If a burglar breaks in, or if someone assaults you, will your dog protect you and attack? Will they run and hide? Will they greet the assailant as a best friend they never knew? I’ve spent time in thought about this a bit. Probably more than I should. I decided I needed to know more about this.
The short answer is it depends on the dog. The individual dog’s temperament, training, and assertiveness will all be factors. If your dog has strong protection instincts and the confidence to match, your dog may spring into action. Your dog could also run and hide in the next room. Without training or prior testing, you simply cannot know for sure what your dog will do when the situation arises.
In this article I will cover the following:
- Expectations – How you think your dog will protect you
- Different ways that dogs will protect you without attacking
- How to test if your dog will protect you
- What to do if your dog hides and won’t protect you
- Resources to train your dog to protect you
Expectations – How you think your dog will protect you
I know what story unfolds in my mind when I ponder if my dog would protect me. It’s a story with over the top dramatic sequences.
It goes something like this: It’s a calm quiet evening. I’m busy doing some relaxing activity, maybe reading a nice book. All of a sudden my safe place is besieged. A burglar kicks in my door ready to rob my home. Before I can react, my dog leaps from their rest. In a flash, the burglar sees my dog in full charge. My dog soars through the air – latching on to the burglar’s arm like the police dog he IS NOT, and succeeds in a take down of the intruder. The burglar doesn’t know what hit’em. This allows me to call the police or causes the prowler to retreat in defeat. I can rest assured that my dog protected the family and home like a good dog should.
I know, I know. That was a bit much. I guarantee you, that situation would most likely not go anything like that. Also, I’m sure I’m not alone in my expectations of my dog in that type of situation. However, that’s not fair to my dog.
In fact, News On6, a news organization out of Oklahoma, did a story on this topic and put dogs to the test. It was interesting to see how different dogs reacted in different situations. You can find their story here.
Inside Edition similarly investigated this same concept. Again, it was surprising to see the dogs reactions. What’s more, the owner’s were all convinced, hands down, that their family pooch pals were going to save the day in the time of need! Inside Edition’s investigation video is embedded below.
Without significant amounts of training or previous testing of our lovable fur balls, you simply cannot expect this behavior. In that moment, your dog is going to do what their instincts, or any previous training, tell them to do.
Just because your dog doesn’t act like a trained military dog doesn’t mean they’re hopeless. There are still many ways that a dog can help in a high stakes situation. In fact, attacking an intruder may not even be the most desired avenue. That comes with some obvious liability.
Different ways that dogs will protect you – without attacking
Just because a dog may not attack an intruder doesn’t mean they won’t protect you. A dog may very well be offering protection, but maybe you just aren’t seeing it that way. Dogs are going to react a couple different ways that will still be in the realm of security. So put on your dog hat here a second and try to look at it from their view.
Watchdogs
Most dogs are great watchdogs. As soon as they hear something that doesn’t sound right or they pick up on a weird queue of some kind – they will let you know. Although, I have known a few dogs that the only “watching’ they do is for food to hit their bowl or the floor.
My parent’s lab, Sophie was a great example of a good watchdog. She was a super sweet girl, but was very alert all the time. Anytime Sophie would hear a strange noise, she would bark or alert any of us. It was always nothing, but she did her job to alert her family to the fact that something might be up. There were never any surprises when she was on duty!
Additionally, our Great Pyrenees, Dunkin, did this as well. In fact, one time he did alert us to an urgent situation, but it wasn’t an intruder. It was the middle of the night and we awoke to the sound of Dunkin absolutely losing his mind barking. I flew up out of our bed, rubbing my eyes and trying to gather my wits on the way to the stairs. When I got to the top of the steps, Dunkin was looking up at me barking and then looking back to the front door. It turns out that our door, even though it was locked, had not been latched the whole way. Strong wind gusts had blown our door wide open. I was able to properly latch and lock the door.
After I handled the door situation, Dunkin very proudly walked back into the room, curled up and went back to sleep. He did his job and he was happy – and so was I. He knew the situation wasn’t right and alerted me to take action. How cool is it that his protection and love were so strong that he knew that door needed to be taken care of right away! He was definitely protecting us.
Most of the time, this sort of thing is all we need.
Annoying alarm
Sometimes, just having a dog barking is all you need as a deterrent. Most burglars are looking for an easy in, easy out situation. A loud barking dog takes away that strategic advantage.
This can also be valuable if someone would enter the home. Even if your dog is not attacking the intruder, they are certainly making their attempt more difficult. This could lead to them abandoning their burglary attempt.
Being on-duty
Perhaps the biggest advantage in having a dog is the simple deterrent of their presence. You may not even have to find out if your dog will protect you. This is especially true if you have a larger dog or a breed that has a reputation for being a good guard dog.
I always felt confident with Dunkin around. Any intruder messing around with a door or window, would see our 30 inch tall, 100 pound dog staring at him. Most people would not take that gamble. I know I wouldn’t.
Can you test if your dog will protect you?
I would not suggest trying to do your own reenactment of the news stories above. That is a good way for someone to accidentally get hurt. If you are determined to test, then I would suggest reaching out to a professional trainer to inquire if they would be willing to assess your dog.
However, it is important to note that not all dogs can be trained as a guard dog. It takes a certain balance of personality traits, attributes, and physical ability to be trained as a guard dog.
For instance, you could have a dog with the perfect personality and determination to be a guard dog, but if they are only 10 pounds full grown, you may want to rethink your expectations. There is a reason Chihuahuas aren’t used as police dogs.
What if your dog won’t protect you and just hides?
If you know for a fact your dog won’t protect you or you just believe they won’t, don’t worry. Maybe they go and hide in another room. Maybe they even hide behind you. Adjust your expectations and appreciate the fact that you have a loving dog (have you noticed how many times I have mentioned setting proper expectations?). Your dog is still an amazing companion regardless of how they may act in a threatening situation.
In some ways, you may be at an advantage. People can assume their dog will protect them, but this is purely an assumption. One that most people are probably wrong in having. This could lead you to a false sense of security and keep you from adequately protecting yourself. However, if you know your dog is non-reactionary in confrontation, you can prepare accordingly. Such as investing in a security system or cameras.
Resources to train your dog to protect you
You have a couple of options at your fingertips if you’re wanting to pursue training your dog for personal protection:
There are some courses online, but I don’t feel comfortable promoting any of these services as I haven’t used them. I would encourage you to research these as it could be the more inexpensive route.
The other option would be to enlist the services of a local professional dog trainer who is qualified in the area of personal protection. Be sure to properly vet and research trainers. This is certainly not something you would want to take a chance on by hiring some fly by night trainer.
Conclusion
I wish I could give you the silver bullet way to know if your dog is going to react the way you want them to. There just simply isn’t a way to determine if an untrained dog would react in an attack scenario. Unless you’ve proactively trained your dog or, God forbid, have been in a situation where your dog has needed to react, you just can’t be sure.
Furthermore, you may not even want your dog to attack an intruder. Even if someone broke into your home, you could be in some legal “hot-water” if your dog bites someone.
One thing you can be sure of is to set your own proper expectations (yep, there it is again). This way you’re fair to your pooch and you don’t allow yourself to embrace a false sense of security. Just know that when you’ve spent your time raising and training a loving family dog, don’t expect a special ops commando.