will our GSD protect us

[Safzola]

would our GSD protect us if we were attacked , or would it have had to have professional training. answers please

[onedogman]

Just depends on the dog, all are different. I think most GSDs will try to protect you if you have a good bond with the dog though. I can still recall how funny it was to watch my 4 sons and a neighbor kid wrestling in the yard. Our GSD was beside herself and kept trying to pull them apart.

[blackshep]

I generally believe they need to be trained, but my pup got to do protection work at schutzhund for the first time last weekend and we let her watch her papa-dog working. When the helper started yelling at her papa, she got really serious with her barking.

When it was her turn of course, he wasn't as intimidating with her and she was more excited to get the tug, but she definitely will try to scare off a threat. She did that one time before when my dad was on the porch letting his dog out and he was obscured by the bushes. It was dark out, and when he spoke to me she lost it, until she realized who it was.

I'm not sure what she'd do if I were actually being attacked, but she seems to try to do her best to scare sketchy people off, like a good girl.

[mandiah89]

It all depends on the dog really... My GSD Diesel who passed would have taken a bullet for me... I remember walking downtown one night, and this group of "gangsters" started following a little too close to me and started whistling and what not towards me, I knew these guys were bad news and I started to tense up and Diesel could sense this and when one of them tried to grab my shoulder I screamed and thats when Diesel turned around and lunged at them heckles up, growling and barking at them, needless to say I dont think Ive seen a bunch of grown men look so scared and they took off so fast! Diesel never had any formal training, she wanted to protect me because of the bond we shared.

[Lilie]

Originally Posted by Safzola

would our GSD protect us if we were attacked , or would it have had to have professional training. answers please

If you do a search on this forum, you'll see this question has been asked many times. Lots of good information already given. There is even a recent thread regarding this same topic.

[TsPlace]

It definitely depends on the dog and the bound you have with them, I believe. My Shilo was my protector. In his adulthood, he would sleep upstairs at the top of the stairs. My husband came home from work one night at about 3am and he was met with a very fierce dog, until Shilo realized who it was. My husband said he actually had to think twice before coming into the house, but once he gave the command, Shilo was absolutely fine. It was good to know he was there for me. I'm hoping when my puppies grow up, they'll have that same protectfulness.

[Marnie]

Some will. Loki was a very reserved GSD. He always seemed to observe but seldom barked or growled. My other dog was a collie and she barked at anything/anyone she wasn't familiar with. One evening we caught 2 men in the tack room of our barn. The collie trapped them in the tack room and stood at the door barking. Attempting to flee, one of the men kicked the collie. Loki was on the man in an instant, biting his hands and jumping at his face. Lucky for all of us, Loki allowed me to pull him off. I'm certain if it had been me the man kicked or hit, Loki would have reacted the same way.

[Safzola]

Originally Posted by mandiah89

It all depends on the dog really... My GSD Diesel who passed would have taken a bullet for me... I remember walking downtown one night, and this group of "gangsters" started following a little too close to me and started whistling and what not towards me, I knew these guys were bad news and I started to tense up and Diesel could sense this and when one of them tried to grab my shoulder I screamed and thats when Diesel turned around and lunged at them heckles up, growling and barking at them, needless to say I dont think Ive seen a bunch of grown men look so scared and they took off so fast! Diesel never had any formal training, she wanted to protect me because of the bond we shared.

wow well done Diesel i bet that was scary

[KZoppa]

depends on the dog. In her day, Zena would have ripped your arm off given the chance if you threatened her mama! Shasta, not even close but I love her anyway.

[RowdyDogs]

It does depend on the dog, but the only way you can count on your dog to protect you is with training. Otherwise, you're just guessing. Just like with people...some freeze up in frightening situations, others spring into action, and you'd never know who was who by how they act in day-to-day life. It's why police officers and soldiers get so much training, much of it geared towards functioning in stressful or life-threatening situations. Every animal, humans included, needs a lot of training to know for sure that they can overcome their natural fight-or-flight response and react appropriately.