Thanks Shona...

good point about the breeds....

im not listing breeds that i dont own but i think a bigger dog - would put people off (hopefully)!

i personally wouldnt be scared as such of a small breed even though i know they can give a nasty nip

years ago one of my dogs protected me and took a severe kicking in the process, he wasnt injured as much as the guy who he attacked though. he had bites to his arms, thighs and chest. then he even suggested to the police that my dog should be destroyed.
i didnt like seein my dog hurt but this guy was the size of a bus so i was glad he was with me. he got exactly what he deserved in my opinion.

in most cases the look of a dog who is growling and barking would put off the attacker and i think that my dogs would fight for me my coonhound zara is very alloof with people she doesnt know and doesnt want them touching or coming near her so i think i could definately count on her and stan the collie cross always copies zara so i think he would too eventually.

If the situation ever arise I think it would be nice to feel that you could rely on your dog to protect you. My husband got Ben to "look after" me while he was away with the Army during the week. However, he is the biggest wimp in the world and I could honestly say that he is no protection at all. Many a time I have had to "save" him from another aggressive dog. However, I do think that in his prime his shear size was deterent enough and fully grown men used to cross the road just to avoid him lol. But, that said I truely would not have had Ben any other way. x

I think the plus side of having bigger breed dogs is that people just seeing you with them would be put off from doing anything untoward, you'd have to be suicidal to try anything with shona with her gang!

big dogs are more of a deterrant. sometimes its a comfort to see people crossing the road.

even though Hector, i dont think, wouldnt hurt anyone Bonnie would. she is the fiesty one in this relationship, and Hector would quite happily let her get on with it.

Too right! You should see Kali when something pees him off - he can look positively EVIL! I think he might well have a go if the situation arose. Dunno what Thorgeir would do, he's still a baby, really.

My first ever collie (Glen) did defend me against some other boys once, when I was little. Didn't do anything, but his "mean look" and growling scared the c*** out of them. He was a total cowardy-custard really, but he could look fierce and convince folks that he was "well 'ard"

One thing that bothers me is that if they were to drive off an attacker with a bite or two, the attacker might well report the incident to the Polis (omitting their own part, of course), and get my boys into the do-do


Snorri

Neither of my dogs would protect me, they are both wimps. However, I'm not sure if I would want them too anyway. Neither of them are built for it and would probably come off worse and then there is always the threat of your dog being accused of attacking the other person and possibly being put down. I would prefer to protect my dogs.

Hi,

I laugh about my dogs being wimps (particularly Zane) but I think when it comes down to it, a dog can read our body language just as we can read theirs. I think if I was attacked by another human (if they're stupid enough to try anything when I walk most evenings with all 3 dogs) then I'm 100% sure Zane would react to my body language, shouts, screams, etc - whatever it took to make him react in a way that brought out his guarding/loyalty towards me.

If ever oscar was attacked I know for sure Zane and Ellie would both kill the person concerned. There wuold be no let up until either they or the attacker were dead. I know it sounds bad, but Oscar "belongs" to them. They'll do anything for him.

If it were me, Ellie would certainly protect me.

Yiannis on the other hand would probably think it was all a big game and join in!

Laura xx