Are you wondering if your canine will protect you when facing a dangerous situation? It probably means you haven’t professionally trained your trusty companion to defend you if you’re asking this question. So, will you have to fend for yourself in emergencies?
Not all dogs will naturally protect you, but you can train your dog to defend you when attacked. Some dog breeds are more likely to defend their family because of instinct, like bullmastiffs and German shepherds, but it’s not an automatic response without proper training.
The following parts of the article will explain why dogs might jump in to protect you from danger and why you might want to train your dog to offer you and your loved ones some protection. Remember that all dogs are different; yours might react differently to a situation than you’d expect.
Will Your Dog Protect You From Danger?
Some dogs will protect you when they sense that you are in danger. However, this entirely depends on the particular dog, including the following factors:
- Breed
- Personality
- Bond with family
- Intelligence
- Physical strength
- Level of training
Some people buy dogs for protection, bigger and stronger dog breeds they can train. Smaller dogs aren’t ideal as protection dogs because they wouldn’t be able to scare someone or something away, nor cause the same amount of damage to an assailant if necessary.
However, small breeds make exceptional watchdogs and alert you to danger through their keen hearing and protective instincts.
Natural Instincts Affect Your Dogs Protective Reactions
As mentioned before, some dogs are more prone to have an instinct to protect those they consider part of their ‘pack.’ If you have a close bond with your canine and they trust you, there’s a bigger chance that they will defend your life with theirs.
The more loyal dog breeds will likely jump into action when they feel threatened by something or someone. You might’ve come across some surprising videos online of dogs attacking when someone is in danger, both small and large breeds. You can even find some videos of cats protecting their family, surprisingly. It shows how loyal your pets can be if you are in danger.
If not controlled by some training, this instinct can end badly for your dog, you, or innocent bystanders. I will discuss this with you in the following part of the article.
Protective Training Classes Will Teach Your Dog To Attack
You may train your dog to attack at your command by taking them to protective training classes. This training is much the same as police and security dog training and teaches your dog to respond to perceived threats.
Training your dog to react to attacks on your person will respond to your commands to defend you from harm. Concurrently, you will teach your dog to obey your commands to keep them at bay unless you tell them to attack.
Some Dog Breeds Are More Likely To Attack in Defense
Some dog breeds are genetically suited to protect their owners from attack. The ten best dog breeds for protection, as mentioned in this The Spruce Pets article, are the following:
- German Shepherds
- Komondors
- Akitas
- Bullmastiffs
- Cane Corso’s
- Rhodesian Ridgebacks
- Doberman Pinschers
- Rottweilers
- Tibetan Mastiffs
- Belgian Malinois
The dogs are heavier and larger breeds; all need obedience training to keep them in check. For example, the Cane Corso is a natural guard dog, but the species require obedience training due to the potential harm they may inflict on other people they perceive as a threat,
The Komondor might not look very dangerous or threatening, but they are fierce guard dogs and a very loyal, hard-working breed.
Proper training will ensure that you can intervene when your dog is attempting to attack something, or someone you know isn’t a danger but seems to be one to them. If you train your dog to respond to your commands—you can tell them to back off when necessary and avoid serious injury to innocent people and other animals.
Unprovoked attacks can make your dog a danger to society, and local authorities may euthanize your pet to prevent future incidents,
Smaller dogs don’t make the best guard dogs because they are probably too small and lack the strength and weight to cause severe damage. However, they are often great alarms to warn you about intruders, as their barks are commonly more high-pitched.
Intruders might even run off when that much commotion disturbs their plans, so in a way, smaller dogs can offer protection.
Not everyone has the space to house large dog breeds, or maybe you prefer the smaller ones, but you would still like protection from your pet in times of need.
Some smaller dog breeds have specific defensive skills, or you may train them to defend you to the best of their abilities. It won’t be the same as what you would expect from bigger dogs, but a little sense of security can go a long way.
This Pupvine article discusses several smaller guard dog breeds: beagles, Boston Terriers, and even Chihuahuas, as excellent protectors in their blog post.
Why You Should Train Your Dog
As mentioned in this article, you should 100% invest time and money in your dog’s training if you want them to be able to put their defensive skills to good use.
You can’t predict what your dog will react to protectively. A protective dog might interpret harmless fun with an unfamiliar person as an attack—and respond in kind. You may have surprise visitors coming over that may provoke your dog to defend.
Without proper training, you probably won’t be able to tell your dog to back off when it’s in attack mode, which can have disastrous results. You, as the owner, are fully responsible for your pet’s actions.
Your dog harming an intruder could even result in a lawsuit from none other than the intruder. You can read more about how to avoid the risk of a lawsuit from the person who chose to break into your property.
Final Thoughts
Certain dog breeds are naturally inclined to protect and attack when you or your family face danger. Loyal dogs might consider you part of their pack and would give their life to defend yours.
However, if you have a large breed who you never trained to obey your orders, they could put their own lives and innocent people in danger. If anything happens, you will take responsibility for your dog’s actions.
You can also train dog breeds that don’t have the instinct to protect you and attack assailants when necessary.
