From: kudzu@netcom.com (Michael Sierchio)
Subject: Re: Why do dogs protect?
Organization: True Love, and Home-Grown Tomatoes
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 19:43:19 GMT

In article <42058@unix.SRI.COM> cole@unix.SRI.COM (Susan Cole) writes:

>All this talk about protection, aggression, and dominance has stirred
>up a question in me -- why do (some) dogs protect their owners?

The ones that do it effectively do it for two reasons:

	They've been bred for it;
	They've been trained.

>I know some dogs have undesirable traits that are interpreted as "being
>protective".  For example, dogs that are allowed to be overly dominant, to
>the extent of being boss in their own homes, will often be aggressive to
>outsiders.  They are bad news because they push their owners around, and
>are liable to growl and bite even their family, to enforce their own authority.

This isn't protection, this is pack hierarchy -- anyway, if you succeed in
dominating such a dog (it's mostly a matter of pose), they'll love you.

>And fearful dogs may look "protective" as they bark in alarm, but any
>"protecting" they do is incidental -- they are mostly interested in
>protecting themselves and are liable to bite inappropriately, out of fear.
>In a pinch (this has happened to me) they will run away or turn to their
>owner to protect them!

Generally, a dog will turn to its owner for protection -- after all, you feed
it, you tell it what to do, etc.  I'll discuss the "drives" we employ in
training protection dogs, but fear is part of of what we call "Defense" --
A dog that has had training to bite, and has had encouragement in encounters
with "bad guys" will respond by biting -- the alternative is to run. Barking
is something else entirely.

>So what motivates a stable, well-socialized dog to protect its owner?

The happy thought that he is permitted under those circumstances to
BITE :-)

About breeding -- even among dogs from breeds we associate with protection:
GSDs, Rottweilers, Dobies, Malinois, Bouviers, etc. it is by no means
common to find a good protection dog.  However, I wouldn't bother with
a Husky, Malamute, etc. or a Golden Retriever -- As has been noted here,
Some Labs show the necessary drive to protect, as well as LBDs (little brown
dogs -- "terriers" -- "pit bulls").  The dogs I mention as being protection
dogs are more "people-oriented", as well as having been bred (in some blood-
lines) specifically for the drives that make a good protection dog.

About training -- there are basically two drives that we use to get a
dog to bite - Prey and Defense.  Prey Drive comes into play when a dog
is chasing a ball, or frisbee, or rag-pulling, or biting a sleeve when
the wearer is running away from the dog -- not challenging the dog.
Much of dog behavior is sublimated from the prey drive -- herding,
retrieving, etc.  We use prey to teach initial confidence in biting,
and because it's fun for the dog.  The bite becomes part of the reward
for the behavior.  In Schutzhund we develop the bark at this point --
we reward barking by allowing the dog to bite, then require him to bark
more and more before the bite, eventually building up to barking for a
full minute without biting.  The bark becomes a warning -- for a sentry dog,
you might want to teach the bite without warning :-)  In the real world,
a fierce  bark might be enough to deter a bad guy.

Defensive drive comes into play when we directly challenge the dog (or his
master) -- this puts a great deal of stress on the dog.  We do this in stages,
and after a little stress we  then relieve the pressure by allowing the 
dog to bite in prey.  Remember that even direct eye contact may be a challenge
to a dog -- in a real world violent encounter, the dog that has had training
and past success will have the confidence to defend its owner and itself,
even if the intimidation of a bark doesn't work.  There's a test in which
we run full-bore at a dog -- the dog passes if he bites with enthusiasm
and courage.  No dog will do this without training.

Remember that many states have dog bite statutes  -- which means you're
responsible for any injury your dog does, even if it's to some creep who's
attacking you.  Anyway, better to be tried by twelve than carried by six.

Finding a good protection dog means:

	Educating yourself;
	Selecting a good puppy (very difficult for a novice), or
	Selecting an adolescent (1-2 yrs.) with some training and
	who demostrates ability;
	Working with the dog -- this is an ongoing process.

Practice is required for dogs, too.  This means training the bark and
bite at the door, in the car, on the running trail, etc.  Food refusal
from strangers and other advanced exercises are all part of the whole
training regimen.

From what I've written, you'd think it's all in the training, but it's
mostly in the genes --- the ability, that is.  It takes a couple of
years of constant training to bring a dog to its potential,  but that's
only true if the dog has any.  A small percentage do, even among the
"macho" breeds.

-- 
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|  Michael Sierchio                          1563 Solano Avenue, Suite 123 |
|  kudzu@netcom.com                                Berkeley, CA 94707-2116 |
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