Protecting

[Diesel]

Last night Diesel and I are walking back from the dog park and we were on the sidewalk with cars parked along the road. Suddenly, 3 drunk (and sketchy looking) guys come out from behind one of the cars. Diesel was queitly observing at first and then one guy started stammering towards us and Diesel let out one heck of a scary bark! The guys gave me some room to pass after that!

Good boy Diesel!

[Sugars Mom]

Nice! Way to go Diesel!

[Dutchringgirl]

Yeah !!! Good Boy!!!

[alspyce]

[wahinelf]

That's when that loud Dutchie bark comes in handy. Way to go!

[Schlussdibusti]

Earned his dinner!

[GSDNanny]

Excellent! I esp like the combo of convincing bark and nice pearly whites shinin'! They particularly show up on a DS with black face. Nice, very nice.

[Diesel]

There are plenty of sketchy folks in this town I am sad to say. But I am confident walking with Diesel. (Halo would just jump up and give them kisses.)
Diesel has never been given any sort of protection training but he has always show signs of protecting me, I think his appearance is enough to deter people and failing that the bark. I really have no idea if he would actually bite if need be.
Oh and a funny thing he does which proves he is only concerned with protecting his owners: I rent the lower portion of a house, our roommates upstairs will occasionally come in our apartment when I am not home to check the Furniss or something, Diesel just looks up and resumes his napping...but if I am home and the same person comes in, he will bark until I tell him to shut up.

[vneerland]

Oh and a funny thing he does which proves he is only concerned with protecting his owners: I rent the lower portion of a house, our roommates upstairs will occasionally come in our apartment when I am not home to check the Furniss or something, Diesel just looks up and resumes his napping...but if I am home and the same person comes in, he will bark until I tell him to shut up.

LOL. There is another way to evaluate that behavior, and that is that he is only willing to start an argument if he has potential back up.

Good for you though, that he picked up on some stupid drunks and told them not to mess with you.

[Diesel]

LOL. There is another way to evaluate that behavior, and that is that he is only willing to start an argument if he has potential back up.

LOL, that is a very good point!

[lisaanne]

Excellent. I've never felt afraid of anything when I have Beta. She is the biggest love bug to me and my Beagle at home, but she will quickly show her protective quality at the hint of danger...and I would NOT want to be on the receiving end, especially if its dark out and my big girl barks and shows her teeth in warning. Most people will cross the street down the block. She isn't this way when my son is along,, but she refuses to let anyone near any of us unless she is told its OK. I wouldn't say she is aggressive, but I think she would def protect us as much as was needed, without a doubt.

[Christie M]

Luckily, a good display is all that most of us would ever need.

When I got Dante, my oldest boy, he was a 2 year old flunky from a K9 breeder. We bonded well and he had an awesome display. Over a year later, after lots of protection training, I was visiting a friend who really knew Dante's true temperament. I was lots of talk and bravado about how much my boy had matured and how I trust him to protect me.

So my friend said....go walk through those woods...

When he jumped out to scare me, I jumped a mile...and Dante a mile and a half. He almost jerked the leash out of my hand trying to run AWAY. From that day on, I always said that if I was really attacked, Dante would be very grateful to me for holding off the bad guy while he went for help. Candy a$$ that he is.

[Sugars Mom]

lol, that is how Sugar is...come to our door and you'd think a vicious attack door was inside, but make a sudden move towards her and she runs for the hills!

[lisaanne]

hahaha you two! Beta will act this way ONLY when one of "her people" come through the door. When she hears a car or the door open she'll "charge" the door to protect it until she knows who it is. If it is one of her boys, she pretty much melts, her pricked ears suddenly lay flat back against her head, her butt drops low and she starts to do the twist, lol I still have to laugh every time watching her dance.

On the other hand, I pray no one ever thinks of breaking in the house or sneaking on to our property. (we technically live in the city, but have a relatively huge property, about 2 acres with lots of trees, almost secluded and potentially tempting to bad guys) I had a "scrap guy" out last week to look at hauling away an old RV taking up space. It was dusk and Beta hadn't realized he was out there with me and Puddles. Beta came out the side gate and saw this stranger with us and nearly went in for the kill. Thankfully she is a wonderfully behaved girldog and listens to her people. If I hadn't been right there that poor, unsuspecting man might have lost a leg, or arm or what-not. After it was all over, he said "What the hell was that? A hyena?"

Also, while Beta is so quick to "melt" with us direct family members, and some regular visitors, there are others with whom she continues to bark at. Not in an aggressive way or anything, but not the most "friendly" either. These are friends who visit often, and it takes a while for her to warm up to them. I just have to make sure to meet anyone and everyone at the door to greet Beta first. A frightened guest gives off bad vibes......

[Sugars Mom]

Ya, I love the melting, ears back, butt wiggle when Sugar sees us, or someone she knows...and she doesn't ever bark when someone comes over that she knows...just wiggles and melts, like you say. Super cute!

[k9katet]

Years ago I was camping in early spring for an agility seminar. There were very few people also camping. One was a guy who kind of lived there cuz his car got stolen and he had no money or something. Another girl was also camping and had met him previously so I was updated on his plight. I tried to avoid him though. I had the dogs off leash at my site and I was getting their dinner ready. Suddenly the guy just appeared behind me at the edge of my site. Copper, my mixed breed, roared and ran at the guy and lunged up at him. Thank god he did not bite him. He just kind of body slammed him on his shoulder at the last second. What did my Schutzhund dog, Vada, do? She took the opportunity to help herself to the chicken backs.

[felixone123]

Copper, my mixed breed, roared and ran at the guy and lunged up at him. Thank god he did not bite him. He just kind of body slammed him on his shoulder at the last second. What did my Schutzhund dog, Vada, do? She took the opportunity to help herself to the chicken backs.

funny story!!

Let's hear it for those mix breeds!!
My female is a mix and she is much more protective than Odin

[k9katet]

Usually Vada's presence is enough to deter anyone. She will just stand there and stare at someone and she's very dark and pointy eared. She's very obedient too and that also alarms bad people.