Yeah, they are great but I am afraid to get a dog, it's no so much the money, it is the responsibility and take care of him and as much as a rescue dog sounds nice, there are never any pure breed German Shepard or Doberman puppies at the pound( There use to be a channel on cable where I live that showed dogs at the pound up for adoption. They were usually a sorry lot, and many of the larger ones were too old) I would hate have a dog, and have die in few years.Hahaha.
I grew up with my dad in Bogota, so getting robbed and assaulted is not just something out of movies for me. We had a dog, a German Shepard something-terrier mix. Not even friends could stick their hand through the fence to ring the bell. So visitors were on appointment only. When my to-be stepmom moved in, she had to wear boots around the house when my dad wasn't home, or go out to the yard. The dog was the same kind of protective with the car. And me.
Besides, I would want a good dog, a puppy and raise it, and a tough breed, but I would take it obedience classes, and try to socialize it, oh who am kidding I want a gaurd dog who only loves/fears me and hates every other living creature, but me and will defend my home from intruders and Jehovah's Witnesses.