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.

Feel very safe walking mine but is bigger than average lab size

And know he have no qualms after a jogger running through woods tripped and grabbed my wheelchair from behind to stop them falling

I screamed as all I felt was chair being grabbed my boy came flying over hackles up teeth bared and barking like crazy jogger took several steps back very fast

Called dog to me put on lead and guy kept saying sorry but by then dog on high alert and growled when they tried come near to pass (to be honest only had guys word he was jogging through middlenof Woods and just happened come out on path near me

My elderly chocolate lab would protect me. He’s as soppy as they come normally, but has been known to growl, hackles raised, at men hiding in bushes on night time walks. He’s very old and grey now, and neutered, plus too heavy to pick up (he’s slim for a lab but tall) so I’m fairly sure he’s unlikely to be targeted by dog mappers.
My 12 week old pup is a rare(ish) giant breed (not kc reg) and theoretically more attractive to dog nappers but as she looks like a 6-9 month old Akita/ gsd tends to make tradesmen/ delivery men etc more wary. She’d be useless against dog nappers but is luckily quite heavy! She’d also be of no use against an attacker and would hide behind the lab.