[HarryMet]

Everything I've read about pit bulls indicates that they are NOT guard dogs as they are too people friendly. Do pit bulls tend to have a sense of danger? Meaning good people coming in the house vs intruders? They seem to be so in tune to their humans and loyal, it makes me think that my 10 month old pit would protect me if need be. Thoughts on this issue??

[F1grandprix]

To give you an idea if a man breaks into your house and no one does anything or he dosent try to hurt anyone your pit bull would wag his tail and do nothing. However if this man scared or hurt your pits family he would do his best to fight the thief.

[Chooriwrocaxz]

I only know of one incident personally, where my friends had a home invasion at their house. Some asshats kicked their door in and it took TWO times for them to tazer their dog before she actually bit the guy.

I'd like to think my dogs would protect me if shit hit the fan, but I have my doubts.

[Edisesyethisp]

It's really a gamble. It is possible they will. It's possible they won't. lol.

[kubekniekubek]

Wilson barks if he hears noises outside, and act pretty 'tough' if he sees a stranger walking by the house.. but I'm not sure what he'd do if that stranger came into the house without my knowledge. I know if I walked the person inside, it'd be all tail wags and licking, but not sure what would happen if someone actually tried to hurt me or something.

[justashonglefan]

ive only had one time where ive had a guy trying to get at me, my dog gave a warning growl, i told him to back the fuck off, and he did, and the dog was over it. so sure, it can happen, but id rather put my trust in my firearm

[DonnyKong]

More times than not, you would find the average pitbull quite useless in such a situation. They might even think it was a game and start beating on you as well.

[GOLAGLULT]

I have this special dog in and out of the []. The first dog I own that shows great bond with me.. he protects me. If I walk him at night.. if someone just came at me in an awkward way.. he will be full active and focus on the guy. If someone unknown comes in the house.. he barks, but if it's a member of the house he don't. I tried to actually test it when I hold him tight then my friend who he see for the first time spank me on my shoulder.. he go crazy and wants to get back on that guy. My friend keeps on shouting not to even dare release that dog!

[Switiespils]

I agree its a crap shoot. MY house was broken into many years ago while I was in the shower. He went into the room my wife was sleeping in and went thru the kitchen drawers unhooked my VCR and then went into my daughters bedroom and got bit the dog did not bite until he went into my daughters room. I did not hear the intruder until he was screaming.

[engacenus]

The dog might. Keyword being might. It is not something you can rely upon happening as a means of defense. A gun is much better and if the bad guy is dead you can't get sued for your dog biting him.

[fhutiussk]

all my dogs have been protectors, even angel at 4 months, my ol man came home @ 3 in the morning from work and she was right on him like a pig in shit, and he came in the door with the keys!!, really think it depends on your bond with your dog!

[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.

[ovH9wfSJ]

I also think it depends on the dog. Jake is one of the happiest most friendly dogs I have ever owned (even over my collies). He is happy and friendly with everyone, in certain situations. He reads off of me and my bf.

If someone comes on to the property and he senses that we are not happy to see them, he will not run up happy to see them. In fact he will pull himself up and place himself between us and that person, not allowing them to move one inch without moving to cut them off. He does not growl or show aggression, he is just very serious and intimidates them. We have actually seen him do this to a person who just the day before was sitting in our yard playing with him. The difference? He had been invited onto the yard the first day, and took it apon himself to approach us while we were working in the yard the next day. Not a friend, just someone who was walking by. All it takes is a "Jake, that'll do" and he knows it's ok and is back to his happy playfull "How ya doing?" self. Likewise a "Jake, Watch em." will put him on full alert.

I know that he also does a perimeter check first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

None of this is anything that we trained him for, it seems to just be natural. It's very much the same way with our Rottie. We do not use our dogs for our protection, but they do make awesome deterents.

We don't know where this came from, he's always been this way since we got him at 9 months old. It does not concern us, because he is always responsive to us. But, it is just enough if a deterent to keep people from thinking they can just walk up on us or into our house.

[sisimelanyk]

varies from dog to dog, but in general ...no an apbt is not really a protective dog as such....
GG might react if she really believed that someone was a danger to me...
my lab is much more likely to defend than GG is...

[DenisMoor]

My Ambully which obviously isn't an APBT I rescued was abused and doesn't like strangers. She is the sweetest most loyal and obedient dog to the people she knows and will do anything for them. She is very protective of me, the people she cares for and our property. When I got her 6 months ago she was aggressive towards strangers and was very very fear aggressive towards anyone she didn't know.

