5 ms·

Reminds me of this video: "Dogs Tested to See Whether They’d Defend Owner During Home Invasion" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ74oFctP_g https://www.youtube.

Reminds me of this video: "Dogs Tested to See Whether They’d Defend Owner During Home Invasion" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ74oFctP_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ74oFctP_g Spoiler alert: dogs are probably not as helpful as their owners think during high stress scenarios.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
That video's contrived. Of course your average companion dog or hound / gundog isn't going to really know what to do when an intruder appears. Try the same experiment with dogs who've been trained for protection. Search YouTube for protection dog.
- faitswulff 8y ago
  I don't think it's contrived compared to the expectations that ordinary people have of their dogs. Dog owners likely secretly think that their pooch is going to protect them, even if they're not protection dogs.
  - oldmanhorton 8y ago
    I know a ton of people with dogs and have heard every owner say that, and only one or two were serious. The joke is usually that the dogs like people too much and would think the intruder was a new friend. Perhaps it's a regional thing but I don't think most expect protection from their dogs
    - WillPostForFood 8y ago
      Agree - the only real protection is as early warning (barking). Then the intruder licking begins.
      - code_duck 8y ago
        Dogs act very differently with strangers that the dog sees accepted by the owner then strangers who are unknown. Have you never been growled at by a dog that is tense and bristling? Or had one lunge to bite you?
      - DeathRabbit 8y ago
        Yep. I have no doubts than in such a situation my golden retriever would dive behind me...I love that little derpy bundle of love. Not that anyone expects a Golden to be a guard dog.
      - dvtv75 8y ago
        There's a YouTube video that I can't find where three greyhounds are in a house, when someone kicks the door in. The greyhounds panic and hide behind the furniture while the guy helps himself to the contents. Definitely not good guard dogs.
        dvtv75 8y ago
        Found the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7mspVXGoik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7mspVXGoik There are two greyhounds, not three. If I was downvoted for saying that greyhounds aren't good guard dogs, then whoever did that should probably actually meet some greyhounds. The muzzles they wear aren't to stop them biting people, they're to stop them nipping at each other during races, and to protect small dogs and other animals when they're not racing. They're sight hounds - silent watchers with an unbelievably friendly, trusting, and loving nature, and once they've tired of your attention they will wander away to sleep off the excitement.
        osullivj 8y ago
        Ditto whippets.
  - bad_user 8y ago
    You don't need a trained, protection dog. E.g. Labradors are toys, being bred to be playful and loving. A half breed of a pit bull doesn't count much either. What you need is an aggressive race. Also females tend to be more protective AFAIK. I had a Rottweiler for example, that I was walking without a leash near my building because to my knowledge she was well behaved, but with no special training other than me talking with her daily. So one day I was attacked by a homeless person and my dog, came from the bush where she was peeing and nearly bit his hand off. Well she was about 50 Kg and size and weight do count. And another day she stood her ground to a pack of 3 or 4 street dogs. What can I say, was living in a bad neighborhood. Also in our country we still have many classic shepherds that practice transhumance, with these 2 races of dogs being very popular, called "mioritic shepherd" and "caucasian shepherd", including all kinds of half breeds, and these shepherd dogs can get pretty big and get used for defense against thieves, wolves, you name it. And they don't need training btw. They aren't kept for emotional support, they are kept to defend the herd and with the harsh conditions involved, they can get really, really aggressive. And actually it's the same story if you go to the country side where people keep dogs to protect the house and livestock. Dogs being entirely utilitarian, they only get food and shelter in exchange, not love, so they know what needs to be done in case of intruders. My grandparents had a saying — if you want a dog that can protect you, you should never allow other people to feed or pet it.
    - sevensor 8y ago
      > Labradors are toys, being bred to be playful and loving. A half breed of a pit bull doesn't count much either. Interesting that you'd say this -- I think there's always exceptions to these rules, and here's mine: I had a half-laborador, half-pitbull. Like a lab, she was very aware of people's emotions, and like a pit, she was strong, aggressive, and had a very high pain threshold. (She barely reacted when we pulled porcupine spines out of her nose with pliers.) Unfortunately, this was a problematic mix. If I was the least bit uncomfortable with somebody, even if it was just social anxiety and I wasn't in any danger, she would start growling and try to make them go away. And she viewed every other dog as a mortal threat, to which she would react with murderous fury. I have no doubt that if I had felt physically threatened, she would have done serious and possibly disproportionate damage. I wasn't able to take her out much.
  - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
    I've seen what my dog did. I had a locksmith come to replace the ignition switch on a car, because the key couldn't turn it any more. It took longer than I expected, and finally I decided to use the restroom. Of course, that's when they locksmith finished his work, and came in to tell me he was done. So my dog sees this guy walk into my house without me there to meet him. The dog, essentially, drew a line in the carpet and said "Don't take a step across that line." It was impressive. I didn't know before that how my dog would react, but she seems pretty... sensitive... to people coming into my house when we aren't at the door.
vorpalhex 8y ago
People aren't as helpful as one would think during high stress scenarios either.
slededit 8y ago
You spend every other day teaching them to be nice to humans, its not surprising they will apply it elsewhere. We don't really want aggressive dogs and so we breed it out of them.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago

