Best All Around Dog for TEOFTWAWKI

[Denim Deb]

I have a friend in PA. She was home alone w/the dog one day. Someone came to the door selling Bibles. The dog, who is friendly, didn't leave my friend's side, and growled at the guy, wouldn't let him NEAR my friend. They found out later that this guy was a criminal, and that was his MO. I don't recall now whether he was a rapist or what.

I've never had to have a dog protect me. The closest it ever came was when a friend of mine asked what Ebony would do if someone were to attack me. I replied, I didn't know. So, he acted like he was going to hurt me. Keep in mind, this was a neighbor, and Ebony knew this boy. We were friends, and it wasn't unusual for the 2 of us to go to their house. Ebony threw herself against my legs and turned on this boy snarling and growling. I called her off. A few years later, I got married and of course, Ebony went w/me. The people next to us had a Rottie. I couldn't stand that dog. It would always come in our yard, and even go on our porch to pee. One day, my husband brought me home a kitten. From the getgo, this was Ebony's cat. You didn't mess w/Smokey. One day, Smokey was out in the yard. The neighbor's Rottie started to chase her. Much to my surprise, Ebony WENT for the Rottie, and chased him out of our yard! This dog could have made mincemeat out of Ebony. (She was a Cocker) Needless to say, I was shocked. I miss her to this day.

 

[AL]

Rio is a great big mush of wagging tail and sloppy grins. I was staying at a hotel in Texas and housekeeping knocked on the door. I told them I didn't need it and they came in anyway - until 105lbs of fur and teeth went for them, then they agreed to come back later.
More recently, we have had a new wave of homeless folks in our town. They are on every street corner. Normally Rio rides like a person... sitting up staring straight ahead. One morning at a traffic ligh he stood at the window growling at a homeless guy, even turning in the seat to watch him as we drove away.

One last story - in regards to an untrained dog won't continue to attack. Growing up we had an Australian Cattle Dog named Libby. She worked with my cousin on a dairy for 4-5 years, and then she came to live with us. She was incredibly protective and worked hard to keep everybody "in line" (ie breaking up wrestling matches, etc). One day some boys came over and were hanging out waiting for my brother to get home. My sister and I were on the trampoline with them and they started shoving her off. She'd get up they'd shove her off. I yelled for Libby and without another word from me she went after the boys. My mom heard the commotion and had to come call her off. The boys went home with torn jeans and (fortunately) only very slight abrasions. Of course, when the mom came to pick them up and my mom told her they'd been bit by the dog, their mom said "What did you do to the dog?!?!"

 

[tortoise]

Bite and fatal bite statistics do not support the myth that dogs know who is in their "family" and will protect those people. Most bites are inflicted on a family member.

What you call attack, and what is a true ATTACK is different. So Fluffy growed at somone. That's a growl, not an attack. So Fluffy chased someone. That's a chase, not an attack. Go back and look at the videos I posted.

Fluffy isn't a police K9. Fluffy doesn't attack.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i guess that AL's point is that you dog doesnt need to be a killer or perform proper "bite work" to "protect" you - the dog just needs to run someone off or give you a chance to get away. or sound the alarm.

and all of this is ridiculous if the attacker just shoots your dog anyway, right?

and i'm probably wrong but i thought many K9 units are taught to hold - not kill - the bad guys.

i know all of us around here got a pretty good laugh when a bad, bad guy was found, tackled, and pinned down by the local K9 team. they had to take that guy to the hospital and the dog was a big hero on the news.

and I called the local K9 dog "Officer Fluffy' and the handler thought it was pretty darn funny. i would not want that dog to be my SHTF dog, btw..... he wasnt useful for anything else.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I had a cocker, she went crazy when a plumber came over. I don't know if he was really a bad dude, or if she just took a dislike to the smell... (chemicals, flux, solder, etc.)

