Protective of car?

mudpuppy

If you're walking along, and your normally friendly dog decides something is bad about THAT MAN and he carefully positions himself between you and THAT MAN and starts growling, does that mean you have a leadership issue? nonsense. It means you own a dog you can trust to protect you, a wonderful thing.

 I agree it is normal for dogs, especially certain breeds to display guardy behavior. However, just because a dog is growly, hackled up and carrying on doesn't mean you can trust they will protect you. Some of that behavior is actually coming from uncertainity about the situation, which is why you often don't see trained protection dogs being reactive - they already know they can handle a threat if one comes up. Just a handful of untrained dogs will protect their owners in a serious manner if push came to shove. The rest will likely keep on barking or will run from a threatening person. People really don't like hearing that but most dogs aren't Lassie and you can't expect a dog to seriously protect you if they haven't been trained to do so.

 

I remember there

mudpuppy

If you're walking along, and your normally friendly dog decides something is bad about THAT MAN and he carefully positions himself between you and THAT MAN and starts growling, does that mean you have a leadership issue? nonsense. It means you own a dog you can trust to protect you, a wonderful thing.

 I agree it is normal for dogs, especially certain breeds to display guardy behavior. However, just because a dog is growly, hackled up and carrying on doesn't mean you can trust they will protect you. Some of that behavior is actually coming from uncertainity about the situation, which is why you often don't see trained protection dogs being reactive - they already know they can handle a threat if one comes up. Just a handful of untrained dogs will protect their owners in a serious manner if push came to shove. The rest will likely keep on barking or will run from a threatening person. People really don't like hearing that but most dogs aren't Lassie and you can't expect a dog to seriously protect you if they haven't been trained to do so.

 

I remember there was

mudpuppy

If you're walking along, and your normally friendly dog decides something is bad about THAT MAN and he carefully positions himself between you and THAT MAN and starts growling, does that mean you have a leadership issue? nonsense. It means you own a dog you can trust to protect you, a wonderful thing.

 I agree it is normal for dogs, especially certain breeds to display guardy behavior. However, just because a dog is growly, hackled up and carrying on doesn't mean you can trust they will protect you. Some of that behavior is actually coming from uncertainity about the situation, which is why you often don't see trained protection dogs being reactive - they already know they can handle a threat if one comes up. Just a handful of untrained dogs will protect their owners in a serious manner if push came to shove. The rest will likely keep on barking or will run from a threatening person. People really don't like hearing that but most dogs aren't Lassie and you can't expect a dog to seriously protect you if they haven't been trained to do so.

 

I remember there was this

mudpuppy

If you're walking along, and your normally friendly dog decides something is bad about THAT MAN and he carefully positions himself between you and THAT MAN and starts growling, does that mean you have a leadership issue? nonsense. It means you own a dog you can trust to protect you, a wonderful thing.

 I agree it is normal for dogs, especially certain breeds to display guardy behavior. However, just because a dog is growly, hackled up and carrying on doesn't mean you can trust they will protect you. Some of that behavior is actually coming from uncertainity about the situation, which is why you often don't see trained protection dogs being reactive - they already know they can handle a threat if one comes up. Just a handful of untrained dogs will protect their owners in a serious manner if push came to shove. The rest will likely keep on barking or will run from a threatening person. People really don't like hearing that but most dogs aren't Lassie and you can't expect a dog to seriously protect you if they haven't been trained to do so.

 

I remember there was this huge

mudpuppy

If you're walking along, and your normally friendly dog decides something is bad about THAT MAN and he carefully positions himself between you and THAT MAN and starts growling, does that mean you have a leadership issue? nonsense. It means you own a dog you can trust to protect you, a wonderful thing.

 I agree it is normal for dogs, especially certain breeds to display guardy behavior. However, just because a dog is growly, hackled up and carrying on doesn't mean you can trust they will protect you. Some of that behavior is actually coming from uncertainity about the situation, which is why you often don't see trained protection dogs being reactive - they already know they can handle a threat if one comes up. Just a handful of untrained dogs will protect their owners in a serious manner if push came to shove. The rest will likely keep on barking or will run from a threatening person. People really don't like hearing that but most dogs aren't Lassie and you can't expect a dog to seriously protect you if they haven't been trained to do so.

 

I remember there was this huge Dobe

mudpuppy

If you're walking along, and your normally friendly dog decides something is bad about THAT MAN and he carefully positions himself between you and THAT MAN and starts growling, does that mean you have a leadership issue? nonsense. It means you own a dog you can trust to protect you, a wonderful thing.

 I agree it is normal for dogs, especially certain breeds to display guardy behavior. However, just because a dog is growly, hackled up and carrying on doesn't mean you can trust they will protect you. Some of that behavior is actually coming from uncertainity about the situation, which is why you often don't see trained protection dogs being reactive - they already know they can handle a threat if one comes up. Just a handful of untrained dogs will protect their owners in a serious manner if push came to shove. The rest will likely keep on barking or will run from a threatening person. People really don't like hearing that but most dogs aren't Lassie and you can't expect a dog to seriously protect you if they haven't been trained to do so.

