Calling all dog experts.

[Landlord]

Rello,

My parents are thinking of getting a dog. Now, currently, and for the foreseeable future, my parents reside at my/ours/their pub on their own, so it will be a companion for them, some one to exercise with plus a little bit of security at night (in the protecting property sense, not some one to cuddle up to).

Obviously being a pub, we need to consider which breed would be best with "strangers" yet also have a bit of a "protective" instinct.

We have a lot of land in which the dog can run around plus plenty of space in the locale for walks etc.

Little yappy things that put me in mind of Rich1231 are out too, on the grounds of mere personal preference.

What sort of dogs would be advisable, do you think?

Thanks!
Phil.

[twistedsanity]

German shepherd

[marsred]

Labradoodle? Don't expect angry crowds to disperse when you threaten to release the Labradoodle though.

[staceyb]

some kind of lab/shepherd/collie mutt from the local dogs home.

[Landlord]

staceyb said:

some kind of lab/shepherd/collie mutt from the local dogs home.

Ah - that was a point I meant to include in the original post;

Should I go for a rescue dog with an unknown provenence and, therefore, the potential to have a smattering of pitbull in it's past? Or would it be sensible to go for a pedigree where I can better predict it's temprament?

[pies1981]

Rottweiler from zepthedep rottweiler rescue.

Very mis-understood breed and highly intelligent.

[Jasandjules]

Estrela mountain dog.

German Shepherd.

Doberman.

Rottie.

[MaxAndRuby]

Landlord said:

Now, currently, and for the foreseeable future, my parents reside at my/ours/their pub on their own, so it will be a companion for them, some one to exercise with plus a little bit of security at night (in the protecting property sense, not some one to cuddle up to).

Is there an award for the most difficult and unreadable sentence, IN THE WORLD, EVER?

[-crookedtail-]

My parents have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, lovely animal it is too! Very gently but can be quite demanding as it requires a lot of attention, although it sleeps most of the day.

Would make a great deterrent for anyone causing issues in your pub...


ETA: Second thoughts they are apparently not to good with strangers!

Edited by -crookedtail- on Wednesday 28th January 10:30

[Poledriver]

In my experience it's more the training (or lack of) which dictates how a rescue dog will turn out.
Labrador, German Shepherd, Pointers etc are all good pub dogs. Would say Rottie as they are normally ideal in this environment but can occasionally take a dislike to a person for no apparent reason so possibly not a brilliant idea for pub dog!
Mastiffs and Newfoundlands could be good, but take up a lot of space and eat a lot of food.

[Landlord]

MaxAndRuby said:

Landlord said:

Now, currently, and for the foreseeable future, my parents reside at my/ours/their pub on their own, so it will be a companion for them, some one to exercise with plus a little bit of security at night (in the protecting property sense, not some one to cuddle up to).

Is there an award for the most difficult and unreadable sentence, IN THE WORLD, EVER?

Yeah - y'see - you'll need to understand punctuation in order to clarify the sentence. Look up the purpose of "commas" and then re-read it.

[MentalSarcasm]

Spaniel? Friend of mine grew up in a pub and had a spaniel, very friendly dog.

[G Man]

You need a Leonberger friendly but a good watch dog and huge

[MaxAndRuby]

Landlord said:

MaxAndRuby said:

Landlord said:

Now, currently, and for the foreseeable future, my parents reside at my/ours/their pub on their own, so it will be a companion for them, some one to exercise with plus a little bit of security at night (in the protecting property sense, not some one to cuddle up to).

Is there an award for the most difficult and unreadable sentence, IN THE WORLD, EVER?

Yeah - y'see - you'll need to understand punctuation in order to clarify the sentence. Look up the purpose of "commas" and then re-read it.

Is wasn't so much the punctuation, I tripped up reading "now, currently" and never recoverd.

[g3rrd]

No bull breeds. People friendly to a fault and likely to walk off with people!
Natural guard breeds are less trusting of strangers. So just to contradict myself,
a nice balance of the two types could be a Bull mastiff!

[Landlord]

MentalSarcasm said:

Spaniel? Friend of mine grew up in a pub and had a spaniel, very friendly dog.

Now - genuinely, please forgive my ignorance - isn't a spaniel a "Small yappy" dog?

From the suggestions so far, I think the Border Collie is about the "smallest" we'd look to go.

[staceyb]

Landlord said:

staceyb said:

some kind of lab/shepherd/collie mutt from the local dogs home.

Ah - that was a point I meant to include in the original post;

Should I go for a rescue dog with an unknown provenence and, therefore, the potential to have a smattering of pitbull in it's past? Or would it be sensible to go for a pedigree where I can better predict it's temprament?

Pedigree's tend to have more physical problems than mutts. Mutts and rescue dogs aren't all crazy things, infact 95% of them are perfectly normal, and are only in the rescue centre because their previous owners have changed jobs/moved house/got a new baby or whatever and aren't cruelty cases.

The best thing to do would be to go to the local rescue place and explain the situation and what kind of place the dog would be living and go from there.

I would personally never buy a show pedigree dog but I would buy a working pedigree dog.

[Landlord]

g3rrd said:

Bull mastiff!

Really? Cool. I've always wanted a bull mastiff as they're my personal favourite.

I'll have to do some research in to their personalities though.

They'll be quite expensive, I'd imagine, too?

[NDA]

I met an Hungarian Vizsla recently - beautifully behaved, very friendly and, I'm told, an excellent pet.

[GHW]

g3rrd said:

No bull breeds. People friendly to a fault and likely to walk off with people!
Natural guard breeds are less trusting of strangers. So just to contradict myself,
a nice balance of the two types could be a Bull mastiff!

One of the pubs I used to frequent in my student days had a Bull Mastiff. Big soppy thing the size of a donkey, but god help you if you got on the wrong side of it...