Does your dog make you feel safer?

[DorisLessingsCat]

If you are female, do you feel safer when walking with your dog than walking alone? Would your dog protect you if you were attacked?

Or is the other way around, and you're worried someone will try to snatch your dog when you are out?

My dog would definitely try to protect me, but probably by doing a lot of jumping around and barking because he's nervy rather than a natural guard dog. He's an elderly mutt so I don't worry about his safety.

I feel so much safer with mine.
I feel safer at home and always keep them behind me when I answer the door.
I would walk anywhere at any time as long as I had them with me without fear. I often walk in the pitch black with just a head torch.

It’s probably psychological as I’m not sure any of them would protect me. The German shepherd would be my best bet of the 3 as people avoid her like the plague and she barks if she does not like the look of somebody. It’s nervousness rather protectiveness though!

The giants I’m not so sure although the physical size of them would be enough to intimidate most people I think. They could easily take down a fully grown man but I don’t think they could be bothered

Yes feel very safe with mine walking with me, and feel much safer at home with him there. He runs to me if im crying, we have a very special bond, and i know if anyone tried to hurt me he would protect me with his life.

I have a large dog, and yes I feel safe out walking with him , much safer than if I was out alone.
In reality he would be likely to lick someone to death but he looks the part.

My lurcher is the soppiest dog going, he would lie down for a belly rub rather than do anything to deter someone with bad intentions!
I am a tall, confident woman, but even so I stick to busy areas in daylight only, partly as I am always with my son too, so his safety is foremost in my mind as well as my own.

No. She’s quite nervous so would expect me to protect her I think. A little boy tried to show her his stick on the beach a little while ago and she threw herself into my arms. She’s a proper wuss

My old boy I always felt quite safe and always thought he’d protect me - until I was approached by a pissed up bloke in the woods one day. Dog fecked off pretty sharpish. Bloke was only asking for a lighter, which I didn’t have, then stumbled on his way, but dog had buggered off and left me to it.

I don’t feel unsafe but then I walk in daylight hours . I think if I were walking in the dark I’d feel less safe with the dog as I’d have the worry of keeping him safe . Mine would try to protect me but he’s only 15/16kg so I doubt he would do much damage .

Depends on the dog...

Not because I’d ever be expecting a dog not trained for it to protect me in anyway, but some dogs would put people off by their appearance.

Some though, would give people an excuse to approach you.

Walk a muzzled Rottweiler for instance and you’re given a wide berth by everyone, so I’m pretty sure that would include anyone up to no good, but if you walk a little cute collie or a Lhasa apso, people don’t hesitate to come up and talk straight to the dog, often pretty much ignoring you, lol, so I can’t imagine it’d put off anyone from mugging or attacking you or whatever. (The dog’s are very specific because they’re actual dogs btw)

Yes I feel pretty safe with mine. He's not a breed known for aggression (golden retriever) but he is big.

He's a bit of a one woman dog so I think there's a good chance that if I was attacked he'd go into protect mode. I hope I never have to find out.

I'm not too worried about him being stolen as he's far too big to pick up (obviously!), not a puppy and would definitely put up a fight if someone tried to take him away from me. He won't even allow anyone else to hold the lead if I'm with other people on a walk (jumps up and makes a big fuss with his very scratchy claws!)

No.

She weighs 6.3 kilo and wags her tail if anyone so much as looks at her.

I must admit that given all these dog thefts I'm actually feeling a bit wary when I'm out walking with her and now tend to avoid the more isolated places that I sometimes used to walk her.

Not really, my collie is very friendly. Don't know what she'd do if someone actually attacked me though, but don't think she'd be meaner to them than I would. She might nip but I'm certain she wouldn't actually rip off an attacker's leg or anything useful like that.

If getting your dog stolen is a concern, best thing to do is get one that's not worth much. They are just as good pets as expensive dogs!

Yes, she’s a German Shepherd...will accept treats etc and will be friendly, but not at first. She has a huge bark and would be scary to look at.
We were walking through a dark patch recently and four teenage boys in black were behind us. I stepped in to let them pass as I don’t like people behind me, and she stood in front of me gently growling til they were gone.
She stands in front of me at the door if I open it at night too.

I feel safer at home for having my dogs (their barks sound bigger than they actually are!) but more vulnerable when out as I do worry about someone trying to take them. They're bull breeds so I think it's the knowledge that they're more likely to be snatched for fighting/bait purposes than 'stolen to order' where at least they might end up with someone who loves them. I don't think they'd let anyone break in, the noise would be horrendous and they're very protective of our home so I'm pretty sure they would attack if someone made it inside without being scared off by the racket.

Yep, actually he’s getting very old and I’m worried about life after him. He’s been my companion for a decade and I don’t know what forest/mountain walks are like without him.

He is a 60kg rottweiler if that gives it context.

