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Guard dogs

2K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  RedDobie_Tazz 
#1 ·
After reading the "Wimp" post, I was wondering: is your mature dobe a great guard/watch dog or a big wuss that would lick an intuder to death? :tongue23: When I say guard dog, I am saying he/she would not just bark, but would attack an intruder in your home in a threatening situation, which he/she would assess and act on.
 
#2 ·
les strat said:
After reading the "Wimp" post, I was wondering: is your mature dobe a great guard/watch dog or a big wuss that would lick an intuder to death? :tongue23: When I say guard dog, I am saying he/she would not just bark, but would attack an intruder in your home in a threatening situation, which he/she would assess and act on.
A good Doberman with excellent temperament should be stable in all situations. My dogs are super excited to see people come to the door that they know. They wiggle and snuggle with almost any child that comes through the front door. They bark to announce every visitor, but the only ugly sounds that come out of them are the snapping and snarling that they do to each other over who gets the best viewing spot at the front window. Most people think that they are snarling at them :)

I luckily have never had to test the theory of if my dogs would attack an intruder and I hope to God that I never do. Velma passed the WAE with flying colors, and the aggressive stranger is no wimp. She has gone out to protect me on several occasions when she could not read the body language of someone walking towards us as friendly - yet at a rescue fair yesterday, she put on her Therapy Dog vest and made nice with tons of people who got right in her face. She is so rock solid. She scares the crap out of a lot of people because she looks at them so intently and on full alert till she makes the determination that they are ok. Once she makes the correct read, she visibly relaxes.

Louise is very protective on her own turf and is very much like Velma. She is not as animated away from home, and at 19 months by one day did not pass the WAE last week. She did well on everything except did not go out on the aggressive stranger. She did not run away or shake or act afraid... she just stayed by my side. I'm not sure what she would have done if he had come closer. I think it was immaturity on her part and just a lack of understanding the desired response. Many show dogs are so trained not to be aggressive that they often do not know how to react when it IS desired. Most of them with some encouragement will be protective. There is also a clear difference of how they are at home (very protective) and how they are away from home.... more social. That is the way a show dog is raised.

For most Dobermans, the protective instinct comes with maturity. Many people make the mistake of not socializing their Doberman so that it will be more protective.......but the reality of it is that a well socialized Doberman can make the CORRECT assessment of a situation and act accordingly. No one needs or should want a dog that is nasty in all situations - that is a big liability in todays society.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Duchess is welcoming to anyone that comes into the house. The only time she wouldnt let up barking along with Coco is when this Old lady walked into our house mistaking it for somewhere else. Im not sure what she would do if a serious interuder were to come in. She is a sensitive girl...and although she is confident...she usually has a good sense of a persons character, whether the person is scared or nervous...of her.
I consider her a stable guard dog...she has a good peace of mind...at the dog park someone was practicing with their hunting dog...so they had a big fake gun. From across the feild (probably a football feild distance away) she just faced him, stopped in her tracks, perked up, she barked and Howled, and kinda trotted while huffing and howling...once she got 6 feet away from him she was able to be completely comfortable with the situation she allowed him to pet her...played with his dog...cause they took a break... Although she left my side...I followed her and felt confident she was just scaling up the danger level...
I agree that a Doberman is able to naturally protect and have good judgment of a situation and act accordingly. There is no need for anything else but giving the best love, socialization, and providing proper care for them to be stable protectors. :)
 
#4 ·
velmadobe said:
A good Doberman with excellent temperament should be stable in all situations. My dogs are super excited to see people come to the door that they know. They wiggle and snuggle with almost any child that comes through the front door. They bark to announce every visitor, but the only ugly sounds that come out of them are the snapping and snarling that they do to each other over who gets the best viewing spot at the front window. Most people think that they are snarling at them :)

I luckily have never had to test the theory of if my dogs would attack an intruder and I hope to God that I never do. Velma passed the WAE with flying colors, and the aggressive stranger is no wimp. She has gone out to protect me on several occasions when she could not read the body language of someone walking towards us as friendly - yet at a rescue fair yesterday, she put on her Therapy Dog vest and made nice with tons of people who got right in her face. She is so rock solid. She scares the crap out of a lot of people because she looks at them so intently and on full alert till she makes the determination that they are ok. Once she makes the correct read, she visibly relaxes.

