If you were to get attacked whilst walking your dog what do you think your dog would do ?

[summergone]

I walked my dog on a usual route yesterday thinking I would get to the end of the unlit off road bit before it got too dark but I didn't . I came across a man who spoke to me but he made me feel really uneasy and my heart was actual racing . This is not like me I'm not an anxious nervous person at all . As I walked away I was thinking if he had attacked me what would my dog do? I'd like to think she would know I was in danger and would pounce on him and protect me but it got me thinking . What do you think your dog would do ?

So ironically I've had an attempted break in during the day at home whilst I was home working.

At the time I had 2 SBTs. One female. One male - male younger but we're talking 7 and 4.

It was the female that saw the burglar off and trotted back in like nothing had happened. The boy fled and it took me 45 minutes to find him after I realised what had happened.

I say that because I was on a call with a client, I heard barking and nothing else. It was on the ring doorbell footage I saw what happened.

I now have a 3rd dog, but this is a breed that is usually trained as a protection dog. His lines are not working, but he is naturally wary of strangers. I am training him to be neutral but he will be 50kg of pure muscle and I will be teaching him agility, etc to ensure his commands are sharp.

I have no fear of walking around late at night though. People cross the street to avoid me.

I don't think either of my gundogs would do anything. And if the assailant scattered treats around they would ignore what was happening completely.

I'm pretty sure my dog would protect me against another dog, but probably not against a human. He has a weird deference for all people, possibly because he was a street dog and was 'taught' his place early on 🥲
We have to persuade him to sit on the sofa. He never eats his food until we say he can. It's cute but also quite sad.

My dog is an absolute softie long dog who adores everyone and genuinely believes he's a lap dog, he is in no way bred or trained to protect his house and spends most of his life upside down on the sofa.
BUT! DH and I were play fighting one night and I squealed a bit too realistically for the dog who leapt into the kitchen and snapped at DH. He held him in a corner growling until I stopped laughing and called him off, at which point he ran over to DH and smothered him with apology kisses. We've not encouraged it or seen him do it since but it's quite reassuring to know it's in him if needed! Particularly now the morning walks are dark again :-(

I know what mine would do as I was walking him alone in the woods and was approached by an agitated man tripping his balls off! Have an English Bull terrier boy (who is extremely friendly and unreactive to people/dogs/horses/cats etc)..but his entire coat from ear to tail stood up and he put himself in front of this guy and growled so low it was like it wasn't the same dog...he was rigid and obviously on high alert. Bloke buggered off very quickly but Ddog was unsettled the whole day.

See if they had treats ! If not would they'd bugger off to smell the next tree and leave me to my peril !

As a fellow Pom parent, this made me smile, although, mine isn't tiny as Poms go, weighing in at 5.5 kilo.

But she'd be more likely to hope she'd found a new friend and start trying to play with them rather than yank on their sock. She's not one of life's great defenders.

I don't know what my current dog would do. He is a gsd, not trained in protection, although he did bark at a man who shouted at me. My previous dog, also a gsd, once stopped a man by growling and standing in front of me, the man left sharpish.
I once had a gsd, many years ago, who saw off a burglar.
I have no idea what would happen if I was actually attacked while out with my dog, but I'd let go of his leash, so he could escape just in case.
It's a frightening thought, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to my dog.

This is because I think it would be likely that someone who felt brave enough to attack me when out with gsd, wouldn't think twice about injuring or killing him, it's not an offence to do so.

That's a really good point...

I also have a large border collie, 30kg, He is a rescue and can be unpredictable. We were walking on the common when a drunk man came towards us, my boy jumped in front of me, snarled and went to bite him. The guy said l was only trying to stroke him and be friendly to you. Idiot....
He would definitely attack and bite anyone He thought would hurt me and serves them right.

As others have said, I've wondered about this. As he's a large black greyhound I'd hope to start with that any would be assailant would mistake him for a doberman and think twice. He's certainly capable of knocking someone over if he ran at them at speed and has teeth like a chainsaw. So if he did decided to go into defending mode I think he'd be quite effective. He's flight not fight with other dogs, but has a good growl on him. I hope I don't have to find out!

We have 2 staffies and I feel quite safe walking at night with them because of the perception people have of them. In reality they adore people, however I've often wondered what would happen if I was attacked, I assume they would know something was wrong so think they might bark but doubt they would actually do anything else.

Once my daughter was home alone and went out the front and managed to lock herself out, our local window cleaner was in the street and he offered to climb over the back fence and go through the unlocked back door and through the house to let her in, she was a bit worried about someone entering the house in that way with the dogs inside as didn't know how they would react, he wasn't worried and turned out they were just excited to see him, they are not good guard dogs.

Owners think their dog would go for an assailant however most would not. Unless a dog has tendencies to go for strangers and has to be muzzled while out or a trained protection dog don't be lured into a false sense of security

Hmmm he is the most placid dog but at 60kg I'd like to think anyone would think twice. If someone did, the only time I've ever seen any form or aggression is when DH and I were play fighting and he got between us. Although DH is master, it's me he follows everywhere. He was protective over DD as a baby when we had her in the pram.... Not growling but putting himself between a stranger and the pram.