That video's contrived. Of course your average companion dog or hound / gundog isn't going to really know what to do when an intruder appears. Try the same experiment with dogs who've been trained for protection. Search YouTube for protection dog.

faitswulff 8y ago
I don't think it's contrived compared to the expectations that ordinary people have of their dogs. Dog owners likely secretly think that their pooch is going to protect them, even if they're not protection dogs.
- oldmanhorton 8y ago
  I know a ton of people with dogs and have heard every owner say that, and only one or two were serious. The joke is usually that the dogs like people too much and would think the intruder was a new friend. Perhaps it's a regional thing but I don't think most expect protection from their dogs
  - WillPostForFood 8y ago
    Agree - the only real protection is as early warning (barking). Then the intruder licking begins.
    - code_duck 8y ago
      Dogs act very differently with strangers that the dog sees accepted by the owner then strangers who are unknown. Have you never been growled at by a dog that is tense and bristling? Or had one lunge to bite you?
    - DeathRabbit 8y ago
      Yep. I have no doubts than in such a situation my golden retriever would dive behind me...I love that little derpy bundle of love. Not that anyone expects a Golden to be a guard dog.
    - dvtv75 8y ago
      There's a YouTube video that I can't find where three greyhounds are in a house, when someone kicks the door in. The greyhounds panic and hide behind the furniture while the guy helps himself to the contents. Definitely not good guard dogs.
      - dvtv75 8y ago
        Found the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7mspVXGoik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7mspVXGoik There are two greyhounds, not three. If I was downvoted for saying that greyhounds aren't good guard dogs, then whoever did that should probably actually meet some greyhounds. The muzzles they wear aren't to stop them biting people, they're to stop them nipping at each other during races, and to protect small dogs and other animals when they're not racing. They're sight hounds - silent watchers with an unbelievably friendly, trusting, and loving nature, and once they've tired of your attention they will wander away to sleep off the excitement.
        osullivj 8y ago
        Ditto whippets.
- bad_user 8y ago
  You don't need a trained, protection dog. E.g. Labradors are toys, being bred to be playful and loving. A half breed of a pit bull doesn't count much either. What you need is an aggressive race. Also females tend to be more protective AFAIK. I had a Rottweiler for example, that I was walking without a leash near my building because to my knowledge she was well behaved, but with no special training other than me talking with her daily. So one day I was attacked by a homeless person and my dog, came from the bush where she was peeing and nearly bit his hand off. Well she was about 50 Kg and size and weight do count. And another day she stood her ground to a pack of 3 or 4 street dogs. What can I say, was living in a bad neighborhood. Also in our country we still have many classic shepherds that practice transhumance, with these 2 races of dogs being very popular, called "mioritic shepherd" and "caucasian shepherd", including all kinds of half breeds, and these shepherd dogs can get pretty big and get used for defense against thieves, wolves, you name it. And they don't need training btw. They aren't kept for emotional support, they are kept to defend the herd and with the harsh conditions involved, they can get really, really aggressive. And actually it's the same story if you go to the country side where people keep dogs to protect the house and livestock. Dogs being entirely utilitarian, they only get food and shelter in exchange, not love, so they know what needs to be done in case of intruders. My grandparents had a saying — if you want a dog that can protect you, you should never allow other people to feed or pet it.
  - sevensor 8y ago
    > Labradors are toys, being bred to be playful and loving. A half breed of a pit bull doesn't count much either. Interesting that you'd say this -- I think there's always exceptions to these rules, and here's mine: I had a half-laborador, half-pitbull. Like a lab, she was very aware of people's emotions, and like a pit, she was strong, aggressive, and had a very high pain threshold. (She barely reacted when we pulled porcupine spines out of her nose with pliers.) Unfortunately, this was a problematic mix. If I was the least bit uncomfortable with somebody, even if it was just social anxiety and I wasn't in any danger, she would start growling and try to make them go away. And she viewed every other dog as a mortal threat, to which she would react with murderous fury. I have no doubt that if I had felt physically threatened, she would have done serious and possibly disproportionate damage. I wasn't able to take her out much.
- AnimalMuppet 8y ago
  I've seen what my dog did. I had a locksmith come to replace the ignition switch on a car, because the key couldn't turn it any more. It took longer than I expected, and finally I decided to use the restroom. Of course, that's when they locksmith finished his work, and came in to tell me he was done. So my dog sees this guy walk into my house without me there to meet him. The dog, essentially, drew a line in the carpet and said "Don't take a step across that line." It was impressive. I didn't know before that how my dog would react, but she seems pretty... sensitive... to people coming into my house when we aren't at the door.

vorpalhex 8y ago

People aren't as helpful as one would think during high stress scenarios either.

slededit 8y ago

You spend every other day teaching them to be nice to humans, its not surprising they will apply it elsewhere. We don't really want aggressive dogs and so we breed it out of them.