Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Monday, 6 Apr 1992 21:53:59 CDT
From: Darlene Pietrzak, M/C 135 <U38354@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Friendly dogs as Protection??

In article <28610@brahms.udel.edu>, thuyan@brahms.udel.edu (Thuy-An Hartman)
says:
>Anyone have any feelings on this?  Do I need to get a vicious dog to get
>protection or can I feel safe with the little cotton ball?  Is the only
>threat she presents to people a threat of being licked to death??
>
>thanx,
>Thuy-An
I had  very friendly dogs and not so friendly dogs and have found that the
gentle friendly dog was more protection then the no so friendly dogs.  2 dogs
that were friendly were a fox terrier mix and a collie/husky mix.  Both of
these dogs surprised us at how they would protect.  The terrier I got when I
was in grade school and we would play fight around her to see if she would go
after someone who would hit me, she did nothing.  One day my brother and I were
fighting and he was getting the better of me, the dog jumped and bit him in the
butt.  Later on when I was older she was in the car with us when we were driv-
ing home, we were going through a skid row area and were stopped at a light.  A
derelict walked up to the car window which was open, we hadn't noticed him
coming, the dog jumped over my lap and almost got him.  He said he didn't mean
any harm.

My collie/husky, we found roaming the streets, she was the best dog so far.  I
could take her to school with me when I worked, we were having some problems
with rape at the time and no females were allowed to work late, I was able to
get hours because my boss liked dogs and brought his to work with him sometimes
.  She would not have been allowed to come with me if she was a threat to the
other students or workers.  The first time I knew she would protect me if any-
thing happened was when someone walked down the street toward me at night, she
instinctively moved to the side the person approaching was on and kept herself
between me and the person.  She did not bark or bite or even sniff the guy.
Another time while working late at school in the summer I was outside the
work area, the student area and my work area was divided by bins.  A 15 year
old approached me for change for a $5.  Since this was a university and night,
noone but students were to be in the building.  I told him I had no change.  I
was trapped where I was at, I had to pass this kid to get to the door.  He kept
approaching asking for the change and I kept telling him I had none.  He was
about 2 feet from me when we both heard clicking of mails on the floor.  My
dog came behind this kid and stayed there, now he was trapped between me and
the dog, no escape.  When he finally apologized and said I see you don't have
any change, Sandy, my dog let him leave, but he did have to climb on the
bench to get past her, again, she did not bark or growl at the kid.

Now for the 2 territorial mean nasties that I had.  One was a yellow retriever
and the other is our current GSH/dobie mix.  The retriever wouldn't allow any-
one in the yard, barked at kids and delivery people and threatened a friend of
mine when she walked in the house with me!  She was unpredictable as far as who
she liked and didn't like.  She was a stray as well.  While walking with her
down the street at night, I was approached by 2 guys, the dog was so scared
she wrapped me up in her leash.  She was a terror in the yard, but outside her
element she was the biggest coward I had ever seen.  I wouldn't bet my
life on that dog.

The GSD/dobie is another terror in the yard and house, but outside on a leash
she fears everyone.  My father was walking both this dog and the Collie/husky
mix down the alley for their nightly walk.  A drunk came up and kicked Sandy
and my father tried to protect her.  The guy picked up a garbage can lid and
tried to hit my father.  The GSD/dobie broke from my father and ran for our
gate to get back in the yard, Sandy stood her ground and went for the drunk,
putting herself between him and my father.  The dog growling and my father
swinging the leash at the guy finally got him to leave.

Our Sandy was the best dog I have ever had and she was special, maybe it was
her breed that gave her the ability to determine whether someone meant us
harm or not.  I know she could tell, as once my father fell and hurt himself
badly, i called 911 and asked for an ambulance.  I had to lock up the other
dog, but Sandy was left loose, the paramedics were allowed into the house
with no problem.  They sarcastically remarked at what a great watch dog we
had, I told them if they were going to harm us she would have attacked,
but since she knew they were here to help, she would let them by.

I was glad we had a dog like Sandy for my father was having medical problems
and I always felt secure when I left him with Sandy, I knew she would protect
him, but would also allow police or paramedics in the house to treat him if
he fell or had problems.  She was that good.   I don't know what I would have
done if someone had to call me to come home and get the dog away from my
father so they could help him, or, god forbid, shoot the dog so they could help
my father.

Sorry this is so long, but I was reading how others talked about training a
dog to protect you.  I don't think you can train a dog to give it's life for
you without there being a special bond, even police live with their dogs in
order for them to be able to depend on each other.  And a dog doesn't have to
be mean or unfriendly to protect someone.  There are alot of dropouts from
the dogs trained for police work, dogs trained for seeing eye dogs, etc.  In
other words, it's something inside the dog, it has to come from the heart.

Darlene