This is the infamous question passed around. Many owners, especially of our breed, are under the impression that their dog would protect them.
I however, and many others, feel that it takes a certain temperament and to an extent a certain amount of training before a dog would truly "protect" it's owner. Other dogs will either pick flight out of fight or flight in fear, or in turn WILL attack the assailant but only out of a fear aggressive response triggering them to attack to protect themselves or their security bubble. One of the biggest reasons that I opt to pick a breeder over a rescue because I as a young single female living on my own am looking for a companion AND protection animal.
A 6 year old did a very interesting video on the subject. Now of course, I would like to see this done in several different ways. Maybe a larger scale. And then actual owner's handling the dogs instead of a stranger as this could trigger a different attitude. Also, would the emotion the owner is giving off trigger a different response? Obviously this little girl isn't in TRUE fear, could a dog sense fear and respond differently? But I think in general it shows the fearful response the average pet dog would show to a true attacker.
No real bites.. lots in training. However, I did have a man come at me when I was walking Duke. I felt nervous once I saw the man acting strange (it was super late at night after I got home from work), I told Duke to watch the man. He did so... the man came at me and Duke lunged forward at him. If he came any closer, I do believe that would have been the mans arm instead of air. The guy ran off.
Back when I only had Zira, we were renting out a room. After a lot of issues with piece of scum, we evicted him. Several weeks later, I was at home alone with Zira next to me on the couch watching TV. I heard the garage open, and then the door from the garage was forced open... I was very scared, thought someone was breaking in.... it was our old roommate (who we believe was trying to break in to steal some stuff from us). Zira flew at him with her jaws open. Thankfully, she has a good recall. I called her back and called the cops.
My dogs are not just here to protect, they are first and foremost our companions and pets. However, when it comes down to it.... I do feel they will absolutely do what they need to do to keep us safe.
Duke's trained, Zira is not. Storm is in training for personal protection. She will be a beast when she's full grown... I doubt anyone will make it into this house with my 3! lol
I had a chow that had absolutely no training. When a nutty lady tried to grab my little sister, Nicco bit her hard enough to break the skin. I am not sure about Fiona. She is training to be a SD, so unlikely to be protective. Have not been in a situation where I need protection yet. I am a large female and if you did not know I was disabled, I look like I could flatten you.
I would say any dog would protect its owner if the owner was being attacked. Especially larger dogs, guardian breeds, herders etc.
My dogs have shown that they will protect me. I don't know how far they will go but i do see there drive change when there is a more serious atmosphere around certain people or situations.
My Boxer Lab mix is really friendly and goofy enough but he gets this intense look if somebody drunk stops to talk to me or if he senses any danger. When he was young he wanted to attack some guy who was shouting at us. I've hardened him up with some bite training but he showed more defense when younger with no training. Now he is solid and i know he got my back covered but with out any fear of being aggressive for no reason.
My Bullmastiif lab mix has shown good protecting instinct too. I'd regard her as having a high defense drive. When she doesn't trust strangers she'll stand by my side and give them a growl. I know she has a demon inside her awaiting any attacker. She has no training except obedience. She can be on the aggressive side with people but I've trained her not to be aggressive.
I know other dogs (lab crosses) and they will step up to protect there owners and they have no training what so ever.
I have not read through the responses here yet but my daughter had me watch this video with her the other night on youtube and it drove me INSANE watching it. The dogs in the beginning were responding to what looked like a SchH set up and reacted accordingly. The first dog who was a year old was not acting defensively it was more prey/play so it wasn't "protecting" her. The last dogs who were untrained were already fearful in their nature so using confident vs not confident/fearful dogs does NOT give you a controlled study plus the untrained dogs he stood up and walked over to them normally where as with the trained dogs he was suspicious at a distance working them up. HUGE difference. Just too many inaccuracies to make it a simple trained vs untrained but to those who don't know any better they are going to oooh and ahh over it all. I about lost it and then saw this person has comments disabled on youtube so I'm assuming others who train in protection sports probably were bombarding the video with tons of comments about it and he decided to shut it off so no one could comment on it. I had some people who say they were all GSD's so those "trained" ones probably knew her and thats why they responded which drove me insane also because I doubt it was that at all. While I don't believe every untrained dog will respond I do believe there are some that will the same as not all dogs can be trained in protection work because they don't have the temperament for it. I do however think a well balanced confident dog would probably try something to protect their family in a real threat but not all dogs have the temperament. A dog who cowers when someone approaches them is not a dog who will defend their home and family and even if the dog attacks it will most likely be out of fear and not true protection anyways. Not a simple question of trained vs untrained as they are trying to make people believe.
i assume we are talking about our dogs protecting us against a bad person not another animal.
my female would definitely bark and carry on if someone were to try and assalt us. not sure how far she would go as far as bitting. i do believe training is needed for protection in that area unless you have a fear aggressive dog that is protecting itself. as far as other animals all bets are off, because she would fight them off.
my male is fear aggressive, so not sure what he would do, at first he might try to protect himself, but if the person got real aggressive i think he would retreat. as far as an animal attack, same thing he would go forward in a threat, but if he sensed the animal was to aggressive he would retreat.
I think this is an important distinction. To me, "protect" implies that the dog is going to do more than just bark. The vast, vast majority of dogs will bark or growl at threatening people. Many will even lunge/bite. To me, true protection is a dog who won't back down even if the person fights back--and most will.
