Our faithful dog, a male chow/lab/border collie mix has passed. Pound puppy we lucked out on. He was getting up there in years plus had a heart condition which finally got him. Thinking what next dog to get after a suitable mourning period.

What did we like with this dog? Gentle, cared about the boss, faithful, easy around the kids/grandkids. But impressively fierce with strangers and very protective of our clan. He glommed on to one of our 24CF members here in GA, within seconds of his arrival though!

The one drawback? He shed a LOT of hair. Hair everywhere you'd vacuum it all up and 10 minutes later it was just as bad as before.

Anyway, don't want to sit on this too long, especially given today's climate. Plus wife and I are soon to be empty nesters, so the nighttime awareness factor is increasingly important..

What breeds should we be looking at? Key attributes will be: security, protective, obedience (with training) warm personality with the fam, and not a lot of hair shedding.

Your thoughts?

Love my labs. But not a aggressive breed, and mine shed a good bit. That said we will be in puppy mode soon, and labs are pretty popular for a bunch of reasons

I am looking hard at a mutt. The cross GSD/Belgian Malinois I saw recently has me interested. Short hair, extremely protective/territorial but not overly aggressive, and very obedient. Perfect for my purposes.

As far as warm with family, if the GSD attributes in that area predominate, you are good to go. Not sure if Malinois personality predominates, but good socialization as a pup should do the trick, I would think.

Awful lot of choices there.

What's wrong, if you were happy with a mixed breed before, with going and rescuing another that might suit your purposes. Or ask around your area to see if anyone's had an "intruder" get in and knock up Fluffy?

Sorry to hear about your loss, always a tough deal.

Good luck finding a suitable new partner.

I've had registered Beagles, Blue Ticks, Plotts, German Shepherds and Rottweilers but my best buddies have all been mutts.

I have transitioned to small lap dogs, myself. There are many breeds and intentional cross breeds that are fantastic and don’t shed. Many. An even serve as great “alarm/alert dogs”, mine do, but as far as “protection” or security one could punt them swiftly into next week. But I need the alarm, not the defense. You might want to consider a Standard Poodle, and no I’m not being facetious. They got size, a lot of smarts, sporting, great natured, very loyal, and they don’t shed a hair. As far as trainable, they’re wicked smahhht. I would imagine close to par with the smartest of all breeds. Look for a big one if that’s your thing.

PS - you don’t have to give them those stupid haircuts that give them a bad name. Lol. But they do need to get shaved down periodically. That’s the trade off for no shedding.

Lab. Black.

I love Labs and Border Collies. My neighbor has a St. Bernard that is a cool dog. All of these wouldn't meet your shedding criteria, however. I've had pretty good luck with mutts as well. You usually get out of a dog about what you put into it.

I'm a fan of mutts. Maybe find somebody online trying to unload some mixed pups that own both parents. You at least have some idea what you are getting and you won't be paying for a purebred. Go with something shorthaired.

Labs hands down. Loyal, loving, smart, and full of personality. We have 2, they are bothers and they are great dogs. They are field proven couch dogs.

Yellow Labrador,..field bred. Call Holzinger's and tell them what traits you want.

https://www.holzingerkennels.com/puppies.html

we have a chow/lab mix. When we first got him there were days when the chow would override the lab, but as he has got older he has turned into a great dog.

I used to complain about how much he shed, until we got this Shiba Inu mix. We have to vacuum every day because of that dog.

If I could just get chow/lab mixes from now on, I'd be good with that. Matter of fact we got the Shiba Inu mix because they guy selling them said it was chow/lab mix.

Rottweiler, male, alligator headed German breed.

Mini-Lab, AKA German Shorthair. Great with kids, goofy as hell for a personality. Great watch dog, loyal as hell. I've taken mine to a local dog club that has training classes, roughly follows the AKC Rally format. Very high energy. I run mine mine about five miles a day at a 9mph average, or else...

Vizsla

PM Birdwatcher, he just had some pups.

I'll never have anything but German Shorthairs but they do shed. If I didn't want to hunt birds and the dog hair was an issue I would take a good long look at an Airedale.

We have a BMC that pretty much fits the bill. His pillow and my truck back sea show signs of shedding but the rest of the house is good. That said the decor is close to his hair color so...

