Years back our 2 GSD's and Rottie were faced with a total stranger in the house, stranger was at wrong house for the garage sale. I was not home, but hubby was. The dogs circled the stranger until he let himself back out of our house. He made no threatening moves, I was not there to show off for, and the guy turned white when he realized he was surrounded by these 3. sheila ________________________________ From: Sarah Bishop <bliz1998@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wed, October 20, 2010 4:05:16 PM Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: DON'T THINK IT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO YOU? From: jovongsd@xxxxxxxxx <<Very good article Barbara! People need to be aware that there are psycho's out there and you can't be too careful! I lock my doors every time I come inside. My husband gives me a hard time about it! He says " you afraid the boogyman is gonna get ya?!!" One question: how do you know if your dogs will protect you??? Mine seem so friendly and sweet, I don't know if they have the guts to attack when danger is near! Michelle Kaeser Jovon's Shepherds>> Not Barbara but have some insight into your question.....maybe. Dog 1 - 6 yr old cattle dog female. Came to me with issues I worked my tail off to socialize her. At this stage in her life she was fairly outgoing and loved most everyone. She was off-leash in the store where we worked when a customer came in who I did not trust 100%. As I walked through the store assisting him so did she, staying between us the whole time with her body posture stiff and tense. She didn't approach him to greet him, and very gracefully kept the distance between him and I what she deemed appropriate. I didn't correct her or direct her in this as at this point I didn't want him anywhere near me. After he left another customer came in with kids and she was more than happy to be upside down as a mob of kids pet and cuddled on her. Same dog few years previous we were at a bonfire and a 'friend' (we'll use that term really loosely here) grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. I told him firmly to take his hands off me, and he just laughed like it was a big joke. Sydney popped up looked him in the eye and shocked him into letting go. I grabbed her mid-leap as she repeated the manuver. I don't know what her intention was but he believed she was bent on attacking and that was enoguh for me. Dog 2 - almost 2 yr old GSD. He was still unsure of how he was to react to people coming into the house. I was asleep on the couch and the BF was in the shower. His parents came over and knocked once before just letting themselves in. I was startled as I'd been out cold and didn't know what was going on right away. My dog's response was to barely let them through the door and body block while growling. I called him to me and then told them to come in. After being given a command to relax my dog settled down for the most part. So in my experiences a sound dog will at least attempt to gauge a situation and be protective. I've never had to have a dog truly attack to defuse a situation, just barking/posturing has been enough. And I guess if that's enough that's all they need to do. ~Sarah ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2010. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================