Protective instincts in German Shepherds
I love to share a true story about my first dog that shows that training might not be as effective, but a strong bond with your dog will!
This was my very first dog, a German Shepherd mix named Buddy. Read my Bio.
I gave him the name because I read a book called “Buddy’s eyes saw for me”- A seeing eye dog.
Buddy was given to me when I was 13 years old he was my “everything”. I raised him from a puppy on.
I started training in Schutzhund with him. Schutzhund is a German style competition that includes tracking, obedience and protection.
My dog was a natural talent in tracking. His obedience training was great for what we knew 40 years ago.
In protection training he just didn’t have what it takes. He would bite the sleeve, had little to none aggression when he bit the sleeve.
I failed the test horribly twice because of that!
I wanted to compete really bad!
When I was 17 years old I acquired a second dog that was much more talented for what I was so motivated to accomplish.
When I moved out of my parents house I left Buddy with them.
I visited my parents every weekend. At one time, after about a year, my mother would lay on the couch taking a nap, with Buddy laying next to her on the floor. When I was ready to leave, I went to bend over my mom to kiss her good bye. Buddy came unglued. He defended my mother aggressively. Against me!- who had been with him for years, cared for him and trained every day!
He didn’t bite me, but it was so intense that I had to back off.
The bond with my mother must have gotten so strong that he defended her against ME!
That all being said, it shows that in a real situation, a dog might be protecting you automatically – in training scenarios, we might some times miss to utilize the protective instincts over his owner that he naturally has.