Do you think that your friendly dog would protect you if you were in danger?

In My Humble Opinion
41

When I was a teenager, we had a Springer Spaniel named Guv’nor.

Guv’ was a great family dog, friendly, always up for several types of play and tolerant of small children pulling his ears etc. As long as he knew you were welcome in the house, you were golden in his mind.

He was also a great guard dog. NO stranger was getting onto our property without serious attention from Guv’. That included the mailman, and aircraft passing overhead from the nearby airport (none EVER landed in the back yard on Guv’nor’s watch).

He also once beat up a German Shepherd which charged us as we were out on a neighborhood walk.

Eventually Guv’ met his demise defending us from a passing car.

I still miss him.

42

If someone were to break into my home and attack me, my Beagle would cower in a corner. Later, she might approach me, to consume my rotting corpse.

43

I had a Pit/GSD mix who was extremely friendly. From the time I got her as a 7lb puppy, I started training her not to jump on people, but to sit and wait to be pet. She would go up to everyone at the dog park, and sit politely, waiting to be pet, before she would run and play with the other dogs. She had excellent recall, and could lie-down-stay forever, even if I was standing 100 feet away, and dangling her favorite toy. She also could heel off-leash.

But I think if someone attacked me, she would attack them.

I base this on two things. One is that the first time she saw me signing with Deaf-blind person-- that is, hand-over-hand, she got confused, and started barking in a threatening way. I had to put her on a lie-down-stay. She continued to growl a little until she got used to this person being around, and the way we communicated.

The second was the time I took her to the vet with a couple of the cats. Normally, I did not take dogs and cats to the vet together, but this time, she was in the waiting room with two cats in a carrier. Usually, in the waiting room, she would play with whatever other friendly dog was there: they’d play-wrestle, and chase a little. Not that day. That day, she sort of wrapped herself around the cat carrier, and growled at any dog who ventured near. It was totally unexpected (on my part).

So she had a very strong protective streak.

FWIW, though, this was the sweetest, most affectionate dog in the world with me: she slept with me, and liked to be spooned. When my husband came into the picture, she loved having another person to pet her. She didn’t mind sharing the bed with him, but sometimes she’d try to sleep between us.

If people were friendly to me, she was very friendly to them.

She really was just the best dog ever.

She’s been gone for 12 years, and it still hurts.

44

My current dog is still a puppy, so who knows, but my last dog stepped up big time once. We were walking in the city and a Rottweiler came out of nowhere and started approaching us. Not growling, but doing that death stare, slow walk towards us. I tried to pull my dog behind me because I was worried they were going to tangle, but she wouldn’t have it. She planted herself between us and walked backwards with me away from it until it went back where it came from. She never took her eyes off it and I have no doubt she would have fought it if it came to that. She was a lab/chow mix who had a very sweet demeanor.

45

My dachshund would bark a lot. He might even try to bite. He would not, however, actually be of any help. My chihuahua even less so.

46

Not currently because we are down to two salukis which are, to be honest, wuss-dogs. Oh, they put on a great show, barking or growling at the the Dangerous Stranger or Vicious Dog that is in their territory (i.e. anywhere they can see it)… so long as there’s a fence between them. No fence? They’re behind us, keeping a quiet eye on them while pressing against our leg.

Now the other breed we’ve had, Anatolian Shepherd, is a guard breed* and would definitely do what it takes, including sacrificing their own life, to protect their charges. They are not as persistent as some other guardians are though. If you were to, say, scale a fence into the back yard, their first step would be to interpose themselves between the house or any critters (including us) that might be there. If you advance, they would issue a clear warning, a low-pitched growl I’ve heard only a couple times, completely different than their, “Hey, you wanna check this out?” growl. If you’re stupid enough to ignore that and keep coming, they’ll attack but only to the point of driving you off. If you belatedly decide it was a bad idea and run for the fence, they’ll let you go.

This is because they were bred in Turkey to guard the sheep flocks when the shepherd was not around, against wolves. If they ran down and took the time to kill every wolf that came too close, the rest of the pack would be upon the sheep while they were busy with the first one.

*That’s why we got them; to guard the salukis.

47

I’m fairly certain our pitts would go after someone they perceived to be a threat. They are in superb shape and the fastest dogs I’ve ever had.

Our yeller lab would make friends with the attackers and leave with them, especially if they had food.

48

I have no idea.

My Very Friendly Dog, comes to my side when I’m hurt or sick or crying, to comfort me. I really don’t know if he would fight someone who was trying to hurt me or just distract them with his friendliness.

My Scaredy Dog, who is sometimes friendly, has tried to defend me from my Very Friendly Dog on occasion by attacking him (they now live separate, but equal lives, aka, crate and rotate), so he might try to protect me from a human stranger, if the stranger wasn’t too scary looking.

Either might scare off an approaching stranger with their enthusiastic barking which makes them sound like hellhounds.

49

When I used to take Simone to the dog park, there was one dog who always barked furiously when kids would launch model rockets in the field across the parking lot. All the other dogs paid no attention whatsoever, but at the hiss of each launch, this dog would go nuts. I presume he was a trained Aerospace Alert dog, a very useful type in the DMZ between North and South Korea.

Changing the subject slightly, we had a friend who had three H U G E Rottweilers. These particular dogs were spectacular in size, easily rivaling the Saint Bernards and Great Danes I’ve seen, standing with their heads sternum-high on me (I am 5’ 5") on paws the size of compact disks. I told her she doesn’t have pets, she has livestock.

These Rotties of Unusual Size were gentle-natured and calm, probably because she was. Eventually there was an incident, however, in which their protective nature was tested. She hosted a party with many guests bringing potluck; as each person or group arrived, the dogs joined her in greeting and inspecting the newcomers. But one guest thought it would be funny to slip in unnanounced and “surprise” our friend by shouting boo.

You can imagine. At the first shout of surprise, the “intruder” was knocked to the ground and pinned by the nearest ROUS, and the others surged to the attack. Fortunately for the foolish intruder, the dogs weren’t innately aggressive, and quickly stood down when Beloved Human took control of the situation. Injuries were minimal and lessons definitely learned.

Moral of the story: don’t jump out and scare people protected by giant Rottweilers.

50

Mine did when a loose dog came and attacked us while we were walking. Kicked his ass too.

51

Sounds like Guv’nor alright!

Or Springer Spaniels as Guv’nor showed on a couple of occasions. On the other hand, he had some difficulty with attacking turtles…:dubious:

52

My dogs aren’t particularly friendly. One is timid, and I really don’t know if she’d come through or not. The other, really not a even a question. He won’t let anyone in the door or near my car unless I tell him to stand down.

53

All this reminds me of the best Doper Dog Story ever told. Great-Souled Corwin

54

My lab crawls between my wife and I when we kiss/hug. He is protecting her. If he can’t get between us by force he whines and growls. When my sons would tease or bother their sister, he’d stand by her side or in front of her between them. He also takes my daughters side when she and my wife are speaking a little louder than normal. Since the lab is now a teenager, he is less protective when it comes to other dogs and vermin like stray cats and raccoons. He stands and barks/growls instead of chasing. The only cats he tolerates are ones my children have cuddled enough to leave their scent on. Then he accepts them. The dropped off strays and ferals are treated like the enemy.

55

Some of my favorite Scylla is in that post: