, but runs from our evil cat that likes to run up to him and hiss (meanwhile same cat the small inside small dogs maul). He's gentle with any dogs we bring in, but will bark at strange dogs. He's kind of gotten a little more disobedient in his older years, when he was younger I could call him off barking with a whistle to come back to me, now he just stops, looks at me, and continues barking. Absolutely wouldn't trade him for the world though. In my experience unless you have a pack of them, they tend to use barking as their main defense, in a pack they will attack/bite predators. Typically not the kind to attack people though unless cornered with no other options. I've seen fairly unhandled pyrs in a group end up eating another dog's kill of goats or chickens, and end up turning into more of a predator themselves, but those pyrs wouldn't even let owners really come up to pet them, so I'm not sure if it just came from lack of discipline and understanding that "their animals" were off limits or what. I know our pyr if you just tell him to leave something new, he'll pretty much ignore it. Very smart dogs but also can be stubborn. I do know a friend who got one that was rescued, he lived in a cage most his life and wasn't very socialized, and even he does great with her horses, sheep and small children, including a baby that would crawl on him to "ride" him, even though he hadn't been exposed to much. He actually helped the baby learn to walk, as she'd grab his hair and he'd lead her where she wanted to go. Generally they are gentle giants, but pack situations can change that. I will say I won't ever own a heeler or a german shep if I had the choice. Too unpredictable for me. I've met a few good shepherds, but every heeler I've been around was a 1 person dog, and I've only met 1 that is stranger friendly and he was practically raised traveling. I also work for a small animal vet, and those two breeds just tend to be more sketchy. Side note however, being there is crossbreeds being talked about, we have no had good experiences with Pyr mixes when crossed on non-livestock guardian breeds. Know of a few litters from the pyr stud ours is out of, some Aussie crosses and some golden crosses, both resulted in aggressive dogs that in some instances snapped at people, were unpredictable around ranch animals, and would frequently fight with other dogs, despite all the parents being very friendly. The sire was a pretty frequent wanderer and would wander into town, and he would willingly hop into cars in hopes of getting a food. Sweetest dog you'd ever meet, and both mommas were super sweet, the pyr mom was actually more stand-offish and her pups were still all very sweet natured. I've heard a lot of good about mixing pyrs with other livestock guardians though, which would be Anatolians and such.

IRunOnFaith - 2018-02-05 3:01 PM


 This. I will never own a GSD.
My brothers GSD attacked me during family photos. I was sitting beside him with my baby in my arms. I literally had to lay on her to get her away from him. Had my dad and brother not been there to pull him off of me I don't know what would have happend to us both. My dad had to lay on top of him until we were all inside. He was still trying to attack my dad when we got all the children inside the house. We had to put him down. 
Plastic surgeon had to sew my face up but my little one was fine, just bruised from me laying on top of her.