whidbyministries
New member
@childofthealmighty Others have spoken on this before but protection work is really tough and in this day and age if you're worried about needing protection it's better to learn how to safely own and operate a firearm.
With protection dogs you have to spend a fortune on training, and you may have trouble getting accomodations for them if you need to have them boarded or have a pet sitter while you're away. You also have to accept that if you do run into a situation where your dog needs to protect you, you may very well end up with a dead dog. Your dog may also become a bite risk depending on the training uses and how the dog assesses risks to your safety.
As far as deterrents go, as a dog walker ajd dog owner I have far less people interacting with me when I have a small dog than I do when I'm walking a big dog. I walked an obese presa canario for a week and the entire neighborhood would cat call him..Someone even pulled over in his pickup to compliment this dog. People are really obsessed with big scary looking dogs sometimes lol. Meanwhile I've had more people afraid to approach my very friendly 12 pound havanese.
That said some people just like the feeling of having a big dog with them and it can provide a bit of a confidence boost.
Given that you have limited experience with dogs I would definitely do more research through AKC on different breeds and also try to attend dog shows/sports/meet the breed events to see what kind of dog you'd really enjoy living with.
With protection dogs you have to spend a fortune on training, and you may have trouble getting accomodations for them if you need to have them boarded or have a pet sitter while you're away. You also have to accept that if you do run into a situation where your dog needs to protect you, you may very well end up with a dead dog. Your dog may also become a bite risk depending on the training uses and how the dog assesses risks to your safety.
As far as deterrents go, as a dog walker ajd dog owner I have far less people interacting with me when I have a small dog than I do when I'm walking a big dog. I walked an obese presa canario for a week and the entire neighborhood would cat call him..Someone even pulled over in his pickup to compliment this dog. People are really obsessed with big scary looking dogs sometimes lol. Meanwhile I've had more people afraid to approach my very friendly 12 pound havanese.
That said some people just like the feeling of having a big dog with them and it can provide a bit of a confidence boost.
Given that you have limited experience with dogs I would definitely do more research through AKC on different breeds and also try to attend dog shows/sports/meet the breed events to see what kind of dog you'd really enjoy living with.