The role of a K9 in home/personal defense

Here's what I posted in an earlier thread......

Quote:
Originally Posted by AWDeanSr
Believe it or not, had the dog out on the porch with me one time when this crack head showed up. My doberman barked and growled.. and this dude walk right by him.

I have read in a lot of post about how having a dog is a good idea for home defense....yet I am convinced that a common house dog is only a small deterrent and not a real solution for home defense. end-quote

goldshellback:
I've never considered any dog a 'defense' in and of it's self......but any dog is certinally a great part of a 'layered' defense. Your 'pooch' may be nothing more than a 'noise-maker', but that's a really good thing! Either way, I'll wager he's a GREAT dog!


Quote:
Originally Posted by AWDeanSr
Mojo has not been abused, he is part of my family. We almost view him as our second child. I guess socialized dogs make poor guard dogs.

goldshellback:
Your body language may or may not have played a part in his behavior, but he let ya know the addict was there......Good Dog!

Just keep a CLOSE eye on your stuff, addicts will never stop until they're stopped or they hit "rock-bottom". Stay Safe!



I've felt dogs are more of an 'alerter' than anything else, but certinally they are a deterrent 'if' inside. Any size/breed that can give you a heads up that something ain't right in the dog's universe is a GREAT dog! Most dogs ARE an initial line of defense and will jump into anyone that shouldn't be in his 'packs den' ,again, regardless of breed/size.........I said most. I have four dogs and although great noise makers, one of mine would just want to be petted by anybody, criminal or otherwise.

I had a saint bernard for 4 years (unfortunately, he passed away in the kennel while we were on vacation, but that is another story).. When we had him, we lived in a not so nice part of town.. The subdivision was pretty old (age of residents) and a lot of BGs saw it as an easy target.. I know that he saved our house several times.. There is just something about see'ing a 200lb dog around the house that make people look somewhere else.. In our case, he was a major deterrent, just based on his size.. If anyone knew saints, they would know that they were the ones to hit.. A saint would much rather help out an attacker and show them where everything is then to attack.. but that is just their nature.. He never barked, but when he did, I even got scared.. So, it would really depend on the dog, but generally, they can be very helpful.. Especially if you are a heavy sleeper and need something a little "extra" to wake you up..

My Great Dane is a giant. A Giant wuss. He gets all loud and brave when he hears someone outside, or someone new comes into the house, so he's great on ALERT. However once he meets you, he tends to come running to Mama, hide behind my legs, and wait until I tell him "It's ok, go say hi."

So I love the fact that he can usually alert me to something being amiss before I would figure it out myself, especially when I'm sleeping (code white and then some!). But as far as I'm concerned, he just buys me a few precious seconds to come to my senses and reach for a firearm. He is SO not going to take on a bad guy.

He is completely used to gunfire though, so if S ever HTF, at least it wouldn't be soooo traumatic for him.

Not sure about the new little pup, Trigger. Other than having a cool name, she's completely useless at the moment! lol

I'll try to make this short..........was on vacation with my wife and left our male German Shepard "Rebel" with my in-laws. We get a call at the hotel to call home. Seems an insurance adjuster who came by to look at my brother-in-laws truck which hit a deer came into their house....they forgot Rebel was loose in their basement. Rebel advanced on the adjuster grabbing his arm as the man tried to fend himself off the dog. He hit my B.I.L in the head with his spiral rate book and opened a large wound. By this time both were bleeding and they finally get the dog under control. Both are treated at the hospital and we figured we're gonna be sued....after two weeks I get a letter from the clerks office from the town they live in stating this was a PROVOKED attack......as the adjuster admitted seeing an old "Beware Of The Dog" sign that was on the door for years and elected to enter the house anyway.....................Geeezzzz were we lucky.

Rebel lived up to his name........a great protector and all business.

The job of dog in our house is currently held by a pound puppy. He is about thirty pounds and is half Jack Russell terrier. Think thirty pounds on four pogo sticks. He is an inside dog and serves as early warning. We encourage that and so he responds.

A large dog we had in the past was definitely a deterrent. The best thing that ever happened with the big dog was when the high school cross country team was trying to cheat on their coach during practice. They cut through our property to save some miles. The dog and I were out in the yard. The dog started his loud scary barking and in a moment of inspiration, I grabbed his collar and acted like he was trying to get at them. I kept yelling run run I can't hold on much longer. The next day, both boys got asked several times at school if the dog had ever attacked anybody. That dog has been dead seven years and last week I got a call from a stranger who wanted to come see me about something. He asked if I still had that big dog. I told him I would put it in the basement. Dead seven years and still has a reputation in the town. That is a good dog.

A good dog will never let you be taken by surprise, which makes them worth it on its own. 2 of my 3 dogs I have no doubt would get into the fight if needed, my boxer/pitt mix runs away from the neighbors pomeranian but she will bark. When we are around and someone comes to the door, the dogs beat us there making a lot of noise, but they move out of the way and stand behind us when we open the door, they let down their guard when they see we aren't worried and then race to get their toys to show to the newcomer. A couple people from work have stopped by when we aren't there and told me that the dogs have made it clear that they aren't coming in. So I feel they are a great part of the overall system, like has been said before dogs alone won't stop a determined BG with a plan, but they will make a BG of oppertunity move on or if you are home give you the warning you need or slow down attacker long enough for you to respond.