Black Dog or White Dog: Which is Better for your Security Needs?

Oh Little Oji

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Don't worry, I'm not talking about white Dobermans.

I worded the title the way I did, instead of just "...Which is Better?" because our security needs are going to vary by individual (if you consider that your dog plays a security role for you at all – I know not everyone does).

We know that Herr Dobermann wanted an all black dog for his security purposes. The historical accounts say Dobermann had a few jobs, and at least one of them included making rounds at night. He wanted a black dog for this purpose.

It's made sense to me, and I've agreed for many years now. For tactical purposes, I want to be able to have stealth when I choose. This has held true in situations where there is not really a security threat against me but, well, a recent example is: I was taking Oji to the nearby park at night for a quick outing and someone started driving up our street. We have no shortage of nefarious activity in our neighborhoods on a nightly basis. So I hastened us into the park and put a decent amount of distance between us and the end of the street so that the car's headlights wouldn't really shine on us (we were also standing a bit uphill, so the beams wouldn't really be shining on us). I wanted to observe this drivers activities without them knowing they were being watched. My black (and rust of course) Dobermann remained cloaked nicely in the dark of night.

Another example would be if I needed to hide from someone in some instance – say I was fleeing an attacker or otherwise needed to move us out of a dangerous or undesirable situation and wanted to disappear.

I suppose there could arise a situation where my dog and I get separated – either I have to let him loose (not a common scenario) or I had to leave him on a stay for some reason and I needed him to not be noticed. Black wins here.

Except in snowy conditions!

The other side of this is: Sometimes I want people to know that I have a dog with me. Sometimes I want the bad guy or potential threat to realize I have a sizable dog with me. Here, a white dog would be the most desirable. Sure, I could have my black dog bark and accomplish this aim, but it's not always advisable to have your dog bark and disturb / draw attention from others. Sometimes it would be fine, sometimes it would not be good.

Then, we have to also address the intimidation factor, both at nighttime and daytime. I've talked about this somewhere on here before, but I believe a black dog, other things being equal, provides a more intimidating appearance. We could get into the psychology of this.

Thoughts?
 
Black dog all the way. Just think of @Gelcoater s GIF sig and it kind of says it all. To me a white dog of any breed brings visions of a marshmallow or other soft fluffy thing that isn't intimidating at all.

Sometimes I want people to know that I have a dog with me. Sometimes I want the bad guy or potential threat to realize I have a sizable dog with me.
That's where Albert's biothane collar from Ridgeway Leatherworks (Jersey Firefighter) comes in nice. Doing a bit more Biothane work mixed with leather
It's still glowing strong in the morning (pretty much 24/7) so I can glance up when we're sleeping and immediately know where he is.
1623783568778.png
 
I saw a survey (don't remember where or by whom) on which Dobermans were more intimidating and scary (their words, not mine). The results were...
1. Black/Rust with cropped ears
2. Red/Rust with cropped ears
3. Black/Rust with natural ears
4. Red/Rust with natural ears
I know this doesn't fit the scenario above, but I found it interesting what a difference cropped ears made the results!
 
I saw a survey (don't remember where or by whom) on which Dobermans were more intimidating and scary (their words, not mine). The results were...
1. Black/Rust with cropped ears
2. Red/Rust with cropped ears
3. Black/Rust with natural ears
4. Red/Rust with natural ears
I know this doesn't fit the scenario above, but I found it interesting what a difference cropped ears made the results!
Without a doubt on the ears.

Really, your info. there is very relevant here because it reveals that folks in that survey found the black color to be more intimidating.
 
To me a white dog of any breed brings visions of a marshmallow
Marshmallow :spit:
Agree, black is more intimidating, as well as cropped ears vs natural. The color black has generally always been portrayed as being the color of darkness, literally and psychologically. Movies, literature etc, we've been programmed lol.
 
Black dog all the way. Just think of @Gelcoater s GIF sig and it kind of says it all. To me a white dog of any breed brings visions of a marshmallow or other soft fluffy thing that isn't intimidating at all.


That's where Albert's biothane collar from Ridgeway Leatherworks (Jersey Firefighter) comes in nice. Doing a bit more Biothane work mixed with leather
It's still glowing strong in the morning (pretty much 24/7) so I can glance up when we're sleeping and immediately know where he is.
View attachment 118931
I dunno?
Watching the dog show the Dogo Argentino was a white dog, and had a formidable presence.🤷‍♂️
 
I just saw a video from the "Doberman Planet" guy who is one of the fairly recent slew of online personalities who build their presence using dogs, or their dog in particular. I've seen a few vids from him before.

