Do you have a dog that will protect you?

Question

Do you have a dog that would really protect you if you needed it? If so, what kind of dog and how do you think it would protect you. I have a East German working line Shepherd that I know will protect me if needed. I know that he will not bite on command wihtout someone having a sleeve on. But, I know that he will protect me if needed by taking someone down if they came after me.

Answer 1

I use to train dogs in protection and agility, I own a male Check. gsd and a female bull mastiff. Both are protection trained and both would do a fine job i am sure if I ever needed it. The GSD is 91lbs and the bull mastiff is 127lbs. If I was a "bad guy" I would not mess with someone that had both of those dogs with them. I never have had to use them in a protection role and hopefully will never have to but I do live at home alone now and it is nice to have them around at night when I am asleep and when I am away from my house. They are my buds.

P.S.
Nancy is not correct, there have not been "numerous" trained dogs that do not protect when the "real" situation occurs. If the dogs are trained properly there is really no difference between a "real" situation and the training situations. Good trainers use every situation imaginable with strangers, guns with blanks, strangers with dogs, and many other different situations. People must remember, dogs are not people and they do not know the difference between training and a "real" situation. So as long as the trainer is a professional, the dog will react the same in a training exercise as it does in a real situation 99% of the time or the dog will not receive its certification if it does not respond properly in training. I work directly with the Scottsdale Police department K9 unit and their trainers and there has never been an instance where a dog that has been trained and certified for the field has not responded to a real threat. Now there obviously has been occasions where a dog has bitten both a "bad guy" and a police officer, but no occasions where a dog refused to act or ran away. The most common problem is actually too much aggression and difficulty with the "loose" command (the command to the dog to stop its bite). I dont know what trainers you have been dealing with, but I suggest you try some different ones if you have been getting the reactions from dogs that you wrote about in your answer because you answer is totally incorrect.

Answer 2

How do you know that? Have you ever had a dog or this dog actually protect you or are you assuming because it is a sport trained dog that it will? You are aware, aren't you, that there have been numberous cases of highly sport trained dogs from 'working lines' that have indeed not protected their owners when the real situation came to pass. And there are just as many if not more instances of non'working line' dogs wholey untrained that have risen to the occassion without hesitation, aren't you? I have been protected a number of times by the dogs I have owned over the years, in various situations. Doesn't matter the breed or line or training, when the need arises, it will depend totally on the specific dog itself and the bond it has with its person/people - doesn't even really pertain much to 'character' as I have had a ***** with a lot of character flaws and issues that protected me from an intruder. People like to think that they know their dog will protect them but until the specific situation occurs, you will not know.

Answer 3

I have 2 Dobermans and a Rhodesian Ridgeback/Boxer mix. They may protect me, they may not. They are protective but how far they will take it, I don't know. My female Dobie came to my rescue one evening when my Hubby walked in wearing a poncho with a hood because it was raining. She ran up to him snarling and barking her head off and was standing her ground not letting him come in until he took the hood off and she recognized him. Would she have bit him if needs be? I don't know the answer, but I think what she did is enough to put off most intruders, so to a certain level, I feel pretty safe.
I think just the mere presence of a big dog is enough to scare most away, but you should always be prepared to defend yourself should that not be enough. Some dogs have the grit to defend and some don't. And the ones that seem tough in some situations may turn tail and run with a real intruder and vice versa. I would like to hope my dogs would defend me, but I am realistic enough to know that they may not seeing as that they are not trained to.

Answer 4

I have four Shih Tzu pups. I think that they would do their best to trip someone and droll all over the place so that the attacker would slip and fall. It is also possible for one to run under any attackers feet while the other three jump on them and possibly knock them down.

Once any attacker was on the floor, at their level, then they would be done for. These dogs will go for the face and lick and lick and lick! I feel secure in the knowledge that my dogs will protect me! (And if they don't I can always rely on the cats!)

Answer 5

I have 3 dogs, a chihuahua, a Malamute and a Pit bull mix. My chihuahua is all bark and no bite. My Malamute has actually chased someone down for hitting me while I was walking him....some guy came and asked for him and I said no so he tried to grab my dog and hit me and my dog attacked him and chased him...he never bit but would have if I was in danger. My Pit bull runs away from confrontation....she is a wuss lol

Answer 6

Not now I don't - greys just don't have it in them. Having said that, my bearded collie was a typical beardie - thought everyone he met was a friend and there to play with him. He was a dog who never met a stranger.

But, when I was laid up after knee surgery, he shocked me. An electrician came to the door - the dog came with me when I went to let him in. I went back to lay down on the couch (I had a knee brace, crutches, the whole bit). The electrican went out to get something and when he came back in, Sam, who was laying beside me on the floor, jumped up - stiff-legged, hair up, staring at him and growling very low in his throat.

I grabbed him instantly - I was totally in shock that this dog who had never growled at anything or anyone in his life, acted like that. He was ok after that and never had an episode like that again in his life, so I guess, yes, he was prepared to protect me.

Answer 7

I know for sure my big boy, the blonde in my picture will. One day I was out walking him and another dog i had at the time, just out front of my apartment, letting them finish their business. This lady started yelling for me to put him on a leash cause he was going to kill her. She was about 40-50 yards away so I grabbed him and pulled him back, and made him get in a down postition. Things would have ended their, however, the lady kept coming towards us yelling and screaming. Finally, when she was less than 4 ft from me, he was still laying there watching her,. till she cursed me and stuck her fingure in my face. Before I could react, he was on her. He didn't bite or anything, just jumped up and knocked her back, and since he weights over 100lbs, thats a lot of dog to hit you. She of course called the police, and they came to her aid. When they came to talk to me, they told me they weren't going to do anything because they could smell the booze on her at 8 am and she did tell them the dog was laying there next to me. Only difference is of course she did nothing to provoke the dog. Our city laws states the dog has to be on leash or at heel. Since he was at heel till she threated me, or what the police adviced me was actually assualt, they could not do anything to the dog. So I know he will do it if he needs to.

Answer 8

my dog was never trained as a protection dog but i know that he would protect me if need be. he would at the very least bark at a stranger that came in and if needed he might attack to save me but i have never been in a situation like that. he is a border collie mix

Answer 9

My 12 pound chihuahua will curl the blood of anything that comes near me - he has the scariest growl/hiss/snarl of any dog I've ever seen. I've seen grown men jump a foot when they've heard it.
Once they look down and realise that the demon hound is just a small fluffy ball of fur they're generally quite embarrassed and leave discreetly...

Answer 10

my golden lab was the most mild mannered dog i have ever seen, all he wanted to do is play all day. Anyone who came over the house could reach down and hug his neck, while he was eating or doing anything, and he never even growled at anyone. we never had gardeners though. Once we finally got gardeners, the dog was fine with them while we were home, But they told us when we were not home one time they came to cut the grass in the back yard, and they werent able to because he was too viscious. and we were proud of him because we never thought he was a good guard dog. but we found out he was.