Will a normal family pet dog protect you from an intruder?
It is unlikely that a family dog that has not been trained specifically in guard work will protect you from an intruder. They will bark, growl, or may even have their fur raised, but biting is unlikely.
This, however, is again dependent upon breed and bloodline. A German Shepherd or Doberman Pinscher has a higher chance of defending against a break-in or a mugger on your walk.
If you have a Havanese though, don’t expect them to jump in and save the day!
If you have a Border Collie, you may want to read Border Collie Resource Guarding: (Possessive Growling)
Will my dog protect me from an intruder?
Whether your dog will protect you depends mainly on two things: your dog’s genetics and your dog’s training.
An old saying goes, “if a dog is under pressure, it reaches into its ancestry for help.” This means that relatively few dogs naturally protect their owners if the genetics are not there.
In fact, the vast majority of dogs will not protect their owners from intruders. After all, most dogs have been selectively bred not to bite people, a trait called bite inhibition.
Don’t believe us? Watch this video:
From this, you can see that most pet dogs may become frantic or afraid when there is an intruder.
They usually sound the alarm by barking. But very few dogs have the genetic instinct to truly attack a human. Even fewer have the training or conditioning to help them know how to do it.
Does this mean that no pet dog will protect their home and owner? No.
Some dogs are definitely special and defend their people and their homes with their lives, regardless of breeding or training.
Ultimately, factors such as the dog’s breed and their specific bloodline play the biggest role in their protective instinct and the likelihood of protecting you from an intruder.
Some dogs like the Caucasian Ovcharka and the Boerboel are natural perimeter guardians.
These dogs are genetically designed to defend their territory and home.
Livestock guardians like the Anatolian Shepherd also often make natural guard dogs who are protective.
However, the most reliable are close-quarter guardians like the Cane Corso or the Neapolitan Mastiff, who tend to be glued to their owners.
You can see a display of this in this video:
As impressive as these breeds are, there is a caveat: None of these breeds are ideal for inexperienced owners.
In fact, they can be dangerous with the wrong person. These are powerful dogs with a tendency towards hyperarousal (they can be triggered into an aggressive state very quickly).
Untrained dogs of these breeds can be dangerous.
Q3: Your dog wants to play…
This question determines both how good a guard dog your pet would make, but also how easy it would be to train them. It’s always easier to train a dog that enjoys playing as they won’t see it as learning.