In the vid I'm going to reference, that's about why he feels the Black/Rust (or Tan) Doberman is the best, he touches upon why it's best for guard work.

One reason is actually one that I've thought about before, but had temporarily forgotten: The classic Black Doberman is possibly going to be most readily recognized as a Doberman, and thus its reputation can precede it.

The other reason is one I don't know that I've specifically considered, but I agree with it: In the dark, if your Black Doberman is charging at a bad guy, the bad guy is going to have a hard time seeing it until the last second, if at all.

Now, I will expand on this second aspect: This, of course, gives your Dobe the best chance of succeeding in its attack, and avoiding the bad guy landing any sort of attack on it. Contrast this with an all-white dog like pictured above, and the bad guy is going to have a much easier time seeing the dog coming. Of course, protection and guarding situations are nuanced, as are most things in life. In some situations, like the most dire where the bad guy(s) are fully committed and need to be met with the full force of your hopefully capable guard dog, you want your dog to be able to stealthily reach the bad guy without being detected. In other situations where the bad guy(s) are more likely to retreat, you want them to see your dog coming as soon as possible so they can scram and a dog attack can be avoided.

So, what do you all think about this second aspect – the black dog being much harder to see coming than the white dog?
 
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Aha; I'll go for the black dog; especially since their eyes glowing in the dark being the only thing you can see of them...freaky, freaky. We've had two German Shepherd males, and they are super hard to see in the dark (except for the eyes if there's a little light).

Of course, if you want the menacing appearance of the Dogo Argentino but in black, you could always go for the Cane Corso or Perro de Presa Canário, which comes in both brindle and black I believe.

There's always the brindle or rarer black Fila Brasileiro; but I think they are going to be more of a handful; plus they inherited some of the bloodhound appearance which detracts from the first impression of being a devil dog. See one of them in motion (understanding that the females are supposed to weigh at least 90 pounds/males 110), and it is a scary sight to behold. My impression of them is, once they attack, it is almost impossible to stop them.
 
For pics: 5aa41ff6ff7186ae95b90f99cf8a57e5.jpg9d4a210b81bd4579eabb0b9f200172df--fila-brasileiro-dog-breeds.jpg24f8322251b5ee131e87d08f5b00113a.jpgCane Corso.jpgCane Corso-Preto.jpgNegro Presa Canario.jpgPresa Canario-negro.jpgPreto Cane Corso.jpgstickers-fila-brasileiro.jpg.jpg
We'll see if this works.
Not something you want coming after you.
 
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Aha; I'll go for the black dog; especially since their eyes glowing in the dark being the only thing you can see of them...freaky, freaky. We've had two German Shepherd males, and they are super hard to see in the dark (except for the eyes if there's a little light).

Of course, if you want the menacing appearance of the Dogo Argentino but in black, you could always go for the Cane Corso or Perro de Presa Canário, which comes in both brindle and black I believe.

There's always the brindle or rarer black Fila Brasileiro; but I think they are going to be more of a handful; plus they inherited some of the bloodhound appearance which detracts from the first impression of being a devil dog. See one of them in motion (understanding that the females are supposed to weigh at least 90 pounds/males 110), and it is a scary sight to behold. My impression of them is, once they attack, it is almost impossible to stop them.
Oh yes. If you explore this thread, you will see that I have been highly interested in the Cane Corso. I am still exploring options though. No breed has checked all the boxes for me. They all have their drawbacks.

With the Corso, there are different types of them, and you have to hone in on a breeder that seems to produce the type you like. Here again, none of the types check all the boxes for me, but I would probably go for the American or Rustic type. Problems with this type, though, are it will probably drool, and its coat is said to be just a bit longer than the short, hard (similar to a Dobe or Boxer) coat of the European Corso that has Boxer influence. Then, you have the long tail dock of the Corso that I don't like – especially because it tends to wag rapidly and look terrible to me. Really, I would want a Corso with a natural (undocked) tail, but I doubt a breeder would do that for me.

The Presa Canario (What I've always called the Canary Dog), I've looked into that breed. I don't like that they are a bit shorter in height than the Corso. I also feel unsure about the temperament and it being safe around my children. I like that the Presa comes with a natural tail, so no worries about that long, rapidly wagging docked tail. I like the Presa's guarding abilities and intimidation factor. You have included up there one of my all time favorite pictures of a dog – that one where the dog looks a lot like a black Jaguar.