I actually don't know..... 😂

A rescue rottie I had as a teen on the other hand, was my bodyguard and would bark and growl at men, especially if they were under the influence. Again he was so placid at home though. He was rescued from a drug den though.

30 years ago I was walking my springer spaniel (who was preferred other dogs to people, although was perfectly happy to be stroked by strangers usually) after dark. A male neighbour decided it would be funny to jump out at me from behind a bush. My dog bit him on the arm.

I don’t own a dog but we know one who we look after often
hes half staff have whippet-soft as butter and if he had two brain cells,he’d run the world
anyway,my son had come to see us and I’d taken the dog with me to go and meet him
we where standing with our backs to him,he crept up and ‘attacked’ me from behind
the dog went apeshit-he had him almost on the floor-I really didn’t think he’d do that

my son went on to get himself a staffie
he was at work one night,leaving the dog in his flat with a friend
the friend left the dog for 20 minutes while he went to the shop-and burglars broke in
the dog had started barking but was soon chomping on a bone that they gave him-thankfully they only stole some beers and where caught drinking them round the corner

if someone attacked my son,I think he’d run for cover…

Mine is still a puppy but is 40kg ish already. He looks like a wolf so I don't imagine anyone would come near us. He is a big softie however I have seen him tell a husky off before who kept trying to hump him so he does know how to give warnings. Any strangers he meets though, even someone new in the house he just lays on his back for tummy rubs, he may jump up which would probably scare them but it would only be for cuddles!

My other dog is a pug, he would bark loads but other than lick them he'd be no use at all.

My labrador as a child who was training to be a guide dog but failed due to being anxious with being seperated would 100 percent attack if she thought I was in trouble. I was playing fighting aged 16 with a bf and she barked and stood infront of me, very protective.My labrador cross now would jump up for attention but she's just 8 months old though.

I don't walk my dogs because they're not actually mine, they're my parents but say I did.....

The Airedale has appalling manners and leaps up at any and all opportunity and as she's obviously a very tall dog I think that would be fairly alarming. She also has a habit of biting air in excitement so again, if you didn't realise she was trying to greet you I'd imagine you'd think twice. Big bark as well.

The bull terrier obviously has a reputation as a fierce bully dog (entirely underserved by the way, English bull terriers are utter softies and total idiots to boot). She is ALL muscle and has the hardest head known to human and dog kind (it's because she has a really thick skull-not much space for brain in there). She barks non stop as soon as anyone comes near and also jumps up because she is so thrilled that a new FRIEND has come into her orbit. Every time she barks a small trump is forced out at the same time from her rear end. Ordinarily she would just be absolutely over the moon to meet someone new but she is rather devoted to me (I'm ranked above my parents in her affections) so she might, just might turn to defence mode if I were attacked, if her little tiny brain managed to work out that was what was happening. Absolutely no guarantee she'd puzzle that one out though. I think even if she didn't her enthusiastic welcome would be enough to put off any assailant!
God I love that egg headed idiot

Years ago when I had my little rescue dog (mixed breed), we were going to the vet, sat in the back of a taxi, he was in his little carrier. Out of nowhere my dog started growling, I looked up & saw the driver staring at me in the rear view mirror, with a kind of odd vibe. Later talking to the vet I mentioned it. She said when she was at university she had a dog who loved everyone, except her flat mates father for some reason, used to not let him go near her. Her flat mate later confided in her that he used to abuse her when she was growing up. Good instincts.

I think the attacker would probably lose a limb!

DH always says our boy has a totally different demeanour when I walk him than when he goes out with DH, it's like protection mode gets switched on.

Last winter I was walking him after dark but only about 8pm. There were 2 men in hoodies on the opposite side of the road up ahead walking in the same direction as me (so with their backs to me). They stopped to cross the road and as they looked for cars spotted me, one said something to the other and they changed direction to walk towards me.

My boy had an absolutely shit fit.

Proper snarling and growling, all his heckles up, I had to hold the lead with 2 hands. The 2 men stopped for a second, tried to come again and he did the same thing so they changed direction and carried on the way they were originally going.

Now bearing in mind we often come across strangers and other people out walking in both daylight and after dark, this is the first time he's ever reacted like that, so he clearly sensed something was off.

He's a 33kg English Bull Terrier so I think those men made the right decision in the end 😂

@Toooldtoworry he is beautiful

She is ALL muscle and has the hardest head known to human and dog kind

This made me lol @BarnacleNora yes I've felt the pain of EBT head to chin on many occasions 😂

Also have a large Alsatian who looks as though he'd tear an attacker to pieces but in reality he's scared of his own shadow and never barks so would probably just lie down and wait
Hopefully his appearance means no-one would try anything!