I want a hunting dog, mostly for flushing birds and rabbits...and as a hunting companion. My wife wants a guarding dog that's safe...?

**** man. You want a dog that is good around farm animals and raises hell in the bush, and you thought you were SOL?

How do you think every cracker or bumpkin in the deep south has lived for the past 200 years? Most hunting dogs are good around livestock. If they weren't, they wouldn't have lasted very long.

Popular hunting breeds in the FL panhandle (scrubby pine/oak forests, mostly hunting whitetail, quail, dove, rabbits, and squirrels) are:

Beagles

Labs

Catahoula Curs (not really a breed, but that's beside the point).

A lot will depend on the dogs training and personality.

Please I got ONE thing to add. A smart dog is a good protector. A naturally mean tempered dog is a good " junk yard " dog. Please don't try to make a mean dog. You can get them killed doing that. And that is a shame. Cops shoot a mouthy pet, happens ridiculously too often. Beating a dog and trying to make them mean can also intimidate the poor thing.

I once had to work at a house where the owner was not home. Working in the garage. Had one part of the job too close to where a Doberman was tied. We were NOT getting along, and the dog seemed to just want to get a hold of me. I tried giving him water on the hot day. He would have none of it. I had to work on his side. Finally decide I was going to BOLDLY see if I could buffalo that dog. went over near his reach. OH, he was furious, barking spitting and snarling. But, was backing off. I reached and grabbed his chain, and pulled him toward me. He was fighting that , and trying to get away. that was a tip off, that dog was scared too. I went ahead set my ladder up where I needed, took my tools, and got to work. The dog was worse then a little kid trying to be buddies. At the bottom of the ladder, bugging the heck outta me. Then he wanted petted. When finished the dog was hanging on the truck trying to get in the passenger window. I stopped and petted him a while, refilled his water, and left. I found that dog shot dead thrown along the side of a near by road a couple weeks later. Made me feel terrible. The dog obviouly was mis-treated. I should have taken that dog home with me when he wanted to come along, and that would have kept him alive. NO DOUBT in my mind, that dog would have been a tremendous dog for me, because we had a trust. Even though I had a German Shepperd at home, it really makes me feel bad I did not save that dog. I bet that owner would not have said a damn thing, cause he knew he abused that poor dog.

* I did kick his *** but, good. Told him why he was about to have a memorable day. You know what, the cops never visited my house, he must not have said a word at the hospital.

Added : Honestly I have never hurt anyone as bad as that guy. That was NOT an as$ whooping, it was a beating. Sorry but, being honest.

Don't trust a dog to defend your life. Just trust one to bark when something isn't right. Any spaniel or retriever would fit the bill. The bigger retrievers like labs or Golden's would be more imposing to intruders, springers are a lot of fun to watch work. None of those dogs will harm your livestock as long as they are taught not to.

A lab

+1 on a BIG lab.

You might start the pup out on a real quiet bb gun and work up.

Edit: Labs make wonderful pets, they get real big- so they can scare people, and they will retrieve.

Or......if you just want a pretty puppy dog- get a Walker-

find someone to mix male Russian wolf hound & female european rotti fantastic mix. with natural hunt instinct. territorial I have a Cpl an they are great if trained properly an socialized off property.