[Svatudjw]

I think it depends on the dog. We've owned our dog for 3 years now and we're well bonded. A few weeks ago, we took her to be temperament tested at an event with ATTS (American Temperament Test Society) evaluators. She passed the test but her protectiveness was pretty low.

The last part of the test involves a "scary/aggressive stranger" scenario where an oddly dressed person comes at you waving their arms, making noise and yelling. Molly did not bark at the stranger at all; moved her body sideways and looked away (distancing signals). When the stranger advanced, she did look at him but did not really display any protective behavior. I won't have her exact score results for another few months but I wouldn't be surprised if her score was very low on that part of the test. A more appropriate response would be for the dog to bark and move forward to challenge the "aggressive stranger" and back down when the "aggressive stranger" stops moving.

The temperament test can't really test for territorial nature but Molly does show some territorial habits: checks the fence perimeter whenever she goes outside and she goes into alert when someone is at the door (but does not bark). I don't consider that being protective of us humans though, just territorial about her "turf."

I'm fine with her response as I don't want a guardian-type breed. I live in a fairly dense city and I would rather have a dog that is easygoing for liability reasons. There are better things for personal protection that don't require daily feeding and exercise.