Rhodesian Ridgeback vs German Shepherd

[911boost]

Samson, my 5 year old GSD is excellent around my children (3.5 yo daughter, 3 month old son) and is very well trained. he comes from a great family, and I took the time to train him properly, which makes him a great companion for our family.

When it comes to barking belive it or not, Casey Jones, my 4 year old Pug is much more aggressive. Of course, he knows Samson has his six, so that is probably why.

I highly reccomend the GSD.

[speeder]

John, RRs are absolutely magnificent animals, bottom line. The site of one would cause a coronary if it caught most intruders by surprise. I was at someone's house last night that had a life-sized, stuffed animal Rottweiler positioned like it was peeking out from behind a wall in the LR, I'm telling you it was hilarious because when you see it your brain freezes w/ surprise and you would not stick around to look closer at it. (In the dark). RWs are known for not barking, letting an intruder in, then not letting them leave. Bad people know this.

I'm not sure what my dog would do to an aggressor, he is a big baby and no special training. Just companion/kids stuff. But he is a great watch dog w/ a radar for sketchy people, (bums mostly), and he has an absolute Dolby THX bark that you would not believe. Like it was created by Steven Spielberg.

[930addict]

My Astronomy teacher had a RR and would let him walk around the classroom freely. He was a very good dog and was great around people. Bred for hunting lions, they are supposed to be pretty fearles.

Another dog he may want to consider since he likes the short hair is a german shorthaired pointer. I grew up with one and that was by far the best dog we ever owned (we've had several). Very loyal and intelligent, but they do need exercise. Ours ran freely on our ranch and would bark at strange cars as they drove up the driveway. When the cars would get to the parking area he would stand by the door barking until one of us came out and everything checked out ok. Then he would sniff the stranger and walk off or sometimes he hung around. Such a good dog. He lived for about 13 years.

A good source for K-9 info would be AKC.org.

[ChemMan]

RR's are great dogs. I had a shorthaired german pointer several years ago. Smartest dog I ever had. The GSD is pretty intimidating. Also a great breed. The whole point is really to have a dog that looks scary, but is friendly. Since you live in a warmer climate, you migh want to also consider a dobe. They are high maintence in that they always want to be with you, all of the time. They are sweet though. I have one now. She looks scary, but is way, way too friendly. She loves people. We spent a lot of time socializing her when she was a puppy. This was obviously before kids. She is my third dobe. Whatever dog you get, I highly recommend obedience classes. Even if you take them at the local Petsmart, I believe it makes a big difference. Interacting with others is a big factor in having a friendly dog. I'm rambling, so I am going to stop and go get a coffee.
Mike

[David]

My boss' sister in-law's husband had one in Rhodesia. When her husband was murdered, the dog never left his grave. They would take the dog food and water, but he died on his master's grave. That's devotion.

My old roommate in Austin has one. I've never seen a more ferocious but good family dog.

On the other hand my great aunt had a German Shepperd for years. One day it grabbed one of the grand-babies and took off running. The baby survived with minor injuries, the dog didn't.

If you have a dog that can do damage, make sure you're insurance covers it. When we moved into our house, all we could get was a Lloyd's of London policy until a regular policy became available. Someone could drown in our pool and we were covered, but we had zero coverage for dog bites.

[jyl]

All the dogs I used to have, the only one who ever bit anyone was my chow. Three bites in one summer. Until we got her meds figured out. Fortunately 1 was a close friend, 1 was my mother in law, and 1 was the kid of a neighbor who had just backed into my car, so we essentially swapped a door panel for a (very minor) puncture wound. But yes, dog bites are a real liability risk.

[911boost]

A lot of excellent points in this thread. I think to a certain extent, a good upbringing will determine what kind of dog you have.

Samson (the GSD) has only gotten visably aggressive once, and that is when my wife was on a walk with my daughter in the stroller and and an unchained dog came running out of someones garage towards them. Was my wife upset, no, scared a little, but the GSD did not charge the random dog, he just stood directly in front of my daughters stroller and growled. The owner came running and apologized over and over (we live in a nice area, so its not like it was a pit bull or anything).

Just a short story.

Bill

[Steve Carlton]

Originally posted by speeder
Thank you for the compliments guys, and Steve, that looks like an excellent breeder. Did you click the link in my post? Those dogs are just like mine only bigger, they would stop traffic w/ their beauty or make an intruder schit in his pants.

Yes, I did. Also forwarded to my brother. Lots of useful info there.

Plenty of horror stories about GSDs, but I think 99% of the disposition problems can be eliminated by getting a properly bred dog, as well as most of the health issues. Most problems with GSDs are due to unqualified breeding, IMHO. A former R1100S Pelican posted this picture of his puppy he got directly from Germany, Achilles. He said a top GSD has the intelligence of a 6 year old. I would love to be able to have a dog like this:

[speeder]

Wow, that's a cute puppy. Little monkey. You hit it on the head w/ regards to breeding. Breeding dogs is not some crap-shoot thing where you just throw them together and hope for the best, it is a painstaking science. A science in every sense of the word.

Think of the variations in humans, from a completely psychopathic murderer to the inventor of the polio vaccine or something. And the variations in health, both physical and mental. Not to mention intelligence. Animals are not that much different, except that humans on the wrong side of the bell curve have interfered w/ their breeding in the case of mean, unstable dogs for cheap guard duty.

