Danny W said:
Are they suitable for a family with no experience with dogs? My Dominican family has young children, and they are all afraid of dogs. I am in NY most of the time, so thay will have to handle the dog by themselves. For that reason, I was thinking Labradoodle, or even Standard Poodle - just a barker. - D
This depends on thier socializing and "training" There are a few facts that everybody that has a dog needs to consider.
a) Every dog that can't hide behind a sheet off paper size A4 should be considered as being potential dangerous. It isn't because a dog looks friendly and cute that he/she isn't dangerous. The top ten off most dangerous dogs has been led by the Retrievers (Labrador/golden) and Cockers spaniels both very cute dogs and this for decades. The reason; nobody in his right mind will walk up to a raging Rotweiler but most will walk up to a Lab wagging his tail and thus raising the chances off a bite accident.
b) Socializing a dog helps to avoid dangerous situations and it helps the family to understand the dogs behaviour. In fact you socialize dog and kids
c) A borred dog is a dangerous dog, if not for you it sure is for your possesions. So you need to "entertain" your dog. This can be anything like kids playing with the dog with a frisbee, long walks herding or like i do training in Belgian Ring (Attack and defence)
The 3 points mentionned above are true for every breed. So it all commes down to the individual dog. And yess Mals can live in families as long as you keep in mind that they are high enery dogs that love to work for you and you go for the somewhat "softer" dog. A dog like my wifes that isn't at the cutting edge but still is far better than the average dog in fact i will never hessitate to go in a dark street with him at my side and that's something i won't say off let's say a poodle (Maybe because i know that he has already put 2 decoys in full protective clothing in hospital).
Greetings
Johan
