Anti hi jack

[Taipan]

The Bouvier Des Flandres is a superb breed too. The subtile difference, as you pointed, is the Bouvier is more of a herding background breed -with serious guard instinct though and very agile-, while the Giant Schnauzer is mainly guard/defense breed and rather powerful than agile.

Before you eventualy go for a Giant S. : my only reservation with my male Giant is its extremely dominant personality which, mixed with its terrier origin, can make it "snap".
When he meets another male dog of ANY size, he never ever barks or growls (typical of genuine dominant dogs, they skip the "bla-bla" or comedy ritual).
If the dog doesn't submit within a few sec, he attacks, catches the upper neck and once the other dog is returned, goes for the throat and you need to strangle him to release the jaws (ie terrier origin).
First times, one may feel "proud" but it quickly turns into a nuisance 'cause you can't let him play unleash with other dogs in the park.
Also : he keeps testing my authority every six months and that calls for immediate physical confrontation, if you see what I mean. There must be a winner and a loser, period.
Never had an issue with friendly/neutral people though, which would be the absolute no-no for me (and would get him to go to sleep permanently...).

Now, once the "leader of the pack" issue is cleared, it's a fantastically loyal and entertaining companion which will fiercely protect you, your family and your property.

Eric

[dog]

Nice one again Eric!
I have a problem, my wife is petrified that Oopsey, my Rottie will eat my baby. Any hints or suggestions?

[kcsun]

Leave the wife and baby at home [img]images/graemlins/beerchug.gif[/img]

kc [img]images/graemlins/s4anogaro.gif[/img]

[dog]

Funny you shoud mention that! I was given the ultimatum: the dog or me! So I am about to loose my house, my job and my baby. I am going to work for a [censored] company and living out of the back of my car that I am going to share with my dog.

[Taipan]

Dog,
I just sent you a PM.
Eric

[FatBoy]

At the risk of turning this into a "dog" thread.....I also have a Rottie and I would trust him anywhere. I have absolutely no concerns about him with children.
Cheers
Paul

[dog]

I love you Paul! All I need now is to convince the wife about the same!
She is more concerned about accidental injury rather than a direct attack. I am more worried about jelousy, so I spend as much time with the dog as possible.

[FatBoy]

I have a young daughter and I have no reservations about leaving them together.
He (Morgan) plays quite rough with me with lots of vocal noise, but will stop in an instant if it gets too rough. He will play with my daughter, but he is MUCH more gentle.
We haven't had him "done", so he is as nature intended.
I run an IT company and he comes to work with me every day. He's currently asleep under my desk snoring his head off [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
It's quite amusing watching some of the delivery drivers. We have a couple who won't set foot inside the door, but most of them know him and are quite happy to play with him.
All I can suggest is that you include your dog in the new family and ensure that he knows where he stands in the pecking order.
We haven't "bullied" Morgan into submission, but use very subtle techniques to reinforce his status i.e. he eats last, he goes through doors last, he isn't allowed on any furniture and he doesn't even know that upstairs exists, let alone our beds etc.
Good luck.
Cheers
Paul

[dog]

Thanks,
She is just barking at the mirror. They are supposed to grow up by 2, right?

[FatBoy]

Morgan is now 5 years old, so I guess he's an adult by now.
He very rarely barks at anything, except at night when he seems to go into guard mode. In which case, he will bark if he hears a noise outside, which I'm quite happy about.
When we first bought him, we spent quite a bit of time looking for the best character characteristics. He's a Van Hirsh line and his Dad was Best of Breed at Crufts with something like 30+ championship show wins.
We never have and don't intend to show him, he's just a great member of the family.

Paul