Louise is very protective on her own turf and is very much like Velma. She is not as animated away from home, and at 19 months by one day did not pass the WAE last week. She did well on everything except did not go out on the aggressive stranger. She did not run away or shake or act afraid... she just stayed by my side. I'm not sure what she would have done if he had come closer. I think it was immaturity on her part and just a lack of understanding the desired response. Many show dogs are so trained not to be aggressive that they often do not know how to react when it IS desired. Most of them with some encouragement will be protective. There is also a clear difference of how they are at home (very protective) and how they are away from home.... more social. That is the way a show dog is raised.

For most Dobermans, the protective instinct comes with maturity. Many people make the mistake of not socializing their Doberman so that it will be more protective.......but the reality of it is that a well socialized Doberman can make the CORRECT assessment of a situation and act accordingly. No one needs or should want a dog that is nasty in all situations - that is a big liability in todays society.
I think assess and react are the key words here.

Maggie is a bit young to assess, but she is definitley protective of aggressive loose dogs when we are on a walk...has been since 10 weeks :) She has never shown a submissive gesture towards big-old bad dogs from day one (well, her ears couldn't lay back too easily with those old posts! LOL).

My question to all was not because I am concerned with Maggie, but rather that so many people, like you mentioned, have spoken of this being bred out of them - not just sharp aggressiveness, but the instinct to assess and act as a guard dog. If this is so, it's really sad as that's what they really are and were meant to be moreso than any other breed.
As of right now, Maggie has never met a stranger (at 5 1/2 mo.), and has been well socialized with people, pets and typical/atypical situations. I am planning on putting some working titles on her after some advanced obedience training. Hope they will serve as a foundation for courage building and character for her.
 
#5 ·
velmadobe said:
A good Doberman with excellent temperament should be stable in all situations. My dogs are super excited to see people come to the door that they know. They wiggle and snuggle with almost any child that comes through the front door. They bark to announce every visitor, but the only ugly sounds that come out of them are the snapping and snarling that they do to each other over who gets the best viewing spot at the front window. Most people think that they are snarling at them :)

I luckily have never had to test the theory of if my dogs would attack an intruder and I hope to God that I never do. Velma passed the WAE with flying colors, and the aggressive stranger is no wimp. She has gone out to protect me on several occasions when she could not read the body language of someone walking towards us as friendly - yet at a rescue fair yesterday, she put on her Therapy Dog vest and made nice with tons of people who got right in her face. She is so rock solid. She scares the crap out of a lot of people because she looks at them so intently and on full alert till she makes the determination that they are ok. Once she makes the correct read, she visibly relaxes.

Louise is very protective on her own turf and is very much like Velma. She is not as animated away from home, and at 19 months by one day did not pass the WAE last week. She did well on everything except did not go out on the aggressive stranger. She did not run away or shake or act afraid... she just stayed by my side. I'm not sure what she would have done if he had come closer. I think it was immaturity on her part and just a lack of understanding the desired response. Many show dogs are so trained not to be aggressive that they often do not know how to react when it IS desired. Most of them with some encouragement will be protective. There is also a clear difference of how they are at home (very protective) and how they are away from home.... more social. That is the way a show dog is raised.

For most Dobermans, the protective instinct comes with maturity. Many people make the mistake of not socializing their Doberman so that it will be more protective.......but the reality of it is that a well socialized Doberman can make the CORRECT assessment of a situation and act accordingly. No one needs or should want a dog that is nasty in all situations - that is a big liability in todays society.
Well said. A well socialized Dobie will be able to better asses the situation and react accordingly. Princess is the most gentle 80lb Doberman that looks like she will eat you as soon as she is let off the leash. She loves to be around people, loves to be touched, loves kids, and loves other animals (Well I'm not so sure about the squirrel, but if it just stopped and said hi maybe there wouldn't be any problems!!).

However, there have been times when I was approached by strangers from behind and or with body language that did not say "hi I'm not a threat" which caused Princess to display the warning (ears erect, neck high, tail up, low growl). Which is all that took for that person to stop in their tracks and introduce themselves.

