The guy was throwing the dog across the room. I doubt a pissed off Mal is any more deadly than a pissed off GSD.
I have a 5 year old Doberman, who is an “inside” dog along with our 2 daschunds.
The doxy’s are the Early Warning System and the Dobie is QRF…
The doberman is hands down the smartest dog I’ve ever “owned”. She is professionally obedience trained, but no formal attack/schutzhund training. Nevertheless, I’ve seen first hand her instinctive protective nature, especially for my wife and kids.
I feel a lot better knowing that Jazz is asleep next to my wife’s bed (just across the hall from the kids’ bedrooms) while I’m on 24 hour shifts, and the two little dogs (who believe they are Dobermans by proxy) are laid up in the living room. It makes me feel a little more secure to show up at my house at 3AM and have three sets of eyes and ears on me by the time my key jiggles in the lock…
I don’t harbor any illusions about my dogs being a fail-safe, but they are one more layer of detection and protection that may buy me or my wife a little time to wake up, assess the situation and protect ourselves and children. 75 pounds of pissed off canine may not stop every threat, but they ain’t gonna get around her quietly… 
Anytime a door opens, she makes it a point to be there. She has a routine of stepping around to be in front of us when we walk out back, sizes up the yard and then does a patrol on the fenceline before heeling on us.
I know it’s not formal “experience”, but she’s been enough to lead us to wanting a second dobie around…
This is Ingrid will be 2 years old in May 103lbs …
… and this is ‘Tazz’ our wonderful Rescued Dobe 98 lbs now we beefed him up. He came to his forever home 6-2008, he discovered my wifes breast cancer he kept sniffing her arm pit it was strange I guess his little contribution to our household but he is nuts great with people and kids but if your another dog fuggitaboutit.
I have had Dobermans since 1997 and I would not consider another type of dog. Does that make me a ‘dogicst’ ?
Michael
Awesome story, but what was the fiance doing during all of this?
Sure do. I had @60 stitches from my knees to my neck installed because of an Akita. This Akita was being told no, yelled at, kicked etc. all by the owner of the dog and wouldn’t stop.
I will never have a large dog that won’t come when you call him, drop everything he’s doing when you say “no” , and open the fridge with the help of a towel tied to the handle and come back with beer! Sometimes, he brings cheese but he deserves a snack. Dogs that size that have no training are dangerous and represent great liability. Luckily I survived but you read about those that don’t once in a while. I was 13 BTW. Now I would CCW that ass
Steve-oh. I am not sure understand your question.
Doesn’t sound like he was there.
One thing I can’t stand about Dobies is how people crop and splint their ears and dock their tails. Just wrong and artificial in my book, all done for “looks.”
If he means me, I was in my house probably but who knows. My girl was with me. She was told the story by our neighbor.
If he meant my neighbor’s hubby- Afganistan
My pal has a 160 lb Great Dane, you would not wantt o make a fast move towards my buddy if his Dane is nearby. He actually has two, the smaller 120 lb female pretty much stays behind the larger male, the male is the great watcher and protector. He will grab a ground hog by the skull and give it a few good shakes and snap it’s neck. I have labs (2) now, but I want to get a Dane in the worst way. My one lab is a cream-puff, the other is a protector. Maybe all dogs that live in pairs let one be the gaurdian? I used to have a lab/rot mix named Blockhead, he was massive and would attack any dog that came into our property. You could not get your car door open if he was loose… he would simply not allow it until one of us pulled him back.
Dogs are a fantasic deterent, big dogs any ways. I can not rough-house with my children with my current male (T-Rex) in the house, he can not accept playing rough.
Agreed, what a great story. To bad she had a baseball bat to grab, and not some type of firearm. Makes me wonder if she went out later that day or next day to pick up a firearm.
Its been mentioned here many times. Dogs are truly amazing creatures…
Cutting on Dobes ears is wrong/cosmetic I agree but dont mind the tail as much keeps my wifes knick-knacks on the coffee table.
Greta on my left she was 9 when I had to put her down 2 days after my Mom died …they both had heart attacks of sort, sad week.
Hans on my right he went in his sleep about a year ago grieved himself to death over Greta in 10 months time.
Greta and Hans were a machine, I trained them both (I am a Level 7Trainer) standard obedience with hand signals and noises since they do not get the English language.
Neither would not cross the property line and we had 4 little girls next door and 4 little girls across the street no bites. And the neighborhood had a much tarnished reputation, many burglaries rapes etc etc they watched over us. Have two new adventures now !
Michael
p.s. I didn’t blur my face so if somebody uses my image you are an equally sick individual ! LOL
Well, that really is the reason we and many others have gone to strictly Mals…they ARE much more tenacious on the bite and in the fight. Hell, even the German Army’s Special Ops K9 guys went to Holland to buy KNPV finished Mals! There trainer told us they won’t use GSDs.
There is a definite difference, without offending…everyone has there favorite breed.
The reason I’ve been given my LEO and mil K9 guys is the drive of the Mals and the fact that American GSDs have been ruined by breeders. Never once heard mention of tenacity nor biting. There’s a good K9 forum at lightfighter where some of this is detailed.
The best thing about Labradors is that they’ll retrieve the BG into the house so you can shoot him again
If you ever want to know where in your house has the best sightlines and control of doorways, watch where a dog will take its nap. Every dog I’ve had has figured out the best place to watch choke points and keep an eye on the kids. That is, if you don’t temp it with a doggie bed.
It is funny how dogs know that there are normal rules, but if something is going wrong, things are different. I bet that dog that jumped the fence to intercept the BG hadn’t ever jumped that fence before. That and when they do scare something off, the look they get in their eye of “Yeah, I am the baddest MF on the block.”
One of my favorite Nature videos was from Spain. There was a flock of sheep that were about to be assaulted by some wild dogs or wolves. The are just jogging towards the flock when one of the “sheep” rushes out like a laser and counter-attacks. The herders had put a Great Pyriness white dog with the flock since it wa a puppy so that it would defend the flock.
If it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t have the time for a dog and the damned shedding I would have adopted a GSD a long time ago. When I was still a young un’ back in the PI, a friend of mine’s dad imported GSDs from Germany and Czechoslovakia for breeding. We used to go jogging with one and nobody ever messed with us.
Another breed that seems to be very good at reading people are Australian Shepherds. A friend of mine has two (brothers) and he says that it seems that these dogs can tell the difference between a trusted stranger versus ones that may have bad intentions. It seems that the ones who can be trusted around his family the dogs will allow to get out of their cars. The ones that may be of dubious nature they will growl and bark at and will generally not allow out of their cars.
My dane is very protective of my wife; she feels safe when I’m away. You can’t put a price tag on that. She says he goes into protect mode when I am not with her.
This is them when Jackson was 9 months. He is just over two years now.
Boxer just heard something while he was eating, tore into the living room barked at me till I looked at him then ran to the entryway between the front door and us. Good pup. No idea what it was, probably absolutely nothing but he’s got the idea.
Good thread and great dog pictures! I looked and couldn’t find a thread for pics of our guard dogs so I started one! https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?p=337038#post337038