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I have read most of the posts in this forum dealing with guard dogs, and have also done research on different breeds and and a little bit on Schutzhund. Still, I feel that the situation of my wife and I is a little unique, and so I am going to repeat the question of many.

My wife and I would like to find a dog we can train to be a guard dog (meaning a dog that is medium-big, semi-scary looking, aloof with strangers, will be able to recognize danger situations and won't bark his head off at everything, and will protect his house and family,), but we don't know which breed would be best.
We live in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and the neighborhood dog situation here is a little bit different than in the U.S. Most neighborhood dogs roam freely, and many are aggressive toward strange dogs. At the moment we have two Siberian Huskies, one male and one female. These dogs will probably be around 1 year 3 months and 9 months, respectively, when we would be able to bring a new dog home (which will be the next time we visit the U.S. early next year). We go running and hiking and bike riding with the two huskies, which is something we would like to do with the new dog as well, if possible. Every time we go for a run, we are inevitably chased by numerous dogs throughout the route. The huskies deal with this well, acting as if nothing were going on, unless the dogs get too close, at which time they react and the chasing dog backs off. They have had a few scruffles which have ended within five seconds, but nothing serious. I am worried that with a breed that would be more appropriate as a guard dog, it would be much harder to avoid serious fights (we love our huskies, but they are almost as friendly to just about anyone as they are to us, which means they don't guard property very well).
We also have a newborn baby in the house, so the dog would have to be safe around kids. And neighborhood kids, as well as my wife's sisters kids, are absolutely enchanted with our dogs (they aren't used to seeing dogs that actually do what they are told), and so a lot of the time there are small (less than five years old) children around. Of course, we always supervise closely whenever the dogs and children are together.
Also, the majority of our neighbors have chickens that run loose in the street, and many have cows, pigs, sheep, or goats, which can be found tied up in roadside pastures. We like to allow our dogs supervised time off-leash when it is safe for them (when there aren't many cars around, or too many people), and with lots of work-the prey drive of the husky isn't exactly small-we have been able to get them to leave these animals alone.
I am aware that dealing with these situations depends in LARGE part upon training, and we are willing to put lots of effort into training the new dog so that (s)he can be a happy member of the family. We have spent a lot of time researching training methods and what methods work best with huskies, and we have tried to apply those methods consistently. I can say that, while our dogs would never win any obedience championship, they know perfectly their role within the family, listen when we ask them to, and deal exceptionally well with all the extraordinary situations which are so ordinary here. I am just saying this to make clear that we are willing to go to the same extents to train the new dog in the way that is most appropriate for him.
I know that, in addition to the importance of training, selecting a breed that "should" have the characteristics a person is looking for is important, and that's why I'm writing this. We'd like to know as much as possible that we are off to a good start. I also would like to know if people think that it would be possible, considering the situation that I described above, to adopt an adult dog or older puppy from a shelter, or whether it would be most appropriate to get a young pup of which we could start to form the temperament from an early age.
The area in which we live could be classified as suburban. We live on the outskirts of a town of about 15,000 people, we are about 10 miles from a city of around 600,000 (where it may be possible we would be taking the dog sometimes), and we are about an hour's walk from a mountain with unbroken woods.
We appreciate any advice that anyone can give. And if you feel that what we are hoping for is impossible, we would like to hear from you as well. Thanks in advance.

Steve

By the way, the breeds that we have discussed so far are Akitas, Dobermans, Rottweilers, Pit Bulls and Chesepeake Bay Retrievers. I have owned two Pit Bulls in the past, but am not sure how suited they would be to this situation.

It really sounds like you have the right dogs already. At any rate, it's best to put at least 2 years between acquiring new dogs. I can't see a "guard dog" doing well in the situation you describe. Keeping the Siberian Huskies coming when called should be plenty of challenge! Plus, they are large dogs, and likely to react to a real crisis. You don't want a dog who reacts to anything else, expecially with all this stimulation from various directions. The child, of course, is the most critical.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

I guess I'd have to agree with Kathy's assessment that you have the correct dogs right now for your situation. As I read your post, I originally thought the Akita would work, but then you want a non-reactive dog to intruding dogs as well as ability to stay away from livestock that is roaming around freely and off leash control. Nope- an Akita- even an exceptional one can't do that. They are good with kids and not "hair trigger" dogs, but they can't be all you are asking.

