Eggman

Howdy,

Tonight I read a story on the 'net about an experiment conducted in Atlanta of homes with dogs and how they'd react to a burglar. It made no mention of whether this experiment provided a simulated attack on the home owner-i think it was more of a robbery while the owner was away scenario.
The results were surprising. Some of the breeds: German Shepard, Rottweiler, Brittany Spaniel and a few other smaller dogs. The only dog that made a half-hearted attempt to stop a break-in/burglar while the family was away was the German Shepard-and he merely nipped at the "burglar's" heels as he attempted to climb the stairs! I don't believe there were any simulated attacks against the owners, fwiw.
Honestly, I cannot say what my Doberman (Lasker) would do in such a situation-no offense intended. I'd feel much better about my now deceased Airedale Terrier and how she'd react in such a simulation or real invasion. The article went on to say that dogs kept as pets in the home and who recieved alot of hugs & kisses (so to speak) seemed less likely to react aggressively toward a burglar. Interesting; and how do you think your Doberman
would react in the event of a burglary while the house was empty?

PatchworkRobot

If somebody comes to the door or is walking around the house while I'm home Dreizehn goes into full alert mode. If somebody comes to the door while Dreizehn doesn't know I"m home he couldn't care less. If my dog isn't enough of a visual/vocal deterrent to keep a burglar away than I hope that he stays out of the person's way, honestly. My thought is that if they're not worried about a large and loud dog than it's because they're prepared to deal with said dog and I'd much prefer that no harm comes to my boy.

Also, this thread is rather similar, yet different, from another recent thread - Will an untrained dog protect it's owner? - you may find it to be an interesting read.

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CH4Sure

I have to agree with Eggman here. Stuff can be replaced. Our precious girls can not. Kind of reminds me of a true story many years ago, I had a friend, (well actually a boss), who had four dogs crated. Two poodles, a mix and a Golden. Their apartment was robbed and totally cleaned out but thankfully because the dogs were crated they were spared and no harm came their way. My boss was convinced the dogs were spared because they were crated and posed no threat. I would absolutely die if anyone broke in here and took, or worst, God forbid hurt our dogs. There isn't an item of value that is worth more to us than any of our family members, dogs included and while I'm pretty confident we are well protected here between our four yappy girls, I would never rely on it. I would be more concerned about their safety than anything anyone could ever steal. They are worth more to us as a family as anything else we own. They can have the "stuff" just leave the dogs alone. Just my thoughts.

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madmyk

I would (like most here I assume) be devistated were something untowards to happen to my dogs during a break-in (or any time). That said....
Malia may have thwarted a break-in when I lived in FL. She never 'prevented' the scores of car break-ins, or the theft of items from my yard/shed. I did come home one day to find the front door glass busted out, but the door locks were still locked.
Magnum is very vocal. When I am home the slightest 'wrong' sound will set him to growling and 'tracking' the noise. When I am gone (learned this from multiple neighbors) he will go full tilt when things are 'wrong'. My landlord came by one day and the sound of the car door set Magnum to barking, the landlord knew the dogs were not loose but he would still not come in the fence. I have also had MANY people that walk the neighborhood comment "someone would have to be a fool to come near your house".
I feel that is both good and bad. It will keep the 'casual' theif away, but may prompt someone 'serious' to come prepaired.

Anton-Caesar

with regards to the actual test did the "burglar" phyiscally smash their way into the house and actually simulate burglary or was a window open for a easy access.

i think this makes a huge difference, if someone came steaming through a window or door i think the dogs reaction would be totally different.

Its not really a great test in my opinion unless its in the middle of the night and its very realistic.

on top of that is the fact that the "burgler" probably wasnt showing any fear, he would have been suited up and not really vunerable to attack and also would have known the dog was there. Would love to know how many burglers actually would enter a house with a barking dobie or similar size/type of dog. Fear is a big factor, if the "burgler was someone who was actually scared it would have been a whole different excerise, its far to vague and a bit of an illogical test.

If anyone wants to pop to my auties and try legitimately breaking in past the Rottie be my guest, most people wouldnt even bother trying last year the front door was left open by accident and in the morning when the binmen came he was at the door (didnt cross the doorstep) and he was going absolutely mental. There is no way one of those binmen would have got past him i dont think.

What you have to hope is that your dog is a deterrent and that the burglar would see a "dog house" as a harder "job" than going to a empty house, baring in mind a barking dog is enough to alert the neighbours at 3am if its constantly barking and sooner or later someone would at least have a look outside and no burgler in the world wants to be seen

Toby'shuman

My son came home one evening a little the worse for wear shall we say and thought it a hoot to test Toby's bravery and proceeded because of to scare the crap out of him.

Toby is pretty vocal whenever anyone comes around, however, he has one bark for family and one bark for intruders, trust me, I know which is which but my son, 'the dolt' doesnt quite know which is which and because of one evening decided to test out Toby's resolve.

Anyhow this is what went down. Hubby had gone to pick up son in our car, so Toby (in my opinion) knew it was family because of the cars sound and of course look. Hubby opened gate, son got out of car and as Toby ran up (bouncy run, not 'I'm gonna rip you to shreds run) half barking, (not serious) by son suddenly shouted at him in an aggressive fashion (he said he was trying to sound like a burglar) and promptly scared the crap out of Toby. In ran Toby to hide behind my legs and then to hide in the bedroom. In bounds my son, shouting how rubbish a dog he was. Well you can imagine what I said.
For days Toby was subdued, however, my sons test backfired on him a few days later. In waltzes my son late one night and despite Toby knowing it was him he went into full attack mode. He only stopped because I told him to 'leave it'.

I think a dog is capable of defending property, whether it chooses to do so depends on the circumstances.

Toby has been very vocal and showed aggression when we had someone wandering around the fence that surrounds our property. Would he stop them taking our TV, I am not sure, but then I am here to do that and if I'm not here, all I say is 'leave the dogs alone, don't harm them, because if you do and I find you, I will harm you in ways you cannot begin to imagine.'

Lori Z

I had a GSD who indeed stopped a burglar from getting in the kitchen window. I have written about it several times, this was a dog with no protection training.

How would Eli my doberman react if someone broke in...hmmm...I have no idea. I do know when my step daughter, who Eli knows but hasn't spent that much time with, let herself in one day Eli stalked down the hall slowly putting one foot in front of the other, head straight, hackles up and doing a loud menacing deep growl. He scared her as she didn't know about the dog door and wasn't expecting him. Once she said his name he stared for another second or two then went into goofy hello mode. She said she thought he seemed very intent on seeing what the heck she was doing there BUT she doesn't understand dog behavior that well. I figure his barking is a deterrent, that's all I want.

boomerjunier

My stepfather worked with a woman once who owned a Dobe. She said one morning, she left, but forgot something and came right back. She walked in there was a buggler in the corner of her living room in a pile of urine and white as a ghost. Her dog had let the guy in, but kept him cornered with low growling. The guy asked her to call off her dog and she said no, I'll wait until the cops get here. This was a dog that had no protection training.

As for Spok, haha, he's a chicken so he'll bark and growl with hackles up and seem really menacing, but if you move towards him he runs off in the other direction. So I'm hoping for deterrent only because he creates quite the storm if someone comes close to the door. I will say he does go into a more protective mode if I am alone, vs if the boyfriend is home. But I know deep down at his age, he is easily frightened.