Share stories of protection

Excellent topic for discussion, thanks.

I wish I had (well, actually glad I don't have) accounts of my Dobe intervening in direct physical attacks; but none come to mind at the moment.

It is hard, though, to know just how many attacks or dangerous situations have been prevented by the presence of our Dobermans!

With my first Dobe, I lived in a number of different locations and several different apartment buildings/complexes. We would walk a lot – including in some not-so-nice neighborhoods. I know over the years, Magnum's presence prevented some trouble. Even though Magnum is a once-in-a-lifetime Dobe, I always believed he would back down if bad guy fought back much. I also believed he would "protect" me only because he would be protecting himself. I figured I'd reap the benefit of that in most situations.

During the last few years of Magnum's life, I started to live in safer situations so there were not many close calls of which to speak after that.

With my subsequent two Dobermans, I still can't think of any actual physical intervention. I guess this speaks to the deterrent power of a Doberman!

I can tell you, however, that there have been many times I have had my Dobe alert on someone – to focus in on them and start barking and lunging at them if I say so.

Just this past weekend there was an aggressive confrontation between me and someone who was in a motor vehicle. I was perfectly willing to take care of business myself, but as the idiot postured at me from across the street, I put Oji on alert and he started barking aggressively which I know sent a powerful message that over here he would be dealing with a guy like me, and with his even nuttier dog on his leash.

The first thought that hit me after that was: With me thinking of straying to another breed like Bullmastiff, I am pretty certain I would not receive the type of hyper-alert and defensive behavior I have always gotten out of my Doberman Pinschers.
 
When I was 19 or 20 I owned a Rottie. I lived alone in an OK part of town. I had left him for the day in my screened in porch and was working late. On my way home about a block from my house, I noticed a group of guys chasing a dog...I realized it was my boy. I stopped my VW Bug, opened the door and he jumped over me into the passenger. Before I even had a chance to close the door, a man was at the drivers side, head and shoulders, IN MY CAR!! My boy lunged and snapped at him almost taking off his face.He backed off quickly and I got home and called the police. They informed the police they were just trying to catch him so he didn't get hit, but this was when Rotties were SUPER popular. The screen to my sun porch look cut. I was VERY proud of my boy that day. As a single women I always had a large dog as a companion. Always made me feel safe.
 
I think Brinks would protect me, as much as a goofy baby he can be. I will say people rarely approach us when we are hiking, and never when he is in the truck. My boyfriend cannot playfully fight with me, even a little bit, before Brinks rushes over in protest. He will bite his arm, grab his coat if he's wearing one and physically pull him away from me. He gets on his hind legs and literally gets between us, he is gentle with the "biting" at first, but if my boyfriend ignores him and keeps trying to wrestle with me Brinks ups the ante and will bite harder. He is also quite vocal about it. He is good with strangers but is mostly aloof, he doesn't care about getting attention from unknown people and mostly ignores them. I think he would definitely not pause to intervene in a serious situation, it helps that he is not a big people dog and is a mamas boy.
 
I wonder about this quite often actually. Would Kodak go for the bite in protecting me if it came down to it? I hope we don’t have to find out but he does seem good behind my front door in guarding. Which I work on if someone trys for the doorknob and getting in. If I say it’s ok then I want him to stand down. So hopefully if someone did try to break in I know he will alert for sure. Wonder if he will go for them. Hmm.

 
My dobie/lab mix was the sweetest love bug you could imagine. He never hurt/bit/nipped at anyone, nor did he ever display any signs of aggression other than some alerting (which I don't consider aggression, but his bark went down 3 octaves haha!). Until...

He was old enough to discern how uncomfortable our druggie neighbor made me. The guy would always knock on our door when my father wasn't home, especially when I was in the shower. No joke, I began taking a sword with me in the shower just in case he broke in until Dodger was older. His alert/guard bark was incredibly deep considering his size, and it was enough for the neighbor to leave. On more than one occasion, when I'd walk Dodger at night, he'd be his usual bouncy self until our neighbor came walking down the street. Even with a friendly, "Hi Dodger, remember me?" my dog was not having it. He'd stiffen, hackles raised, tail up, mouth closed and give a deep growl with hard eyes that followed my neighbor out of sight. He was 50lbs but he sounded like a 150lb monster. And I'd stand there, give a curt smile and a nod as he passed while also whispering "good boy, what a good boy" and patting Dodge as if I was trying to "calm him down." I miss that dog. He's now my grandmother's guardian as she lives in a house alone in AZ. She says he's such a great protector and that she can't live without him, he's just so loving and lovable.