The Fila Brasiliaro? I just do not at all like the appearance of it (yes, too Blood Hound-y), and I worry about the safety of that breed with my kids.

I got excited about the Tosa Inu for a short while. Its appearance, while not quite as great for me as a good Corso, is pretty good, especially if you get one with a nice rich red coat. They are, however far too rare – in other words, there are only a small handful of breeders in the U.S. There was a good breeder in Canada called Tosa House (I think) but they stopped breeding. I wonder if they will start again.

Tosa-Inu-Dogs.JPG

This Tosa is a pretty good looking dog, overall, to me. They come with a natural tail, though either this particular specimen has a docked one, or you just can't see it in the photo.
 
Oh yes. If you explore this thread, you will see that I have been highly interested in the Cane Corso. I am still exploring options though. No breed has checked all the boxes for me. They all have their drawbacks.

With the Corso, there are different types of them, and you have to hone in on a breeder that seems to produce the type you like. Here again, none of the types check all the boxes for me, but I would probably go for the American or Rustic type. Problems with this type, though, are it will probably drool, and its coat is said to be just a bit longer than the short, hard (similar to a Dobe or Boxer) coat of the European Corso that has Boxer influence. Then, you have the long tail dock of the Corso that I don't like – especially because it tends to wag rapidly and look terrible to me. Really, I would want a Corso with a natural (undocked) tail, but I doubt a breeder would do that for me.

The Presa Canario (What I've always called the Canary Dog), I've looked into that breed. I don't like that they are a bit shorter in height than the Corso. I also feel unsure about the temperament and it being safe around my children. I like that the Presa comes with a natural tail, so no worries about that long, rapidly wagging docked tail. I like the Presa's guarding abilities and intimidation factor. You have included up there one of my all time favorite pictures of a dog – that one where the dog looks a lot like a black Jaguar.

The Fila Brasiliaro? I just do not at all like the appearance of it (yes, too Blood Hound-y), and I worry about the safety of that breed with my kids.

I got excited about the Tosa Inu for a short while. Its appearance, while not quite as great for me as a good Corso, is pretty good, especially if you get one with a nice rich red coat. They are, however far too rare – in other words, there are only a small handful of breeders in the U.S. There was a good breeder in Canada called Tosa House (I think) but they stopped breeding. I wonder if they will start again.

View attachment 118977

This Tosa is a pretty good looking dog, overall, to me. They come with a natural tail, though either this particular specimen has a docked one, or you just can't see it in the photo.
I don't think you would have any problem between a Fila and your children as they are very family (pack oriented) dogs. However, they are known for their extreme wariness of strangers that even the highest amount of socialization can never remove totally. I don't care for their look, but I like their loyalty. Again, I wouldn't get one because I doubt you could really train it in any of the biting sports...off leash and just on voice command.

The Presa, I probably wouldn't trust in general, but I'm sure there are people who feel very strongly about its greatness.
 
Oh yes. If you explore this thread, you will see that I have been highly interested in the Cane Corso. I am still exploring options though. No breed has checked all the boxes for me. They all have their drawbacks.

With the Corso, there are different types of them, and you have to hone in on a breeder that seems to produce the type you like. Here again, none of the types check all the boxes for me, but I would probably go for the American or Rustic type. Problems with this type, though, are it will probably drool, and its coat is said to be just a bit longer than the short, hard (similar to a Dobe or Boxer) coat of the European Corso that has Boxer influence. Then, you have the long tail dock of the Corso that I don't like – especially because it tends to wag rapidly and look terrible to me. Really, I would want a Corso with a natural (undocked) tail, but I doubt a breeder would do that for me.

The Presa Canario (What I've always called the Canary Dog), I've looked into that breed. I don't like that they are a bit shorter in height than the Corso. I also feel unsure about the temperament and it being safe around my children. I like that the Presa comes with a natural tail, so no worries about that long, rapidly wagging docked tail. I like the Presa's guarding abilities and intimidation factor. You have included up there one of my all time favorite pictures of a dog – that one where the dog looks a lot like a black Jaguar.

The Fila Brasiliaro? I just do not at all like the appearance of it (yes, too Blood Hound-y), and I worry about the safety of that breed with my kids.

I got excited about the Tosa Inu for a short while. Its appearance, while not quite as great for me as a good Corso, is pretty good, especially if you get one with a nice rich red coat. They are, however far too rare – in other words, there are only a small handful of breeders in the U.S. There was a good breeder in Canada called Tosa House (I think) but they stopped breeding. I wonder if they will start again.

