after hearing boxer owner talk of his encounter where his dog saved him lol it made  me curious which breeds of dogs are used for guarding i mean i know all dogs will defend their owner if needs be but which ones will do it from instinct or is it the breeds we consider are 'aggressive' as where i live its really rough and you cant walk out on your own at night unless you have a dog or someone with you.
so which breed(s) are protective?

First of all if the only reason you want a dog is so you can walk the streets at night I think I would opt for a big stick instead:-)
You should consider everything when picking what breed of dog you want not just whether or not it will scare off possible attackers.

Ask what you are looking for in a breed and what kind of life you live and I'm sure you will get lots of usfull input from the members here!

MD.

lol you have me all wrong
i didnt say i wanted a dog just so i could walk out at night :) i just wanted to know which breeds are considered protective.
but after reading that myself it does look that way lol
if i was going to get another dog id always do research on it before to make sure i would be suitable for it.
sorry if that last message seemed a little shallow lol

not bred to do it...but my BCs are protective of me!!! & react to "dodgey" people!!!!

Same here michelled, Spice BC is not even keen when I stroke other peoples dogs she will come back and push my hand away from them! and if a jogger or person is walking toward me she always comes back to my side and stays with me until they have passed by.She has not been trained to do this in any way, but does it from instinct,my previous dog a colliex also did the same thing.
I must admit though I do carry an 'attack alarm' which my son bought for me, a mobile phone and sometimes a walking stick on my lone walks with Spice if we are on a common or somewhere remote,more as a deterrent and to give me a bit of self confidence than actual self defence I must add :D
Jacqueline :)

Well my dog is meant to be a 'guarding' breed (as well as herding), but she is just a big softy.  I do wonder though if she knew I was in trouble - I think she would try to help.

Fiona - who partly wanted a large breed so I felt safe when walking her alone.

My breed (BSD) will guard - but this varies from dog to dog out of the 6 I have here only our alpha bitch would really guard - my big fella can make a lot of noise but is as soft as butter if anyone comes to the house. The others will join in if Lola or Louis bark but otherwise not bother, and 2 of them have such easy going gentle natures that I use them as PAT dogs - but then I have deliberately bred for a non guarding temperament as I want my dogs to be able to live sociably with us ( and any pups we have go to live as part of a family).

Malinois are used abroad as a guarding breed throughout Europe and have in fact taken over as the number one breed used in police forces and the military in many countries. The working lines used there are very different to the type bred here and not recommended for the average pet owner being very high 'drive' dogs and needing very skilled handling. Most malinois bbred here make excellent obedience/show or agility dogs but are of similar temperament to the other varieties of BSD found in this country ( bit 'woosey' and sensitive - ahhh ;)

Yvonne

I would think most of the breeds in the working group would have guarding instincts but don't forget that with most of the working/guarding dogs, YOU have to be the top dog. If not, you can have an unruly dog on your hands. Saying that I love 'em all :D
Anne

Is that why you are getting a 'PITBULL' Kerrie?????? So that you will feel safe walking the streets at night?????
Lea :)

I have a Dobermann and would have to say that any of the BC we had growing up were much scarier than her, I think if push came to shove any dog would protect the ones they loved. Its not a good reason to get one if you get a dog it should be for love of the breed not because they are a guarding breed.
Mary

Mary, surely the 'guarding' instinct in some breeds could be part of what you love about that breed?  I wanted a dog I felt safe to walk alone and therefore looked at large breeds - to me that is just as good a reason for choosing a breed as any other.  When I discovered Briards (who are a large breed) I fell in love with everything about them! :)

Fiona

look i know there was some talk of me only wanting a pit bull cause i want protecting but that is totally not true i only asked which dogs would be considered breeds that guard and thats it.
i know after reading my post that it did seem that way but its not.
and also i had a friend that asked me if i would be interested in having a pit bull and naturally i went to the police station to see if they were legal if i had a lisence for it and they gave me the impression that, that was alrite but no way am i going to have one if it would be destroyed so you can all relax!!
im going to get a bull terrier and leave it at that

My dobermann is one and he is always on guard.  Sometimes I feel sorry for him he doesn't seem to settle down.  We had a dobermann before and he wasn't like this one, but with this boy he seems to constantly be alert he is up and down, every little noise.

You could use a shaker tin or throw chain to discourage the nuisance guarding and teach your dog to become more discriminating ; once trained Dobermanns are amongst the most discriminating of the guarding breeds but you do need to teach them. An untrained, indiscriminate dog is just a nuisance.

i think most would probable guard as dogs are very loyal to their owners but i wouldnt totaly rely on it.

When I was in my teens, if I was going down the shop to hang out with my mates (yes I know how sad :rolleyes: ) I would take one of the Afghans with me, not intentionally a guarding breed but certainly did the job on my walk to and from the shops :)

This morning the binmen came into the garden to get rubbish(they dont normally) and Abby was in the garden she just ran up to the man and started wagging her entire body I was out with her poor man didnt know what to do, no barking, no growling nothing she just thought he was someone else to play with.
Mary

My dog is exactly the same, i'm sure he would open the door for anyone trying to break in, if he could.