How would your dog deal with an intruder?

[rubbishbin]

Mine would try to play fetch with them...

Prep, your poat really moved me. It must have been a help to you to have them with you after that event.

Stupid auto correct. I meant to refer to OREO'S post!!!

Ours is a big softie, with us and family and friends. Barks a lot when anybody comes to the door, or comes in, to show his presence, but settles once he knows we are okay with the situation and reverts to big softie again. Never been put in the position thankfully, but would have no doubt at all that if we, particularly me, showed any sign of distress or fear, he would aggressively defend us.

Greet him like a long lost friend.

Unless he was one particular Amazon delivery man 3 years ago that she, bizarrely hated

It might depend on the time of day, if it was the middle of the night mine might be too sleepy to care. They might waddle over with bed head hoping for a cuddle...

During the day they'd bound over probably looking to lick the intruder or expecting a belly rub it some sort of game.

However if they try to post a letter through the letter box or if they moved the Hoover, they'd get barked at like crazy!

My old dog would have barked but not approached them and then gone back to sleep, so long as they left him alone. If they'd approached him though and tried to stroke/grab/move, he'd have ripped their throat out.

My house got burgled. I have a staff. When I came home he had been locked in the bedroom and some of my stuff had been stolen. Divvy dog

Is it just me who is a bit at people having dogs in their houses who would "rip the throat out" of an intruder? I realize that was probably hyperbole, but still............

BertrandRussell - my post may make more sense if you see the dog in question?

She did nothing! To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if the little traitor let them in and made them a cuppa! Rubbish dog. But I do quite like her, so she can stay.

Bertrand - I'm more thinking, yeah yeah, you think that...

Like I said, mine did nothing, not so much as a bark or a growl, just lay in his bed, this is a dog with a behavioural specialist because he's aggressive with strangers.

I'd have put money on him attacking an intruder, but nope.

So I suspect people just think their dog would.

That's sort of even worse- they think their dog would and it doesn't bother them!

In her younger days, bark like the hound of the baskervilles while hiding under the table

Now, even if she did wake up I don't think she would move from her bed. Poor old girl

If they came in the front door she would jump all over them - which may well scare them off as she's quite big and very erm, enthusiastic. If they scared her somehow (coming through the window or wearing a balaclava or something) she would bark and growl a lot I expect. I can't imagine her actually attacking though. She'd wait for me to come and make the scary man go away!

If it was an intruder in the middle of the night she would pretend not to see or hear them because they might make her get out her bed, she doesn't even open her eye for dp when he gets up early for work.

If it was during the day she would be soooo pleased to see the intruder she would jump about and bring him a ball!

OldGirl: bark very loudly and scarily at them, until they gave her the slightest bit of fuss. Then she'd tart around on her back for belly rubs

LabBoy: bark at them 3 times (exactly 3, no more or less), then run to find me and cower behind me like a great big scaredy cat

YoungGirl: shed bark, hiss, snarl,possibly even bite if they came close to her in anything less then a friendly manner. All the time, until they left. For a fairly small dog (she's a 21kg Dalmatian - well, she's the smallest dog I've ever had) she's bloody scary. She also hates the world. The only acceptable humans are me, DH, our cleaner, one of the vets at the practise, and unfortunately the dog trainer, for whom she is always on best behaviour for.

"That's sort of even worse- they think their dog would and it doesn't bother them!"

No, I think...it's that people assume their dog would know it's an intruder, feel prepared to defend the house and then use a bit of hyperbole.

When actually unless your dog has been in that situation - you haven't a clue.

My whole house is set up just to manage my dog so that he can't meet strangers, it's like a military operation to get my meter read because we can't have two doors open at once...I'd have sworn blind he'd have attacked an intruder, it's actually something I've really worried about because obviously that's a situation I can't control and not a blooming peep, he let them come in and take stuff...

So I figure when people say stuff like that it's the same as - oh I'd tackle an intruder, etc etc, when actually you haven't got a clue till you're in that situation.

I actually do know what mine would do- she treats all visitors like her new best friend- even if they let themselves in and I'm not there! I know this because she has done, several times.

I just couldn't have a dog I even thought might attack anyone, even a burglar. But, to quote the famous Mumsnet saying "each to their own"

I agree with people that you don't know until it actually happens. Our old lab was a real softie but when someone put their arm round the door to try and get in, she bit them and held on - this was the only occasion in the 15 years that we owned her that she showed any aggression.

Someone else I know own a Rottweiler that allowed burglars to ransack the house - they returned home to find the alarms ringing and their dog sleeping through the chaos.

I am fairly confident that both of my current dogs would be useless if we had an intruder.

ghostspririt could have been so much worse , at least they shut staff in the bedroom.
My worry would have been that they stole staff as well .
Our adorable staff who loves everyone would would not take kindly to intruders if we were home and their would be blood loss .
If he was home alone and not protecting us not sure he would care much who came in .
Wouldn't want it put to the test though .
My biggest fear is him being stolen.

Mydog will attack people (just not intruders, clearly, lol) and it's very very hard work owning him...

But relying on a dog knowing which intruders are ok and which aren't seems a bit, foolish to me TBH because that's a potentially dangerous dog.

I do assume it's a mix of hyperbole and self reassurance though mostly - in a it makes people feel safer if they think their dog might protect them.

Bertrand I was attacked previously by someone on two legs not 4

And it's only now knowing that my boy would pin someone down or against the fence if they tried get in my house that I can sleep .So of someone try's break in my house then personally I don't care what happens to them

Anyone coming in or invited in by family he is fine the softest dog I known

Tab I know my dog will protect after someone drunk climbed into my garden he pinned them against fence till police arrived no biting but when they moved he growled (I did not call him of either till police arrived and the police was fine with what he done

Chair - it was more the rip throats out or similar type responses, based on not much.

Not so much the, well this happened ones

Mine I'm sure would probably pin them against a wall whilst barking and growling at them. He is reactive to people he doesn't know and does sound ferocious. He's a cuddly looking cocker spaniel which doesn't help.