Hey! Cujo was a great family dog… that is, until he became rabid.
i think it’s safe to say that we are excluding diseased animals :eek: from consideration in this thread…
(and fictional) 
A lot depends on what kind of environment you raise the dog in. It’s too general a question to give a specific answer.
For instance, a family that has a fenced yard is going to have a bit more room for leeway in the size department. A family that lives in an urban environment is going to have to be extremely careful about size.
The keys that you need to work for are early socialization, behavioral modification if necessary must be done early, and relatively subdued dogs – especially if there are young children. Ages 6+ (typically) can handle being jumped on once and a while if they’re playing with the dog and get them worked up. On the other hand, if they get worked up and the child is infant-to-toddler aged, he can get seriously injured by a dog who has nothing but the best of intentions.
For an suburban environment with a yard, and a family planning to get a dog where there’ll be newborn children in the house, I’d recommend a low weight (therefore low volume of feces) dog, probably in the 30-50 pound range.
In my experience, mutts are hit or miss, so avoid that (unless you’re willing to go through a few pups before finding the “right one”), and avoid anything that’s outside of the weight range, and as soon as they show an inability to be around children (I’d recommend borrowing some, to acclimate the dog and make sure that the pup is alright around them).
It’s too broad a question to give a specific answer of “the worst,” because even within historically bad breeds (like Chow’s), there are some great dogs if they’re acclimated properly. My grandparents had a chow who was amazingly protective of the grand children, but bad with strangers or anyone but family approaching the kids. Is that “bad” for a family, or good?
You know, I’m going to have to say an untrained dog is the worst dog. The smartest, calmest dogs in the world can be an absolute terror without proper training. On the flip side, if you invest some time in a typically non-family friendly dog, you may end up with the best dog in the world!
but of course the question is not ‘what is the best family dog?’ but rather, ‘what is the worst dog for a family?’ And it’s true that some breeds are inherently less suitable for family life than others. so which breeds are those?
i’m not an expert on dog breeds. but i have an open mind, have some dog experience and have a few knee jerk reactions…
my first instinct says - avoid chows and chow mixes. it just seems that they are far more likely to be a ‘one person’ type dog (which you really don’t want for a family dog) and also breeds that are generally bred for ‘guard dog’ type work, i.e. shepherds, dobies, rottweilers, maybe mastiffs. you might think that you want a dog that will protect your children, but they are more likely to defend them against ‘friendly fire’ (playful wrestling) than any real threat.
go for the dogs that are considered friendly, goofy, ‘lead the burglar to the silver’ types, like maybe labs or goldens. but even with them, you want to go with a responsible breeder and pay the extra buck for a dog that has been bred for good temperament.
Stay away from mastiffs (size alone makes them risky for small children), very small dogs (again, size makes them more defensive and more likely to be defensively aggressive), and hunting or hound types (only because they are more likely to run away, get hit by a car and scar your children’s delicate little psyches for life).
And like I said before, if you don’t have the time or inclination to train/play with/exercise the dog - get a breed that’s known to be low key and lazy, like yourself!
my dog is the perfect family dog. he loves people, tolerates other animals and does not run away 'cuz he would rather be with me than anywhere else. but, he’s a mutt.
i was told he was a boston terrier/chihuahua mix. i’m pretty sure there is no chihuahua in him at all. i think he’s actually a boston terrier/pit mix. he looks a bit like a miniature boxer, with the head of a pit bull terrier. but i was lucky to get him -
there was no way to predict when he was a puppy that he would turn out so well.
the worst family dog? the one you don’t have time to bother with…
Avoid the Cerberus Cerberus - Wikipedia . Poor temperament for kids & grownups alike…
I came to echo this post, then realized with amusement a fellow COTHer had posted it. I see JRT debates popping up on COTH (Chronicle of the Horse, BTW) forums the way pit bull debates do around here. Seems (some) horse people like their JRTs.
However, I am of the same mind as Hello Again on this issue. She says “Batshit insane;” I say “Neurotic little hypershits.” And I love dogs. I think I’d get a pit bull before one of these destructive things.
Oh, for god’s sake. I’ve literally got no dog in this fight, but pit-bull terriers (and Japanese Tosas, Dogo Argentinos and Fila Brazilieroares) are illegal in the UK without exception, whereas other breeds are not. So make of that what you will.
As for the cite, it wasn’t one. Just a list of suggestions.
