The question comes up in every giant breed forum, every Facebook group, every conversation at the dog park.
"Is it good with kids?"
It's a reasonable thing to want to know. And most of the answers you'll find online are some version of a ranked list with a paragraph about each breed and a general thumbs up or thumbs down.
Here's what those lists leave out: no giant breed is automatically good with children. And no giant breed is automatically dangerous with children. What you're really asking is a more complicated question — which breeds give you the best starting point, and what does it actually take to make that work?
That's the question worth answering.
What "good with kids" actually means
Before the breeds, a quick note on what this phrase is really asking.
A dog that is good with children in its own family is a different thing from a dog that is good with all children everywhere. Giant breeds that are wonderful, patient, and gentle with the kids who live in their home can react very differently to unfamiliar children — children who run toward them suddenly, children who grab at them, children who scream at a pitch the dog associates with distress.
This is not a character flaw. It is a size issue. It is a socialization issue. And it is something that applies to every single giant breed on this list, regardless of how gentle their reputation is.
The breeds below are the best starting points. They still require work. They still require supervision. They are still very large animals capable of knocking a small child over without any intention whatsoever.
With that said — here's what the breeds are actually like.
Newfoundland
If you ask experienced giant breed owners which one they'd most confidently recommend for a family with young children, the Newfoundland comes up more often than any other.
There's a reason for that.
The Newfoundland was a working dog in every sense — fishing boats, rescue work, cold water, long hours around families in the confined spaces of coastal working life. Centuries of that selection produced something remarkable: a dog that is genuinely, constitutionally patient. Not trained to be patient. Not patient when it's convenient. Actually, structurally patient in a way that shows up consistently across individual dogs.
Newfoundlands tend to position themselves near children without prompting. They tolerate the kind of enthusiastic physical contact — face-grabbing, climbing, sudden hugs — that would stress other dogs. When they're uncomfortable, they move away. They don't escalate.
They also drool. A lot. And shed. A lot. And the coat needs regular brushing or it becomes a different kind of problem entirely. These are not minor inconveniences — they are daily realities, and families who weren't warned about them are often the families whose Newfoundlands end up in rescue.
The lifespan is 9 to 10 years on average. Heart disease and orthopedic problems are the main health concerns. If you adopt a Newfoundland puppy today, the children who grow up with that dog will almost certainly experience losing it before they leave home. This is a real conversation to have before you commit, not something to deal with later.
Weight: 45–70 kg (100–150 lbs). Average lifespan: 9–10 years.
Saint Bernard
The Saint Bernard has one of the most recognizable temperaments in the giant breed world: calm, unhurried, and deeply uninterested in conflict.
The breed spent centuries working with monks in the Swiss Alps — rescue work that required stability in distressing, high-stakes situations around disoriented humans. What that history produced is a dog that is not easily flustered. Children being loud and unpredictable doesn't register as a threat to a well-socialized Saint Bernard. It registers as Tuesday.
They are not particularly energetic indoors. They don't need a huge amount of daily exercise to be content. What they need is space — a Saint Bernard in a small apartment is a logistical problem — and a family that is prepared for the drool, which is substantial, and the shedding, which is equally substantial.
The health picture is similar to the Newfoundland: hip dysplasia, bloat, and cardiac conditions are the main risks. Their average lifespan of 8 to 10 years is shorter than it should be for a dog this easy to love.
Weight: 55–80 kg (120–180 lbs). Average lifespan: 8–10 years.
Great Dane
The Great Dane is the giant breed that most surprises people who meet one for the first time.
You expect an animal this size — standing at 80 cm (31 inches) at the shoulder, weighing 70 kg (154 lbs) or more — to have at least some edge to it. Some wariness. Some sense of its own power.
Great Danes are genuinely, thoroughly gentle. They were bred for European courts, to look impressive without being dangerous, to be present without creating problems. The temperament that resulted is famously sweet — affectionate with everyone, adaptable to most situations, uninterested in conflict.
The challenge with Danes and families is not temperament. It's physics. A Great Dane puppy at six months old already weighs enough to knock a small child over by accident. Adult Danes lean on people — they will simply put their full body weight against your leg or your child's leg because they want to be close. An enthusiastic Dane greeting a 4-year-old is a physics event, not a behavioral one.
This means management during puppyhood matters — not because the puppy is dangerous, but because the puppy is large and has no idea about it yet.
