Thanks, I'm aware of the new changes in the law in the UK. I was more wondering who would be at fault in an act of self defence. If my dog injured someone who attacked me first, I'd be happy to take responsibity for that if it's counted as self defence. What I would NOT be happy with, is if my dog then is deemed aggressive and dangerous, and ordered to be put down.
I know her and I always avoid putting her in stressful situations I know she can't handle, but if I was attacked by someone and hurt, and I couldn't hold her back, I think she should be allowed to defend me. But that's just my opinion and I don't know where the law stands in this. I guess if there's nothing specific about those incidents written, it would just depend on the judge..

I'm curious to know why you would think this? ^^

To the OP, I'm not from the UK, but around here I think that if a dog were to bite someone, the dog would fall under the dangerous dog act, unless a pit bull and would be put down immediately. If a dog mauled a person I think they would be put down.

I would personally want my dogs to protect me by ways of blocking and snarling, not biting because I wouldn't want them to be put down. Unless I was being killed, that would be a different story.

Betsy is generally quite easygoing with people, however she will bark when people knock at the door (quite like that as shes louder than the doorbell!).

However, I would say she is very protective of me as she can sense my emotions. Once late at night, not through choice, I needed to travel by train. We were minding our own business and all of a sudden, we heard trouble at the back of the carriage.

Betsy who was fast asleep as a 8/9month old pup shot up with her hackles looking very worried. One of the lads messing about with the inspector came up to us and started getting in our space and a bit leery (I think he was drunk or on some other 'substance') and she shot up, growling and lunged at him (no contact made).

I was half happy she did (he backed off) , but half worried we were going to be kicked off at the next stop for it! (whereas, actually, they got off at the next stop...!)

What actually happened is the two members of staff came and thanked her and gave her a big hug!

I used to live in a small city in Florida and I had a dangerous dog. Nylah was a big Neopolitan Mastiff. The type of business we owned required that we often have other peoples' cars locked in our backyard before they were returned to the dealerships. I went to the police station to see what I had to do to protect Nylah and us from getting in trouble in case she bit someone. She had to be registered by the police as a dangerous dog. My fences had to be posted every 10 feet in the three languages commonly spoken in the county and had to include a picture of a snarling dog. I had to carry at least 500,000.00 of extra insurance. We lived in this small city for over 20 years and Nylah did bite a few people during the 11 years she was with us, but we didn't get into any trouble because of it. One young man was arrested at the emergency room for trespassing and attempted theft. The police laughed at him when he tried to claim it wasn't him. His blood and part of his shirt were in my yard. She was also very protective of "her family". So, I think if you find out what the rules are for where you live and follow them you should be o.k. Here in the U.S. each state is likely to have different laws pertaining to civil matters and dangerous dogs are civil not criminal.

Marley or though only little is extreamly protective of me,
I go to a a lot of boy racer meets with him and he will make sure nobody but me or a few selective people open the doors,
And he is not protective just with people walking past but unless you are on his ok list he will threaten and then if he thinks it's needed would bite anybody that touches me