German Shepherd Dogs have been known to multi task the scenarios that you are describing, but the amount of work to get them to that point is huge and much more than a person with a family is able to deal with.

I know huskies do not make great guard dogs, but their size does make them a deterrant overall. Most huskies will alert (by barking or pacing) when something in their enviornment changes. Yes, that leaves you to deciding what to do about a situation, but actually, for my home that has young kids in it and their friends coming over, I'd prefer that I deal with the situation at hand. All too often my son and his friends are sneaking around the house playing a game that a dog could easily misinterpret and act on. I absolutely do not want that to happen.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

Thank you both, Kathy and Chelle, for your responses.

After reading the two replies and talking them over with my wife, I do think that waiting a little longer, at least until both the dogs have reached the "reliable" point in their training (from what I've read at least until they are a year and a half old) will be the best decision.

Something that I have noticed here in Guatemala, though, is that the "guard" dogs that are loose some of the time (not those that are constantly locked on a terrace or inside a fence, those are extremely aggressive) are the ones that are least reactive to people and dogs passing by their property. When we go running, it is inevitably the mutts that give chase; Rottweilers and German Shephards and mixes that are obviously the majority of those two breeds usually just sit and watch us go by. If we are walking they will come out to greet or challenge-not in a friendly way, but not aggressive- and let us go on.
I have taken that to mean that these dogs are more confident in protection of their property, and so don't feel the need to give chase to whatever passes by. The mutts, on the other hand, and others that seem like predominantly lab mixes, a lot of the time give chase to anything that moves.
The biggest doubt I had was whether one of the "guard" breeds could be made to shrug off an attacking dog during a run, like our huskies do. If this would be impossible but would be the only deterrent, I think that we could modify some of the ways we do some things to incorporate the dog into the family, even though the ability to go for long, rigorous hikes carrying a pack would still be a must.

A few questions then:

Is the prey drive of any of these dogs (in general...obviously it varies from dog to dog) higher than that of a husky? If not, I feel confident that we could deal with that. I think an advantage that we have here is that livestock is so common that it can be made to seem like a normal part of the environment.

Are any of these dogs untrustworthy around small children in supervised settings, considering that even the closest supervision can be distracted for any of a million reasons?

Are any of these dogs more likely to give chase to intruders coming near the house, rather than protecting only the house itself?

To let you know more or less why we are considering a dog of this type:
One reason is that we leave our pickup parked in the street in front of the house. Car theft and vandalism is pretty common where I live. We have an alarm, which seems to work (two nights ago at 3 a.m. it scared off someone) but we would like to have an extra deterrent; a dog that would not only sense that something is wrong (the truck is parked 2 feet from the front door, so if someone comes near the dog will smell that) but will give the warning, which our huskies don't do, or only occasionally. Also, ideally, the dog would have the ability to only give warning in situations which merit it, and to help me if I ever had reason to open the door and scare someone off.
Also, I guess that just the image of the Rottweilers and Pit Bulls that I have seen here, sitting in front of their house and seeming in complete control, is an attractive one. One reason German Shephard wasn't on my list is that the GSD's normally roam a little bit more, and tend to lie down in front of their house. Not to say that they aren't in control.

Thanks for all your help,
Steve

I would bet that a lot of the dogs people get in your area and leave loose out front wind up either placed elsewhere or deceased. I would bet that you are seeing only the minority of dogs who manage to make it--for awhile--in that situation.

Isn't there some other way to protect the car? Honestly, if you looked solidly at the expense in money, a well-kept dog would cost more than the car! And that isn't even considering the really dedicated work you would have to do and the forever supervision, to train and manage the dog.

Plus, you'd be at 3 dogs, and have at least two of the same sex. Whoops. That commonly leads to problems.