Buyer beware w/ dogs. See both parents or no deal w/ purebreds. JMNSHO.

[Steve Carlton]

Checked out this RR breeder. Gonna take a pass...

[obrut]

what about a boxer? medium size, short hair, VERY good/patient with kids etc. ours only barks when someone approaches the house. however, they really can't bite due to their jaw design.

also, for some reason, a lot of people find them intimidating to look at.

[cantdrv55]

+1 on the Boxer

I've owned several dogs; all mutts. The friendliest and biggest was a half choc lab, half Rottie. One hundred twenty five pounds of pure lap dog. Had a scary bark but no bite whatsoever. Man, I miss Rufus. I have his ashes on my bookcase in my office.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
Do you really want your dog attacking burglars? What John says has a lot of merit. Simply barking and raising a ruckus will send most fleeing, and let you know there is something going on long before its fighting ability is tested. Just get a dog you like and that will play with the kids. Make it a part of the family and have fun.

I'm a retriever man myself. I have had a string of Black Labs, and now Golden Retrievers, since I was young. I raised both of my boys, now 18 and 15, with a lab when they were little and the golden by the time they were about ten. Great dogs for kids (as would be either of your choices) but never chosen for their prowess as guard dogs. Most dogs will moonlight as one in a pinch. So don't worry about it.

Agree 100%. Have had many dogs and breeds. Best all around watchdog AND protection was the Schnauzer. Nasty little bastard. If you made a gun with your hand and pointed it at him he'd attack you.

Our Mastifs were absolutely brutal to delivery people when we were home but would run upstairs and hide when we left the house.

Scott

[Hurra912]

what about a boxer? medium size, short hair, VERY good/patient with kids etc. ours only barks when someone approaches the house. however, they really can't bite due to their jaw design.

Absolutely not true. My Sister-In-Law's two Boxers have been quite able to leave some pretty deep marks on me from roughhousing. They may not have massive jaw strength, but compared to my Lab their teeth are like barbed wire.

I do agree they are great dogs though. Very intimidating, but quite well mannered, and great with children.

When we get together with my wife's family we have a 100lb. Lab, a 70lb. Boxer, a 50lb. Boxer, a 22lb. Pug, and a 18lb. Pekingese. The dog that is the absolute worst around children, or any people for that matter is the Pek. Just because they're cute, doesn't mean they're cuddly.

Wayne

[Z-man]

Originally posted by dmoolenaar
We had a male GSD for a couple years. Counter to my best efforts to socialize him the dog was not good company in public and proved that I could not trust him around anyone outside our immediate family without supervision.

That, IMHO, the the best kinda guard dog - one that is only friendly with your immediate family.

When I was growing up, we used to live in Passaic, NJ. Rough and tough urban town. We had TWO guard dogs - one for outside, and one from the inside. The outside dog was a German Shepard. Both did not trust anyone except the immediate family - my parents, my sister, and me. The Shepard was known to bite. And it kept the bad people away. The inside dog, a Hungarian Puli, was even more viscious than the Shepard. With either dog, all that was necessary was to give the command, "Fogd meg." In Hungarian, that's catch him. They would be ready and willing to tear after anyone at that point.

Oh, they were also fun to rough-house with.

But the bottom line - if you want a guard dog, you only want that dog to be trusted only with your immediate family. Otherwise, he won't do a thing if there's a breakin.

-Z

[JeremyD]

My grandpa had an english bull terrier in england. He owned a pub. At night, Butch would stay in the pub to sleep. The lived down the block and in the morning my grandfather would go to the pub to take Butch for a walk, every morning.

One morning, the door to the pub was ajar - my granda walked in, and their was a buglar cornered, fearful, with bite marks all over his arms and legs.

My grandpa called the police, the policeman arrived, sat down and filled out his report with a cup of coffe or two, all the time with Butch keeping watch on the buglar. Everytime the guy would twitch to move, the dog would growl at him.

He owned 5 or 6 english bull terriers in his life, all named Butch - how funny is that?

[Z-man]

Originally posted by JeremyD
He owned 5 or 6 english bull terriers in his life, all named Butch - how funny is that?

Funny? I suppose.

Effective? DEFINATELY!

-Z

[85eurocarrera]

Off topic a bit, sorry.

Do you dog people have any suggestions for a 4yr Old English Sheepdog who is starting to get a little "testy" around my 15mo. daughter? No bites but growls a little if the kid starts climbing on her. Dog has no problem with her taking food or toys from her though.

Positive side of this is teaching daughter that you cant climb all over and trust every dog you see, just because you can do it to grandpa's dog.

Joe

[Rikao4]

Correct that NOW, this how it often goes down.mind you the dog is behaving normal..kids play,dog want's it to stop, latch on..another dog would most likely go submissive, humans freak and start pulling away and make noise, dog applies more pressure to make it stop.. it goes down hilll from there..and sadly it's not the dogs fault..
training a dog to attack is simple..making it stop, is the mark of a well trained dog.
Rika

[85eurocarrera]

Rika,
Understood. She is a submissive animal when you meet her. Most likely will pee for you. Any suggestions? I have used a shock collar to teach her yard boundries. Used shock with tone once, and only need tone if I have it on her now. Dont use it much anymore as she is good with her come and stay commands. Maybe I put it back on her and tone her when she is bad. wife and I do keep a sharp eye on this and will take neccessary action if it continues. Hope it doesnt get to that.