I don't think the gurad dog instinct has been bred out of them, maybe toned down a little. As far as the attack dog instincts go, if they were there I am glad they have been bred out. That is something that should be and can be trained.

Naveen
 
#6 ·
Tucker is a meatball...
untill he has a job to do

here's the first incedent:
Tamena said:
We always figured Tucker would just be his usual goofy self if someone ever tried to get into the house
Boy were we WRONG!

Back story...my hubby hurt himself badly at work back in October. I loaded the kids in the car and we drove 2 hours to the hospital they had him at in north NJ (traffic around here is so lovely - NOT!) I called two VERY close friends of ours, people Tucker knows very well and adores when they come over for a visit. These were people that have been in our home a lot since he's been with us. One of them has even spent a good bit of time crashed on our couch LOL
Both people attempted to enter the house to let him out so he could do his business. He wanted no part of it.
The one person - our couch sleeper - was allowed into the house but not past the kitchen where the entry way is... Tuck stood his ground and got very defensive very quickly
The other person couldn't get past barely opening the door to get in. Tuck stood there in full guard posture growling at her through the door.

We honestly didn't think he'd ever react this way, specially with those two, but he did. He takes his job very seriously I think
the second happened when 3 men somehow got into the fenced area of the yard. Tuck absolutely acted like the classic guard dog. He protected me, kept them in check till I told them to leave and he listened to everything I asked of him

I'm proud of my meatball-dobe-o-doom!
 
#7 · (Edited)
Lexus has definetly become more watchful since she turned about 2 to 2 1/2. I am sure that she would bite an intruder. I've told this story before I believe, but last summer when my MIL went into the hospital, my FIL came knocking at our door at 1 AM, we had no idea it was him, and obviously never get people coming to our door at that time of night. I've never seen Lexus react that way, I thought she would break down the door to get to him if she could. She has met my FIL before, but through a solid door, had no idea it was him, there was just something totally out of the ordinary, and my first reaction was "fear", just at the thought of what on earth could be happening that someone was at our door at that time of night.
Before that time, I would have thought that an intruder could break in, and she would probably point him to any valuables ;)

We've also had her react strongly in other situations, until she was told "It's okay", then she prompty approached the person she was suspisious of, all wigglebutting along :) Too cute :)

I want to add also another funny story. We have a neighbor directly in front of our house, ( we call him Hank Hill b/c he's always in front of his garage with a beer and someone to talk too, usually my husband actually) anyway, he made mention that our dog "is one damn good guard dog". Supposedly when we are gone, he can see Lexus watching the neighborhood through the picture window, and we have white curtains, so she really stands out! He told me, she doesn't bark at him anymore when he comes home or is in his yard, but if anyone else stops to talk to him or pulls in his drive, she starts barking. Too funny, our guard dog, guards more than one house apparently! He really got me rolling the other night, I let Lex out in the fenced in yard, and didn't realize "Hank Hill" was in our back yard with my husband, Lexus immediately fired up, and "Hank" said "What don't you recognize me without a garage behind me?", It just cracked me up:)
 
#8 ·
I will say this a friend of one of my children comes to our house all the time. Our dobe loves this guy they play all the time together. Our dobe is always at the door wagging and wiggling. We always let our guests in, we open the door. One night my kids friend saw all the lights were out upstairs it was pitch black we new he was coming over not sure exactly when (teenagers) we asked him over for movies and popcorn, we were down in the basement watching one of the movies. So he thought he wouldn't ring and not disturb us first time ever, he would just come in and go down stairs to watch the movies with us, he has been around since kindergarten. Anyways point being we did not let him in. He told us as soon as he put his feet inside the door our dobie was there and wouldn't let him go further, no growling no teeth just kept nudging him back into the corner beside the door and sat down in front of him and barked a couple of times, the kind of bark that just says come here mum and don't worry I'm not going to eat you. My sons friend did say that he new the dog was serious though on not wanting him to walk in any further so he stayed put. I heard the bark and came up. So she new he was a friend but we did not let him in. He said he wasn't scared because he didn't do anything aggressive but he did put him where he wanted till we came up. Once I said okay to him he wagged his tail and moved and got his ball. So I am thinking if it was someone we didn't know hmm.
 
