I have an English Mastiff. This might be the combination you are looking for. They are notoriously gentle and sensitive with children BUT they have a bark that makes people pee in their pants reserved for strangers approaching the house and IMO you would have to be near suicidal to risk breaking into a house with one in it. Apparently when they have had situations with intruders, they tend to hold them in corners with their weight without hurting them so most are not violent, just protective abut their surroundings.

Rhodesian Ridgeback…………but I’m bias

Pit bulls can be excellent with children. The ones that are “mean” have been abused and treated badly to become like that.
Rottweilers and Shepherds can also be good choices, but like with any breed, not all dogs are the same. All of the above are good watch/guard dogs, you just have to find one that likes children as well.

I’m not sure there is a good breed or bad breed with dogs. They all have their good points and bad points.
I have two rottweilers and they are amazing with children. The older one comes to work with me with disabled children.
They also know the difference between little kids and teenage ones – they let my friend’s 3 year old in my back gate happily and just lick him.
I love my girls but as I said there are some rotty’s with bad temperements as with all dogs.
When buying check out what the parents are like and how the owners are with them, and if the owners have kids – you’ll be able to tell how they are treated and if the parents have a good temperement you are more likely to buy a dog with a good one !!

..a dalmatian or a golden retriever would be nice

most dog will bark at an intruder or stranger. you do not need to train a dog to do any more with children around. or period really. get a big dog that suits your needs. make sure you can financially afford the proper care and feeding of the dog. that you have the time to exercise and play and teach the dog. almost any dog you get and take the time to properly train and socialize will be a good dog. it’s all up to you. since you want a big dog and have a wide variety of breeds try checking with your local shelter and see what they have available. often the perfect dog is just sitting there wondering why and waiting for someone to discover them.

There are no best breeds of dogs there are only the best dog for the situation. The bigger the dog the more damage they can do knocking kids over etc. There are many factors in choosing a good family watchdog, exercise requirements, shedding factors, age of kids, frequent visitors and the most important factor is the kids being trained to not hurt the dog. Dogs and kids must always be supervised. Mastiffs and Great Danes are huge, can not be walked safely by kids and are low exercise dogs, they need obed training while still young. They have a short life span. Boxers are very very active and need to be consistently exercised and well trained to be a good pet. For a family with kids esp if they have kids over alot a Lab or Golden would prob be a better choice. They too need training and exercise but love to retrieve in most cases and a well bred well raised one is a breeze to train. All of my big dogs have loved kids but some would probably not want a constant bunch of kids coming and going and screaming. A good watchdog will often misinterpret neighbor kids wrestling and bite. Go to a local shelter, use a book called Succesful Dog Adoption, it has a great section on selecting the right dog for kids. Or try a purebred rescue, they have dogs that live in their houses and know much about their temperament.

My boyfriend has a Golden Retriever and he started staying with me a couple of weeks ago and already he is very protective. If his little brother and i are play fighting Jack(the dog) will get in the way to stop it. He is wonderful with kids and a very smart dog. I highly recommend them!!!