For absolute worst I’d have to say Presa Canario. Like Pit bulls, they won’t all go wrong, but when they do it is really, really bad. And they go wrong in much higher numbers than more companion oriented breeds.
More fear mongering. The one- and two-headed ones are perfectly fine family pets.
Seriously, though, Labrador Retrievers and Collies are good choices.
We had dalmatians for years, they were like labradors with spots on! Soppy, friendly, goofy, well trained. They barked when strangers came to the door but once people were in the house their biggest worry was being licked to death by the dog.
Seriously, I’m surprised to see them mentioned here. Is there a difference between dalmatians in the US and those in Europe/Africa. Could there be more ‘families’ of dalmations in Europe leading to less in-breeding and a better temperment?
Sorry for the hijack, I’m just curious…
From what I hear, it’s smaller breeds–chihuahuas, etc.–that aren’t terribly good family pets, not because of the dog’s aggression, but because of treatment they might receive at the hands of small children. They have the tendency to be rough with small pups and can drop them on their heads. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a breed that didn’t make a good family pet, just breeds that didn’t make a good pet for families with small children.
Also, weren’t pit bulls bred for fighting specifically because they were friendly towards humans? The idea behind dog-fighting isn’t that they attack anything that moves, but that they attack other dogs. I, personally, have seen service dogs that were pits.
But I agree that generalizations about a breed can only get you so far–even the breeds considered the “friendliest” can be aggressive in certain circumstances (poor training, abuse, etc.). And breeds that are billed as being habitually aggressive can be friendly with the proper training.
Totally agree. The dog must be trained and disciplined from the day it enters your home so that rules and boundaries are clear and consistent. Once the dog understands its lower position in the family pecking order, aka the pack, it will happily accept that position and follow your lead.
Jiminy Christmas, I had no idea that this was such a contentious point. A google reveals that the term “nanny dog” is usually applied to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, rather than the American Pit-Bull terrier. Both are restricted in the UK, probably for reasons of confusion pointed out by Tamerlane. I’ve no idea how different these breeds are, or if the APBT should be considered a seperate breed. Still, whenever I hear of an unprovoked mauling, especially on children, I can hazard a reasonable guess that it’s a pit-bull (or some variety thereof) - stuff like this or this or this or this. In the interests of fairness I did a similar search for other breeds - searching for ‘Labrador’ found only instances of man’s viciousness to canine, rather than the other way round (compare these search results to this or this or this. Number of search results; Pit-bulls, 5,408 results. Labradors, 172. Beagles, 32. Border Collies, 21.
I may well be talking crap, or the news may be misinforming, or some other cause like confusion over the specifics of the pit-bull breed - in which case consider ignorance fought. Although again looking at breed-specific laws worldwide a common factor is restrictions on pit-bull breeds, which means either that this breed is restricted for a good reason or that there’s some bizarre worldwide conspiracy against them. Again I’m fully prepared for the possibility that I may be talking nonsense, in which case by all means speak to the truth. Although in my humble opinion it seems unlikely that this breed is…ideal for children given their history.
A lot of it is that dalmatians are a relatively rare breed in the US–except right after they re-release a version of 101 Dalmatians, when every moron in the free world wants one. There of course aren’t enough dalmatian puppies under normal circumstances to supply every moron in the free world, so unscrupulous jackholes start breeding stock that has absolutely no business being bred at all, often to other stock that has no real business being bred, just to make a buck. Then they sell the resulting puppies to people who are a very poor fit for even a well-bred dalmatian. The dogs don’t get the attention and discipline any dog needs, or the physical exercise and mental stimulation a big dog bred to run long distances and stay alert enough for guarding desperately needs to be a good house pet. The result is a hyperactive, utterly neurotic mess of an animal.
This happens periodically with different breeds, often after there’s been some bit of popular culture with some relatively rare breed of dog. In the late 80’s and early 90’s everybody wanted a shar pei because the wrinkly puppies in the posters were so darn cute. For a while right after Frazier got popular, there was a surge of jack russell terriers. In the early to mid-80’s, right after a re-release of Lady and the Tramp, it was cocker spaniels. It’s the sort of thing that takes a breed a decade or two to really recover from.
snip.
Really it’s a combination of a lot of factors. First off, pit bull and other similar looking dog crosses are among the most numerous and common animals about. Most generic mutts have either pit bull, shepherd, or lab in them. Usually all three. For whatever reason though, the terrier genetics tend to express more physically in terms of short coat, blocky head, and shorter muzzle. Secondly, people are notoriously bad at determining dog breeds. Cops aren’t trained in it, and even a lot of vets and kennel staff are poor at it. They tend to label any dog of unknown breed that bears a slight resemblance to their image of a pit bull, a pit bull or pit bull cross. Beyond that, the breed has become associated with young thuggish types, low income trashy sorts, and rednecks. Most of these people aren’t known for understanding how to properly train a polite canine, and usually don’t; or even abuse the dogs to deliberately make them aggressive. Lastly, due to knee jerk reactions and “omg! won’t someone think of the children” government mentality, blanket bans of breed groups and families have passed based more on media sensation, than hard science or decent statistics.
Chances are, pit bulls and their crossed are probably responsible for a disproportionate number of bites and attacks; but their sheer numbers along with poor ID from responders is going to badly skew that statistic. They aren’t any different than any other canine physically or mentally, and simply need to be trained and bred properly.
