Best dog breed?

Discussion in 'Animal Husbandry' started by Arboreal, Jun 8, 2016.

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  1. Arboreal

    Arboreal Active Member
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    What kind of dog is the most useful for a survivalist? I've been told that rottweilers are optimal for helping us in a prolonged emergecy, not to mention some sort of "SHTF" situation, as they're intelligent, hard-working and make great guardian or shepherd dogs (it's what they were breed for in the first place). Huskies are also seemingly good choice as they're able to do tough work and they're suited to harsh conditions (no shelter, modest food). However, both are independent and assertive breeeds, meaning it takes an experienced and firm owner to bring them up and keep them nice and helpful. It's rather unrealistic that everyone will fuflill these criteria, so some "survival dog lite" would come in handy, I guess.

    (And hunting dogs will be definitely great, but I admit I know next to nothing on this topic).
     
  2. Valerie

    Valerie Active Member
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    Rottweilers and Huskies are definitely hard-working, loyal dogs that have great protective instincts. Other dog breeds that would do well in any type of survivalist situation are, of course, German Shepherds. Fierce, intelligent dogs with a good ethic. Sometimes they're stubborn (as are huskies), but if you're a decent trainer, Shepherds are great companions. Another breed would be any from the Mastiff family (if you can handle the excessive amounts of drool). These dogs are extremely resilient and loyal. Plus, the intimidation factor certainly counts for something from the survivalist perspective.
     
  3. Arkane

    Arkane Master Survivalist
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    I have researched this issue in detail.
    Keeping a dog for defence needs many multiples of dogs so you can replace loss's!

    Like now it is illegal to kill a dog, there rights are nearly to human standards! so they are fairly good at keeping scumbags at bay!
    PSHTF this will be different, dogs you use for violence will get killed and it is quite easy to do it (I have killed six large savage dogs with just my boots )
    PSHTF people will quickly get armed and experienced so without a large breeding and training program it will not be possible to field defensive dogs!

    Now keeping a dog as early warning only is feasible and most any trainable dog will do. I favour the fox terrier type! not to big, it is fast and agile, easy to check for fleas and ticks,
    it can be picked up and carried easily and they do not eat much! train it well!
     
  4. Tom Williams

    Tom Williams Moderator Staff Member
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    Any dog is a plus any breed can hunt any breed can alert you to danger. I have beagles a lab and a blood hound atm
     
  5. cluckeyo

    cluckeyo Well-Known Member
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    I would vote for the Anatolian Shepherd. These are beautiful dogs and they are hard workers. They are bred to guard livestock. So if you have chickens, you can put this dog with them, it would live with the chickens and protect them from predators. Predators are a constant problem with chickens. I would love to have an Anatolian Shepherd to guard them. I have heard they are very, very good dogs!!
     
  6. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    any dog can be a good dog, breeds are unimportant, its how it can be trained.
    a mutt out of a rescue centre would be my choice and I've had a few from there.
     
  7. joshposh

    joshposh Master Survivalist
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    Actually there are breeds that are better hunters then others, and naturally have better instincts for it. Most little dogs that people use a fashion accessories will be of little success when it comes to hunting. The bigger the dog, the bigger the game it can take down. Simple as that.

    Any dog can behave like a door bell and notify you if anyone is approaching in the dead of night, but some are astute and better at it then others. My current dog is a pomeranian. It has strong protective instincts. It has several different barks that I have identified. Some are aggressive, one is anxiousness, and he also has one with urgency in mind as he wants out of the house to handle his business. If there is a stranger walking up the driveway, he will bark aggressively. If he hears a familiar vehicle he will bark in a anxious way as he knows who is driving up to see me. I talk to him like a normal child and he understands me for the most part.

