whats the best all around dog to have? wether it be for protection for your family or a hunting partner

[mattreney]

whats the best all around dog to have? wether it be for protection for your family or a hunting partner

[victorytw228]

One word. LAB.

[Beekeeper]

I'll give you two words... Lab and Beagle. Both are great companion dogs. A lab's bird hunting ability speaks for itself. Beagles are great rabbit dogs but can also serve as a flushing dog for birds. My wife says there is nothing as cute as a Beagle puppy!

[TheEasternShoreHunter]

LAB. my lab is always barking whenever someone walks to the door and they are a great retrieving dog. they can retrieve anything from quail to goose. you can also train them to flush groups of birds. all in all great breed.

[Del in KS]

Lab is the dog you want.

[T]

Lab's are great dogs but if you have livestock like us a Great Purinese is a very very good dog. Before getting ours, we had constant coyote problems, and we haven't had problems with predators for about 7 or 8 years.

[koeka]

There is a distinction between a watchdog and a guard dog. A watchdog simply barks to alert if an intruder is detected and can run in various sizes and breeds.

A guard dog or "Man Stopper" is a dog possessing both the temperament and physical ability to stop a person such as an intruder by inflicting such serious bodily harm as to render further advance physically impossible.

Watchdog/Hunting companion? A lab would be awesome, a guard dog? Whole different animal and requires more research. Hope this helps.....

[herbie57_57]

Labs definately fit what your asking for, a few years ago though Gun Dog magazine did an article on Wachtelhunds that in my opinion are the best all around dogs check out the story http://www.gundogmag.com/gundog_breeds/wacht_100704/index.html

[Chris Carpenter]

No doubt Lab

[mattreney]

thanks for the help

[rjbedrock]

Alittle repetitive, but LAB!!

[LJ2323]

well a lab would be my first choice but then a visla is also great

[bomberpride]

Lab

[FloridaHunter1226]

Black/Yellow Lab.

[Slaeghunder]

The correct answer to this question is the Cur dog - cur is not a synonym for "mutt", it's a breed type, the most prominent are the Mountain Cur and the Black Mouth Cur. These dogs historically occupied the "all purpose dog" niche for our forebears on the frontier - the same dog would handle a range of tasks; herding, pest control, hunting partner (anything from squirrels to mountain lions and bears) and family guardian. The description given of the dog in the book "Old Yeller" is a description of a Black Mouth Cur, though the breed was not known by that name at the time of it's writing.