re: What's the most versatile breed of dog?

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versatile


German Shepherd.

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Is this a joke?

Pudelpointer

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German Shepherd.

Is this a joke?

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As a kid, we had 5-8 outside farm dogs at any given time.

I'd say the most we had was a lab, a German shepherd, an Australian shepherd, a rottweiler, a giant of a chocolate lab, a boxer, a great dane, a golden, and a lab golden.

They were outside dogs. They were left to do whatever they wanted to do most of the time, but if we were outside, they were all piled into the back of the truck or chasing tractors.

Their only jobs were killing nuisance animals, protecting us kids, killing every snake they'd encounter, and alerted us to anything that was out of the ordinary.

Loyal? The labs and boxers.
Quiet? The Rottweiler and Australian shepherds.
Dumb as shite? The dane and the pure golden. Tons of health issues as well.

But the best one of all was the shepherd.

She could run for miles in the dead of summer without a care in the world. She was fine with all people and kids. But she'd kill anything under 10lbs with no prompting or warning. She listened. Behaved. Followed. The only thing I ever saw her get in a fight with that she didn't kill was a large male otter. After a few minutes of scrapping, they each decided neither wanted any part of continuing the conflict

With no vet visits or medicines, she lived a little over 15 years. Bitten by countless snakes. Other than repairing a few puncture wounds and torn pads, she never had any other issues.



I will acknowledge that is no longer the standard for shepherds. The breed has been destroyed for appearances. But a healthy shepherd is a great dog.

Having said all of that, my wife bought a puppy from an attorney in hammond. His wife has a female pit who she does agility trials and shows with. One day a mutt of a chocolate lab managed to clear his brick wall at this office. The result, one puppy. I don't like chocolate labs or pits.

He's black with a chocolate tint with a pit's hair length. He's got the build of a lab with the neck of a pit. Slightly more heavy jaw than a regular lab, but looks like a lab.

Intelligence: he can learn anything.
Temperament: very sweet
Energy level: very very high but knows when to be lazy.
Has no prey drive.
Scared of cats.

Flaws? He's the only dog I've ever had which I can't free feed. He loves food. He will invade your space

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I don't like chocolate labs or pits.

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My first mutt was a lab/pit mix, labelled a “lab mix” at the shelter. When my vet told me she was half pit I was going to get rid of her and he essentially called me a vagina who listened to pop culture too much. We’d used him for years and he knew I could handle dogs, and he was right. Dog was fine, and when I had to put her down at 13 the next was a pit mutt as well, mainly because if you want a medium size dog with short hair from the pound, 80% are pits of some flavor or another. Your dog will be fine if you have any sense.

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Is this a joke?

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For versatility? Absolutely not. GSDs are incredible family dogs, watch dogs, search and rescue dogs..tracking dogs, even hunting.

And they'll herd anything.

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She’s super smart but wants to play / chase squirrels & doves all da

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Oh yeah..They gotta show off for you.

After my grandpa having a GSD livestock dog when I was kid, and raising two of my own, I'm pretty partial to them.

My uncle had a Llewellin Setter and a white GSD. The GSD learned how to point birds from the Setter.

I've been around or owned damn near every breed of dog and a Ladner Black Mouth cur is the best all around dog I've seen.

They can tree squirrels, coons, bear, and mountain lions. They can bay hogs, blood track a deer or herd cattle. They can be trained as flush and retrieve dogs for upland bird hunting. They are used for rescue and recovery. They are very smart and are easy to train if you put the work in with them.

Boykin spaniel

11 months old