As far as back-packing, the amount a dog is supposed to carry is not much, and the time a dog is able to do that is all too short. First the dog has to mature enough, then the dog has to be free of injury, and all too soon the dog is suffering from aspects of aging that could mean years at the end of life unable to backpack.

Those Huskies sound real good! You need at least 2 years between acquiring new dogs. It takes them at least that long to get solid in your family.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Kathy,
I understand that you feel it is best to avoid acquiring another dog altogether, and are trying to talk me out of that. I'd like to reply to reply, and maybe you could elaborate on a few specific things:

--I would bet that a lot of the dogs people get in your area and --leave loose out front wind up either placed elsewhere or --deceased. I would bet that you are seeing only the minority of --dogs who manage to make it--for awhile--in that situation.

It seems like you have misunderstood what I said. When I said that the image of those dogs in front of the house was
attractive, I was not applying that I was going to repeat that behavior. When we let our dogs off-leash, it is always under supervision. We are all too aware of the dangers of letting dogs run free, especially when dealing with pure-bred or unusual dogs, which are frequently stolen here. What I meant to say is that that image has created some kind of aesthetic effect that makes the dog appealing to me (to us). And when I spoke of the guard dogs that are free (usually they are only free a limited amount o time), I meant simply to convey that from my direct experience here, those dogs are less likely to give chase to everything than others.

---Isn't there some other way to protect the car? Honestly, if ---you looked solidly at the expense in money, a well-kept dog ---would cost more than the car! And that isn't even considering ---the really dedicated work you would have to do and the forever ---supervision, to train and manage the dog.

We understand the dedication and cost that is involved in dog ownership.

---Plus, you'd be at 3 dogs, and have at least two of the same ---sex. Whoops. That commonly leads to problems.

Could you elaborate on this a little bit more? I have seen many situations that have worked (my brother's male golden retriever mix, female pit bull, and female bull terrier for example), but others that haven't. My parents have a female jack russell, and when my younger brother moved back home she went crazy about the bull terrier. After more than two years they still have to be kept separate. Are their any things that make this more or less likely? Anything that can be done to ease a situation of this sort, other than avoiding it altogether?

---As far as back-packing, the amount a dog is supposed to carry ---is not much, and the time a dog is able to do that is all too ---short. First the dog has to mature enough, then the dog has to ---be free of injury, and all too soon the dog is suffering from ---aspects of aging that could mean years at the end of life ---unable to backpack.

Could you point me to some good sources of information on backpacking, especially if the people have considered the long term effects on the dog? I understand that the dog has to be in great shape before taking on a backpack. From what I have read, 25% of the dog's body weight is maximum. Is that accurate? At this point we have done no backpacking with our huskies, but we take them hiking and are slowly working toward that goal.

---You need at least 2 years between acquiring new dogs. It takes ---them at least that long to get solid in your family.

I think I mentioned in my last post that we were definitely going to wait until the younger dog is at least a year and a half old, which would put a year and 4 months between acquiring new dogs. It is very possible that we wait longer, but that is a decision that we will make when the time comes. Right now we would just like to gather as much information as we can and digest it very, very sloooowwwlly.

---Those Huskies sound real good!

Thanks!! They are great dogs, and we love them. That's one of the reasons we definitely have decided to wait; we don't want to do anything that could be harmful to them or our relationship with them.

The article Same Sex Dogs in the Home at the following link (titles in alphabetical order) will explain some about having two dogs of the same sex. It's also a breed tendency. Some breeds tend to do somewhat okay with same sex other dogs (though it will always change temperament, if they live together), all the way to dogs who cannot do it without literally one killing another. Guard dog breeds sometimes have this tendency. Here's the link:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

You'll find other articles there that will answer some of your questions, too.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Thanks for all your help, Kathy. I'm checking out your articles now. I just want to make clear that we appreciate your call for prudence in obtaining a new dog, especially since it can be such an emotionally exciting idea. But we don't feel like we can completely discount the idea based on another person's opinion, no matter how educated it is.
Like I said, we are definitely going to take your advice to wait. In that time we are going to try to gather as much information as possible so that we can make an educated, prudent decision.

Steve