View attachment 118977

This Tosa is a pretty good looking dog, overall, to me. They come with a natural tail, though either this particular specimen has a docked one, or you just can't see it in the photo.
Have you looked at the BanDog?
 
Have you looked at the BanDog?
Yes, I've looked into bandogs, or as I've also seen it spelled bandogges. It's my understanding that this is a type of dog, not just one particular dog. Is it different where you live? I believe a bandog is an intentional mix of pit bull and another breed, or a mix of American Bulldog and another breed.

Certainly, some awesome dogs can be the result, but it seems far too risky for me to purchase one as a young pup, not knowing for sure what I would wind up with.

Over in the "Bullmastiff" thread, we talked about the Canis Panther for a while. You can take a look at them by, well of course, doing a search for them; or search for Rock of Ages Kennel in Illinois, U.S.A. In my mind, this could be considered a bandog. It's a mix of Doberman, American Staffordshire Terrier, Great Dane and Labrador Retriever. I was half tempted to look into getting one, as they are touted as good (well, they claim the best) personal protection dogs; but I am way too uncertain what my Canis Panther would look like and what its temperament would really be.

There is also a breeding operation with a website called Night Watchman Kennels. They appear to breed mixes of American Bulldogs and of Bullmastiffs, with a variety in their breeding stock that is impressive. Again, I'm leery.

This reminds me: Blasco Family Bulldogs also breeds mixes of American Bulldogs.
 
Yes, I've looked into bandogs, or as I've also seen it spelled bandogges. It's my understanding that this is a type of dog, not just one particular dog. Is it different where you live? I believe a bandog is an intentional mix of pit bull and another breed, or a mix of American Bulldog and another breed.

Certainly, some awesome dogs can be the result, but it seems far too risky for me to purchase one as a young pup, not knowing for sure what I would wind up with.

Over in the "Bullmastiff" thread, we talked about the Canis Panther for a while. You can take a look at them by, well of course, doing a search for them; or search for Rock of Ages Kennel in Illinois, U.S.A. In my mind, this could be considered a bandog. It's a mix of Doberman, American Staffordshire Terrier, Great Dane and Labrador Retriever. I was half tempted to look into getting one, as they are touted as good (well, they claim the best) personal protection dogs; but I am way too uncertain what my Canis Panther would look like and what its temperament would really be.

There is also a breeding operation with a website called Night Watchman Kennels. They appear to breed mixes of American Bulldogs and of Bullmastiffs, with a variety in their breeding stock that is impressive. Again, I'm leery.

This reminds me: Blasco Family Bulldogs also breeds mixes of American Bulldogs.
I will admit that these types of dogs have never been my favorite. I prefer the leaner more elegant dog breeds. I had heard about the bandog, but I had never really researched it. I was just curious of exactly what you are looking for in your next dog. You seem to be looking at one of the more bulky, muscular dog breeds?
 
I also thought of the dogo argentino. Think a well bred white dogo is more intimidating than a doberman of any color. I don’t know what it is. Maybe because they appear more stocky/beefier. Or it could be because I look at dobermans and admire how gorgeous they are. Or maybe its because I have one and know how goofy and adorable they can be. 😆
 
I also thought of the dogo argentino. Think a well bred white dogo is more intimidating than a doberman of any color. I don’t know what it is. Maybe because they appear more stocky/beefier. Or it could be because I look at dobermans and admire how gorgeous they are. Or maybe its because I have one and know how goofy and adorable they can be. 😆
Probably the same thing would happen if you knew the Dogo as well as the Dobe. But, I will say this. The Dogo, as well as many or most of the Mastiffs, were bred for hunting large game (jaguars, boars, wolves...), while the Doberman was bred more for protection against human threat. So, in the end, the Doberman (probably the Malinois and German Shepherd as well) is not going to be a physical match for the Dogo or other mastiff breeds.
 
To me the most intimidating dogs are still pit bulls. They are the ones that always make me a little nervous. My exs dog Bella. She is very sweet but when they first got her I was nervous about Wyatt being over there. Screenshot_20210619-184853_Gallery.jpg
 
To me the most intimidating dogs are still pit bulls. They are the ones that always make me a little nervous. My exs dog Bella. She is very sweet but when they first got her I was nervous about Wyatt being over there. View attachment 119068
Admittedly, those dogs with the wide chest and heads are scary at first appearance
 

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