Hey all. I'm not in a rush, but either this year or next we want to get another dog. My wife and I and our 3.5 year old son currently live with our nearly 9 year old female American GSD. Our ASR dog Jake (in my avatar) is nearly 7 years old (and in GREAT physical shape, I might add).

I have several decisions to make and would appreciate any input you can give me that will help my family and I to make the best choice for us.

I want the next dog we have to be a PPD first and everything else second. This dog must be stable, friendly but ready to bite the bejeebers out of the most intimidating "bad" guy that might come through our door. I'd also like to compete this dog in, of course, ASR. But first and foremost the dog must be an excellent PPD.

Here are some apparent choices and please make me aware of any that I may have inadvertantly omitted:
Male or Female-?
GSD, Mal or Dutch-?
Puppy or 1-Year old young adult?

For a PPD I think my chances of getting the best dog are with a male, not to say there aren't good female PPD's too as I know of some. But would a young male and my current PPD, Jake, have issues? Hmmm.

And now the breed question and then I suppose we could even get into various lines of which I know nothing. Anyway, I really like GSD's but I also admire the apparent ease with which the Mals and Dutchies seem to have with regard to training. But for a family house-dog perhaps a GSD is more suitable???

As for the puppy/adult question I really like the idea of the puppy having a clean slate and bonding with my son and my family and our other animals from the get-go. I don't know that I'll get that with a 1-year old dog and it would be a problem if this new adult dog had issues with my current dogs (or cat) and it would be entirely out of the question if the dog had an issue with my young son. So from this perspective a puppy is probably likely to be far more adaptable to accomodating our situation then a young adult dog, right? Obviously the benefits (among others) of getting 1-year old dog is that we're past all the puppy stuff (good and bad) and we should have a good idea of how strong the dog is and what its issues are. I am attracted to the idea of getting a young-adult dog that has likely already had some training and that can continue with training as opposed to the wait and see game with pups where we keep our fingers crossed.

Again, any advice is appreciated and if any of you are breeders or can recommend a good, reputable one then please let me know. Thanks,

My BEST PP dog was a dutch x mal female. She kicked butt. And she was big and worked like a male even when she was in heat. From the right lines, don't have to worry one BIT about male vs. female. The females can be really great dogs too. If you prefer a male, go for a male, but if you are currently open to both, stay open to both. IMO.

A male should get along with your existing male if you don't accept anything else. Basically communicate to both dogs that it's YOUR pack and fighting isn't tolerated. Shouldn't have a problem I have 3 intact male ACD's. They're not loose together unsupervised, but when they're together and I'm around, a "knock it off" look from me gets any "grumbling" to stop instantly.

Go for the Dutchie. It would be my personal recommendation. More dog than a GSD, but a little less than a mal (provided you don't get a mal x dutch, and then you're looking at basically a brindle malinois). They're striking, and the dark brindle appears intimidating. Again, personal choice.

As for pup/young adult? I'd say go for a young adult. Avoid the hassle of housebreaking and the frustration of waiting for the little guy to grow up. Be aware that puppies are a crapshoot, but keep your eyes open and your ears open for what MIGHT be wrong with the young adult someone is selling too. Make sure someone experienced (you?) works the dog.

If you get a young adult from a reputable source, the puppy foundation will have been done properly, and you get a dog thats ready to REALLY start training. The only real advantage to a pup is it's cuteness (which you probably don't care so much about anyway if you're like most of us working folks) and a pup is just several months of waiting and trouble in one little furry package.

Best of luck!

Hi Patrick, last week i went to upstate NY and met Francesco Carotenutos' dogs. He introduced us to 3 generations of his dogs and everyone of them would do whatever you asked of it, all in one package, awesome dogs. Social and civil and he does sch with them. GSD's are the best of course, ,
AL

Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep that in mind.