He's been a good dog but really needed a firm hand in his puppy to 3 yr old stage. Very protective especially of wife and kids. I've seen him stand between my wife and a bear in the yard and a stranger walking down the right of way road. Pretty cool to see.

Interesting. Never heard of them, but just looked them up. Thanks Dan!

Belgian Malinois.
Or
Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Smart protective short hair breeds.
Easy to groom.
Apex dogs......

I had an Airedale once. Great dog. Ate every damn cat he could get a hold of. Apparently thought they were delicious.

So sorry..take care !

Shepherd. German.

Can't do it again myself. We went with goldfish. If they get sick, they go see Doctor John.

German Shepherd

Funny, I was just having a snack and thought about that too. I think he had two not spoken for as of last night.

I've always been fond of Labs and my wife Cockers. When we put down her last Cocker, we said no more dogs until we retire. That lasted about a year and we've recently re-homed a couple of field bred Springers from a kennel retiring them from breeding. They are a mother/daughter pair that have been together their entire lives and we have no regrets in the decision (though they do shed than we like). My brother is a GSP fan and I've been around a couple of his dogs which would certainly be a consideration for me starting over.

I've had two German Shepherds. Got one right now. Good guard dogs. Very territorial. Protective of their humans. Shed like crazy. Too big to be good couch/lap dogs. Eats like a horse. Prone to hip problems.

Nice dogs,

It's highly likely you'll have to give it a good amount of exercise regularly. Be prepared if that's your choice.

Lost my Shepherd over Memorial Day Weekend. He was my second.

There will be a third, eventually.

Never want a dog in my lap or on the furniture. At my feet keeping my feet warm.

But you are correct about the hair.

I lost my best buddy May 24 to cancer. He was a beagle cross of unknown parentage. A rescue from the SPCA. He was 12 years and 9 months old. Best dog I ever had. I miss him terribly.

Go to your local shelter and let one pick you.

Sorry to hear about loosing you buddy, that is a very tough thing. We had a mix for a number of years, he was a Katrina pup and was estimated to be 12weeks when we got him and was a wonderful dog but lord did he shed! My wife said she could knit a new dog every day just from the sweepings.

We now have a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. Very affectionate dog, about 50 lbs and not a bad shedder and very eager to please. Fairly high energy but nothing like the German Shorthairs. She is pretty self entertaining and looks like she’ll be an excellent tracking dog for wounded deer. At 5 months old she tracked one for a friend of mine. Not a great security dog as she loves everybody she meets and is more likely to invite a burglar in than to bite him but really good with kids.

If you need an alert dog you don't have to vacuum after, just about any poodle dog that will finish better than 12 inches or so at the shoulder will work.

Under that size, there's a tendency to be psycho and stupid that gets worse the smaller they finish. But we actually had two miniatures that could hunt pheasant. They basically copied a champion German Shorthair, and after he died, they still hunted as we discovered to our shock on a group pheasant outing. Retrieves were kind of rough, but they'd find, flush and spot. This was when they were 9 and 11 years old, so that didn't last, but it was pretty neat.

My Dad's current pair, littermate spayed dams, are fantastic dogs. Good natured, athletic, only bark when necessary (LOUD), overall "with the program."

So smart poodles are SMART. But they can develop minds of their own if not cultivated from the start.

I really like the sound of this, but plan to research some of the other breeds recommended as well. Got a little time. Have learned that a person just doesn't show up at the pound anymore - its all choreographed in advance for COVID reasons.

Just called a buddy of mine up in VA who I have pheasant and duck hunted with. Dog guy, of the pointer/retriever ilk. Knows his dogs, and knows our family situation as well. He says poodle too.

Thanks everyone for their views so far! Really helpful.

Blackmouth Cur or Airedale.

I wouldn't consider any other bred than Belgian Malinois .

I have two labs now but have had many breeds. Labs are great for my life now, hunting and hiking a ton, but I will get back to Rottweilers. Have had many and my last male was imported. Cost a pretty penny but was everything you could ever want in a dog. Excellent with the kids as well.

Jack Russell Terriers

My Yellow Lab is all that. 115 pounds of lap dog, very intelligent, protective, travels well, stays with me everywhere I go. Loves to go fishing, Sheds on everything.

Some great thoughts here...

Airedale sounds like a perfect fit

i'd a said beagle, but i hear they go for the nuts.

That has always worked for me.

We used to live outside of Americus Georgia. We had Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. They are fine breed. The female was very aggressive and male was very friendly.

