I am currently doing research on dogs......I'm at the "decide on breed" stage and have a short-list of possible candidates:
Boxer
German Shephard
Golden Retriever
I live in a fairly large house with a decent size yard, so I can accomodate a good size animal. I have 2 kids, a 2 y-o and a 6 y-o.
I'm looking for a dog that will be a good companion for me and my whole family, so he has to be very gentle/tolerable with children. I like to walk, so exercise will be plentiful. I want a dog that I can train to heel, sit, stay, etc (nothing special....just the basics). I dont like dogs that jump on people when they come in the house or are too wild to control outside or dogs that have a tendency to run off. I want a dog that will offer some level of warning if there were to be a break-in in the middle of the night.....barking is enough, I'm not looking for an attack dog. On the same token, I dont want a dog that I have to worry about biting people if I have guests or repairmen in the house and I dont want to make guests feel uncomfortable.
On the most basic level, I want a dog with the following traits:
good with small kids
trainable on basic commands
will bark when strangers enter property/ ring doorbell, etc. (but I dont want to worry about attacks or bites)
Please tell me your opinion on my requirements and living situation and if you think a Boxer (or any of the dogs on my list for that matter) is a good choice.
Thank you for your opinion.
Boxer
German Shephard
Golden Retriever
I live in a fairly large house with a decent size yard, so I can accomodate a good size animal. I have 2 kids, a 2 y-o and a 6 y-o.
I'm looking for a dog that will be a good companion for me and my whole family, so he has to be very gentle/tolerable with children. I like to walk, so exercise will be plentiful. I want a dog that I can train to heel, sit, stay, etc (nothing special....just the basics). I dont like dogs that jump on people when they come in the house or are too wild to control outside or dogs that have a tendency to run off. I want a dog that will offer some level of warning if there were to be a break-in in the middle of the night.....barking is enough, I'm not looking for an attack dog. On the same token, I dont want a dog that I have to worry about biting people if I have guests or repairmen in the house and I dont want to make guests feel uncomfortable.
On the most basic level, I want a dog with the following traits:
good with small kids
trainable on basic commands
will bark when strangers enter property/ ring doorbell, etc. (but I dont want to worry about attacks or bites)
Please tell me your opinion on my requirements and living situation and if you think a Boxer (or any of the dogs on my list for that matter) is a good choice.
Thank you for your opinion.