How much dog owning/training experience do you have? An improperly trained protection dog and and an inexperienced owner/trainer of either of those breeds can easily turn into a bad situation. I've been around dogs my life and personally wouldn't consider myself up to the task without a lot of help!
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Are you looking for a dog that will protect a farm/property or the people? If it's the property and possible livestock I would go with a Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherd or Kuvasz. They would do well helping protect against the wild animals like you mentioned. The first two are now becoming much more common in rescues, so you can likely find one there. If you just want a house/people protection dog I would recommend an Akita, Tibetan Mastiff, Rottweiler or Cane Corso. All except Tibetan Mastiffs are somewhat common in shelters and rescues too. However, like the person above me said you need to make sure you are capable of training, owning and handling a dog like this. These are great protection dogs but they can be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, especially if you have children or frequent visitors.

Dogos might very well fit what you want but they don't get that large. Also, I think you'll have a hard time getting your hands on a Boerboel as they are very rare, so I would try the Dogos or some others. Give us a better idea of both your dog experience and what exactly you expect of the dog in terms of what sort of protection and how much contact you want him to have with the people in the family.

 

What you want errs more on the side of livestock guardian. Great Pyrnees, Maremma Sheepdogs and Anatolian Shepherds are usually the easiest to locate outside of Europe and Asia. Make sure you socialize them well with humans, as you may be held liable if they maul anyone on your property.

 

What you want errs more on the side of livestock guardian. Great Pyrnees, Maremma Sheepdogs and Anatolian Shepherds are usually the easiest to locate outside of Europe and Asia. Make sure you socialize them well with humans, as you may be held liable if they maul anyone on your property.

lol.

true true

 

Anatolian shepherds are amazing dogs..they have a natural instinct to guard and protect live stock and property..they are also naturally protective of their loved ones but they.need to be trained well and socialised well..if you want a dog like this you really need to know what you are doing and have loads of experience because a dog like this will only respond to calm, fair, consistent but firm training. They are independent thinkers and will do what they choose to do..fantastic amazing loyal intelligent dogs in the right hands..in the wrong hands a disaster waiting to happen

 

Even though there are larger dogs out there, there is a reason that the professionals turn to the German Shepherd, Malinois, and similar breeds again and again. The first and most important features of a personal protection dog is brainpower, not brawn.

Second, what do you envision from your personal protection dog? Staying by you side to protect you and your family...or wandering the property to protect your borders and livestock? Others have made some suggestions about various flock guardians. They are very effective dogs but key in more on the herd of animals and the territory in general as opposed to dogs like the GSD which are more keyed in on the various family members. A flock guardian is more likely to notice the coyote sneaking in under the fence of the far pasture, the GSD is more likely to notice the rattlesnake approaching baby playing on the lawn while Mom hangs up laundry.

Further, I am not sure an extra 50 pounds on a dog will make it better able to stand up to a mountain lion or a big hog. A big hog is still going to outweigh the dog, and a mountain lion is going to be using the element of surprise, and if it gets it, the advantage a 150 lb dog vs a 100 lb dog is very minor. In fact a smaller, more agile and fast dog may have a better chance against either.

But in some aspects you are right, having 150 lbs of dog when facing a hog or cougar is better than 100lbs of dog...especially when that 150 lbs of dog is a pair of 75 lbs dogs. That's your real answer if you are worried about large critters, more than one dog.

 

Get a German Shepard. Intelligent, loving dogs that will always protect and care for you whether you are sick or under attack.

Saying that, if you want protection form Mt lions and wild hogs buy a .223 like a Ruger ranch gun. Don't put your dog at risk of harm. That Ruger doesn't shoot worth a darn past 50 yards with any accuracy but if you want something for protection it'll work just fine.

 

Guardian type dogs do not need to be trained to protect, it is a natural trait in the breed.

If you are concerned about wildlife, a pair of LSG's might be best suited. Yet, there are many other factors that need to be brought into consideration before making a decision; for example your location (hot or cold climates), lifestyle (are you very social? Do many friends/family/children tend to come over often?) Do you live in a rural or city area? Can you afford to feed/vet such a large animal? Do you have a fenced yard or unfenced? Are you wanting to have strictly an outdoor/indoor/both dog? What exactly are you wanting the dog to protect (livestock/yourself/both)?

If you can give us much more details in exactly what you are looking for and why, we can help you find a suitable dog/breed for your needs.

 

I decided to get a Dogo Argentino, and that would certainly fit the bill for hogs, but you don't need protection from hogs as they aren't looking to attack people. A Dogo will however go out and hunt the hogs.

If you plan on leaving it alone outside expect it to be pretty scarred up in no time by boars, and if it comes across a Mt Lion be ready to dig a grave for your dog.

Using a Dogo to hunt boars and expecting it to eradicate the entire boar population around your area are different things.

 

There's a reason boar hunters put kevlar vests on their catch dogs. Boars are no joke. Mountain lions ... an LGD might be able to scare away a mountain lion, but if the thing is determined to attack, the dog is not winning.

 

Working guardians are usually kept in groups of at least 3 dogs. They can protect very well, but there will need to be more than just one dog.

 

Farmers where I used to live* never had less than 2 dogs for any one flock. The dogs would usually get mountain lions to run away by ferociously barking at them, but sometimes the mountain lions wouldn't be dissuaded so easily. Usually, somebody living/working on the farm would hear all the barking and show up with a rifle to back the dogs up before things went south, but not always.


*among the ones I knew. It's not like I knew every farmer ever.

 

^^ Very true amaryllis. I remember someone told me a story about their Great Pyrenees'. Some wolves were hunting the flock and the dogs basically tore the wolves apart. The dogs were completely red with blood. I did feel bad about the wolves though. There are also many dogs that don't make it. Hopefully the OP comes back with more details on his/her situation.