picking a breed?

Question
Hello hope you cna help me out i am looking for a medium to large dog that is ok with a very small house(I live in a basement....half is ine I have the laundry room adn a storage room that I sleep in lol) but the big back yard is free for all. I want a loving dog that is smart but wont need to be constantly keep busy...ie *Not as smart as say a border collie. One lasts ok with a ten minutes walk each morning and being crated while I'm working(would be let out two or three times by someone). A dog that maybe is good for allergy suffers thou I kno there arent many breeds I like that are good for allergys...I don't like little fluffy dogs. One that makes a good watch a gaurd dog...ie wouldnt let anyone into the yard but nothing sever...I wanted a puitbull but if the breed is considered vicous here you have to pay a cupple thousand dollars on some sort of dumb insureance for the dog. I am not really ealthy eiter but can afford vet bills and food and other basics so a breed that nbormaly doesn't cost an arm and a leg would be nice......no more then around $350-800 on the norm. Can you reccomend anything to fit the criteria>? I dont like hounds they are way to barky for my taste.

Answer
well one thing you can try is to go to a shelter as they have a wide range of dogs to pick from-and the staff usually know a bit about the dogs and if you tell them what you are looking for,they will try and pick the right dog for you,and they are a lot cheaper then a petstore or even a breeder and they usually include the price of vaccines and spaying/neutering

Standard poodles are a really good choice that seems to fit your criteria if you are looking for a purebred,they are hypoallergenic,smart,active and VERY easy to train,and they also make good watch dogs and aren't any more expensive then what you are looking for they are also not yappy like small poodles are

Also Australian Cattle dogs fit the bill too,except they shed a lot but they do have short hair and they aren't as high energy as a border collie

another alternative to an American Pitbull Terrier is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier,but they are too human friendly to make a guard dog but there looks will likely scare people off,thinking it's a pitbull

Also an English bull terrier would be good for the same reasons as the staffordshire bull terrier