 

I remember there was this huge Dobe in

mudpuppy

If you're walking along, and your normally friendly dog decides something is bad about THAT MAN and he carefully positions himself between you and THAT MAN and starts growling, does that mean you have a leadership issue? nonsense. It means you own a dog you can trust to protect you, a wonderful thing.

 I agree it is normal for dogs, especially certain breeds to display guardy behavior. However, just because a dog is growly, hackled up and carrying on doesn't mean you can trust they will protect you. Some of that behavior is actually coming from uncertainity about the situation, which is why you often don't see trained protection dogs being reactive - they already know they can handle a threat if one comes up. Just a handful of untrained dogs will protect their owners in a serious manner if push came to shove. The rest will likely keep on barking or will run from a threatening person. People really don't like hearing that but most dogs aren't Lassie and you can't expect a dog to seriously protect you if they haven't been trained to do so.

 

I remember there was this huge Dobe in agility class when I first started. One day his owner came in and said her and the dog were at the lake. This very drunk man came up to her and started becoming threatening. The dog barked, the guy became more threatening the dog barked again. The guy punched the lady in the face and the dog just stood there watching. IMO that is far more typical than a dog coming to a heroic rescue.

FourIsCompany

A properly trained guard dog should not aggress unless instructed to do so by the person (leader).

Not necessarily. There are times when a dog will aggress to what he perceives as a threat, and it is then the owners job to activate the off switch. There also are times when an owner cannot tell the dog to attack or when the dog sees the threat before the owner does. Ideally it is a team situation, and either member can initiate the alert. Ultimately with the owner being able to call off the dog's alert. Tyr's responded aggressively towards perceived threats, and I can assure you Tyr does not have any issues with leadership. I commanded a sit, and Tyr sat and stopped barking. I then told the person he was barking at how to behave in order to avoid agitating my dog. In protection training, we work on both commanding the dog to bark or to bite, as well as attacks on the handler where the dog should automatically jump into action, uncommanded. Tyr pretty much "gets" it naturally, as did two of my GSD's.

 I am speaking in generalities. Of course there are exceptions.

FourIsCompany

 I am speaking in generalities. Of course there are exceptions.

Yea see, I am talking in generalities too ~ as well as citing personal experiences...In general, a protection dog does not need to receive a command before aggressing.

corgipower

FourIsCompany

 I am speaking in generalities. Of course there are exceptions.

Yea see, I am talking in generalities too ~ as well as citing personal experiences...In general, a protection dog does not need to receive a command before aggressing.

 

That's why Sue Sternberg, when she does her aggression seminar, carries around that video clip of the presumably well-trained police K9 ripping at a reporter's face during an interview.  Dogs cannot always be trusted to tell the difference between a legitimate threat and a perceived threat, any more than people can always be trusted to do so. 

I agree with AgileGSD that people HATE, HATE, HATE to be told their dog may only be protecting himself or exhibiting fear or uncertainty (most owners hate to be told anything that doesn't fit with their idea of what the dog knows, does, or thinks), but that is the case more than 80% of the time.  However, even the most mild-mannered dogs occasionally react to protect a member of their social group, be it canine or human.  We often see dogs in play group act to interrupt a bully and break up a tiff before it even gets going, and the only instance where I have ever seen any semblance of aggression in my normally placid hound (can you say therapy dog couch potato) is when someone reached a hand into my truck window at me.  It was a friend who I don't see that often, but someone my dog didn't really know.  In a nanosecond, he was up and warning the guy off with a short, but low growl.  Do I know he was protecting me?  Nope.  Do I suspect he was?  Yes - he is confident with people, and with other dogs he is a pretty sure bet to be quiet, confident, non-threatening, and even tolerate a lot, but at the same time not take excess guff from upstarts. But, his action had the effect of protection anyway - hand was immediately removed from truck:-))   Do I think the girls would protect me?  Maybe, but the likelier scenario is Sioux searching for me to bail her out, and Sequoyah just trying to keep the darn threat from moving until I bail her out, too:-))

Mainly, from the onset of this post, I wanted to know if other dogs behaved the same (especially other GSDs and guardy-type dogs) and how it was handled when and if they do.

Thanks for all the responses and perspectives. Much food for thought.

FourIsCompany

...how exactly does she act and under what circumstances? Does she try to get out at people or does she back up to the far end of the car? Does she growl first or just come out barking? Does she show her teeth or just bark? If you tell her to be quiet, what happens?

I am still figuring out the exact circumstances. No, she doesn't try to get out at people, nor does she back up to the far end of the car. She does growl first typically, then follows up with barking...does not show teeth. If I ask her to be quiet, she will be stop.