Dogs that are poorly trained.
And I, personally, find lack of proper housebreaking around kids almost as disturbing as aggression. As well as one that leaves the house covered in dog hair. I’m not a clean freak, but I’ve been in houses with dogs where the combination of dog and owner create a bad living situation for kids.
My own two cents is that houses with kids younger than about six should think twice about getting a puppy - some dogs, even from ‘good breeds’ seem to just have poor temperaments or are difficult to train. A house with an older dog that has a known good temperament and no major behavioral issues can bring in babies. Small children and young dogs are delightful, but risky (and a LOT of work - puppies and toddlers both require a LOT of work, and few people can handle both adequately).
(Our dog is a German Shepard mix. We aren’t sure what the mix is - we think it might be lab - he might have some spaniel - but he is pretty much the opposite of aggressive and territorial. He is a cupcake. However, he is a cupcake that when he greets people at the door he looks like a scary dog - the long snout with lots of teeth, his size, the markings - his coloring is Rottweiler, which makes it worse.)
Except subsequent analysis has shown that people are awful about identifying pit bulls or similar breeds. The default is to call any dog attack a pit in the news stories, so it’s very difficult to draw conclusions based on reports like this. That is why the report cited in the first few posts has been discredited.
It’s so much more about the individual than the breed, truly. And more about the capabilites of the owner than the individual dog.
In the OP’s situation I would recommend against most working breeds, most herding breeds, most terriers, and most gundogs including Labs and Goldens. A basic knowledge of dogs, plenty of time spent of socialization and training, and a long-term commitment to providing the dog with tons of exercise (hours per day ideally) and some mental stimulation, are pretty essential IMO for a truly well-behaved and well-adjusted family dog.
Now most dogs don’t get this and in general are fine as pets. However they tend to have one or more behavior problems such as general hyperexcitement, pulling on the leash, jumping on people or knocking them down, mouthing, mounting, running away if they escape their leash or enclosure, dog-dog aggression, aggression towards humans, nuisance barking, ‘seperation anxiety’, destructiveness, compulsive rituals such as trying to herd humans, the list goes on. For me at least, if I have children and a house to take care of, I want to choose a dog that’s as low-drive as possible and doesn’t need a lot of exercise so will be well-behaved with relatively little effort on my part. The above behavior problems aren’t something I want to live with at any time.
On the contrary, giant breeds require very little exercise compared to smaller dogs (lower energy, and also activity must be limited because of their unnatural size especially when they are young). And like you said, they are usually very placid. Great dogs, easily trained, naturally good with kids. However I would never get one because of the expense and logistics involved. They are big, they usually drool and shed profusely, they eat a lot and usually die before they are 8 of expensive conditions.
Toy dogs usually require a ton of exercise to be well-behaved, and like an OP
If I had to pick the perfect breed for a family to look into: rescued Greyhound. They are adults (usually 3-6 years old), and because they are vetted excellently by the rescue organizations you know what you will get with regards to kids, cats, housetraining, any behavior issues, etc. They are gentle, quiet, affectionate, require no grooming, don’t smell, their coat is so fine they hardly seem to shed, and while they do best with some exercise they are couch potatoes most of the time. Take them to the dog park or other fenced area two or three times a week to let them run full-out, that’s enough for them to spend the rest of their time watching tv with you.
Right, but your typical 2 working parents/3 suburban kids will have periods of time when the dog is thrown in the backyard and forgot about, or left in a crate 8 hours some days. That sort of family shouldn’t get a border collie because it’s a terrible situation for the dog, not the family–though the dog will eventually start to act out, I think, and an acting out border collie is clever enough to cause real trouble.
I have a Jack Russell, a teenager, and a newborn. They all get along great.
I have heard Dalmations are a big pain. I would suggest greyhounds and whippets, because a kid will give them an opening in the door and gate. Then you can not catch them. Pit bulls and Rots for the obvious reasons. And St. Bernards for the cleanup issues.
Out of curiosity what exactly is the appeal of St Bernards? You’ve got a huge, expensive to feed, drooling, aggressively (in my experience) territorial dog, that dies young, and is a shedding machine. What’s the upside other than an ability to possibly ride them?
They are very cute as puppies. And for fools who don’t know how to say “no” to their four year old offspring units, that’s enough.
I would just like to re-emphasise the bolded bits.
[Moderator Note]And I would like to emphasize that this thread will not turn into yet another heated debate about pit bulls. If someone has the opinion that pit bulls are bad for families, and you feel an absolute need to start spewing cites, charts and the like in opposition, start a new thread. In the meantime, you are more than welcome to post your opinions on what would be the absolute worst dog for a family to own, that being the topic of this thread.[/Moderator Note]
In order to avoid further hijack caused by my comment I’ve started a thread in GD on dangerous dogs, the role of Pit-Bulls and what the law should be.
I had no idea the topic was controversial, so did a quick search - the last big thread on the subject seems to be in 2004, so hopefully we can take the discussion elsewhere.
My daughter got bit by a Rottie that bit 3 people before being put down. I would not get a Rottie or a Pit Bull unless I had insurance. My daughters leg wound cost the family 500 dollars. She also has a permanent scar. The infection was terrible because they bite with such force that they can bite right to the bone. My mailman was mauled by a Pit Bull and had he not maced the dog the attack would have been worse. The dog was loose and just attacked him.
Any dog of any breed that bites should probably be put down.