Protective instinct. Can you help me??
Just one week ago and in the middle of the night my car was broken into. It was just parked beneath of my bath window and the thieves also forced other cars and stole some bicycles. My OES was at home with us and neither he nor us heard anything (he did not bark). We are now a little bit scared because on these christmas days, thieves are get used to coming into houses even with families inside and they may intend to come again. My OES (5 years old) has always been very friendly with humans and I have never ever seen any agresive behavior or something like that. My question is what do you think it would happen if somebody try to get into my house and my dog discover him. Do you think that my dog will attack him or will show any agresive behavior in order to protect us?. I have to repet again that he gets along with humans and he has not been ever taught in protection or guard lessons. Do you have any experience on this matter?. Do you have any advice that may can help us to activate my dog auto-protection sense..... if any?. Thank you in advance Joe |
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Hi Joe,I am in no way any kind of expert,but from my experiences w/ my pets I am pretty sure if anyone was to try and break in my boys would go nuts.Like your OES mine is a huge love bug,but one night my bf came downstairs where me and my daughter was sleeping(we were at his cousins home)it was pitch dark down there and my bf knocked something over he made a loud noise,will my OES(which is 7months old)let out this aweful scarey growl,I woke up and turned on a little lite and he was in a attack stance w/ all of his fur standing up on the back of his neck,he was showing his teeth,and lets say my bf didnt move a muscle.LOL!!  Also I ahve a collie who is 2yrs old and he is also a love bug,but if my bf plays to rough w/ my daughter he gets between them.So,yes I feel your sweet mannored OES would indeed protect his family.Maybe he wouldnt actually attack,but I bet he would bark and growl enough to scare the holy you know what out of someone.Im sure some of the ppl here who have alot more experience w/ OES will fill you in w/ some good advice.Hope you have Happy holidays............. |
| I see two types of sheepies, those that hide when something new happens and those that take interest. If your dog is curious with new things, then they will be able to read your emotions and hopefully react appropriately. If you show fear, then hopefully your dog will spring to protect you.
I'm never sure with my group. Since the meter reader used to hop the fence to read the meter, I doubt they'd bother someone if I wasn't here. The only time I went out to chat with him, one bitch took a sudden interest in his ass.......and I had to call her off quickly. He would have been pocketless....or worse. Strange, he never jumped the fence after that...........hmmmm. |
| Hi Joe,
My OES, Daisy, that I grew up with was so friendly that we used to say if someone broke in that she would like them to death. Little did we know just how protective she would be if she felt her family was in danger. A neighbor boy was threatening to hit me and I screamed, Daisy came running broke off of her run. Grabbed the kid firmly by the arm and escorted him back to his yard. When she reached his property line she released him. I truly believe if she felt it was a life or death situation she would have not been so nice. She did her job and protected her family. I am sure your dog would act the same way. Sheepdogs are very protective of their families. Elissa |
| Hi Joe-
Sorry to hear about the burglary. I've had two OES and have had varied experiences with protectiveness. Both of my OES would just a soon kiss you to death than anything, and neither was ever trained to be aggressive. However, like any dog, an OES can sense danger and has an instict toward protecting it's own. Whether or not it would ever follow through is another story. Here are a few stories to illustrate what I mean: My first OES, Penelope was a complete lover, she was big and she scared people who didn't know any better. We lived in a pretty crummy neighborhood becuase I was in college, and she oftentimes came face to face with someone who was tresspassing on our property. She would bark and barr her teeth like a tuffy, but she never actually attacked anyone. She was also pretty effective on walks through the neighborhood. There were many homeless in the neighborhood and a lot of public drinking, so lots of times panhandlers would approach when I was out walking her and with no cue from me she would let out a low growl and in some cases even lunge at the person who was getting too close. That said I was glad that these behaviours always scared off the person (mostly homeless beggars) because had she actually made contact with the person, I'm afraid she may have chosen to start licking them, and most of them smelled pretty strongly of filth- yikes! I also once heard a story about a really big OES male who caught an intruder in the house and pinned the guy down before he even made it past the entry (luckily he was unarmed)- the owner found the guy face down in the entryway of the house and this big shaggy male had not only "pinned" him but was also "humping" him to death. Imagine how humiliating that was, enough to give up a life of crime, one would hope. If nothing else, most criminals DO NOT know the nature of the OES ( you are in trouble if they do) and they assume based on size of the animal and that deep OES "danger" bark, that this dog is a possible threat. I have a friend who is a police officer who says that it is better to have a dog in the house, any sized dog, becuase if a criminal has a choice between the house with a dog and the house without, they will pick the house without becuase they don't know what the dog may do. My advice, let everyone you don't know think your dog is a killer, what they don't know won't hurt them. AND never offer comments like "oh this dog is harmless" to strangers. Let them assume the size of the dog means it's a good watchdog, even though we all know better. On a parting note, I had a mailman when Penelope was a youth who was terrified of her, and of course she kept up her end with the barking and the tough attitude. I wasn't paying attention for a few weeks and one day I noticed him walk right up to the house and stick his hand through the screen door to pet Penelope even though she was wildly barking, I sort of started in surprise to pull her away, he smiled and said " I thought this was a really mean dog by the way she would bark and get aggitated when I came to the door, but I've discovered she's really just a cupcake!". Good luck to you and your cupcake! Seasons Greetings! Up. |
I know the feeling.... and welcome to the forum! 
