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ORIGINAL: LafayetteLady

LP,

Yes, I know which category you are in. I'm deepy sorry you are still having those issues. I hope the move does help.

Getting a dog is a great idea. Sure dobermans can be very intimitading as can shepards rotties, mastiffs, etc. Me? I would get a standard size poodle. They don't look intimidating but are one of the smartest breeds, are extremely loyal, great family pets and, they were originally used by the Japanese as guard dogs. Fiercly proective of those they love.

Yea, I'm a bit eccentric, but I like that they don't look intimidating. No one really blinks if someone says they were attcked by those other breeds, but if a stalker, burglar or whatever said they were attacked by a poodle? Especially if the poodle is froo froo clipped? Guess I'm always going to try to find a way to make even a bad situation amuse me. Lol.

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It's funny and sad in a sense, when someone genuinely caring and good can still manage to scare away all the girls by being socially uncoordinated to the point of seeming like a creep.

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ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

So, do you like your dogs then, Lady C?

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ORIGINAL: Greta75

While it is a super bad idea, but it also depends on his tone of introduction when his at her door.
I mean when she opens the door, she'd be like, "Hmm, delivery dude with flowers! Who would send me flowers?" She wouldn't think stalker and creep immediately. Then what he says is very crucial here.

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ORIGINAL: WinsomeDefiance

My pointer (German Short Haired Pointer) is so sweet and loving of strangers that I didn't think he'd be protective at all, but when someone approached me aggressively while we were in my car, and started yelling at me, he put his paws on my lap and leaned toward the woman and growled menacingly at her. It really surprised me. He went from sweet and tail wagging to protective so quickly I never knew he had it in him. She started yelling at my dog, and even stuck her hand into the window pointing at him to 'shut up' and he lunged at her. I was more worried about my dog than anything and rolled up the window afraid if he bit her, he'd be the one to get harmed. He had never shown an aggressive attitude ever until that day.

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ORIGINAL: WinsomeDefiance

My pointer (German Short Haired Pointer) is so sweet and loving of strangers that I didn't think he'd be protective at all, but when someone approached me aggressively while we were in my car, and started yelling at me, he put his paws on my lap and leaned toward the woman and growled menacingly at her. It really surprised me. He went from sweet and tail wagging to protective so quickly I never knew he had it in him. She started yelling at my dog, and even stuck her hand into the window pointing at him to 'shut up' and he lunged at her. I was more worried about my dog than anything and rolled up the window afraid if he bit her, he'd be the one to get harmed. He had never shown an aggressive attitude ever until that day.

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ORIGINAL: MAINEiacMISTRESS

I was stalked by a guy I friended on Myspace. I never gave him My address but somehow he still tracked down where I lived and decided to drive by. He sent Me a message saying how beautiful My flower gardens were, and even accurately described the flowers and My vehicles. I suppose to HIM this would seem like a compliment, but to Me (especially being MARRIED) I found it extremely creepy and somewhat of a threat (that he would go to such effort to find Me, the whacko). I reported him to Myspace and they deleted his account. This was back around 2006. I've since learned not to give out My full name.

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ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze
I think all dogs are fiercely protective of their pack, aka family, not a breed specific thing. While I get the amusement factor of a frow frow Poodle biting somebody's butt (the French police use the standard poodles as police dogs, they are HUGE) sometimes a dog that looks intimidating can be a detractor for a stalker, but LP has cats, the poodles I know around here all hate cats, some dogs just don't get on very well with other dogs or cats (I love Weimaraners but I always knew I wouldn't encourage breeding especially since so many dogs are in shelters and I rather take a rehomed dog, with a Weimaraner it has to grow up with cats, similar to Poodles, or else they see them as prey and defend their turf, so that was out). A standard Poodle over here is easily the size of a Dobie and they do require a ton of training or else they can be biters, it depends on how much training LP is willing to do. In her situation a puppy also wouldn't be very intimidating and they are tons of work.
In LP's case I'd go for a shelter dog of a decent size (a Yorkshire Terrier or a Pomeranian don't have the intimidation factor), a dog who was a family dog and is going to be rehomed due to changing circumstances and has lived with cats, would take out the whole house training trouble, the whole "no stairs for the first 9 months" and all the other stuff you need to watch out when you have a puppy, due to her feeding the dog, he would automatically regard her as the pack leader. Mongrels are great dogs too. I wouldn't recommend a Dobie to anybody who doesn't like long walks and who doesn't want a velcro dog who's glued to your side, most pedigrees or breeds have breed specific problems (which can be very costly), mongrels seem to be a lot hardier and are just as lovable, and you don't run into prejudices like "Oh dangerous attack dogs" when the only danger is really drowning in dog saliva unless you attack.

When it comes down to it, any dog above cat size is something that will make a potential attacker pause, a big bark and big teeth are a plus, the rest really comes down to what is best suited to a person's circumstances (cats, children, how much exercise, attention and training you can give the dog, etc.) and some dogs are harder to train or need a lot of training, Border Collies are superb dogs, so are Huskies but they are working dogs, if they don't work you have to invest a lot of time to train them or they will get bored and then start chewing up the house. Even a cuddly Labrador can turn into a snarling monster when they believe they need to defend their pack. I regularly take mine out at night and walk into the woods or a big park and let them roam, I was once approached by somebody who wanted to relieve me of my cash (he didn't see the dogs as they were happily sniffing around in the bushes), there was no bite nothing, girlie stood next to me and made herself known with a low growl, her snout in his groin, showing a beautiful fang with a curl of her lips, boyo snuck up behind him and said "Woof", oddly enough he didn't think I owe to give him any money, and I was nice enough to tell him to walk away slowly (he didn't know that they stay and felt well within my rights to scare the shit out of him).

The thing about dogs is not just the protection they actually give you, it's also the feeling of comfort and being protected, having a companion with you who's willing to lay down his or her life for you, that just helps you to cope with bad situations. I love my cats as much as the dogs, but they don't give me that feeling of "I'm protected", which is super important especially if you were in a situation where the worst part is the fear factor and the damage it does to your psyche and general well being. I'd say they are therapeutic.

Now since you like a quirky sense of humour, the funniest part is that I have to thank my stalker for getting the boy dog, one of his little plots was shopping me to animal protection and hassling them with calls about how abused and mistreated my animals are, so they came and checked me out. Upon seeing how happy they are, and after talking to our vet who told them that even the idea of our pets being abused is ridiculous, they suggested we take in a 2 year old male Dobie (fully grown they claimed, ha, within 3 months he grew a few inches) who had gone through 5 homes before. So whenever his actions get me down, I just lean back and think "That backfired, thanks a lot, idiot, you gave us a beautiful addition to the family, a-hole!" Obviously followed with other nice thoughts like "Hope you rot in hell!" and "May even your left hand reject you!"

I can honestly say, their unconditional love and affection kept me sane through all this shit, there is nothing like 80 kilos of dogs mugging you for hugs and doing happy doggie dances because you were out of the house for all but 3 hours.