She is much much better now and I've spent a ton of time on her. She still isn't crazy about strangers so I have to make sure I keep her in good situations. A few months ago she did the worst thing she has ever done and lunged at an older guy she never met who was walking towards us in my house; thankfully I had her leashed to the recliner I was sitting on and she couldn't get at him. I yelled at her and put her in her crate for a few hours and didn't pay attention to her for the rest of the day. I was so pissed at her and she knew it. Ever since then she finally understands that aggressive behavior towards humans is unacceptable. The 3 vets she goes to have all said how far she's come. She used to hate her orthopedic specialist(that saved her leg from being amputated) and would not let him anywhere near her or me. Someone else would have to hold the leash and I would have to move away from everyone. Thankfully she's fine with him now. She used to not let anyone she didn't know near us and would get nasty if strangers made a lot of eye contact with her. Now she still doesn't like strangers bothering and touching her but after a minute she realizes they have good intentions and is fine with them. After twenty or thirty minutes they have a new best friend following them around everywhere.

I know their not guard dogs and there a much better breeds for guarding, but it seems like if you get them to not trust or not like people then they will do it very well. Just like everything else they do. They are so loyal and will do what you ask of them to the best of their ability.

If someone she didn't know was dumb enough to try to attack me or even run at us in an aggressive way there is zero doubt in my mind she would be lunging in the air at their hands or neck. If I let the leash go it would be bad news for everyone including her. Now, when my friend comes up and smacks or punches me she doesn't do a thing or will wag her tail and try to get in on the action because she has total trust in the people she knows. I wish she wasn't like this but unfortunately due to her past life she is definitely a protector.

[CaseyFan]

worst gaurd dogs ever.

Never owned a single bulldog that wouldnt let you take my plasma as long as they got some love or you took them for a walk.

I have owned one who was protective of my ex when she walked her. And i have had one incident with the same dog where she realy didnt like a situation and reacted as a protector of me.i am unsure wheather or not she reacted this way out of being startled at the person she was protecting me from, but he was def sketchy and knew he was in trouble if he was after it.

same dog use to freak out when there were fireworks she could see, and would allways place herself inbetween myself and the "bad" fireworks who were threatening me, she would act the same way around other loud dogs that were coming towards me, and not the typical APBT "scream" [dad let me kill that dog] noise it was allways a deep scowling bark which was more of a warning than an exited scream.

i would like to think in the situation where you need it they are smart enough to make that choice on their own.

[gernica]

I doubt Ripley would do anything to anybody, but she would make enough noise to wake the dead. She goes off like a machine gun with her big mouth.

Casper is extremely territorial, but I'm not sure what he would do. Ronon my Greyhound would head for the hills. He doesn't even like welcomed visitors, but he prefers to flee and endure petting under duress.

Jasmine the Great Dane is the one I think might get someone.

I went to my car to get something in the middle of the night and left the gate open. My driveway is about 100 ft from my front door and my entire street is pitch black dark.

I was digging around in the backseat and next thing I know Jasmine is growling and my little Min Pin Red (RIP) was barking. I look up and she had a guy penned up against the fence. I pulled her off him and he took off with Red biting his ankles and chasing him down the street. I didn't even see him approach. Red finally came back after he made it 4 house down. He had heart. He would fought to the death for me, not that he could have done much, but he was willing to try. Miss the little guy.

[defenderfors]

i agree with the people who say it depends on the dog simpely because it does.some dogs may not care that the person is breaking in your house.others may bark but not charge,than there are the real guard dogs if someone comes into your house uninvited they will not only bark,snarl,and growl but they will attack too.all of my dogs personally,are protectors or guard dogs.

[IoninnyHaro]

My boy is very protective over my wife and the house.

We had a dog charge us, so I got in between, slapped the sh*t out of the dog,and when the dog backed up and I started to walk away, my boy lunged and got between my wife and the dog.

Anytime were in the house and he hears something he doesn't like outside, he is sure to let me know that he hears something.

We had a few friends over one weekend, one of my buddies got really drunk the night before, and at 530 am walked into our bedroom and my boy lost his wig letting me know someone was in the room. Non-the less the guy was so drunk he pee'd in the closet and got a scolding from my wife and I.

My girl is such a baby around people, she goes right to her back and wants a belly rub.

[scemHeish]

This is what some people fail and lack to understand. Most pet dogs will NOT protect you "out of the kindness of their heart" doesn't matter what breed. Talk to any real PP, K9, SCH trainers and they will tell you the same thing. Now certain breeds are better and cut out for the work, but that is with the correct temperament, lineage, drive and most important training and how they are trained.

Most dogs will sense bad vibes off certain people as do humans. However that does not mean the dog will attack or bite them if they try to hurt you. Most people confused fearfulness, weak temperaments, aggressiveness etc with "protecting" when its often not the case. True protection is much different than a dog yapping its head off. There are cases where a dog will protect someone, but its just unlikely for the average well temperamented pet. Most dogs wont even lay teeth on humans let alone protect someone from one. If a dog does protect its most likely protecting itself or is property not you specifically.