Epilogue to this novel I wrote lol: That same neighbor was found dead on our back lawn a year later by mom and sister. He'd been the reason our AC unit was breaking down multiple times a year, costing my parents hundreds and hundreds. He was huffing the freon from our unit and multiple units around the neighborhood when he couldn't get his usual hit.
 
Dogs can definitely tell when someone isn't right, as can we (usually). Fifty pounds is big enough, my pit is that weight and I have always felt safe with her. That's crazy about how he killed himself! The things people will do...
 
I'm with Oji on this one - it's impossible to determine how many times my dogs have protected me by just existing and walking with me. I used to live in a really sketchy area, complete with drug dealers and what not. Not an area I would ever suggest a woman walk alone in, especially at night. But I'm crazy and would walk, always with a dog. I've never been bothered. Other people had been robbed, mugged, raped, murdered, etc but I was left alone (and I'm tiny and not even remotely intimidating haha). Now, I wouldn't suggest doing what I did. But I was young.

My lab put a guy in a dark hold last summer. That was .... Interesting. Guy walked into our campsite unannounced, all of us sitting out there including the kids. Lab was about 2 centimeters from guys crotch and barking/growling like a crazed bear. Never made contact, but the guy stopped dead in his tracks. Lab backed off as soon as I called him.

So I dunno. It's weird how some dogs just have instincts and others don't. My husky would have likely tried to play with an attacker. Kaizer .... I dunno. Lol. He doesn't really like people, despite being socialized a ton. Most people he ignores, but once in awhile he makes it clear that he's having none of a stranger getting too close to me. If hubs starts rough housing with me, Kaizer will stop him. At first, gently. But if hubs doesn't back off, he will start getting pretty rough about it and body block. I think he would probably protect me if push came to shove, but I also think he might go after someone when it's not truly warranted.
 
I am 5’6” and 115 pounds. Needless to say I’m not a large person. I was walking my 3 large dog, two Dobermans and a Gsd. I was single at the time and had to walk them alone, we went down the usual bike path and we’re about to do 5 miles that day. On the way back some jerk off came out of the creek and started whistling at me, I turned around to see their face but quickened my pace. Upon that I noticed Ares quickly turning his head and realized this guy is running up on us.
Ares planted his feet and faced the guy, where I quickly unsnapped his prong and placed the leash on his flat. I whispered the bark and hold word and prepared myself for a drag down the street because immediately my girls were following his lead.
So there I was with three large, lunging, spitting, screaming dogs.
The guy stopped in his tracked and I threatened him that if he came any closer I will release them. I even walked forward a bit with them lunging and snarling. The jerk took off running.
I then had to calm my crew, which wasn’t easy. None of them stopped being on alert the whole walk back. I made sure I took a very in public way back and made absolutely sure I wasn’t followed.
I owe my life to my amazing dogs, especially Ares. I can’t imagine and don’t want to know what would have happened to me with out them.
 
MelonJ said:
My dobie/lab mix was the sweetest love bug you could imagine. He never hurt/bit/nipped at anyone, nor did he ever display any signs of aggression other than some alerting (which I don't consider aggression, but his bark went down 3 octaves haha!). Until...

He was old enough to discern how uncomfortable our druggie neighbor made me. The guy would always knock on our door when my father wasn't home, especially when I was in the shower. No joke, I began taking a sword with me in the shower just in case he broke in until Dodger was older. His alert/guard bark was incredibly deep considering his size, and it was enough for the neighbor to leave. On more than one occasion, when I'd walk Dodger at night, he'd be his usual bouncy self until our neighbor came walking down the street. Even with a friendly, "Hi Dodger, remember me?" my dog was not having it. He'd stiffen, hackles raised, tail up, mouth closed and give a deep growl with hard eyes that followed my neighbor out of sight. He was 50lbs but he sounded like a 150lb monster. And I'd stand there, give a curt smile and a nod as he passed while also whispering "good boy, what a good boy" and patting Dodge as if I was trying to "calm him down." I miss that dog. He's now my grandmother's guardian as she lives in a house alone in AZ. She says he's such a great protector and that she can't live without him, he's just so loving and lovable.

