HMMMM.
I recommended a Rott because some of my fondest memories in protection work were with my bosses Rott, Dax. Dax was the most loveable, sweetest, attack trained dog you would probably ever be around. During a 3 day power outage in 82 we hunkered down in a restaurant, providing 24 our protection to our place of employment, and a few hundred grand. Somebody shot a gun across the creek, and, we heard a knock on the door. I got elected to go, it was very dark, and, I was covered by two or three guys with battle rifles, AR 15's and M1A's, and, I took Dax with me, off lead. I opened the door, and, it was a police officer. We exchanged comments about the gunshot, I told him it wasn't us, and then he looked down, and saw Dax. Dax was solid black, and, all you could see were the canine teeth in the dark. Dax was ready, but, he had assessed the situation, and, while alert, was just watching and protecting. He said something like,
"It looks like you're in good hands." Looking at Dax, and went on his way.
That same dog would jump up on your lap on the couch, and you'd have a 120 pounds of lap dog. The owner of that dog was one of the best martial artists I've ever trained with, a trained by the United States trained killer: a Green Beret, who reupped in Vietnam and Korea until both conflicts ended. He LOVED war. Now, that was his solution to a similar problem, except he actually had a kennel full of pups in the back yard.
Some genius drug addict jumped his rather high, 8-9 foot fence, and, Dax didn't take kindly to that. Dax bit the guy in the butt. Apparently the more the guy tried to escape, the harder Dax bit. Finally the guy stopped moving, Dax eased up, and the police came and took him away. The man's girlfriend had been raped in her house, in another town, and, she no longer had that fear with the rotts around. Since it's Florida, a short haired dog is a good choice. Otherwise my favorite are Great Pyre mountain dogs.
By the way: I've been in the ring with Dennis Alexio, 70-2
world full contact heavyweight champion at one time. 15 rounds of 'sparring' where he only broke the end of my rib. The owner of the Rotts was NOT someone you'd EVER want to mess with...
Just because some bad people own a breed, it doesn't mean the breed or bad, or doesn't do the job it's intended to do...
Rotts are VERY smart, provided they haven't been over 'dobermanized': i.e. bred to a point where they have a small, narrow head that limits brain size.
And Tourist: I started boxing and martial arts in about 75, and, stopped active sparring, boxing in about 95, when I had to get my nose opened up, since I could no longer breath out of it. I've fought my own battles for a long time, and, I'm pretty much over that at this point, though I do enjoy working out in our local Gracie gym every once in awhile.
Dax's owner was someone who killed people, legally for a long time. Not anyone I would ever want to face...
The only down side for ISC is dogs need love, and, having to leave them for extended periods would be hard on them...
Those are some massive dogs.
