Well, as the owner of two Australian Shepherds, I can't extol their virtues enough. Ours are both very smart, loyal, and stick to us like glue (Aussies are called "velcro" dogs). They only bark when chasing small creatures, and will storm out of the dog door if we only say the word "deer" in the middle of a sentence in a conversation. They take their jobs very seriously.

I'm happy to hear you're ready to love again.:) Here are my loves.
Dee

There are some wonderful books by John Katz about his life with a couple of border collies. I've attached a link to the list of his books. From his writings, I would guess this might be a terrific breed for you....

Here is a link that might be useful: Jon Katz and Border Collie books

I had an Aussie/Border Collie mix for 16 years. She was wonderful and we loved her but I'm looking for something else. Bigger, I think. We live out of town and sometimes big dogs are threatening all by themselves. I don't want aggressive, just big.

I do not want a barker every time someone comes to the door. I need a dog who knows when to bark (No barking at people, just wild animals and large birds.) I need Dubs back.

I don't know if I'm ready. I'm looking for another Dubs with a better name. (Derek named him.) LOL!

We're in the same position. We lost our last dog a year ago and we haven't been able to agree on what to get next. We've had German Shepherds, a black lab and 4 rottweilers and we'd get another Rottie in a minute except this time we want something less huge - like a 70 pound rottie.

My DH keeps mentioning Australian cattle dogs but I'm avoiding that category - the sheep herding ones. They are wonderful dogs but their energy level and need for work is above my capacity. Rotties are not that energetic- they need a nice large yard and are content to play fetch for a while and then sleep. And you are right about a big dog appearing to be threatening. Our rotties seldom barked, they were observers and didn't overact.
So we're still looking - I'll keep watch on this thread and maybe someone will suggest something that we haven't though of.

golddust if you don't mind me saying, wait a bit longer. It's a huge role (and hole) to fill for a dog when you're grieving not only a wonderful pet but a contributing member of the household. Lots and lots of dogs can be trained to do what you want - few will know instinctively - you had one of those. But every dog can bring something to the table, so to speak, and you might fall in love with a new trait that you didn't know you needed. We trained our dog to stay within our yard boundaries in suburbia. We're only fenced along our driveway, the rest of the yard is open and he knows the lot corners. He'll keep deer out of the yard during the day but obviously at night when he's sleeping, unless he hears something, they forage. A deer sprinkler has been my best investment for that. Chipmunks have all been either 'dispatched' or 'encouraged' to move to neighbor's yards!! The doorbell or knocker sends him into a barking frenzy (he has a big mean bark) until we tell him 'quiet' but if we're not home, anyone on the other side of the door thinks he's going to come right through it - I like that security.

maire cate we have a cattle dog mix - he's part Blue Heeler and part Chow of all things. When I look online at the characteristics of a heeler there's no way I'd pick one, to say nothing of the fact that personally, I don't find them to be particularly cute dogs! However, when I search the adoption sites I always check for heeler/cattle dog mixes and there are a lot, at least here in the midwest. They are wonderful dogs, sturdy, loving, loyal and intent on pleasing by doing a job. He never needs a leash for walks although I bring one just in case. He's good with kids and most other dogs although if he see's a German Shepherd he freezes at my side since one attacked him and pinned his neck to the ground last year. If my DH hadn't been there he would have killed our dog.

Mix a cattle dog with something else and you get a cute dog, at least I think Cajun's cute ;-) The wideset ears are a dead give away for heelers - you can see them coming from a long way off. This is his favorite vantage point - he can see anyone coming up the drive, passing by on the sidewalk and can still keep an eye on most of the backyard.

dlm - What a face! Your dog is beautiful he obviously inherited the best of both breeds. And you are so right about the characteristics of a heeler - they are not cute, they almost have a wild dog look to them. We've been looking for a while but we're not in a rush. My son's neighbor had an unexpected litter of Golden Retrievers and apparently he thought it would be a great idea to bring one home and put it on my doorstop in a basket. Thankfully he thought better of that idea.

Why not just pick from what they have at the shelter?

I had the same thoughts as FF, I would see what is available through the shelter, rescues, etc.

tina

I'm looking at shelters through Petfinder.com. The rescue organization here are total zealots. I had a good friend (my Sandy) get turned down because she doesn't have a fenced yard. Hello!!

They own their own home on 20 acres. They aren't anywhere near a busy road and someone is almost always home as her DH works out of their home. I've known her for well over 30 years and her dogs all lived long and loved lives in a country setting. They are allowed inside her house and are well taken care of. She has never 'lost' a dog nor had one run away. It kind of turned me off the rescue organization and made me wonder who *would* qualify if she didn't.

That said, she lives within a couple miles of the animal shelter where people dump their unwanted dogs in her neighborhood. She took in two of them and they have been wonderful.

If you're looking through Petfinder, you should have some luck. That's where I found my purebred rescue Westie and my daughter found a rescue border collie mix. Something like that border collie is what I'd suggest you might look for.

Her border collie is very smart, and does a fantastic job of keeping away the deer that live behind her house. She has a beautifully landscaped yard, and those deer come to the edge of the yard, and no closer, because of the dog's presence.

I should have added, too, that I've never heard her dog bark at anyone or anything.

My Westies, on the other hand, bark at birds, foreign cats, other dogs, the UPS man, the garbage man, the mail man, any stranger at the door, squirrels, etc., etc. No peace around here......

I love working breeds but I'm not sure I have enough work to keep one happy. When I had my Aussie/Border Collie mix, I lived on a farm and she loved it. She needed to be busy. My SIL has a Border Collie in the city and Lucy has so much energy.

Adoption fees here are $300. Is that typical of fees for shelter dogs? I can buy a pure bred Chocolate Lab pup for $300., forget the home study and mandatory training classes. I can train a dog. Socializing them young is more important to me than training classes. The shelter seems to be geared for first time dog owners.

golddust,
I do a lot of work with out local shelter. Check and see what that price includes. Here it includes the first set of shots, spay or neuter AND a microchip. And you would be surprised how many veteran pet owners run through dogs because they don't know how to train them. Then they end up at the shelter because they're turned in or abandoned when they start peeing in the house, chewing things up etc. So educating potential owners helps save the shelters effort and money down the road.

Your Dubs sounds like he was a great dog. He sounds a lot like my Kato, who we lost in February. He was a big 75-lb baby who looked fierce and had a HUGE bark. We're not sure what he was, but probably some combination of Akita, Chow, German Shepherd, Lab and/or Border Collie. Whatever he was, I miss him a bunch. I would have loved to have cloned him, or try to find another like him, but that's just not possible with rescues of undetermined origin.

We adopted Poco the puppy two months ago. She's a BC/Aussie cross and is the laziest example of the breeds I have ever seen! Surprisingly, she has a lot of personality quirks similar to Kato, but will never really be a guardian. But we love her to death.

What about a Newfoundland? I think they are meant to guard stock from marauders, but I would think they would fend off marauders even without stock to guard.