My 4 year old thinks it's awesome to punch her dad in the legs... they were sparring yesterday, her totally punching him, and him sort of pushing her (just in fun, not actually violent, or painful (for her)), and our dog went nuts, jumped in between them, barking, and pushing DH away. She didn't bite him, but you better believe that he stopped in a hurry DD was very disappointed :/

 

[savingdogs]

Bite and fatal bite statistics do not support the myth that dogs know who is in their "family" and will protect those people. Most bites are inflicted on a family member.

What you call attack, and what is a true ATTACK is different. So Fluffy growed at somone. That's a growl, not an attack. So Fluffy chased someone. That's a chase, not an attack. Go back and look at the videos I posted.

Fluffy isn't a police K9. Fluffy doesn't attack.

Fluffy the cocker spaniel will tell me that Mr. Bad Guy is snooping around my house with a gun. I can then get MY gun. This is STILL protective, whether Fluffy just growled or what.

And that gun that Mr. Bad Guy has will kill ANY dog so it is rather a moot point, isn't it? Not sure why you are so wanting to convince us all our dogs are not protective, Tortoise, because they have not had formal training.

Dogs are not the end-all for protection and not everyone should own an attack trained dog. For many of us, a good protective looking type dog is really sufficient and I suspect what the OP was looking for, not a dog trained to "hold" an attacker in military fashion.

 

[tortoise]

OFG - you're right that apprehension K9's are trained to bite and hold. They are trained to not bite hands, feet, or faces. Some personal protection dogs and ringsport dogs are trained crotch bites. Personal protection dogs are trained scenarios with guns, gun shots. Some are trained to bite the hand holding the gun (risky, I know). This is where you get the dog that will take a bullet and keep fighting.

I encourage every dog owner to read the book "Fatal Dog Attacks" by Karen Delise. It gives a frame of reference to understanding the topic.

ETA: My point is you don't get a proptection dog without training one. You can get a deterrent, but a crminial can get around a deterrent dog fairly easily. I get concerned when a person state they want a dog for protection and the community gives a false response that any dog will save the family.

It is misleading. It's like buying a gun. It's a good gun - if it fires it doesn't completely miss the target, and it will probably never fire again. Or another way to think of it - it's like waving a black water gun. Might buy a few minutes, but the perp will find out very quickly that you have no protection at all.

Don't pretend to own a dog for a stated purpose if you have no intention of choosing a dog for that purpose and no intention of training to dog for it.

It is not SAFE to mislead ourselves into a false sense of safety. If you don't want a biting dog, then don't declare the dog to be protection. It is a deterrent. Any dog that is large, especially if it is black, and WILL BARK, is good. Train it to bark only at unusual things and you have an alert dog. It might send a perp running, or might get you precious seconds to get a gun. But it you have a run-in with the perp, don't expect your alert dog to do anything but run away. It might not run, but you can't count on it. It is only an alert dog, it's job is to BARK, not to protect.

An alert dog will buy a little security, BUT it is not a protection dog. clear?

 

[Wifezilla]

Australian Shepherd!

I lived with a couple that had one. The dog was awesome It even played soccer! He herded the ball with his nose and front feet. Totally cracked me up.

AL's point is that you dog doesnt need to be a killer or perform proper "bite work" to "protect" you - the dog just needs to run someone off or give you a chance to get away. or sound the alarm.

and all of this is ridiculous if the attacker just shoots your dog anyway, right?

That

 

[rebecca100]

I would personally rather have a good dog that looks mean and has a good bluff. Does that mean it is not protective or is not a form of protection. No. Anything that keeps you safer than you were before is protection and that includes one that simply barks and does nothing else. Do I want one that bites and holds? Absolutely not. If it was a true SHTF situation then there is a good chance the police would not be coming. So you have someone held, what do you do with them? I personally don't plan on keeping prisoners, so discouragement/distraction is more of a useful feature to me than attack training.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

to heck with all this dog stuff - from now on i'm just gonna rely on The Insane Cat Posse.

Nicholas' ability to produce fear, uncertainty, and chaos is far more effective than any ol' dog.

;-)