Will my GSD protect me? - Page 1

To anniedfw :
I train "real" dogs for decades. I do not want to give you hard time, but let me tell you that in described situations, you were setting yourself up for major disaster. What I mean is what would you do if this, to you unknown dog, actually would "protect" you against your cable guy!?! If you decide to train your dog for any level of protection (even just barking), you would have to absolutely avoid such situations. Properly trained PP dog will warn you against strangers coming to your house and will shut down and deffuse when told so. Dog must not be "under control" and in attack mode if you want him to be friendly with a person. He must be defused and in his mind accepting such person as a friend> GSD are great for that thanks to their discriminativnes and ability to difuse if properly trined. There is a lot to train pp a dog and you must hire knowledgeable trainer who is familiar in prey and defense training in your area. This also presents problem because there are many self proclaimed experts who can cause a disaster with your dog. 
Properly trained dog must be 100% sociable, alert on command, attack on command on any passive none trainer/decoy person in strange environment and without equipment. Only clue must be the your command and nothing else. He must protect his territory/your house when stranger brakes in without command. He needs to "out" and diffuse when he is told to and accept the stranger as a friend.
If your dog can do all that, not speaking of obedience and 10s -100s of other tings than your dog will protect you. 
 Prager (Hans)
http://www.alpinek9.com

There is a difference between protective and protection trained dog. I may be protective of my family, but I am much more effective if I have black belt in JUDO.  You can rely on protection trained dog more then on protective dog.
TRAIN YOUR DOG! Trained dog (properly) is also generally safer dog than dog which is only protective.

Prager (Hans)
http://www.alpinek9.com

What is "push come to shove"?
Smiling stranger entering your house through unlocked back door dressed like a cable guy and going through your drawers?
Think about it . Yes almost any dog will protect in some situations to lesser or greater degree,  but only properly trained dog will be reliable in his protection. And the question was:"....I just want to know if I could count on him if we are ever threatened or endangered." The question was about reliability.
Pager (Hans)