My home was broken into in March 2002. A lot of stuff was stolen, and I was so mad, but the first concern was to make sure my pets were in my house and safe and untouched. My first fear was what if they hurt Winston? What if he ran outside? I didn't yet have Dancer and Sky (my 2 OES) and now that I do have them and because of what happened I am even more concerned about break ins. I fear for their safety, and I'm always worried someone might break in and steal THEM while I'm at work. They are love bugs, very affectionate, very much people dogs, however, they are also very protective, and definitely let me know if they hear or see anything unusual. I think they would protect us, but I am determined to beef up our security to ensure their safety as well. While a dog may protect their pack in these kinds of situations, you also have to worry that an intruder may not run from the dog, they may harm the dog. If you are worried about another break in I would install motion sensors, an alarm system and lots of lighting around entry points. |
| OES are not really considered guard dogs due to their general good disposition with people. However, as a member of their pack they may rise to the challenge if your life was in danger. The members of the pack will naturally guard each other but it depends on your dogs personality.
Try play fighting with your wife and see what your dogs reaction is. My bet is your dog will do a lot of barking and try to get inbetween you. I once wrote about one of my Sheepies called Big Dog whom saved me from harm one day when I was out in the woods with my then 2-3 year old son. I would have never thought this dog was capabable of it. He changed from a goofy dog with tongue hanging out to a slow moving one with teeth bared and I mean business look. Even tho I hadn't made a sound when two men had approached us and blocked the way back to the main trail - Big Dog came crashing through the woods and leaped to block their way towards us. It was an amazing site. Shaggy the female came racing and stood in front of my son. The men backed slowly away and Big Dog resumed being the goofy dog he was before. That happened many years ago and I am still astounded that he did this as would have NEVER thought he was capable of it. Looking back he must have sensed my fear at being in that predicament and sensed something in the men as well that may him react that way. My home has been broken into twice. Once when Shaggy was alive and recently with all three dogs (although they were out in the back and not in the house.) I too felt like the other posters..I worried more about the pets than any material things that were taken. I think if one's life was in danger the dog would be able to pick up vibes from you and try to protect you but, probably not your property as some other breeds may. Marianne |
| Lennon and Sofa are cute lettle angels with strangers outside our house, they love to be petted and like to play with everyone. However, there have been exceptions where they have shown their instincts and they have never been wrong. We cross the border to to the US about twice a week and there are lots of beggars and salespeople on the bridge. Most of them are harmless, but when our guys pick up on one that looks dangerous or with bad intentions, they go crazy! They bark and growl like there was no tomorrow.
The scariest experience we've had is very simmilar to Marianne's. We took a hike on the mountains and suddenly the dogs stopped and started growling like I never heard them before. My wife was on the lead and she called me to get close to her quick. Hidden on the road was a person that was standing still, like he was waiting for someone. We tried to calm the guys bet it was no use, they kept on growling at him like he was a bad person or someting. This person had a very evil look, like the devil. If you saw "The passion" you know what look I refer to... It's the only time they've done that. I'm glad we had them with us. I trained the guys to chase, bark and growl on command. We used to live on a bad neighborhood and I decided it would be a good idea to teach Lennon to intimidate people when my wife was home alone, if you tell him "Kill!!" he will run like crazy, barking and growling and Sofa follows him... Must be enough to make a bulglar run for his life. I think that if they catch him they'll lick him to death... But I hope that if someone tries to break in they will be intimidated by them and they won't try. I would hate them to be harmed in any way by a bad person... Material stuff can be replaced, they can't.
I agree with the other comments, always give the impression that the dog is not friendly when a stranger asks, you never know what their intentions may be, and the size of these dogs is enough to intimidate anybody. They also bark like crazy when someone knocks on the door, that's why I haven't bothered with a doorbell. Once they are outside on the park, they will chase the stranger with a stick or ball to have him play and usually they play under supervision, I like them to socialize and I encourage that. As long as you are not the pizza man, you'll be okay... lol. |
| Pooh knows who the good guys are and who isn't. More often then not, a dog can just sense someone who is up to no good. Pooh regularly grunts and growls at our neighbor (a bit koo koo) who is a bit sketchy. The other morning, we came out for a walk and he must have sensed something (my car had been vandalized) because he looked like a pointer and was grunting at something through the bushes.
Executive summary: If someone is out to harm you, I think you'll have a sheepie to the rescue to try and protect you. |
| From my experiences, even the most friendly and mild-mannered dog will turn into a guard dog if they feel their family is threatened. Our first sheepie would come to the rescue of anyone in our house even if we were just play hitting each other. And if anyone outside went near the kids, look out!
As the other posters have said, too, if the dog senses fear in you, or if you're not home and they sense danger or fear from an intruder, you should have nothing to worry about! JMHO, Chris |
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