What Are The Safest Guard Dog Breeds for Families With Children?

If you are interested in having a guard dog, but also want to ensure that you choose a dog that is good with children and will not harm them, you have many popular breeds from which to choose.  However, there are also some that are not so good with kids.  Here are the best guard dogs for families with children.

The Great Dane

The Great Dane can be very intimidating, simply due to their immense physical size.  Male Great Dane guard dogs can actually weigh up to two hundred pounds.  However, they are one of the gentlest breeds in the world and love to be around children.  Most are not very fierce (although their deep bark can be terrifying to a potential burglar!) so keeping one of these will provide you with only limited protection.  This ‘scaredy-cat’ breed may scare off a burglar with his size, but it’s unlikely that he or she will ever attack anyone.

The Rottweiler

The Rottweiler breed was bred to be working and guard dogs.  They are very strong, very smart and have a high resistance to pain.  They can be very aggressive, but generally only with those not in their family, who they see as their ‘pack’, which must be protected. These guard dogs can be very good with children if brought up right, but they need to have a very firm hand (not harsh or cruel) to avoid them become bullies or developing aggression issues.

The Doberman Pinscher

These make excellent guard dogs, and are actually the fifth smartest breed of dog in the world.  Dobermans all have different temperaments, based on the individual dog, but none will hesitate to protect its family if there is danger present.  Training is recommended from a young age to channel their natural protective instincts and aggression. They are good with children, particularly if they have been raised with them.

There are many other breeds that make good guard dogs, but are not necessarily good with children.  However – as with their human owners – the behavior of guard dogs is determined more by personality, family living conditions and early socialization than it is by the breed of the dog itself.