The health concerns are the most significant of any breed on this list. Great Danes have the highest gastric torsion risk of any breed — over 35% lifetime risk. Dilated Cardiomyopathy is common. Their average lifespan of 7 to 10 years is the shortest of the breeds here, and it means children who grow up with a Great Dane will lose that dog while they're still young. That experience shapes people. It's worth thinking about going in.
Weight: 50–80 kg (110–175 lbs). Average lifespan: 7–10 years.
Irish Wolfhound
The Irish Wolfhound is the tallest dog breed in the world. Standing at 80 to 90 cm (31 to 35 inches) at the shoulder, they can look an adult directly in the eye without effort. Next to a child, the size difference is striking.
The temperament is gentle and calm. They were bred to hunt wolves and elk, which required power combined with the stability to work closely alongside humans in difficult conditions. What remains is a dog that is quiet in the house, patient with children, and fundamentally non-reactive in domestic situations.
Irish Wolfhounds are not high-energy indoors. They have bursts of speed outdoors — they were built to run — but inside they tend toward calm and stillness. They are good companions for families that want a presence rather than a performer.
The lifespan concern is real and it is the most significant issue with the breed. Irish Wolfhounds average 6 to 8 years. A family that adopts an Irish Wolfhound puppy when their child is five will, statistically, have said goodbye to that dog before the child turns 13. Some families find this unacceptable. Others find the depth of the relationship worth the length of it. Both positions are reasonable. Neither should be decided without the information.
Weight: 48–70 kg (105–155 lbs). Average lifespan: 6–8 years.
The breeds that need more from you
Cane Corsos and Mastiff-type breeds are wonderful family dogs for the right family. Deeply loyal, calm with their own people, and in many households genuinely protective in ways that parents appreciate.
The issue is not how they are with family children. It's how they read situations involving unfamiliar children — kids running toward the house, neighborhood friends arriving in a rush, strangers behaving in ways the dog classifies as potentially threatening to the people it's protecting.
Guardian breeds were developed to make those assessments. They are good at it. In a household where the owner understands that and actively manages it through consistent socialization from puppyhood, the outcome can be excellent.
In a household where the owner doesn't know to do that — or doesn't have the time — the outcome is less predictable. Not necessarily bad. But less predictable.
If you have experience with guardian breeds and want that combination of loyalty and family presence, a Cane Corso or Mastiff can be extraordinary. If this is your first large dog, the breeds in the previous section give you more margin for error.
What actually makes any of this work
Here is the honest version of what "good with kids" requires — regardless of breed.
Socialization from the start. Every giant breed puppy needs positive exposure to children of different ages, sizes, energy levels, and behaviors before they reach adolescence. This window closes. What a puppy learns to navigate calmly as a young dog becomes what they navigate calmly as a 70 kg (154 lbs) adult.
Teaching children how to interact with the dog. Approaching calmly. Not grabbing faces or tails. Understanding when the dog wants space and when it doesn't. Children who learn this become adults who are genuinely good with animals. It is not a burden on them — it is something worth teaching.
Adult supervision. Not because these dogs are dangerous. Because they are large. An accident between a giant breed and a small child is usually a size accident, not an aggression incident. Supervision costs nothing and prevents the situations that end badly for everyone.
Realistic expectations. Giant breeds are not furniture. They are large, opinionated animals with their own needs, moods, and personalities. The families who thrive with them are the ones who went in knowing what they were taking on.
The families who have the best experiences with giant breeds and children are not the ones who got lucky with a particularly gentle dog. They're the ones who did the work — the socialization, the training, the supervision, the honest conversations about what this animal needs.
Do that, and almost any of the breeds on this list can be the dog your children talk about for the rest of their lives.
That's worth working for.
Thinking about adopting a giant breed? Explore our Newfoundland, Saint Bernard, Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, and Cane Corso collections, and connect with a rescue organization in your area before making a decision.
Sources
American Kennel Club — Breed information: Newfoundland, Saint Bernard, Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Cane Corso. akc.org
Serpell, J. (ed.) — The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People. Cambridge University Press.
Glickman, L.T. et al. (2000) — Non-dietary risk factors for GDV in large and giant breed dogs. JAVMA.
Overall, K.L. — Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals. Elsevier.
Note: Individual dogs vary significantly within breeds. A rescue organization that knows their dogs well is often better placed than a breeder to match your family to the right individual animal.