Does your dog protect you?! Or does he look for YOU for protection?!

I don't think Apollo would...but who knows, he's never had to. He's pretty laid back, very friendly with all people. I think he would want me to protect him.

 Emma is extremely protective of me, to the point where it's dangerous if I pick her up in public. She's gotten much, much better, but she has proven in the past that she will bite. My anxiety level seems to be a big trigger, so working on keeping myself calm makes a big difference.

I have no doubt that if a serious situation arose, she'd defend me the best she could. She's only 19-20 lbs, but she'd fight her hardest.

I wish she wasn't like that. 

Rascal is similar - unfortunately, since I wish he were more easy-going. But last night I was taking him to potty outside at around 11 and some drunk/high guys came up and got in my face. Fairly harmless, but I was very uncomfortable - one guy went up about 6" away from me and started saying, "HELLO!!!" I said, "Sorry, you need to step back, my dog isn't friendly and he might bite you" and which point Rascal started growling. The (big) guy exclaimed, "Dude, what a MEAN dog!" and left us alone!

He may be 8 pounds, but he's ferocious!  

Gunnar looks to me for protection although I believe he would defend me if the need was urgent, Hektor is very protective and needs no encouragement. I truly think he would take on a full grown rabid lion without a pause should one walk in the front door. Gunnar would bark and run around the room like mad saying mom, its a lion get the gun!, Hektor would charge.

Tootsie is all bark. She barks like mad, in  between my legs. LOL. 

It depends on the situation. If it's thundering Jeddie's behind my legs in a second. But if he feels someone/thing is threatening me or I'm scared, he is The Beast. One time we were walking (I live in a kind of sketchy area) and these two guys started following me and being intimidating (talking about how they "f" people up and such). I turned down the alley to go to our apartment and they started to come down the alley behind us (there's no reason to go down the alley unless you live in our building and they didn't) and I started to get scared. All of a sudden Jed spun around, spread his feet apart and snarled. It shocked me, because I had NEVER seen him do anything even remotely like that-even playing he's kind of a wuss! But the men booked it out of the alley in a big hurry. So, yeah, if push comes to shove, I think Jeds would throw down to protect me. But then again, if anything tried to hurt him, I'd do the same...

Tough call, to date (age 2.5) we've seen no, absolutely no, aggression from Bugsy BUT he is very confident and has never had tail between legs or backed off a human or growling dog.  he is not a barker but he looks pretty intimidating to some (I don't see it but some people are wary)

My guess is that if he decided the situation was threatening he would be protective.  But I'm guessing. 

If someone approaches the house Charlie barks like a mad man, but as soon as we "welcome" them in, he looks for pets and snuggles.  But, this weekend at the playground I was playing a game of tug with another dog and he started to bay, not aggressive, just making a ton of noise.  I don't know if he was being possessive or what??

If DH and I are having a loud discussion he will come right up to me and will start to climb all over me if I am sitting or laying on the couch.  He's not aggressive towards DH (don't get me wrong, DH is amazing and has never been threatening at all ever!!!), but clings to me.  I don't know if he's protecting me or is looking for me to protect him

Willow is a great protector and very brave. There were a few situations she stood her ground and guarded even though I could see she was afraid.  I never really thought about it before her but I'll look for this trait in any future dogs too. 

At home, Sniper is very protective, but usually only when I'm alone. If DH is home, she really doesn't do too much growling, just goes to lay down in the living room. If I'm alone and answer the door and it's someone she doesn't know, she stands between us with fur raised and growls until I tell her "enough" and then she relaxes. She never lays down in the living room if I'm alone though, she stays seated right by my side until the visitor leaves, it's really kind of neat. Now if it is someone she knows, she is all over them and could care less about poor mom!

I don't believe my dogs have guardian instincts however you never know. My dogs have often surprised me when they have thought they need to "protect" me. Belle can get more assertive on walks after dark if other dogs are around. My old Lab Shadow definitely had guardian instincts. We once had a minor break in and called the police, we invited the officer into our home so she was ok with that HOWEVER he had a gun on his waist and she knew what that was and did not take her eye off him, and stayed positioned between us. Also once a neighbors dog went after our Golden at the time, Shadow came out of nowhere grabbed the neighbors dog by the back of the neck and just pushed it into the ground, and just growled. She did not hurt their dog, didn't even leave spit on it. She just stated "DO NOT MESS WITH MY FAMILY" and let her go and walked away. Both the neighbors and us witnessed it we were both amazed how she handled it. They were not at all upset because she handled it with out really being nasty. Needless to say the neighbors dog had tons of respect for Shadow after that. Shadow never once broke the skin on anything, nor did she bark or show aggression, she just patrolled with confidence.

I think she passed that on to Belle but she has never been tested, I hope she never is. Maxine and Teddi would let the murderers in and wag their tails. Oh well.
 

Jazzy is very protective, especially of my daughter. I pity the person who would try to hurt her because I think Jazzy would go for their throat.

Lacie is protective but being just a year old, she can also be intimidated. I think that in a bad situation she would be protective. 

Keisha - I have no idea.  She is just so loving and friendly that I just don't know how she'd react. 

Rex is protective, especially of me.  But he's also a big wuss so I don't know. 

Zoe is just 11 weeks old but has quite the little bark!  She might scare a mean squirrel away!

Seriously, I have never (thankfully) been in a situation where we've had to find out. 

One thing I think is that if a 'bad guy' comes in with a steak in his hand, I am in BIG trouble!!!