Fun Poll--What would your dog do? - Page 4

=) OK Kathy! I'll tell you the real answer if you email me...lol

I get the no exit in the car, but I know this dog and have seen him in action before, when he thinks I am not paying attention to a situation, If I am not aware he will react and fast, the growl comes while he is already in the air, If I am aware he is willing to take my lead, even if he does not like it. I cannot say enough about this male, I do not work him anymore because of his hips and spine and it breaks my heart. I have a show line female, my guess is she would run to the kennel while peaing, is what I would have said, but I am not so sure now. I have alot of strangers in and out of my home, and she loves everyone. I was in the backyard with this guy and she was scaling the kennel fence and having a fit. NEVER saw her like this, my male and I just looked at her dumb founded. Since I trust my dogs. I showed the guy out. Her I would have to test.

Would that bad guy be wearing a sleeve and waving a stick? LOL....kidding. Actually I'm not sure what Blitz would do. He has had no formal training other than the usual basic OB. My first GSD had none either, but he would have taken down a guy coming into our campsite walking toward me swinging a knife had he not been on a leash. He never before showed any signs of being at all protective, but he was never given the opportunity before then. You could have knocked me over with a feather, I thought he was a whimp. He was half German import, half American lines. I guess I'm hopeful enough to think that most GSD's would rise to the occasion if their master/mistress were in danger. My guess would be that Blitz would jump from that car and have at the bad guy whether or not I told him to do so. I hope he never has to prove that he's the dog I think he is. He has already proven himself in a way when a guy walked into another campsite and reached toward my husband with a flyer in his hand. Blitz was lying between us and he barked and sprung to his feet trying to take this man by the wrist as he reached over my head. Luckily, he was on a leash so any harm to this man was prevented. I was amazed that anyone would be so daring albeit stupid. Blitz is 100% showlines. Good thread......

I agree with olskool, I really wish there was a good way to test it, I would love to know for sure, what my guy would do.

Maybe thats a good Idea for a club to raise money. A "what would your dog do" seminar/practical. Real life situations with a helper wearing a bitesuit. Food for thought for any struggling clubs out there.

maybe the handlers should suit up too???

It is a low percent of dogs who will actually defend you by biting without the proper trainging as Oslk. stated. It is a natural taboo to bite a human. IMO unless many of them have had agitation included in their training they might not bite. That is why security people like police K9 include agitation(table/box etc) in the training which is similier to the Kohler method of training. Just my opinion as I know some will not agree.

My male would go for the bite. He tends to be an upper body hitter, so im assuming he'd bit an arm. My older female would go for the face or the shoulder. She likes to hit high. My youngest female would show teeth and bark, but has had no agitation work, so that would probably be the extent of it.

My stud dog would have growled deeply to warn off the bad guy and placed himself sideways between me and the thug, mouth closed, head turned toward him, eyes fixed hard before Mr. Thug ever got to me, having noticed the slightest hint of suspicious posture and movement well beforehand. If Thuggie was dumb enough to advance further trying to get close enough to attack he would be deeply perferated in short order. I could proabably call my dog out successfully, (but very late to out, if at all) but then I would really have to keep an eye on him and use strong control to keep him clean even in the absence of a reattack. Any in that situation transport could end up pretty dirty without a leash, but I can live with that. I'm pretty sure my two year old would just leap out of the car and tear Thuggie to shreds till I pried him off and dragged him away. Don't know what my 4 yr. old female would do for sure. The 11 yr. female old would probably get a few good hard bites in before she got too tired... then experience profound conflict trying to decide between having another go at Thuggie or helping herself to the groceries. LOL If there was a nice rotisserie chicken in one of the bags I could be in trouble.

Ok guys thanks for the interest in this thread. I think it is fun to play the "what if" game. "What if" can make us prepare for the future. Much of law enforcement training is based on "what if" and "why did that happen". Olskool very honestly and respectfully stated an opinion that is most often the reality. If you have an untrained or sport trained dog the chances of him/her defending you with the conviction to fully engage and fight a human are very slim. I could not offer an opinion on anyone's dog without actually working them. In no way is my intention to put down or discredit someone's dog. Most dog's will attempt to offer some sort of protection from barking to even biting but to full on fight a human is against all but the most dominant dogs nature. I chose this scenario because it is very similar to one we train in law enforcement. It is a basic traffic stop scenario where the officer directs the "bad guy" to exit the car and the officer is attacked and ends up on their back with the "bad guy" on top of them. I have participated and/or observed this scenario over 100 times with the same results 85-90% of the time. I ask that you keep an open mind when I give you the answer based on my training and experience. I have done this on another board and was crucified (SP?)