Looking for a new puppy and need help!!!!

Of the ones you mentioned, I'd go with a German Shepherd or Shepherd mix. I miss ours; when we brought our first baby (my daughter) home, our Shepherd mix TJ adopted her as his own and would protect her from anyone but us. He wouldn't even let our other dog near her, but he wasn't mean about it. Hip dysplasia can be an issue, though. It was with ours, and he was a mix. A 128 pound mix.

Second, I'd go with the Ridgeback.

Personally, though, every single one of our dogs has been adopted from either a shelter or someone who needed to find a dog a home. I recommend that route. Our three Labs (Chocolate, black, and yellow) even though they are purebreds were adopted. And mutts have a lot going for them; they generally don't have some of the breed-specific issues that you see with others, like, say a German Shepherd with the hip dysplasia. Or Labs, who are reputed (correctly!) with eating anything they can fit down their gullets.

I'd go GSD. Had several of them as I was growing up. Great family dogs and intuitively protective of their 'pack'. I've seen little kids unknown to the dog pound on them and pull their ears, just to see the dog react only by walking away. The breed has been raised alongside humans for so long, they seem to have a great understanding of us.

We'll likely be getting at least one in the next few years.

I know you said you would not consider other breeds, but you might look at an Anatolian Shepherd. They have a personality very close to that of the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Excellent protector/guard dog and great with your kids.

They do take 15-20 minutes to accept any stranger in the house or near your property and will attack anyone who is aggressive towards their herd (your family will be their herd). So you may have to put the dog away when you have company over. They socialize very well with other dogs, fetch, play etc. We love ours.

I would recommend a German Shepherd, only because that is my preferred breed.

Whatever you decide, if you use a breeder, this information may be helpful.
Many breeds have several conditions that they are prone to. Many reputable breeders will test for these items and obtain certification through the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. http://www.offa.org/index.html

You can search by dog name and it will show all dogs related to that dog that are also in the database. You can also look through each breed to see the items generally tested for.

When I raised GSD's, they were tested for hip and elbow dysplasia and registered through the foundation. Keep in mind that often when breeders have a dog that tests positive for issues they will not spend the money to register the dog with OFFA. So the reporting is not going to give you a complete picture, but if the breeder you choose has health certifications performed it may give you insight into the health of their dogs.

Congrats on your new addition. I would suggest a female vs male, seeing how you have 1 male now. Our ruffrugs / ridgebacks were great dogs. The male exceptional, unless he smelled a bitch in heat and another male in his territory. The cane likewise.

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Originally Posted by MarkCO

I know you said you would not consider other breeds, but you might look at an Anatolian Shepherd. They have a personality very close to that of the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Excellent protector/guard dog and great with your kids.

They do take 15-20 minutes to accept any stranger in the house or near your property and will attack anyone who is aggressive towards their herd (your family will be their herd). So you may have to put the dog away when you have company over. They socialize very well with other dogs, fetch, play etc. We love ours.

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those are cool dogs reminds me a lot of the fila brasileiro

I appreciate all the advice from everyone on here.

A bit of background.....I grew up with big dogs and also have raised every breed I am looking for and used to train dogs for general obedience
and have a rather successful rate of obedient dogs. All the breeds will do just fine with the babies as they grow up together and a few training tricks I do with the puppies on a consistent
basis prevent undesired effects. I am not one of the people that will leave the baby or almost toddler alone with any of my dogs. They are always supervised and if there is a hint of aggression towards the
baby or infant, they are gone. As for getting a female, I have a shitty record with females because for whatever reason they hop the fences and go on adventures and with males, I have no issues. I wont budge
on this as I dont want the headaches of dealing with animal control or vet visits due to serious injury from being on the loose. My cuurent dog had a brother until I was on the road for almost 315 days one year and my wife couldnt
deal with 2 dogs and we kept the calmer one and he is probably the best dog ever. I am home now and can give them the attention they need and train them everyday AT home instead of at a rig like I did with my last 2 dogs.

So in the end, Im looking for folks to keep an ear open to puppies. I dont want anything over 24 weeks and shelters are bullshit as they make it harder to adopt a dog then financing a vehicle even though I qualify in all aspects of their
guidelines with the stupid exception of the age of my kids, which should be my decision based on my handling experience and training, not dictated by them.

I adopted my dog from the foothills animal shelter. He was 5 months old when I got him and is a Pit bull/Ridgeback mix. His best friend is an 8lb cat and doesn't have a single aggressive or dominant trait in him. He was letting my friends 2year old jump on his back and ride him around. I would check there for sure. The staff was very helpful and let me walk him through the stray cat area to see how he feels with cats which really helped me solidify my decision.

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Originally Posted by Fentonite

Pound Dog!

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+1

I'm a herding dog fan but they may be too high energy for your situation.