Inside Edition wanted to see how some dogs would respond if an assailant confronts their master.
Will your dog protect you if you're ever attacked on a walk?
Inside Edition wanted to see how some dogs would respond if an assailant confronts their master.
Judy Burrett said she has total confidence her dog, Darcy, won't wimp out.
"There's no doubt in my mind that she would protect me," she told Inside Edition.
Assisting in the experiment is Mike D'Abruzzo, a professional dog training instructor at DogTraining.World, and Nate "the Dog Man" Bonilla, a professional protection dog trainer.
Burrett took Darcy, a Portuguese water dog, out for a walk at the Paladin Tactical Training Center in Carmel, New York. There, Bonilla wearing a special bite suit, suddenly jumped out at them pretending to be a “robber” to see what Darcy would do.
Unfortunately, Darcy seemed to think the whole thing was a big game and Burrett's purse was quickly snatched by the faux thief.
"I really thought she was going to protect me," said Burrett.
But D'Abruzzo knew the dog was unlikely to do so.
"Darcy was not going to protect anything," he said.
OK, you may think, but what if you have a German shepherd, a breed used by police to chase down bad guys.
Inside Edition put Gracie to the test to see if she'd protect owner Dan Ortiz.
At first, Gracie appeared hesitant. But when the "robber" went to rip Ortiz's bag away, Gracie got aggressive and darted after him.
"Why do you think she didn't bark as soon as Nate came out but when he took the bag she got agitated more?" asked Ortiz.
"She's a German shepherd," explained D'Abruzzo, "so if you let her go she probably would have chased after Nate and probably would have bitten him."
Zoey the Rottweiler sure may look intimidating, but will she defend her owner, Lauren Edwards?
In the moment of truth, Zoey barked and jumped up on the fake thief.
"Zoey actually did pretty good out there," said D'Abruzzo. "She was definitely confused, which is typical of a dog that was never exposed to this, but she showed no fear."
"I was impressed," said Lauren. "She didn't bark as much as I thought she was going to but she definitely stayed right there by my side."
Finally, Inside Edition tested a Catahoula leopard dog named Dragon Slayer.
"I don't think she'd let anyone get me," said her owner, Joyrene Nardozzi.
And indeed, Dragon Slayer came through, twice biting the “robber.”
“I saw her take a few shots at Nate,” said D’Abruzzo.
"As a woman it feels really good to know that I have a dog that will actually step up and protect me," said Joyrene.
So what's the take-home message? Inside Edition's experts say that while we may love our furry friends, you can't always rely on them. Without formal protection training, it's impossible to know how your dog is going to react during a real attack.
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