We now have Australian shepherds. Absolutely love the breed. Extremely smart.

Don’t even like to think of my beagle not being around, She’s been a faithful companion for the last 9+ years and I hope there are many more years ahead. Had two Brits before her and I’ve often thought if I get another dog it would be a Blue Heeler. Problem is I’ve reached an age where my next dog may likely outlive me.

I’ll catch hell for this, but I’ll never be without a pit bull.

Can't believe it took this long for it to come up.

Based on what what the OP put forth in his post, why would you encourage him to get a pit bull?

I love our Airedale. I have a high level of trust in her with my kids. She's a bit on the sweet side for the breed, which keeps her from being the watchdog that I'd like her to be, but her size, (80 lbs) and ferocious sounding bark and growl are a deterrent to most. Plus, she's a very loving dog and goofy and entertaining, too. She's bright, but stubborn, fitting those breed characteristics to a T.

Shedding is better than average, IMO.

I'd seriously consider having another one.

I guess he wants the OP to have his home owner's insurance cancelled.

Airdale great dogs, any terrier breeds. I like ugly hunting dogs. WHPG. Very little shedding, smart, socialized with humans and animals.

Had a couple, both were good field dogs, the older of the two was remarkably fast in her feet and protective of the castle. Younger was a goofy ball of fun. 55 pounds give or take.

Evnin gang my two cents, Airedale, griffon or German wire hair pointer, ridge back, Melin€€¥**shepard (with training), even an old plott bear hound may work. The American bull dog??? I don't know, I have one now (rescued) she's a sweetheart & if you don't know the 2yr old grandchild & the dog don't go near the kid till you've been here a few times. Even my daughters dogs don't go near the two yr old. I keep a close watch on ALL activity, Im pretty sure the dog wouldn't bite her but, but, I can see the dog trying to protect the baby & someone getting hurt. Maybe me,lol. Like I said she's a sweet one but with all the bad stories ya hear. She's very happy to see anyone, & if you've been here before look out she'll lick ya to death!!!! Original bull dogs that were bread to fight were also bread to not bite the human who trained it. They had to go into the ring and retrieve there dogs after a certain time. I don't think they breed that way anymore, there just a machine with no brain and one thing on there mind. I've got way off track here, sorry. Bill out. 🐾👣🐾👣🇨🇦

Vizsla's are some danged good dawgs. Had one. Pretty hyper though.

Any real country person needs a hound.



Blue Tick. Treein' Walker's are faithful companions too.

My favorite for a constant companion is a lab. I've had dogs I've enjoyed like boxers, Airedales, rots, catahoulas, drahthaars, and others. In the end though, give me a lab to spend time with day in day out.

Dogs I've had but would never have again: pit, blue healer, spitz.

Schnauzer, miniature.

Sorry for your loss. I miss mine all the time. Anyway, if you don’t mind a big dog, I’d recommend an English Mastiff. They tick every box you mentioned and unlike all the others that have been recommended they are easy going and very easy to manage. No heavy training, maintenance and are not high strung. They are big, and will love you and your wife like no other dog could, but you gotta love em back. And the intimidation you require is undeniable. The lion amongst breeds.

The only other recommendation I’d offer is a boxer, but they can have a lot health issues.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Sorry to hear about the passing of your family friend.
Been there too many times. Never is easy.

From your description and compared to the size AND looks of yours, I would strongly consider an African Lion Hound aka, Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Minimal shedding, short hair. Family guard that is stable, Unlike some of the chows, terriors, etc.
They have been bred to hunt lions and survive, protect children, and not known to Yap at every passing sound.
If they bark, it's for good reason I'm told.
Go for a female is what breeders tell me. Get a puppy. I know someone who has one trained better than most people s kids. I want one, but too much on the plate.
They do need a good large yard for exercise, unless you take daily hikes. That is a requirement.

Here's a video. Check out about 10 more to get an idea. You mentioned poodles. Standards are big, but I can't comment on them. Mine have been calm stable miniatures and a tea cup. Mine weren't yappy but many are.

Best to you.

GSD, hands down, nothing else really compares, IMO.

MM

Shetland Sheepdog

I'm a GSP guy......love many breeds but can't imagine not owning a GSP! Ours are just under 50lbs (avg females) and will sleep with you all night (or all day if you're sick) or hop in the truck and hunt their hearts out for you all day. They LOVE people and are great with kids but will diligently guard the house perimeter and bark at any critters, dogs or strangers walking by or coming to the door.

