Dogs that Get Too Protective
In this country, everybody wants a protective dog. Many go out of their way to get a German Shepherd, Rottweiler or the like and then encourage it knowingly or unknowing to be protective to a fault. If you want a dog to actually do protection work, then you must be prepared to put in many hours of work in obedience to be able to call off a bite or allow someone close to you when the dog is told to desist.
What I frequently see is a puppy that starts to growl or nip if the husband gets too close to the wife or the kids wrestle or shriek during play. I have even had dogs that won’t let the ayah close to the baby once the dog understands the new baby is part of the family. Some dogs will be fine with people in certain areas but not in others. I had client with a dog that was fine with the gardener walking it, feeding it and playing in the yard with the dog, but the minute the gardener stepped into the house with shopping or to pick up the car keys to clean the car, the dog became a growling, snarling fiend. It even go to the point that the family could not even hand the gardener anything with the dog present in the parking area as he would risk a bite if the gardener was less than 5 feet from a family member!
If you see the signs of a cute puppy starting to growl, nip or try to keep people away from you then please get some help for it as ASAP. Most people don’t realize how fast it can go bad. If no one can get to you or a family member in an emergency, you may have a big problem. In the U.S. my Brother was in the fire service for years, on one emergency run when he was a rookie he encountered a Doberman that was a problem. An elderly woman had several dogs and was feeling poorly, a possible heart attack. She knew her Doberman wouldn’t let anyone close to her so she called for an ambulance, then tried to close the dogs into the house while she went into the garage to wait for help. The Doberman pushed past her and got into the garage with her. When she had called the emergency service she explained the dog problem and said she would be in her garage. When the Ambulance and Fire Service guys found her, she was sitting in a folding chair and a big snarling Doberman was sitting right in front of her. After some thinking, my Brother decided to use a turnout coat (a very heavy, protective coat designed for fire fighting) on the count of 3, he rushed in tackled the dog with his turnout coat over its head and the other guys lifted the chair with the elderly woman on it and whisked her out of the garage. In fact, after the owner was no longer present, the Doberman was a real pussy cat and was very friendly with my Brother!
If you see the above signs with a puppy, please don’t laugh or encourage it. Get professional help and train it in a way that suits your family.
Happy Training!
