how protective is your Doberman?

[Big Red Machine]

Just wondering how protective your Doberman(s) is/are.

My feelings are that most of you wont have horrific stories to share and there is going to be a lot of speculation as to what they might do.

[jelly8bean]

Not at all.. my little red girl is a big bark, but runs away from strangers unless I'm with her. Then she scoots up on her butt in a sit to make friends. My baby blue is just a big puppy still. Don't think she would do anything. And I want to keep it that way.. I socialize them with people all the time to make sure that they would never get over involved with anything. I know that they are genetically built to get -my house, my person, feelings.. but I don't want that and actively work against it.

[Rich S]

Magnum barks at men off leash, but never goes up to them. He is more social with kids and women and tries to sneak a quick kiss in. We have often wondered what he would do if someone were to break in to the house. At night time he seems to go in to full security mode.

[RedDobeLuvr]

Riley is very much a "guard dog." She wants to bark or growl at noises, people outside, etc. However, she is not out of control or anything. I have trained her from day one that one bark is good enough to let me know.

On the other hand, I can totally relate to jelly8bean.... my Dobe would do the same thing.... bark and then run away if I wasn't next to her. I have found that Riley follows my lead with how to treat strangers... if I am talking friendly to them, they are an automatic friend.

[lab1dobie]

Lucy "looks" intimidating but really she's a big mush and schmoozer. Our late Red dog was 95 lbs. and was the same. Their natural ears softens their appearance but when people find out she's a dobe they are amazed.

[apollo]

Very protective with my wife and daughter and only with males (strangers) that are bigger than him. when he's with me he acts different. He loves his momma but is my best friend and second son. He does not bark at people, when they are walking by he just sits there and watches but if they step on the driveway he stands up and waits (they don't come up) and it's always someone who wants to sell you something. We are always around people friends and family and he knows the difference but when it comes to his house and strangers I would hate to be the guy who breaks in to my house.

[MLR]

Both of mine are real friendly people oriented dogs and I wondered the same thing. What would they do if someone ever tried to break in? I found out one day when I had my grandchildren over and accidently locked us out of the house. I finally found a living room window which wasn't locked. It was shut but not latched and the strom window screen was down but the glass part was up. After I managed to pry the screen up without damaging it, I pushed the lower inside window sash up enough to reach in and pulled on the mini blind cord so I could boost one of the grand children up and in through the window. Much to my surprise there was Hercules standing on the couch watching my every move and he never made a sound. Number one, he's not allowed on the couch and he knows it; number two, Im sure he recognized that it was me trying to get in the house this funny way; but more importantly number three, if I was a stranger trying to get into my house and I was met with a 98 1/2 lb dobe staring at me and not making a sound I think I'd change my mind and go elsewhere real quick.

I, too, would never encourage either of mine to be agressive like Jelly8bean said, but the neat thing about dobermans, especially if their ears are cropped, is that they really don't have to do anything but be who they are to be intimidating.

Mary Lou

[DynamicDuo]

My 8 month old is the alarm, she barks at anyone who looks out of place in our neighborhood (Cable guy, phone line people, etc) and Samantha just watches. She is not aggressive but her 95 lb stature looks intimidating if you don't know Dobes. I'll never forget once their was a guy pushing a baby stroller down to our end of the street, first I should mention we live at a dead end and Samantha knows all five families that live at our end of the street. Well, anyways this guy never looked up or made eye contact with anyone to say "hello" unlike most people who walk by and smile or wave, ANYWAYS she went trotting down to the sidewalk and just walked over to him as if to say who are you? Well this guy jumped 6 feet in the air and screamed like a girl, shot me a dirty look and ran off with the sroller while the kid in it was waving to my dog. I can't figure people out??? Who knows maybe he was casing the neighborhood and Samantha had that 6th sense that told her something ws up. Needless to say I never saw him again.

[triplecminis]

I do not see the need to teach any type of protection to the dobies they cue on scents and are very alert... I see that alot of the comments seem to think along the lines of what I think a dobie is intimidating enough to make someone think twice about wanting to tangle with it... I like the fact that they look that way as I live out on a farm and I have miniature horses and people love to just stop and look at them but since my hubby works out of the country I always get a little scared someone may think it would be easy to break into my house... of course owning a dobie is a huge responsibility because it is up to us to keep them out of trouble. I am not sure how it works in other states but in Texas you can not do any type of protective training with your dog or your insurance carrier will drop you at least this was my quote from (State Farm)... I never ever leave big dogs unsupervised I own a Great Pyrenese and she is the biggest baby and the sweetest dog ever but I love her and I take keeping her out of trouble serious...
most people view Dobies as dangerous so I think it is best to prove them wrong by not encouraging them to become over protective...just my opinion