Lab Retrievers are also good: big enough to protect you AND unlikely to bite the mail carrier.

I remember lots of snow in MO winters in the 70's. Granted, I was young, but I remember being at eye-level with the thrown-out ashes from the fireplace.

I also remember my dad and the neighbor saddling up the horses, bundling up and riding to the grocery store 8 miles away because no one could get a vehicle to us. (We lived in the sticks. But horse riding to the store was NOT the norm.)

More than half of the pound dogs in this area are pit bull (AmStaff) mixes, and yes I know many are great dogs, but no, I'm not going there.

My perfect dog would be a sweet black shepherd/lab mix bitch, with those radar ears and not too much energy. But that's pretty specific, and I have a friend in the greyhound community who can set me up if I want one.

Get a greyhound! They're the sweetest dogs. They're so grateful and humble and beautiful.

Well, yeah, I'm just not sure about the whole "Hey, don't break into that house, that lady has a greyhound" issue.

Get an irritable greyhound?

I never met a pit bull who wasn't a total sweetheart. Most pounds do a great job of evaluating the dogs before they are put up for adoption. If you get a pit your mostly likely injuries are tail-whip welts and I'm-a-lapdog-really! crushed thighs. Still a dog is a lifetime commitment. Get the one you fall in love with.

agreed, Laga. i have a pit mix and really any of his issues are our fault because we didn't socialize him correctly with other animals. really, that's important to do with any dog.

there is a big problem with pits- there is no room for lazy , half-assed trainning.( I have friends that have a very sweet pit, but I am afraid she'll be put down one day due to lack of trainning) They are very strong dogs, and if they aren't well trainned,normal dog enthusiasim becomes dangerous. Most dogs that jump - I can push off with one had- pits, I need both hands. I pretty much love dogs in all stripes, but I'd stay away from pits because I'm not sure I'd have the disapline for them.

Lab Retrievers are also good: big enough to protect you AND unlikely to bite the mail carrier.

They'll also eat your furniture.

Any dog that barks is good for deterring burglers. When I was a kid our miniature schnauzer kept us safe while our next door neighbor was hit 3 times.

The only dog I'm afraid of on-sight is a Doberman (don't know why, it's just a reflexive fear).

I was doing some kind of door-to-door thing as a teenager and stepped off a porch, turned to go the next place and suddenly found a doberman in my face with a paw on each shoulder. I froze for a moment because, well, it was startling. Then I saw the nametag on her collar as she started trying to lick my face. Her name was Angel. She was so sweet and followed me around the rest of the day.

On the flip side of that coin, the most frightening dog I've ever encountered was an attack trained doberman. I think if I'd sneezed around that dog it would've ripped my throat out.