    I use to own a foxhound when I was little and he always come home with a bird in his mouth. Every day it had caught something. So I found a list that will help you find which breed ranks high on this particular authors list. There are other breeds that didn't make this list that are excellent hunters, but this will help.

    http://www.wideopenspaces.com/best-hunting-dog-breeds/
     
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  8. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I disagree about little dogs, okay maybe not Paris Hilton's "handbag dog", but even smaller breeds have their uses and can warn you of unwanted visitors.
    miniature poodles and spaniels are retrievers-thats what they were originally bred for, and Jack Russells and Cairn terriers are fierce little ratters.
     
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  9. John Snort

    John Snort Well-Known Member
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    Depends on what you'll be needing the dog for. Post apocalypse/disaster since you may need to hunt or keep your loved ones or supplies safe an aggressive dog would be an asset. That's why I'd choose a pitbull terrier or rottweilers. Thing though is dogs like pitbulls can turn on their owners which makes them quite dangerous.
     
  10. joshposh

    joshposh Master Survivalist
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    The pomeranian I mentioned that I currently own is a small dog. Check it out. It has strong protective instincts and barks when someone approaches. It is related to the Husky which is a working sled pulling dog. Paris Hilton's dog is worthless, you don't have to sugar coat it. Agree with you wholeheartedly.

    fBExTePdNb_4ynPRkNIxEL6HvIZp6Dfe.jpeg
     
  11. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I wouldn't trust a pitbull or staffie near my people. smaller dogs can just as aggressive as larger ones. my wife said she would rather put her hand into a car with a pair of German Shepherds than a car with just one Jack Russell, and we have both had dogs all our life.
     
  12. Arboreal

    Arboreal Active Member
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    Thanks for all your informed answers, I learned something valuable again here :)

    I used to know a guy who was into dog breeding and he called pitbulls "rottweiler psychos". Is a pitbull really practical, seeing the problems you can have with them even in the orderly society of now? A rottweiler or a mastiff can be quite fierce on their won, and they're more useful and easier to control in other situations. And as Arkane has pointed out, fighting dogs are overrated in a no-holds-barred environment.
     
  13. joshposh

    joshposh Master Survivalist
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    Every dog breed can be vicious if they are trained to be that way or not corrected when those traits and behavior arises. I've had pitbulls before and they were very obedient. It is all about the trainer and how the dogs are corrected when they misbehave. It is never the dogs fault for irresponsible owners that leave the dogs to train themselves.
     
  14. cluckeyo

    cluckeyo Well-Known Member
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    Another good dog to have would be a companion dog for hiking. This could be many different breeds, but it would need to be a big dog and a smart dog. One that could be trained to protect you or even retrieve.
     
  15. Arboreal

    Arboreal Active Member
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    Every dog can grow vicious when they have a stupid or outright malevolent owner, but some breeds are harder to train than others. Kudos for you for bringing up your ptibulls, this emans you're good at this stuff, but it's a matter of fact some dogs are more prone to diosbedience or unwarranted aggression, and pitbulls are probably the most (naturally, the fact they're big and have very strong bite contributes to their bad reputation - no one will care about aggressive chichuahua).
     
  16. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    there is no such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners!
    mind you we have a "dangerous dogs" law in this country, and several types are banned, I think pitbulls are top of that list.
     
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  17. joshposh

    joshposh Master Survivalist
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    In all my years of having different breeds of dogs, I can honestly say that the small little "lap" dogs are the most aggressive ones. In my opinion they are more aggressive then pit bulls because of their constant nurturing or treating them like a baby or having them sit on your lap. Having a dog sit on your lap all the time is the worst thing to do as that practice allows the dog to sit on you and therefor that translates in their little minds as the dominant figure and they own you.

    Dogs have personalities as well. It is remarkable how they are different from one another and react differently. A lot of them do know jealousy, and have feelings of being ashamed. Some of my dogs, if I came out of my room and looked at them, they would hang their heads low as if they did something wrong and would never square up in my direction. Sure enough they made a mess and knew I would be pissed about it.

