Best big dog with kids?

[SnotRags]

What big/giant dog breed would you recommend with small children? Nothing too excitable/energetic but with a bit of intelligence and willingness to train in obedience.

@SnotRags we take ours camping and they will plod about all day. They will chase a ball and love a good blast for about 5mins then revert back to plodding. I walk mine 30mins ish twice a day and that’s plenty but at weekends they will happily walk a couple of hours. On the odd rare day I can’t walk them (sick kids usually!) they are happy to sniff about in the garden.
They are useless in the heat though, we don’t walk them at all above about 20 degrees unless it’s very early or very late.

Like I say mine have competed in obedience. They won’t beat a collie because quite frankly they can’t be arsed and don’t have the required enthusiasm but held their own at low levels where it’s more fun than competitive. They are registered therapy dogs and this is more their style, lying down being stroked by people is easier!

My male is probably about 75kgs and tall. Enough to put off the majority of troublemakers. He would never do much if anything happened though.
Prepare to be mobbed more than deter people. Walking a Shetland pony sized dog attracts a huge amount of attention.

There a few drawbacks. Obviously the cost. Most dogs are aggressive to mine, even the friendliest of dogs are intimidated by the size and have a pop. If I had a pound from every shocked owner of a friendly dog who’s dog went to eat mine I would be a rich woman indeed.

As puppies and adolescents they can be bouncy. Mine live with children 0-7 years old and are always incredibly gentle but obviously a puppy is a puppy and they don’t know their own size at that age. Lucky mine never mouthed or jumped up ever but I think some do.
They also need grooming a silly amount!

Worth it though

Another vote for Leonbergers. We've had three - a rescue, a foster and one from a breeder. All gorgeous temperaments. You do need to groom, especially their feathering at the back. We're quite lazy about that but we have a wonderful groomer.

Our current boy is the softest thing and my small neices and nephew love him. He even sat there with his mouth open while my then-three year old nephew counted his teeth!

The only thing I worry about with small children is that he might knock them over as he can be a bit of hooligan when he's excited. Honestly though, I'd never trust any dog completely with children, just in case, but he's the nearest.

They're not the easiest breed to train if you're wanting collie-like hair trigger responses. They do as they're told but they do it in Leonberger-time, when they're ready. But they're so good-natured and people oriented that we've never had problems.

Do DM if you need any advice re breeders or specifics of the breed.

Bernese mountain dog.

I have an Old English Sheep Dog and he is absolutely beautiful with my 2 girls 😍

@XelaM sorry, where is your evidence that Rottweilers cause the most deaths?

I'm not even in the position to have a new dog and I want a Leonberger after reading this thread!

@XelaM

People who recommend Rottweilers for a home with young kids seriously need their heads examined! Even if your own Rottweiler is perfectly trained, it's one of the breeds to cause most deaths. It's not a great choice for a home with kids and I would not allow my kid to go for a playdate at a house that had a Rottweiler! (And I'm a dog-lover and own a dog)

Total utter nonsense.

@RedMozzieYellowMozzie

I'm not even in the position to have a new dog and I want a Leonberger after reading this thread!

Haha same! But one definitely wouldn't fit in my little two bed terrace lol!

How are they with small furries generally, out of interest? Someone mentioned they don't have much of a chase instinct.

My main concern about XL dog breeds, is needing a shovel to poop scoop lol.

I grew up with a labrador.
From my experience, they are great family dogs.

We have a Newfoundland. She's a smaller girl, but still big enough (43kg). We got her when my children were 2, 4 and 6. She was lovely and gentle with the 2 year old, thought the 4 year old was a puppy like her so tried to rough and tumble a lot (4 year old was totally up for it, we had to keep them separate), she occasionally forgot herself with the 6 year old and would knock her down. She was a terrible landshark till about 7 months old - don't forget that the giant breeds take a lot longer to mature.

3 years later she's mostly calm and gentle, but has no idea of her own size and still has moments when she forgets the rules. I have no fears about her hurting them in any way, but we still don't leave dog and children alone together.

The drool isn't a big problem for us. She's not very drooly for her breed.

My sister has an Irish Wolfhound with her (now) 4 small children and has less trouble than we had re rough behaviour. Dog is brilliant off lead (I don't let our girl off lead because she is far more interested in people than treats and I don't trust her to stay with me).

OP, don't know about wolfhounds but my 2 deerhounds do have prey drive, the youngest one is very fast and a very good hunter so we can't take him off leads in woods. He can easily keep up with (and take down) a deer, and you don't want that. I walk them in grasland/river area with no deer. But yes, it's a limitation

The "best dog" is the one that fits your lifestyle and comes from bloodlines that suit

I have 2 gsps and a 2 year old. They have never once put a foot out of place/or knocked her. They are from A line a know are excellent with kids and are v calm and I certainly don't walk them hours every day. But they have been trained since pups to be calm in the house and be good with kids (even though they were 10 and 4 when my child came along)

Research a breed that suits your lifestyle

The only dog that has ever bitten me? A golden retriever that was a family dog. there is never such thing a guaranteed family dog breed.

