Overly Protective Pooch

Whe my twins were small, we had a dog who was fine with hubby and i being around and picking them up but when friends, people she knew and liked, babysat we had to specifically tell her, "Melinda and Russ are babysitting tonight, you have to let them give the boys bottles, pick them up, change their diapers. She'd be fine for that night. Next time Russ came by in morning (he worked with hubby) she'd stay between him and the boys.
 
I had a Black Lab that was very protective of me.
I was walking him once, waiting to cross the street. A drunk guy approached & started teasing him - pretending to kick him, flailing his hands in his face, etc. I warned him that if he touched my dog I would take him apart. He mumbled, "Oh really?"
Then my dog started growling & baring his teeth. The guy walked away. Funny, 'cuz I would have done much more damage to him than my dog would.
Just as a joke, my girlfriend pretended to hit me. Well we never played that joke again. My Lab started jumping on her & barking & scared the crap out of both of us.
 

Oh and my pittie, Jinks, bonded the first time my then 3 1/2 yr old grandson in 2012. So much so he'd get very alert if either of Liam's parents so much sounded firm with the boy. I'd keep reminding him, they are Liam's parents they get to scold him if he's naughty.

They visited once a year and every arrival Jinks would bounce with joy like a puppy whenever they arrived.
 
I had a Rough Collie who was so gentle I never thought he would be protective or hurt another animal. He would be lying in the yard, resting after he dug all the holes for my plants for me. He disliked cats and small dogs. The neighbor's cat would come over and drape herself across his front legs (both on her back and on her belly), and fall asleep. He would just lie there with a look of disgust on his face, and wait until she left.

We were staying at a state park, and one midnight got back to our cabin after going bear hunting.* A man who worked at the park came down our front steps and started talking to me about how he'd left me a gift, and how much he liked me, etc. My 4 kids and a friend were with me. This guy couldn't stop talking about his love for me, and how he wanted to take me out, etc.

My dog got between the guy and me immediately. He weighed 100 lbs (and wasn't overweight). I told the guy that I was married and to go away. He kept yapping. The dog went nuts, got into a position to leap, growled and snarled loudly for the first time ever. The guy got scared off.

I was friends with one of the forest rangers and told him about this the next day. He told me that the guy was the boss's cousin and had had a lot of complaints about this kind of behavior -- including being a peeping Tom. I talked to the women who had been accosted. Then I called the Parks Department of the state, and they sent a representative down that day. The guy was fired. Oddly, no one had reported him until then, except to his cousin the big boss.

* Bear hunt. We got our collie to protect us from bears. They were habituated to people at that particular park/state forest. I could have taken a rifle, but with 4 little kids, that's not a plan. Plus I don't want to shoot a bear. Well, my dog loved watching the bears from the time he was a puppy. Bear hunting was what we called it when we drove around looking for bears late at night. We saw quite a few each time, especially at the well-lit dumpsters and on various roads in the park. I have lots of stories about the bears, and Teddy was alone with one staked out in the front yard, and didn't care. No barking, no nothing. That time a bear had sidled right up to the picnic table while my friend and my kids were toasting marshmallows. Everyone levitated pronto into the cabin, leaving the dog behind. The bear left quickly when my friend screamed. Lucky for me, because I went dashing outside to get my dog, not realizing the bear had left.
 
My current dog is very protective of me. He spots anyone coming toward me while we are on a walk and he goes into "kill mode". He stands on his hind legs and growls and barks ferociously. He can stand like this for 5 minutes. He weighs 60 lbs, although he looks small to me. My dog is all bark and no bite, and I have control over him. If one of these strangers comes up to me he will be all over them with kisses. It's called the Wheaten Greetin' and is natural for the dog. In my dog's case, every teenager who came through the front door loved the greeting and encouraged it, despite the fact that I was trying to train him out of it. Now we just make sure that we have the dog under control when someone enters the house. Except for us, of course. I did manage to train him not to do that overwhelming jumping and kissing stuff with me.