But that's also a good thing! Most domesticated dogs have a natural bite inhibition. Look at how few serious or fatal maulings we have every year (and even fewer are adults who are capable of fighting back), vs. how many dogs there are and how many people they interact with. The fact that most dogs are unwilling to latch onto people and not let go is a good thing. If not, owning a dog would be a dangerous thing. And really, the odds of you suffering violent crime at the hands of someone who hasn't already planned on handling the dog (usually random crime) is very low. Most violent crime is committed by people who know the victim...and they will know your dog, and plan for it. Even a protection-trained dog won't help if they rob you while you're not home and the dog is crated, or they bring a gun and shoot the dog. And most pet dogs will be easily distracted when someone they know tosses a steak into the spare room and closes the door!
My dogs make me feel safe, but it's just because, you know, I have 5 dogs and who in their right mind is even going to visit me, much less break in!
My lab Sam "defended" me many times, and Labradors are definitely not known to excel as protection dogs. I think it really depends on the dog's temperament and the dog/owner bond. Sam was very sweet tempered around humans and dogs, but at the same time very protective of our house, me and my small dog as well.
I would expect mine to protect me because she doesn't let anyone near me. And thats the only reason i think she would...She is ok with strangers when they get close to her but if they get close to me that's when I have to watch her because it looks like she wants to nip them... I could be wrong though. I hope that day never comes where she actually HAS to protect me.
Not sure what Stella would do. Hope I never have to find out
My father had a GSD that protected him several times. NO ONE was allowed near my dad unless my dad said it was ok. I remember walking into my dad's apt once. Not everyone was allowed to do that even. But "Mike" the GSD knew I was ok to come in. My dad was sleeping and when I went to wake him up....grrrrr. A low deep growl came from next to the bed. Mike was never trained to do this. He just developed a very very strong bond with my dad. He would have died trying to protect my dad. And I think it would have been true the other way around too. I would love a bond like that with my dog.....it was amazing.
Yes and No. I'm not sure if Zeus would protect me if something happened away from home. BUT if the threat arrived at home without a doubt. He would protect our home to the death. He is not people protective but big time property protective. So as long as im in my truck and hes with me or at home I am protected lol
A little late to the convo, but my GSD has put herself between me and potential harm, she's done the same with my husband.
Was walking her late one night but on a well-lit main road. A guy bounded out of the bar across the street in front of me. When he looked back at us he apologized for darting out in front of us. He was on his way up the block to a gas station for cigarettes. He seemed like a harmless enough guy and introduced himself. There was nowhere else to go so we chatted for the half a block while we were on the same path. I was friendly enough with him, but my GSD positioned herself between the two of us and growled at him the entire way. I'm definitely too trusting (from a small town in the Midwest - haha), but she sensed something in that guy that I didn't. He quickly made his way into the gas station as soon as we got to it.
More recently my husband was walking her on our block when a rather large off-leash dog ran straight up to them at full speed. Wrigs put herself between my husband and the dog to defend him.
We've only trained her for manners and some tricks but she's definitely a loyal girl and I have no doubt in my mind she'd have my back in more serious situations.
most dogs will bark many will get in the middle does not need to be a gsd a lab will do this so will many other breeds. Many will show lots of teeth.
But when someone says protect i think of a dog that will bite and fight someone who is attacking you. VERY few will do much more than bark and try to get in the middle and help in their own way. BUt there are still plenty of dogs that will just when you count the whole population very few of them will do it. Dogs that will really protect most of the time are dogs with a strong natural protection drive with civil aggression. Very serious dog with a good on switch. BUT NOT always. THere are plenty of dogs still that will engage a person and tear them up when you least expect it. Rare but it happens.
I think everyone might be forgetting a simple truth. If you are the Alpha in your GSDs eyes, then I would assume if you were being attacked and called to your dog your body language and tone alone would tell him all he needs to know. It's instinct for the Pack Member to join in on the fight against aggressors to his pack. And all of these mock simulations I find unscientific. I don't think even the best actor could fool a dogs senses.
My GSD is almost a year old. While he is good with people and other animals, he never lets anyone get between he and I. I have no doubt in my mind that he will "fight" for me til death, if necessary, and I would do the same for him. He and I have had a very strong bond since day 1.
He knows I am his Alpha and what I say goes. He is also very protective of our other dogs, animals, and kids.
I think what it comes down to is the dog's instincts and its bond with its owner.
I'm very skeptical. I don't think any staged events can truly measure the dog's response/reaction. I believe dogs and certain breeds like GSD more so are very innate and can "sense" feelings from their owners regardless of how good of an actor/actress he/she can be. The two separate times I witnessed a protective instinct from my GSD happened during our walks. It was the time that we encountered the two dogs I dread the most around my neighborhood. I had never seen such a reaction from Satie. She only did that with me and not with my husband and I firmly believe that it was her "reading" my tension. One is a Rottweiler but its not the dog himself per se but the owner that I dread. He walks many times off leash with the dog and does little to control his 100lb dog. Even allows the dog to bark and lunge at little kids. Everyone in the neighborhood is fearful of this dog because it has zero training and is left to do whatever he wants. We rounded the corner and saw them in the distance. Thankfully he was leashed. He started barking and lunging and Satie started matching it. She is normally a very quiet dog - just does the GSD whining. She hadn't really found her bark. Anyway, the thought of a Rott and a GSD going at it with each other is not something I want to think about and since Satie is the newbie and only other "alpha" dog in the neighborhood that is otherwise labs and doodles, the Rott was especially territorial. I had to drag Satie away but she really surprised me, she did not back down for a second! The other dog, again it's the owner. The dog is a terrier but very aggressive. The owner is ALWAYS on her cell phone and the dog is on a very long leash and is allowed to bark and jump at anyone and anything. The owner is also nasty and has no problem yelling at you even if unprovoked. I had never seen her somewhat aggressive with a person. But this time, Satie immediately did not like this woman and growled and showed off her impressive teeth - total intimidation tactic. Thankfully Satie took my sit command and pulled back.
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