@bunnygeek

*Haha same! But one definitely wouldn't fit in my little two bed terrace lol!

How are they with small furries generally, out of interest? Someone mentioned they don't have much of a chase instinct.

My main concern about XL dog breeds, is needing a shovel to poop scoop lol.*

One might fit in your terrace - we live in a small converted stable on a former country estate and manage fine. We've lived in the centre of Edinburgh with one too and it wasn't a problem.

Leos don't have much of a prey drive. Our first one was the worst - she loved rabbits! Middle one wasn't a cat-fan but I don't think she'd have done more than chase it out of the garden.

Current one has no prey drive at all. We had to get a humane rabbit trap because he wouldn't help out. Sometimes he runs towards the deer who visit our garden but it's not what you'd call chasing, more just wondering if they might like to play. They never do. Odd that. And although he follows some of our neighbours' cats, he doesn't chase. He's terrified of at least one of them.

As for poop - it's okay. Big enough to find if he's at a distance! They're not big eaters really. People always think that they eat masses but it's not that bad.

They really are a lovely breed (although you do need a big car - we have a Volvo XC60!) and as long as you find a good breeder you'll be fine. Ours took references and there's a contract that if we have problems and can't keep him then he goes back to her.

One of the things I love about Leos is that breeders really love their dogs and even the ones who show seriously see them as much loved family pets. Some of our boy's litter-siblings are Crufts champions now but away from the ring they're just as scruffy and muddy and loved as ours.

Which reminds me, I must go and see what he's up to. We have joiners working here at the moment and he likes to follow them about!

My parents had a lab when my eldest 2 were small and he was by far the worst we've had around DC. Bouncy, over excited. Prone to 'guarding' his treats instead of eating them, and knocked them both for a six quite a few times. Parents were experienced with handling large dogs (I grew up with 4 German shepherds and a border collie - also brilliant with kids imo), but somehow the lab got the better of them!

My Akitas are ace with kids (and we've never had a parent refuse to let their DC come to play), but wow do they blow their coats. You need hard floors or a very good pet vacuum!

Another vote for the dogue de bordeaux, my mum has them and they are lovely. For a young family, the males are lovely, big soppy dopes

@blueskyethinker.
I was just coming on to suggest a basset. Wouldn't be without mine absolutely child proof 100 % not a bad bone in their bodies and a fantastic breed.

Bassets are the softest and most lovely breed to have around children. Our DD was 5 when we got ours and they are best friends, they cuddle on the sofa and our DD loves running with our dog and walking her.

They really are under rated as family dogs. I'm biased as I'm besotted with our basset hound and in love with the breed. They suit family life perfectly.

@Stellaris22 ohhh!! What a beauty 😍

I have two Labradors, a boy and a girl, and both are brilliant with babies and children. My boy does reading sessions at the library and kids absolutely love sitting on the floor with him telling him a story. One thing I would say though is that big happy dogs with happy tails often knock over little kids when they don’t mean to. Both of mine have knocked over my toddler goddaughter in the garden by accident when everyone is running about.

We had Great Danes all through my childhood, sometimes more than one at a time. They’re very easy to manage, don’t need loads of exercise, short coated so not too messy and not massively slobbery.
They’re gentle, patient and kind. And they’re a proper giant breed. Don’t see many of them about these days but they’re a lovely big dog.

Love this thread! And giant breeds!

I grew up in a house of Newfoundlands. We used to train them for life saving and carting. Wonderful dogs but smelly, drooly and the hair!

As someone as pointed out lifespans are short. Also hip dysplasia more common in larger breeds. Be sure to go to breeders who health test. We had a newf with it and cost thousands for op, treatment etc.

Also the hair! More dog = more shedding.

Oh yes, that's the thing with Leos and the relatives like Newf and Saints - the hair gets everywhere. My Dyson Animal just couldn't cope!

Tamaskans! Google it if you've not heard of it, medium- large size, long lifespan, wolfy looking if you like that sort of thing and are a great deterrent, although will do nothing but ask for belly rubs from someone trying to break in they are energetic and would be capable of going all day, but will spend all day upside down on something soft as long as they've had a walk, oh so loving and wonderful around children, they make fantastic service dogs and are big sooks!

It's finding a good breeder for giant breeds that is more of a concern. There's not that many of them. They are not dogs that are in high demand.

Saint Bernards are not as slobbery as made out to be. I live with one and I hardly notice anything 🤷