Well my daughter does have a mix pit bull, which could scare someone, but dang dog is actually all bark no bite. A Rottweiler would get the job done though. One of my boys had one, mean SOB, my son and me were the only two he would pay attention to. The down side was folks hated to visit if the dog was around. Once when my kid got his own place, he had a get together, not a actual party, but close. He went to the store to get more refeshments and when he got back, his dog had backed all the guests into the kitchen, on the counters and table. He thought it was funny, I thought it was time to get rid of the dog myself. Dogs need to know friends from foes or they are just a problem. Young kids ...what can you do?I wish my wife wasn't allergic to dogs, if have a big ass Rottweiler standing sentry