Ruby made it through the night
One tough animal
6/15/20262 min read
Ruby made it through the night and even showed signs of bouncing back, which is truly amazing if you saw her last night. It's 5:30 AM and she is on her bed watching YouTube, helping me enjoy a pan pizza.
I have had the privilege of owning a few German Shepherd dogs, and after watching YouTube for a while, I feel the need to vent. YouTube is full of videos with small children alone walking huge protection dogs to show how devoted they are to the protection of the child.
I have had to break up a few German Shepherd dog fights, and trust me, you don't want a child anywhere near that scenario. As an example, I was standing by the backdoor when my wife's small dog decided it was in a bad mood and tried to bite me. In a heartbeat, my German Shepherd entered protection mode, grabbed the dog in her jaws, and pinned it to the ground. Point of fact, when a German Shepherd enters protection mode, they are razor-focused on neutralizing the threat. I literally reached in and opened her jaws and got bitten in the process. After the initial bite, she exited protection mode and went back to normal.
I would like to offer one trick owners can use during a dog fight when your German Shepherd, or any dog, enters protection mode. Grab the dog's back legs and try to pull them out from under the dog. While in protection mode, instinct will have them swing around to attack what they perceive to be a new threat. You have to be quick, or you will get bitten. Once they see it's you, they snap out of attack mode and calm down, often cowering because they realize that they almost bit their best friend.
I would love to own a Belgian Malinois, but with two bad knees and one foot in the grave, I would not be able to offer all the attention these athletes need. If I decide to get another German Shepherd, it will probably be one from the West German working lines; they are the stocky German Shepherds with coats that resemble wolves.
If you managed to read this far, allow me to offer some advice that could save you future pain. If you ever find yourself facing a K-9 Police Officer, comply. Do not remotely think that you will ever prevail; you're just going to piss the dog off, and they will show their appreciation by biting harder.
If you insist on sending a young family member out into the general population with a German Shepherd as a guard dog, instruct this young person at the beginning of the attack to run to a safe place. Do not stand there while the fight is ongoing, and don't think the dog needs your help; run and call the police. Having a small pocket mace gun to fog the fight area should things get intense would be a good idea.
In closing while you watch the videos here is a training tip, you have to teach the puppy to bite in order to teach him not to bite.