Epilogue to this novel I wrote lol: That same neighbor was found dead on our back lawn a year later by mom and sister. He'd been the reason our AC unit was breaking down multiple times a year, costing my parents hundreds and hundreds. He was huffing the freon from our unit and multiple units around the neighborhood when he couldn't get his usual hit.
Click to expand...
Maybe that's a novel in today's Insta-age; but it's kind of short by my standard. :D

So, your creepoid neighbor would somehow hear when you started the shower water, and he also knew when your Dad wasn't home and he'd proceed to come to your door? :nono: It would have been epic if you had left the door unlocked, called him in and been videoing him as he entered the bathroom with you behind the curtain. Then his facial expression would be captured as you brought out the sword from behind the curtain. :rofl: :rofl:

Fun fact: When you take a huff of freon then talk, your voice is drops like a couple octaves. I never did it, but there were a couple guys at the service station I worked at that would sometimes take hits off the A/C units of cars in the garage bays. :facepalm: :facepalm: :weird:
 
Regalis said:
My lab put a guy in a dark hold last summer. That was .... Interesting. Guy walked into our campsite unannounced, all of us sitting out there including the kids. Lab was about 2 centimeters from guys crotch and barking/growling like a crazed bear. Never made contact, but the guy stopped dead in his tracks. Lab backed off as soon as I called him.
Click to expand...
Well, there was the one time I was camping alone with my first Doberman, Magnum. There was a small river just down beyond the edge of the grassy area. I was hanging out doing some reading for school when a couple guys had rowed up in a kayak. Magnum was off-leash, as I didn't expect, nor had I ever seen, anyone come in from the water at that location. The river was not visible to us because it is down a short but steep dropoff with a trail.

So, I hear Magnum growl and take off toward the river. I don't recall if I called him or not, but he ran straight up to a poor guy who I could see more and more of as he ascended the trail. Magnum did not stop and confront him, rather he went straight in for a bite (a nip, like he did) and took a piece of they guy's pants at about knee level. UNCOMFORTABLE!!

So, that is not so much a story of protection as much as it is an inappropriate, nipping, off-leash dog; but still... ...Defensive and protective.
 
Oh Little Oji said:
Maybe that's a novel in today's Insta-age; but it's kind of short by my standard. :D

So, your creepoid neighbor would somehow hear when you started the shower water, and he also knew when your Dad wasn't home and he'd proceed to come to your door? :nono: It would have been epic if you had left the door unlocked, called him in and been videoing him as he entered the bathroom with you behind the curtain. Then his facial expression would be captured as you brought out the sword from behind the curtain. :rofl: :rofl:

Fun fact: When you take a huff of freon then talk, your voice is drops like a couple octaves. I never did it, but there were a couple guys at the service station I worked at that would sometimes take hits off the A/C units of cars in the garage bays. :facepalm: :facepalm: :weird:
Click to expand...

Yup! I don't know how, but I'm going to assume it was because the AC unit was right under the shower window (which of course wasn't low enough for him to get a peek or anything thankfully).

And my dad used to give him rides to the local grocery store bc my dad just has a big heart. But he made sure to tell him to only ask for a ride when his car was in the driveway. So imagine my dad's face, who was (and still is) an armed security officer for the county, when I told him what our neighbor was making a habit of doing. Let's just say he put enough of the fear of God in him so that he stopped coming by for a long while. Also, he later showed me how to safely load a magazine and handle a gun in case it happened again. :machinegun:
:rofl:

And I always said, people would wonder what the hell was wrong with you if you pulled out a sword on them. It's the element of surprise! :lmao:

Between my dog, my sword and my dad, I was covered! LOL!
 
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