I'll give you two words... Lab and Beagle. Both are great companion dogs. A lab's bird hunting ability speaks for itself. Beagles are great rabbit dogs but can also serve as a flushing dog for birds. My wife says there is nothing as cute as a Beagle puppy!

Lab is the dog you want.

There is a distinction between a watchdog and a guard dog. A watchdog simply barks to alert if an intruder is detected and can run in various sizes and breeds.

A guard dog or "Man Stopper" is a dog possessing both the temperament and physical ability to stop a person such as an intruder by inflicting such serious bodily harm as to render further advance physically impossible.

Watchdog/Hunting companion? A lab would be awesome, a guard dog? Whole different animal and requires more research. Hope this helps.....

No doubt Lab

Alittle repetitive, but LAB!!

Lab

The correct answer to this question is the Cur dog - cur is not a synonym for "mutt", it's a breed type, the most prominent are the Mountain Cur and the Black Mouth Cur. These dogs historically occupied the "all purpose dog" niche for our forebears on the frontier - the same dog would handle a range of tasks; herding, pest control, hunting partner (anything from squirrels to mountain lions and bears) and family guardian. The description given of the dog in the book "Old Yeller" is a description of a Black Mouth Cur, though the breed was not known by that name at the time of it's writing.