can untained dogs really protect? - Page 2

My last Shepherd (RIP)rose to the occasion when some guy tried to break in our house. He was in the back of  the house trying to get in the basement.I came out the front door and told my dog to him to go get em....and he did. He brought him down as he was trying to get in the garage after he failed at the basement door. My son held him down while the dog hung on to his pants leg. When he stopped struggling both of them let up on him. The dog continued to bark and hold. When he tried to run/crawl up the back stairs, the dog grabbed him by the ass cheek and dragged him back down. He hid under the picnic bench until the police came. We found out from the cops he was a local drug addict probably looking for a place to sleep it off. I told the cops what happened and said I didn't want to press charges. They in return did nothing about the dog "assisting" with the situation.

Well, in real life.  I knew a fairly well trained bitch that flunked out on PPD.  On the other hand, different dog (male) that would lay his life down for you just by someones untrustworthy actions not formally trained but trained himself;  but would definitely protect at any given moment.

HOwever, I do not feel a dog with that potential should be allowed to take that responsibility without proper training.  In a real situation, my boy told me two different times what he would do if HE felt the need arised.  I tried to change his attitude later in his life, about 6 years old on and found out that it was nearly impossible. 

So the testing and training from an early age I feel is absolutely necessary if you are going to have a dog that protects or even think or want him to protect.  train accordingly and start  them with a responsible trainer that knows what the hell they are doing.

Great days everyone,  Nan

My male is an IPO1 dog, as well as trained to dual purpose police k9 level. He gets to work a few times a month with our PPDA association. I have had one instance where his true colors came out.
My kennels and horse barn are in the front of our property, (22 acres),  about 250 feet off the road and the house is in the back, about 1000 feet off the road, just to give some perspective. We are in a fairly rural area, although our road has become pretty populated over the last few years.  We have a lot more traffic since it was paved a few years ago as well.
One afternoon a few months ago, I was doing some chores at the barn, cleaning and such and had Grimm with me, as I like to do when I am out alone. A car came down the drive and pulled up right in front of the barn. It was an older Toyota, with a single male in the drivers seat, who rolled down the window and asked if Joe Blainey was here. I replied that we had no one by that name here. He started to crack open the door. 
All along Grimm was plastered to my legs. He did not bark, he did not growl, he was just plastered and very focused, until the guy cracked open the door, he then turned to stand in front of me, bared his teeth and very audibly growled and began to move towards the car. The guy shut the car door and said thank you, backed out and left. I do not know what he would have done if the situation had progressed, but he was enough for tht guy. 

some will i got a blk lab mix who is now 3 that i had since he was 7weeks old. he anint good for schutzhund but he does akc obedience and if you crack a whip in front he shys sometimews but if some one comes and attack me o HE WILL BITE TRUST ME. when he was arond 1.5 years old sit was late and i had always told him to sit behind me(hes jet black too) so he gets up and has "that look" and some guy is coming almost attacking me i froze at first and said go or something and my dog bite him i ran home and my dog follwed. so it all depends

WOW:  I  love that story;  my boy had a similar type personality;  NOT one word if he was serious, no bark, or any warning would just dare the person to move forward or towards him or myself.  BUT that is what I am talking about, I feel you need total control of that with a damn good aus or out command, my language for my boy was leave it and he stopped immediately.  Worked for us.  But in serious training the "OUT" command is definitely a critical command to learn for the dogs even for dogs without formal training.  BOL Nan

So my answer to the original post would be YES they can protect but it may not be what you think is appropriate under any given circumstance.  Train, test and evaluate to your dogs fullest potential.

gsds30whatever,
Are you worthy of protection?
That is the real question.

I've seen mutts protect their masters, so I'm sure a GSD would.

Training has it's merits, that goes without saying, but there must be a bond, and there must be some courage on the part of the dog.

There is in my opinion a great difference between a trained attack and instinct protection from a dog who's actions are pure and from the heart.

GSD's in my opinion have the greatest capacity of all breeds for making a conscious decision to protect their masters when they are raised correctly.

Training helps and should not be overlooked, but the dog is the one doing the protecting, so make sure you are worthy.

Moons.

One of mine had zero training many years ago and protected me from a man breaking in during the night at only six months old. She later protected my son saving his life from a bear in our yard on the dge of the dismal swamp and we lost her that time.


     Forgot to mention she was a rottweiler. I also do believe two of my gsds without formal training would do the same.

I think many of you are missing the point, yes an untrained dog may use aggression towards a threat in an attempt to protect it's self, handler or family. But what happens if the show of teeth and barking isn't enough and the dog has to physicaly stop a threat? This is where more times than not the untrained dog will fail. Slam's Bruce Lee analogy sums it up best.

I completely agree with felloffher -- when push comes to shove and a dog is needed to physically stop a threat, I would say most (but not all) untrained dogs will back down. Of course, a lot of people think their everyday untrained dogs will, but it's just not true. Most will growl and show teeth, not many will have the courage to bite. I would even go so far as to say that not even all protection trained dogs will bite for real. It takes real courage and a real bond with the handler for a true ppd dog.