The Protective Nature of Dogs

When my brother was only a toddler, we owned a Siberian Husky. If you have any experience with this beautiful dog, you will know that they have a tendency to have a "wild" streak, even though they are very loving and gentle dogs. One day, my brother ran up behind our dog, and jumped onto his back while he was sleeping. The dog reacted quite violently (as might be expected), turned over his shoulder and grabbed my brother by the head. Fortunately, the dog realized what he did, and immediately let go. My father, meanwhile, quickly grabbed my brother, and knocked the dog away from him. My brother escaped with only a minor cut, though it could certainly have been much worse.

After this incident, our dog was extremely protective of my brother. The dog was well behaved around the rest of us, and enjoyed playing and romping with us, but he was protective with my brother. We could not roughhouse with him. My parents could not discipline him in sight of the dog. The dog would do whatever he could to keep anything bad from happening to my brother. I believe my toddler brother could have walked in downtown New York with that dog and no one would have bothered him!

This reflects the protective nature that many dogs have. Some breeds are known for being extremely loyal to their owners, and are known as "one owner" breeds. Often Chows, German Shepherds and Pit Bulls are of this nature. But, many dogs are very loyal to their owners, and their families. This loyalty is the heart of why the dog is protective. Dogs can and will be devoted to those that provide for them. And, if something happens to strengthen that relationship even further (as happened with my brother), then the dog will be even fiercely loyal, and protective.

In most cases, this protective nature is a good thing. However, sometimes you also have to be very careful of a dog that is so fiercely protective. It may interpret something wrong, which could lead to an accident. For example, the dog may see the child wrestling with another child, think there is some danger, and rush in to protect him. Or, as with my brother, the dog can become so protective so as to not even let other family members around if he thinks there is some danger (such as when my parents would try to reprimand, or discipline my brother). The key is to keep an eye on the dog, and make sure that the protective nature does not grow into a dangerous aggressiveness.

Some dogs, such as the breeds that were mentioned earlier, are very protective of their owners, but can be a danger to others. While working in a vet clinic, I saw a Pit Bull that was brought in by a child, as gentle as it could be. But, if there were other animals anywhere in the clinic, the dog would go ballistic! Parents may think it a good thing that the dog is so loyal and protective of such a child, but it also presents a danger. If the child cannot control the dog when other animals, or people are present, he could get seriously hurt.

Our Siberian Husky was a great dog. We hated it when we moved, and could not take the dog with us. He was gentle enough to sleep on our feet in cold weather, but also had that little "wild streak" in him. He would wander away for a couple of days at a time, hunting rabbits and other small creatures. After the incident above, he never showed any problems. But he was very protective of my brother, till we had to give him away. This protective nature in dogs can be one of their greatest characteristics!