This is our youngest girl.....she hates it when you set your gun down and will stare and paw at it until you pick it back up!

Here's a quick rundown of someone who did an EXTENSIVE study of various breeds with the qualities that you want. Again I keep comming back to this.
I've wanted a breed with the exact same qualities you are looking for plus one. I like exotic animals. As for dog breeds, Rhodesians are called Ridge Backs because of their mohawks. Read the history.
White settlers who hunted lions couldn't find a breed in Europe that wouldn't either back down or not get mauled by cornered lions. This was the result . Natives dogs were family friendly. This results were amazing.
BTW, don't forget to ask God for direction too. He knows best and directs his children if they ask. Too often I go off and do something without asking and regret it. Then I remembered to seek His will and.....
Just PM if I can be a blessing.
Take care and best to you and yours.





PS:. There's a more rare chocolate variety that looks like yours. Dark brown with matching nose. That's my favorite.

Shedding and protectiveness leaves the labs out, but they are the best family dogs I have ever had. Love the shorthairs I have been around but they shed pretty bad too. I hunt waterfowl and birds so when my lab passed I wanted a dog with strong prey drive and hunting instincts that shed less than labs, so we got a GWP. There were no Drahthaar litters nearby so we picked a somewhat local GWP breeder that I had heard good things about. Our female us on the small side at about 40 lbs but is hell on wheels for birds, will track anything, great with my young boys and a great watchdog that is aloof with strangers. Maybe a male GWP or Draht (same dog genetically) would be an option. They are high energy and intense but do have an off switch. Their natural hunting skills are amazing to watch.

Currently have two drahthaars at my house. Keeping them for my daughter and SIL. The 7yr female is very docile but a good hunter. The 3yr old male is full go almost all the time. I think he would be great for a one owner dog, but with the 6 other dogs we have, he doesn't get enough attention. Definitely a high motor dog.

We have owned Airedales for about 18 yrs. We buy only hunt stock ‘dales. They are too large for any show type conformation but that is the point. Female was out of NM and 2yr old male from OK. Great dogs. Crazy smart and easy to work with. Most say they’re stubborn, but they learn very fast and become bored w repetition. One they have it, they have it. Love their human families beyond any other I’ve seen. Shed little, great w kids, and would literally die for you. Won’t ever own anything else. YMMV & Best of luck on new dog.

+1...and with the black eyes if you can find it, not the brown.

Labs will/can be very aggressive and protect their owners, and there's a reason they are great around the young, make great bomb dogs / drug dogs, seeing eye dogs, waterfowl dogs......they're very smart if you get the good lineage....dark eyes.

My older Vizsla named Ginger.



Sitting in the front door, and always watchful for visitors. There is a window just right of the image frame...one day some pesky old lady 7th Day Adventists came to visit and knocked on the door. They were standing about 3' from the open window and when they knocked she bellowed. Ol' girl had one of the loudest barks I've ever heard and the visitors near about had heart attacks. They never came back. GOOD DOG!!!

My brother has a Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog) which is a good guard dog.

Short haired, small enough to be a lap dog, large enough to deter strangers.

I am partial to Airedales

When you say no shedding and protection, you should include the Doberman in the final three.

My BMC, Blue, is same way. His bark is pretty fierce if in protect mode. Scared the heck out of the delivery guys until told they weren't a threat. My understanding is Ridgebacks and BMCs are very similar. They look like it based on the pic above.

another vote for a Lab, they have always been loyal for me,but painful when these old buddies get old.

Done! Awaiting response!

I would not write them off.....
Damn fine dogs. Even seen them hunted, believe it or not. Wet retrieve too. Thing is, they’ll learn anything. And fast. By sheer osmosis and observation, never mind training. Cool animals for sure.

It’s a sad time in your life when you lose a dog. I’m sorry.
After thirty years of German wire hair pointers, which were excellent guard dogs, excellent hunters of all things and the best buddy we could have. Our last buddy is a standard schnauzer. 44 pounds of fun, super smart and German stubborn. He’s only three but learns new things every day. Excellent guard dog and go with pal

i was in americus once, got two gallons of shine, supposed to be from billy carters bootleger. damn illegals stole it out of my camp trailer.