A random man did ask to have him once whilst we were walking alone, I laughed and said ‘if you can take him you can have him’ and funnily enough he didn’t try. The dog is very very protective, even if me and DP are having a row he gets in between and sits on my lap to assert his loyalty. Will start growling at what ever I tell him to ‘get them’. It wasn’t taught, that’s just the breed, very protective. Also very soft. I will probably get another when the time is right.

My dog has protected me while I was walking him. A man started to follow us, he was was all in black, hood up wven though it was nice weather etc, he was making me feel a bit nervous so I made some odd turns etc and it became obvious he was actually following us. I dont know if the dog sensed something with the man or could sense I was nervous but he turned round to face the man and was snarling and barking and lunging towards him, the man decided to turn around and walk back in the direction we had just come. He isnt a big dog but as a mongrel with quite a bit of alsation in him he looks and sounds mkte viscious than he is.

I felt much safer with my old dog. He would’ve attacked anyone who looked at me wrong. My dog now is more likely to search them for treats.

I didn't think they would until a guy stopped me to ask for directions one night when I was walking Ddog2. Ddog2 is daft as a brush and the soppiest muppet I've ever come across. This is the dog who waits until I've shut the door to bark at the postman.

He is large, (chocolate lab) but honestly so soft, I'd never heard him growl before but this bloke came towards me and he stiffened, tail went down, hackles up, fur bristling and he showed his teeth and snarled at this guy and obviously he shit himself and backed off. He was terrifying. He is not a small dog but is usually so dopey.

I've never seen him look so menacing. This was not a warning growl, this was a clear, explicit threat, you take another step and I'll have you. He'd never done it before and never since and I think he knew something I didn't about this guy. So yeah I think he would protect me if it came to it.

Yes! My day g who I thought was daft turns out is a very effective guard dog

3 men appeared in my garden recently looking for someone... I asked them what the hell are you doing? Get out of my garden and dog absolutely flipped and gnashing and barking throwing herself at the back door... I said if they stay a minute longer I'll let the dog out

They left very quickly!!!

My lab barks the house down if anyone shows up at the door but if we're out on a walk and I stop to talk to anyone, he's straight over for a pet. So I wouldn't count on his protection.

I have a big gun dog who I have no doubt would try and protect me.
But a fellow dog owner grabbed me in his arms and held me tightly in his grasp so I couldn't move while he groped me in a completely isolated meadow. My dog's presence did not deter him. My dog did not attack him because we'd met the man on 2 separate occasions, I'd had a chat with him before and my dog knew his dog. So, 'threat level' was probably greatly reduced in my dog's mind by the time the guy did what he'd done to me. It was rather terrifying.

My neighbour was mugged at knifepoint on a dog walk. His airedale was grabbed by the perp who held a knife to the dog and threatened to stab him if my neighbour didn't hand over the goods.

So, I feel safer with my dog than I do alone, but not necessarily safe as houses. And they are powerless against a knife-wielding perpetrator who is unafraid of dogs.

Ddog1, no. Ddog2, absolutely - he's part doberman and very protective. And when he is feeling like I am being threatened (rightly or wrongly but he spends a lot of time thinking about my safety) he's a big dog with a lot of teeth showing them to you, growling with his hackles up.

My lab barks the house down if anyone shows up at the door but if we're out on a walk and I stop to talk to anyone, he's straight over for a pet. So I wouldn't count on his protection.

Mine's a lab cross. The way he reacts to foxes in the garden, you'd think he'd shred a threatening individual down to the bones. On walks, it's a different story (don't get me wrong! It's a good think. We don't want any shredding down to the bones happening).
He seems to think people merely exist to love and stroke him. I have no doubt he'd sniff out the convicted serial killer and think, "Ooooh he seems lovely!" in a Lee Evans voice. "I choose him!"

It's a good think or thing even.

No. He is a puppy and its like walking a celebrity. I swear people jog towards me to talk about him and stroke him. Noone used to come near on walks before so it would have been obvious if i was being followed/approached.

I feel much safer with my two dogs. I only really do night walks as my anxiety is too much during the day with too many people.
I feel safer at night than I do during the day.

My dogs don't look particularly scary (border collies). I have set them off on alert when walking past sketchy looking people, using "stay with me - watch them - speak" but never really been in a weird position of where they've actually needed to be alert properly, or attack.

My male is like my shadow, and there is no way anyone could drag him away from me, or me from him.

I was walking home alone once and was being shouted at by two pervy blokes. I was without the dogs, but close to home. I started fast walking to get to the field near my house and phoned my kids to let the dogs out and I'd whistle for them. The field has no street lights down the path I walk and filled with bushes. They probably were just being dicks and had no intention of being any worse than they were, but it was the most scared I'd ever felt on my night walks until the dogs got to me. The blokes went down a different path - because of the dogs or not ill never know.

Not really - because I hope he'd run away and not attack (thereby getting himself hurt) Also we play-fight a lot, so I'm not sure he'd even recognise an actual real fight.