Interesting question @VanGoSunflowers
I say I've had 9 dogs, but the first three were when I was young and still lived with my parents. So here on the thread, I mainly refer to the 6 that I've had in this house.
My three boys were hugely sensitive. If I was upset, crying, ill, struggling in any way, they would always come and sit beside me to snuggle, give me a paw, rest their head on me, or just stand and lean against me. The girls not so much. Pyrenean females are far more independent and busy, less affectionate, or at least affection is always on their terms. They like to be with you but not cuddle. Brie, however, after being the worlds most independent minded puppy, and pretty much behaving like an adult bitch by 3 or 4 months old, is suddenly becoming more cuddly and sensitive. She definitely doesn't like raised voices. Even if we're just having an animated conversation about news or something, she will watch us intently. She likes things to be calm. She's highly intelligent and definitely seems to have a sense of humour. I'd say she's the most doggy bitch if that makes any sense. She has a lot of character. I'm now hopeful that she'll develop the nurturing side that the boys had.
With regard to protective instincts, I mostly just trust them to know right from wrong. It is, after all, a guarding breed. But they very rarely show any anger. I think I've mentioned here before that one of our males only ever growled once in 10 years, and that was to protect me on a walk. He suddenly veered across the path to place himself between me and a man walking towards us. I heard a low growl and realised my boy had his hackles up. It was totally out of character, he was a sweet, friendly soul. We still wonder to this day, just what he sensed, because we had walked that path dozens of times before and passed hundreds of people quite happily. It was very odd.
So, although I joke about Brie being defective because she so rarely barks, I'm pretty sure she would keep me safe from harm.