[zombiephile]

Alright folks, this one's gonna be good.

We've seen plenty of dogs in zombie movies - from that rascally dog in the Dawn of the Dead Remake to the Zombie Dogs from Resident Evil, we just can't seem to shake the thought of man's best friend going AWOL.

Here's my thinking, though - in the event of a zombie invasion, dogs could very quickly and easily revert to their natural physical dominance in a situation where their natural behavior is encouraged, rather than discouraged.

So my question is this:

What's the best breed of dog to have against zombies, and why?

[jaderis]

What's the best breed of dog to have against zombies, and why?

I don't think that any dog would be an advantage in a zombie attack unless they were specifically trained to sever or, rather, gnaw through the neck. The only dogs that I can think of with massive enough jaw strength for the task (and this is all hypothetical) would be the various mastiff breeds, some larger pit bulls, and possibly some dobermans, rottweilers, great danes, huskies or wolf hybrids, labs or larger shepherd breeds.

However, even the larger carnivores (lions, hyenas, tigers, wolves, leopards, etc) don't usually sever the spinal cord with their grip, they only "go for the jugular" and paralyze prey with their grip until the blood drains.

Of course, zombies do not have blood to drain, at least, not in any way that would affect them. The dogs may be able to debilitate the undead for a time to help us escape, but they will probably not "kill" them.

Something is better than nothing, of course, providing that the dogs do not turn undead (there are conflicting reports). If there is any protection to be had, I would go for any of the breeds I mentioned.

[Wookiejuice]

I would have to go for rotties as my fave breed. But jaderis brings up a good point, about dogs not being able to probably kill a zombie. I do believe that they could definitely incapacatate them, buying us more time, which is always good. Now, zombiephile, you brought up an interesting thing in another topic, when I was talking about my jack russell being a snack for the zombies. I was saying that she is so untrained that she'd bark and give away me and my fiance's position away, as we're trying to escape.

But zombiephile suggested that if she's trained properly, she could be a scout of sorts. And after seeing this posting, I thought to myself, "Maybe having a dog to attack might not be the answer." Instead, perhaps we could use our K-9 friends to distract the zombies. Maybe we could train them to lure the zombies away from our positions. Of course, this would only work if we weren't dealing with the undead hordes in the Dawn of the Dead remake, where they paid no attention to the dog.

[randy]

we could also use or dogs to sniff out zombies or those who are infected among the living. dogs could tell us that there is a zombie nearby....

of course, if things got real bad i'd send my dog out first to attack!

[randy]

we could also use or dogs to sniff out zombies or those who are infected among the living. dogs could tell us that there is a zombie nearby....

of course, if things got real bad i'd send my dog out first to attack!

[Wookiejuice]

That's a great idea, Randy. Use our dogs to sniff out the infected, before they turn!! That way, there are no unpleasant surprises.

[railfun]

Well i'm afraid a detection system and companionship is all they would be good for. Keep in mind that the virus would VERY likely kill or even turn them after they bit a zombie. It scares me sometimes, I'm not scared for my family to the degree I am for my dog. The dog cannot defend itself and would likely starve, think, you would need a lot of meat to feed all the dogs in a group. Don't get a great dane or greyhound would be my advice, go for a beagle. Small with excellent senses of hearing and smell.

[Wookiejuice]

.... Oh man, railfun. I actually hadn't thought of that. But yeah, our beloved k-9's would turn once they bit into the undead flesh of our foes. Dang, why didn't I think of that? For I too, fear more for my animals for the same reason you brought up. They can't defend themselves. So now I've definitely changed my mind. I'd only use a dog as a detector. And the beagle type dogs are perfect, because that''s what they were bred for back in the day... for hunting and what not. It's in their genes. Having their keen senses around as a type of proximity alert would put my mind more at ease.

[zombiephile]

Let's not forget that dogs were used for all sorts of useful things before we'd even thought of zombies. They can help you to locate and acquire food, and they can protect, guard and sentry for you when you're out on your own.

Max Brooks, in his zombie classic World War Z, even postulated that dogs could be used in large cities to lure zombies onto the tops of tall buildings and over the sides - a sort of "march of the lemmings" zombie disposal system. Of course, Max Brooks' dog must be smarter than mine...

[lucas27]

nice post .that's very interesting!