    Banning a particular breed for aggression is like banning all mammoth size vehicles from the highway, because they can create more damage if it gets into a accident. Which is wrong to do. The size of the vehicle or dog, is not the problem here, it's the the symptom of bad drivers, or in this case, bad dog owners. Hold the owners and operators of vehicles accountable for their actions. Dog owners should be held to that same rule. There is no such thing as a bad dog or vehicle, just bad operators and owners.

    Laws should go after the root of the problem and not the symptom.
     
  18. acheno84

    acheno84 Member
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    In the event that the SHTF, I want my sister in-law's police trained Belgium Shep. She's so smart it's ridiculous. She is also medical trained, so in the vent that my nephew has a seizure take over or he falls ill in his sleep, she will wake everyone in the house up. She will pull you to shore if she thinks you're drowning, and will bring you a bottle of water out of the fridge if you ask.
     
  19. filmjunkie08

    filmjunkie08 Active Member
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    The best dog is one who will obey you and one who is loyal to you. The top three breeds that have these two qualities are golden lab, border collie, and german shephard. The only warning is that a border collie is a highly smart working dog and will become destructive if not kept busy. Good luck with what dog you chose.
     
  20. Jaime Kelley

    Jaime Kelley New Member
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    I will throw out my credentials here first so you know that I have extensive knowledge of this subject. I have Masters degree in Companion Animal Behavior Analysis and Counseling. I wrote my thesis (more than 100 pages) about Pit Bulls and dog behavior, which was about 3 years worth of research.

    Here's the bottom line. Behavior is not the result of just your genes (breeding), nor is it the result of just how you're raised. It's a lot more complex than that. Dog breeds do not result in little cookie cutter mold versions of dogs that all look and act the same. There are a lot of extra factors that shape who the individual dog is- its breed, other genetic factors apart from its breed, its individual environment, its learning experiences. Additionally, a lot of breeds aren't being bred now for their original breeding intents and purposes. As a result, it's impossible for us to make blanket statements about dog behaviors based on just a label of breed . It's always a good idea to research a breed to know what sort of behaviors you might see, but every dog is an individual, even within its breed.

    As to the posters who are stating that Pit Bulls are too aggressive to train/handle/be around people, etc., I would part this little tidbit of knowledge on you. Pit Bulls that were of the fighting lines as part of their breeding history are actually some of the more people-oriented lines out there. The reason is because if they were aggressive toward people, they were culled, which is a very effective way to remove human-directed aggression from the gene pool (assuming that we are only speaking about genetics and not other factors). This created a very high genetic threshold of aggression toward people, meaning that it would take an extraordinary measure to make them aggressive toward people.

    But again, this is all discussion based on one aspect- genetics. Yes, there are breeds that were bred to be better at some things than others. But even when you select for a certain trait, you end up with a wide variation in expression of that trait- some will be excessive, and some won't show it at all. This is why it's best to look at the dog as an individual first, not a breed.
     
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  21. lexinonomous

    lexinonomous Member
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    Every single dog has it's quirks and benefits. Dogs are wonderful companions to have in general. In my opinion, I think a German Shepard would be one of your best options for surviving. Shepards are incredibly smart and have been trained to protect. It is entirely possible to train your Shepard to do just about anything useful. If you have the time to train a Shepard, they make wonderful dogs to help you along the way. I also have a lot of love in my heart for Huskys- though, they can be incredibly stubborn. Shepards tend to do things without question or refusal. They love the idea of obeying and are very, very protective.
     
  22. Lisa Davis

    Lisa Davis Active Member
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    I really think that training is more important than the breed. However, in a SHTF situation, I would prefer a dog that is a working dog or a good hunting dog that could help in that situation. You also have to consider a dog's size, too. Dogs that are large take a considerable amount of food to keep healthy and that is just one more thing you have to consider and prepare for. Overall, dogs do make good companions though, so it may be worth it, particularly if you are by yourself.
     
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