Best All Around Dog for TEOFTWAWKI

[tortoise]

RE: pulling a cart.

A good dog can put 40 times it's body weight. I have seen a 30 lb dog pull over 1,000 pounds. He is a border collie/jack russel mix.

 

[savingdogs]

Wow....I'd like to see that!

 

[pinkfox]

not a jrt but heres toby the chinese crested pulling 50x his body weight...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq9njBnAlUQ

theres definatly a benefit to having a smaller dog in a bad situation, less food required, small, nible and easily hidden, can be carried if the ground is covered in glass ect...cant do that with a large breed...they can still carry a pack, my 5lb crestie often carries his own water and treats when we go for walks, obviously they cant pack as much as a larger breed...and i probbaly wouldnt suggest having them pull a cart for an extended period...while they can give a good haul if nessicary (as toby proves) their bodies arnt built ofr hauling that kind of weight long term.

smaller breeds often make better alarm dogs too...

 

[savingdogs]

So an assortment of dogs is required, that is the consensus! hee hee

I'm always promoting dog ownership by nice folks so I HAVE an ulterior motive here.

I agree little dogs have their purpose and place in the scheme of things too. Some are GREAT ratters! For that reason alone they would be useful but they can be such wonderful companions.

 

[Wifezilla]

An assortment * nod nod *

(darn enablers!!!)

Ok...my doggy dream team would be....

An Irish Setter like my Rusty for hunting. She was also an awesome "babysitter" for my sister.

A St. Bernard or other LGD. Great heaters in a pinch

And a super smart little dog like my friend has. It is a ****zo Pekingese mix. The dog knows all her "people" by name and they use the dog as an intercom! "Go get Steven" and the dog will go to the designated person, tag them and run back. The family knows when the dog tags you, you better go upstairs and see what Joelle wants

 

[Denim Deb]

When my hubby and I first got married, we use to tie notes to Ebony's collar. Then, we'd tell her go to Mommy or Daddy, and she'd go them, carrying the note. I've never had a dog do that since.

 

[tortoise]

So an assortment of dogs is required, that is the consensus! hee hee

I checked back to say that more than one dog is needed.

I am getting my feathers ruffled with TONS of mis-information on this thread.

Money being no object for a SHTF scenario, I would want:

(German Import, working lines) German Shepherd Dog for livestock herding and protection. Alternatively, a border collie for herding, and a donkey or an (Imported working lines) Anatolian Shepherd. This dog would live exclusively out with livestock, would not be a "pet" and would not be affectionate. A border collie can be trained to protect the owner from charging livestock.

At least 1 (French Import form Loganhaus, or out of Loups du Soliel) Belgian Malinois and years of training for the protection from people. 1 inside and 1 outside. Trained to bite and hold on command.

Larelian Bear Dog (from Alaska), Mountain Cur or Airedale Terrier (from an unnamed breeder) for wildlife protection (boar, bear, etc). Usually boar and bear are hunted with packs. I'd want 3. they would be kennel or chain dogs.

Jack Russell or Patterdale for small game and ground (everything from rabbits, weazels, mink, rats, gophers, badgers, etc). Fun little dogs, so several to run freely and terrorize everything. 1 to live inside each animal enclosure (like each chicken coop, shed, barn, etc)

Labrador Retriever (field bred) for bird hunting and weight pull/carting and a service dog for me. This one would be a house dog, but NOT a family pet.

I'm really not into PET dogs. My dog(s) have to earn their keep. My fiance has a pet dogs and it's wierd. :/

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

English Shepherd. Had one, will get another as soon as my extra hours of schooling are over. Companion, family protection, herding, and hunting all combined in one dog, and pull like a mule if you want them too. Mine was a rescue and pulling was a bad habit for him, so I retrained that, but if I had ever got him a harness I'm sure he would have pulled to the end of the world. Wait, that's what this topic is about....

He cleared this property of gophers and rats automatically. Took some training to feel the same way about little mice. STOPPED the loss of chickens to coyotes in a couple weeks and he never touched a chicken except to occasionally break up a hen fight. Never let chicks or poults out of his sight when I first put them out of the brooder till they were mixed in with the rest, and never let them be picked on, he just got in the way. Herded cattle a bit on range, but worried about the flocks the whole time we were gone, and a few times abandoned me to go back to the flocks. he was good at herding and I think if that was his main job he would have liked it more. But they are not our cattle and I just help out sometimes so he did not feel connected to them.

We always knew if someone was about, and he was bold and in the face but never dangerous with anyone. He had bit before he got to me and that's why he was a rescue. With encouragement he could be trained either way, I got him to alert only. If I wanted a protection dog I could have had that. Done that training before with GS.

Insurance that's another thing. Sometimes they will tell you that your insurance will go down if you have a good dog. I think that's a trap to get you to admit to your dogs, then they have a look and decide if it's a 'dangerous breed' type. they are ignorant, or looking for anyway to jack up the rates.

 

[pinkfox]

ok if were doing out multiple "dream" list.

the cresties stay, they are excelent for personal heaters/pain relife (no realy, hairless dogs run hot and make perfect bed warmers and for draping over shoulders/laps ect for muslce relaxation, my males fave place to sleep is my shoulders lol.
i want 3.
they are also excelent ratters (both mine have and do catch rats, mice, voled, moles, chipmonk and squirrels, they have also caught birds but i discourage this as they are songbirds AND i dont want to encourage them to chase my pet birds.

a SA boerboel, or cane corso, good all around farm dog, would be trained to pull a cart, help out in general on the farm and make good home and personal protection dogs. preferably will be training for schutzund and bite work and as a service dog for me.

2-3 caucasiaon orvcharka or central asian sheperds as outdoor only LGD's, they would of course be expected to be friendly to me, family and the other dogs in the pack, but otherwise...both these breeds are rough, ready hardy and can be incredibly intimidating! not to mention good at their jobs!

a good spaniel, preferably a feild bred english cocker for flushing and a standard poodle for retreiving

of those ill probably end up with 3 cresties and a SA boerboel or corso, and 1 central asian sheperd once i get my place.

 

[TanksHill]

Just had to stop in. My Tobias, Rottie, is now officially a protector of turkeys and creepy meat birds. Last night around midnight I heard him growling. He jumped up and ran somewhere in the house still growling fiercely. He was in my laundry looking out the back door at what ever was stalking the meaties.

I could hear the yip. It was a coyote in the bushes calling it's buddies. I totally get now how they lure animals out for attack. I couldn't tell if it was a baby or a dog. It was weird.

But anyways I opened the door and out Tobias went. He chased off the invader, circled the yard, peed on a couple bushes and returned to my side.

He's smarter than I thought. Now I just have to hope the coyotes don't come back nightly.

g