My Dogs Did Not Come To My Aid :( - Page 6

when you want a good idea about your dogs , you might want to hire a trainer to come to your house or garden and set up scenario to test , many of those who will believe their dog will protect them will come out dissapointed, todays breeding of workinglines is heavily sport oriented, so no guaranties there , and even with training most wont respond when something happens for real , hell , I was watching K9cops on TV many times and even wont trust many of those to protect me for real

the whole dogworld seems to been taken over by happy go lucky , social , dont pull the leash ball drive puppies

laws are fine , but I would prefer my dog to take care for me no matter what state laws are , state laws dont help you when you are dead and buried

yellow rose wrote
you need training , then the dog , I would prefer the other way around , first you need good dog , than training, without good dog you can train all you want, but will never get there

Hi Nans, "Slamdunc, where are you?  This person needs your advice and knowledge and training capabilities and suggestions.  HELP>". This is a very interesting thread almost as good as the Helser threads. I have posted my views on this very topic several times. I don't think there is anything I could possibly add to this. I am enjoying it just the way it's going, I wouldn't want to change a thing. Jim

When we have clients state that their dogs are naturally protective, I generally tell them that protection work (in any situation, real or sport) is advanced thinking for the dog. I use the analogy that just because my son is pretty bright doesn't mean I want him to be my heart surgeon. I would want him to get the training required to do that job. 
We participate in Schutzhund with all of our dogs (currently 8 GSDs), some just for the enjoyment and for the control work and some to title. But we have other means of protection in our house. I think our dogs would be a huge deterrent to most of the criminal element out there. We are good friends with a number of cops in the area since we used to train the K9 units here and they say that most criminals (around here) are dumb kids or lazy opportunists. 
If you do decide to seek out protection training, just keep in mind that bad protection training is worse than none at all in most cases. It sounds like you have nice, social dogs that you may not want to change :).

I'm surprised that GSD's would not be interested when confronted with a situation like this one. Didn't they even investigate what was going on?

lol, I don't need training guys (& gals)! Now that I've done the math I have owned German Shepherds for at least 34 years. Usually more than one at a time. I've learned an awful lot about these animals in those years including my stories of the police dogs from many years ago. It was great to be able to accompany these folks and dogs on the training sessions. I made my share of rookie mistakes but now I can teach a dog a trick within an hour.

The only signs I have are on my outdoor kennel. They used to say beware of dog with a picture of a snarling GS. The sun bleached out the lettering so all is left is the picture on them now.

I wish I could put up a picture. Jojo & Max are beautiful.

Anyway I don't need to be instructed about the law and I don't need help. I understand the dogs better now. Fortunately the bad guys don't read these forums.

Like I said earlier, I don't want to discuss the gun issue any more than I want to discuss details of my home's alarm system.

One huge reason that German Shepherds have been the second most popular breed is that people are buying them as pets AND for protection. This thread has provided a lot of good insight into the protection part. They need to be trained to atack on command and that usually means jumping up and firmly biting the victim's arm which will usually knock the person down. They also need to break off the attack without hesitation on command (one reason you don't see many dobermans as general police dogs).

I know a lot about these dogs but am still learning. Aren't we all?

Dobermans are still used in police work.  not as much as they used to. but that doesn't really represent the breed.  why are police starting to look more at Mals?  are german shepherds no good any more.  I think german shepherds are doing great.  I think it has to do more with fads.  over 75% of dogs in ww2 were dobermans.  dobermans just aren't the fad that they used to be, which could be a good thing for the breed.  less back yard breeders producing dobermutts.

jim, are you really reading the helserstuff??

What are these "Mals" everyone keeps mentioning? Belgian Malinois'? Surely you aren't talking about Malamutes. :/