#9 ·
Lexus said:
Too funny, our guard dog, guards more than one house apparently
Yours isn't the only one. The house across the street from me was renting and has been vacant. The owners are fixing it to sell. My dogs watch this house also and bark when someone new comes to do something to it since no one is supposed to be there.

I have complete faith in my two as guard dogs doing their tasks. At my house, they will bark when somone somes to the door or drives in the drive to let me know. When I open that door, it is all wiggles and curious sniffs. If they had their way, they would answer the door and shove me out of the way to see who it is. As long as I welcome them, they are good to go. I have had my family members walk into my backdoor when I am home. It is a pleasant welcome by a pack of dogs running to see who is entering. Even though they know them well, they are stopped at the door for licks and pets until I let them in. They love to set up road blocks.

When we are in public, they are more than content to get all of the attention they can get. If we pass a stranger they feel threatened with, they are in instant alert and accessing the situation. They aren't barks and teeth. I am lucky that we haven't had to go that far with a stranger. They will usually place themselves between me and the threat that they see. When they think it is all clear, they are back to what we were doing.
 
#10 ·
Ajax is about 16 months old now, and he has been very vocal about strangers near the yard since he was about 8 months old. When out and about though at work/the park/or downtown in crowds he is always perfectly behaved not skittish or protective. I think it makes the people in the crowds more nervous that he is so well behaved, they are clearly aware of a well mannered doberman reading and disreguarding each of them lol.

As for protecting me or my house, I have no doubt that Ajax would be up to the task. I am currently working protection with him and just like any doberman he is excelling at the job at hand!
 
#11 ·
This is a good questions, Would my doberman protect me if the situation arises? Even though we have never been in this situations, I have seen signs that she probably would. I had a friend come over announced one day. He and Nikki get along great. They played together often. Outside my yard and inside in my yard. The day he came over, he walked into my basement door without knocking. Nikki went into intruder alert growling and snarling and stopped him dead in his tracks about 6 feet into the house. She stood there not allowing him to move any further. He was bewildered by this. I made him go back out side and then I let him in and then She was like,"Hi, lets play." to him. He was alittle unsure of what happened, until I explained it to him. She knows who is supposed to be in the house and who should not be. If I accept you into this house, she will accept you.

IMO, she did what she was supposed to do. Get inbetween me and the intruder and warn them not to proceed. The next step would be, would she have taken the next step if he didn't stop and bite him, I don't know. But she was able to convince him not to proceed.
 
#12 ·
When ******* is out in the front yard and see's someone walking their dog she act's all tough. Barking and hackles up, the minute the dog comes running over she hides behind me! I then cannot get her to stop playing with the dog! You gotta love puppies.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I've ask myself this question afew times, 'Would Tazz protect me or the house from a danger/intruder... He is easily one of the Softest dogs i know & wouldnt hurt a fly, Even when other dogs bully him for toys, he just runs away doesnt get aggressive, (Tazz is 18months, & 96lbs)
When we are in the house, He will bark at people outside, or any dogs he hears barking (even on the telly, & in his sleep) But when outside, he really doesnt seem to care about anyone/anything, he just bounds around happily & doesnt mind letting me go out of sight for a short while..
The only thing hes ever done (not even sure if it was aggressively) is one time we left the front door open (trust him not to leave the house) while we were shifting stuff into the garage, & the postman walked up & threw letters into the house, Tazz shot out of the front room as soon as he saw him. & scared the hell out of the postman! i was keeping an eye on Tazz anyway so managed to grab him before he got to the door, * i dont know what his intentions were, there was no growling or anything.. & he has never shown any 'protective' positions to anyone..
What do you guys think? is he just not old/mature enough, or believes i am the 'topdog' & can take care of myself.. I live in (what can be) quite a rough area, & it would be a nice comfort to know that he would help out should any situation arise.. + I have thought about getting him protection trained, So my OH can take him out in the evenin with our daughter & not be worried, (as she doesnt like my area one bit!!) Any oppinions be appreciated thanks! :)

Also had few ppl tell me differant things on 'adulthood' for Dobes, At what age do they stop growing? Physically & mentally.. & d'you think he'll get much bigger/ heavier/bulkier than he is now at 18months? Figure most of you owning dobes for awhile probs the best ppl to get correct answers from. Cheers :)
 
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