What do you think about? - Page 3

We've had this discussion before. 
The dog I have now is very territorial.  In this instance she was not protecting me per say, but she did (and I am not proud of this) literally stop a man who was going to come in my laneway.  He'd parked on the road with a tractor and wagon, and was walking in.  She met him just at the end of the lane and went right for his arm, he then kicked her  repeatedly and she went after his leg.  She did NOT give up until I told her to leave it, which was a quickly as I could.  Thankfully he had on winter coveralls and lots of layers, so she only bruised him. Obviously I had to work on her training a bit more, so she doesn't decide who is the bad guy - which in her mind is most men.

So, I say yes, some dog have the gumption to protect even during a fight, without training.  

I had an interestng experience with my parents Lab. This is a Lab we're talking about and we all know they are lovers and not fighters.

This particular Lab is probably the sweetest, kindest dog, you'll ever met in your life. She's never even stolen food off the counter or coffee table in her life - if you know Labs, you know this is some kind of anomoly. lol

I was up really early one morning and needed to get a shirt from the dryer before leaving for work. I didn't flip on any lights because I didn't want to wake anyone, and as I walked toward the kitchen, I heard her walking toward me. Right as I was about to casually say good morning to her I heard this BIG, DEEP growl.  You could have knocked me over with a feather, I've NEVER heard her growl in all her 8 years on this planet. She didn't know it was me for a second.

I said "It's ok Maddie, it's just me" and she instantly switched back to licky/wiggly/happy to see me.  Not saying she would have defended me if I were under attack, but she was certainly going to give an intruder pause for thought. She stopped me in my tracks, I can say that much! This came from a dog I would never have expected that kind of reaction from. She didn't know who it was for a minute and I was NOT welcome in her home while her people were sleeping.

I guess what i'm saying is, until you are in that situation, you never know what kind of reaction they will have. Her instinct to protect her home shocked the heck out of me! I always assumed she'd gladly welcome an intruder and show them where the valuables were! Not saying she'd take down a burglar, but even that reaction from her surprised me.

I love that dog like whoa. :)

I don't think there are too many bad guys that would challenge a german shepherd.  I don't know whether mine would protect me but I do know that when I am walking with her I do feel a sense of security. And maybe that sense of security makes me a less likely target.  I read over and over about women living alone being raped and/or murdered and I ask myself why don't more women who live alone have a big dog for protection.  I am not sure but I don't ever remember reading about a rape victim owning a big shepherd.
i think the dog picks up on your pheramones(spelling help ).  All these you tube videos are staged so the person being stalked isn't really afraid. Hence, there is nothing the dog can pick up on to go into protection mode. Maybe intelligence of the dog comes into play as well as it understands what the smell of fear means.  ( mine would figure out that if mommy gets hurt, I ain't getting dinner ).  Maybe I am dreaming or just hoping that if an intruder were to come after me that my shepherd would protect me.  hopefully I never have to find out. 

I do not know the answer to the question and I do often wonder. I do know that any GSDs we have had have exhibited the following. When alone at home anyone could enter and my dogs will barely lift a head. Someone breaks in the dogs will lick them and show them where all the best stuff is. When we are all home as a family the dogs are alert but not in anyway hyper reactive, if someone comes to the house they will bark, circle, sniff and go lay down.. Someone stole a snowmobile off of my husbands truck a few years back and the dogs slept right through it. If it is just the kids and I home the dogs are completely different dogs. They are climbing the walls the second a strange vehicle pulls in the yard, if someone comes to the door they force their way between me and the door before I open it. Not long ago I was out in the yard and some super sketchy creep pulled in the yard asking if he could clear away some windfall trees (I'm pretty sure that was code for scoping out our outbuildings to see if there was anything worthwhile) I told him not to get out of his truck because my dog is not friendly, she was about 5 feet from his door barking and he decided against my instructions to open the door to step out and in one fell swoop my girls ears went straight up and she came off the ground in a leap like I have never seen before and he barely got his leg back up and the door shut before her jaws snapped shut. His buddy looked over at him and mumbled "maybe we should leave". I also used to live in the city in a super sketchy crime ridden part of town but I would walk my dogs at any time with no issues. One night we were out walking. I had just my one male with me and we were near a grassy park and a sketchy guy walks towards us and tries to make conversation with me and asks if he can pet the dog. I declined his request and again, against my instructions the guy reached out to pay the dog and got a chomp on the hand. He bolted and we kept going along our walk. Right now I have three adults, thus far none are trained to protect. One would pee himself if someone approached, one is a coin flip but my Janna I believe without a doubt would protect me or the kids, or she would do her best. She wouldn't shy away from anything. I doubt that she would protect a stranger but I do believe she would protect the hands that feed her.

Oh crud. iPhone doesn't give me a dashboard. Sorry that there are no paragraph breaks. I typed it with breaks but they disappear when I post

Of course there will never be a definitive answer only antidotes...
So I'll kick in another antidote.  

My first GSD, no protection training at all was a quiet killer.
You would never get a warning from him only teeth sunk in flesh.
He never was much of barker, ever, but he would not hesitate to bite.

He was a master at knowing who had bad intentions.
He would watch bad actors and sometimes even strike first if the opportunity presented itself.

He bit more people than I can remember.
He even bit one of my dates in ass.
Not that she deserved a bite in the ass, but he saw something in her I didn't see.
She was up to no good.
And he was right...