Oddly, when my daughter takes him hiking, he doesn't act like that. He is determined to greet everyone and their dogs. So determined that my daughter has to ask if it is okay if the dog greets them before they get too close.
 
WheatenLover said:
My current dog is very protective of me. He spots anyone coming toward me while we are on a walk and he goes into "kill mode". He stands on his hind legs and growls and barks ferociously. He can stand like this for 5 minutes. He weighs 60 lbs, although he looks small to me. My dog is all bark and no bite, and I have control over him. If one of these strangers comes up to me he will be all over them with kisses. It's called the Wheaten Greetin' and is natural for the dog. In my dog's case, every teenager who came through the front door loved the greeting and encouraged it, despite the fact that I was trying to train him out of it. Now we just make sure that we have the dog under control when someone enters the house. Except for us, of course. I did manage to train him not to do that overwhelming jumping and kissing stuff with me.

Oddly, when my daughter takes him hiking, he doesn't act like that. He is determined to greet everyone and their dogs. So determined that my daughter has to ask if it is okay if the dog greets them before they get too close.
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My grand dog, Zoe, is protective of me. prefers to go outside whenever i do, and if i won't let her cause she was just out or would get in way--she stands on the 'Behemoth' (a big wooden chest that was here when we took possession of our house) that is under a front window, so she can keep an eye out for me.
 
My first babysitter was a dog. My mother would put me in the yard on a blanket and tell the dog to watch me. I was just starting to crawl a little and when I'd reach the edge of the blanket, he'd start barking. If nobody came out of the house immediately he'd sit on me and bark. Heaven help the stranger who came into the yard when I was out there.....he'd be lucky to escape without missing various body parts. No other dogs or cats allowed either.

My dad rescued him as a very small puppy from a sinking Japanese warship, stuffed him in his shirt and took him back to his ship, where he became the ship's dog, Admiral Nipponheimer, shortened to "Nip" (yeah, I know, definitely not PC, but we're talking 1945 here.)

Dad got permission to bring him back to the US. He had to wait three extra weeks in Japan for the permission, which didn't endear Nip to my grandmother, who wanted her boy back NOW!

They worried how Nip was going to act when I was born, but he loved the squalling little hairless pup at first sight and had to keep me in sight at all times.

I loved that doggie for 11 great years.
 
jujube said:
My first babysitter was a dog. My mother would put me in the yard on a blanket and tell the dog to watch me. I was just starting to crawl a little and when I'd reach the edge of the blanket, he'd start barking. If nobody came out of the house immediately he'd sit on me and bark. Heaven help the stranger who came into the yard when I was out there.....he'd be lucky to escape without missing various body parts. No other dogs or cats allowed either.

My dad rescued him as a very small puppy from a sinking Japanese warship, stuffed him in his shirt and took him back to his ship, where he became the ship's dog, Admiral Nipponheimer, shortened to "Nip" (yeah, I know, definitely not PC, but we're talking 1945 here.)

Dad got permission to bring him back to the US. He had to wait three extra weeks in Japan for the permission, which didn't endear Nip to my grandmother, who wanted her boy back NOW!

They worried how Nip was going to act when I was born, but he loved the squalling little hairless pup at first sight and had to keep me in sight at all times.

I loved that doggie for 11 great years.
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Oh, i had a 'nanny' dog as kid too. An airedale/retriever named "Buffy" She would follow me all over the yard keep me from going off in woods or into the river by myself once i learned to swim. My sisters had school so ages 1-6 it was often just one parent (Dad was primary caregiver several months of my first year) me, the dogs and cats at home. We had hunting dogs too, but Buffy was family/house dog. She would chase soap bubbles when i blew them, catching them then making disgusted face and trying to spit out the taste, which would make me laugh so she'd do it some more. By about 4 yrs old i realized why she was making the face and stopped doing it because i didn't want her going thru that. Dad had all the dogs so well trained they'd accept basic commands from Mom and us kids as well. But Buffy was special to Mom and me.
 

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