Any kind of very high-strung or one-person dog is typically a poor fit for a family with small kids. I personally would never have a chow, a shar pei, a dalmatian, a chihuahua, a minpin, a malinois, or a jack russell terrier in a home with children. I would be leery of bringing a German shepherd, a cocker spaniel, dobie, schnauzer, or dachshund into such a home. And I would be likewise leery of any breed that has had a huge surge in popularity in the last 10 years or so as those are often massively overbred and prone to temperament issues.
But any breed can be a spectacularly shitty idea for kids if it’s poorly socialized, trained, and exercised.
Danes and St. Bernards, maybe, but Newfies are well known for being unbelievably gentle around even little kids. It helps that they’re one of those breeds that’s generally content to just lay there, even while a small child attempts to scale Mt. Newfoundland. The only real warnings I’ve heard is that their coat can be a handful to deal with, but they’re generally regarded as naturally great with kids.
Dalmatians are awful family pets - unless you are committed to letting him truly be part of the family (a Dal does not want to live outside; he wants to eat dinner in the same room as you), and more important jogging miles with the dog, every single day, you will have a neurotic and most likely aggressive dog on your hands. Dalmatians were originally bred to run alongside horse-drawn carriages for protection; this is a crazy high energy breed that needs to be run every day. And pretty much no matter what, a well-bred dalmatian isn’t going to be friendly towards outsiders. Good training can keep him from being aggressive, but they’re pretty much the polar opposite of the stereotypical Golden Retriever.
ETA: Chihuahuas are pretty much awful in every sense; there’s no reason for anyone to ever have one. Awful little nippy, yappy beasts.
I had a freind who had a great dane, and I’d often walk him and take him to the beach and park and little children love him. “I want to pet the pony.” 
But the great dane was over 6 feet if you stood him up and was over 200 pounds. 'Though danes are gentle dogs, in terms of temperament, you have to watch them 'cause of their size. If the dane is wagging his tale and you stand next to it, you can get hurt and the all the dog is doing is wagging his tale.
Tibetan mastifs are definitely not family dogs. Great for protecting nomadic encampments from man or beast but not kid friendly play dogs.
Aye, this is what I meant, not necessarily ‘bad’ breeds in terms of temperament (as NinjaChick says) but for sheer size which can be less than ideal with small children.
I admit, I do have a small flock of sheep but all 5 of our border collies are excellent house dogs. I have one that was a little too boisterous for small kids, but the rest are fine with kids. They do have to be taught not to attempt to round up small children, but they are usually very biddable, sweet dogs and easy to work with if you don’t throw them in the backyard and forget about them.
Border Collies do not misbehave because they are the canine version of the Energizer Bunny- they misbehave when people fail to spend any time training them.
Sorry, some of the border collie’s I know happen to be a child’s best friend.
My family had a dalmatian for 15 years. He was one of the friendliest dogs you would ever meet. He **loved **people, kids especially. Strangers or not, didn’t matter. He loved to have people pet him.
Try again. In the early 20th Century, pit bulls were known as “nanny dogs” because they behaved so well with children.
Actually lots of exceptions as the Dangerous Dog Act of 1991 was quite vague in that regard. American Pit Bull Terriers are banned. American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers and English Bull Terriers are apparently legal. As you can see, all have fallen under the general rubric of Pit Bull. In fact the differences between APBTs and Staffies of either sort, but particularly the American version, is very slight if it exists at all. The American Kennel Club doesn’t even recognize the ABPT as a breed - to them you either have American Staffordshires or mutts.
Chihuauas
Frakkin’ neurotic, psychotic little yappy rat-dogs, I hate 'em, they’re not dogs, dunno what they are, but they’re certainly not dogs…
they should reclassify their Latin name to “Canus Neuroticus”
main reason for this is because most owners of Chihuahuas pretty much coddle them. They aren’t trained properly. Most small dogs are generally the worst behaved dogs because people don’t think they can be dangerous and they think it’s cute what they do. I had a minpin and she was decently trained. She wasn’t too much of a handful in general but the minpin breed is a ratter breed not the toy it’s designated as. They have a strong prey drive and can be quite the stubborn pet when not properly taught who the real boss is.
My dad’s parents had a German Shepherd, a Husky and a Poodle at various times when I was growing up. Maybe it’s because they didn’t see kids much, but those dogs were horrible to be around by myself. It might’ve been because of how they were trained (As a 3-12 year old I didn’t have my dog educator hat yet), but all three were some mean mother f’ers.