I think that anyone who has read through this entire thread would hopefully walk away with a bit of knowledge when it comes to getting a dog, or any animal.
Any breed needs to be carefully assessed as to it's basic development......ie., is this breed a companion, tool, both, or neither?
If you have the opportunity to interact with the dam and sire, are they well mannered, stand offish, and/or aggressive?
If you get from a breeder, call the animal control in their area to see if there's been any complaints.
God bless you if you decide on a rescue, but out here in the boonies, displaced city folk tend to pass on their problems when their "awesome Herd dog" slaughtered all their chickens or their expensive "Livestock Guardian dog" gutted a calf. Here we have a leash law, "open range", so you better keep your property fenced. Dogs have fenced ACREAGE to run, dig, and play on. Dumping them at a rescue is just passing on a disaster.
I've had one total cluster **** of a rescue about 9 years back with a wolfdog (wolf hybrid). I've had wolfdogs since 1995. I KNOW when to walk away.........but, the owner in Texas sedated the dog, at the halfway point in New Mexico the WD showed major aggression towards all the handlers (sedation again), we picked her up in Albuquerque (that was a trial by fire) and got her home. Within 18 hours, she had savaged my forearm (my male wolfdog rolled her before I even knew I was bleeding), attacked both me and my ex BF, stalked us and the other animals here..........and no sanctuary had any openings. Tough call but we weren't going to pass her on. Seriously, she scared the bejesus out of us, and my male placed himself between us. We got the back story on her in the next few weeks and it was HORRIFIC. Inbred (father/daughter), lone survivor of a litter of 8, rescued, rehomed, red flagged at 2 Petsmart's (Michigan & Texas), ended up on a chain, underweight, and repeatedly hit with a 2 x 4, everyone lost interest, County was going to take them to court for dog at large (3rd offense), HOA was going to sue. AND no one had her vac records if she even had any.
We got NONE of this info. And we were the one's who had to put her down. Needless to say, I quit supporting and referring people to that nationwide organization.
I imagine with the popularity of "Game of Thrones", wolfdogs and wolf looking type dogs are becoming the newest accessory. I wouldn't know, I quit keeping up on the trends.
KNOW the breed you're looking at, read EVERYTHING you can on it. Does it fit your lifestyle? Do have enough room? Will it be around adults only or a mixed bag of humans? What about other critters? Are you going to provide the thing that the dog does best. ie., herding, running, playing, hunting, or just chillin out?
As far as training, read the books, listen to the experts, and take what works for YOUR dog, you know him best, and leave the rest. Your dog isn't going to read any of those books or respect every trainer it meets.
This tragedy could have been avoided, like many have said, "It was a perfect storm". A dog (or any animal) is a LIFE TIME commitment (10-18 years for dogs). They're like children: when you relocate, when you aren't available, when they're crated, when someone else feeds them........they stress. They may panick. They may, in extreme cases, go bat **** crazy. And some may be cool as a cucumber.
As far as "There are no bad dogs, just bad owners".....NOT in all cases. Some dogs are just born evil, just like people.
