thanks this forum seems a little more active than the other couple i've posted on. my second choice was a doberman, because I've always been fond of them. i know families with dobermans so i've been around them a bit and they seem more prone to training and being obedient. so i'm going to poke my nose around more to make sure a doberman will work for me, but as far as i've researched it seems like a great choice so far. so.. i'm going to post another thread about it.