Our Biggest Protector's

           I have been surrounded by animals my entire life with many various sort's from Snail's to ferret's to horse's all types and all sizes ......... but most predominantly were DOG'S. When we were growing up we had many dog's of all types, but mainly working breeds like Labrador's, Spaniels and Jack Russell Terrier's. This was because my dad used to train Gun Dog's for his own use as he was a Game Keeper among his many other Title's !! 

          Not only did he train Gun Dog's for his own use, but he became the person to come to when anyone wanted a Gun Dog Trained !!  He trained some very rich peoples dogs not least the owner of  N.C.P or National Car Parks the multi story Car Parks found all over Britain !!  I learn't my dog training method's by watching him, and just watching how he was around dog's of all type's and temperaments. 

        His ability to get Gun Shy dogs, to become full working dog's was incredible thing to witness. I hope that I am able to instil in my own dog's and puppies a small part of the confidence, that my dad used to inspire in any dog's he worked with. I will go into training and the ability to control a dog by just being a certain way and in my word's  MEAN  WHAT  YOU  SAY  !! which I tell everyone who has a puppy of mine, or whenever anyone  Meet's Our Milly Mooz !

These were my own dog's but they were also either trained by my dad, or puppies from some of his working dog's.

            But I'm not talking about training I'm talking about whether Dog's need to be trained to protect or are some dog's instinct's to protect their immediate family, in some breeds without them being formally trained. ??  I personally have never trained my dog's to protect my family or home they have all just been naturally protective, so I believe that if your dog's love you and your family, they will then protect all instantly without any sort of official  TRAINING !!

         When my sister and I were younger we were lucky enough to live in the middle of the country surrounded by wood's which for young children is a paradise !! Now I have children of my own, I understand  my Dad's point of view, that 2 little blonde haired girls would not have been safe on their own, alone in the Glory Wood's as they were called !! Although these wood's were a children's haven, there are also the Not so NICE  People around the place, no matter how beautiful the woods may have been, in the eye's of a child.

         So we had a " Heidi " it was not a sort of Machine Gun !! It was a yellow Labrador, my Dad trained our protector Heidi, who had 2 job's she was a Brilliant Gun Dog apart from Squirrels !! ( Long Story for another day ! ) 

 But her main  JOB was protecting 2 lil Blonde haired Girls !!! 

              My Dad trained this yellow Labrador as our Bodyguard and she took her job very seriously !
              But whenever we went out anywhere we took Heidi with us and then my family knew we would be safe.  As no~one could get even close to us , without Heidi reacting and she did react very well.  Not violently but she would politely make sure that anyone coming too close would not be greeted with KISSES !!!

           One example of Heidi protection detail, was when we were on our way home through the wood's, and it was getting on towards dusk and in a wood's that means its quite dark ??  We could see ahead of us a Man walking towards us, all you could really see was a outline, and the fact that he was holding a cigarette in his hand. 

             Well my sister and I began to feel a lil anxious as you do when your young ! but before we had a chance to say anything to Heidi she had left us ??? She ran ahead and pinned this man up against a tree, she didn't touch him in any way but she made him stay still. We then walked past him and Heidi and as soon as we had passed by, she promptly left him standing by the tree and ran to catch up with us and safely took us home !!!

            We never once felt any sort of danger no matter when or where we went, as long as we had Heidi with us. But even more than that my parents always knew that no harm would ever come to us, as long as we had Heidi by our side ! Now Heidi was taught to be our Body Guard and she knew, that she would not think twice about giving her own life to protect either me or my sister.
                I believe that Heidi would have protected us instantly without any training, and she would have defended us anyway. But she was also taught with word's which my Dad taught to my sister and I in case something ever happened, we would speak the word's and she would have reacted instantly. So her protective side was always with her, but she was trained to word's to react when needed that I think is the only difference in her training to protect and her natural Instinct's to  PROTECT  !!

           I have always had Big Dog's in my life so I have always relied on the fact that I would be safe, as when a large dog love's you they will protect you. The Picture above show's my Springer Spaniel Jermima , my Westie Hannah and my Chocolate Labrador Coco, now my Dad always said you should always have a lil dog with Big Dog !! As a Lil Dog has better hearing and a Large dog has better teeth !! 

          Well when I had children, the protection Detail became Coco as the other 2 were useless !! But this is an example of the Natural Protector, as I never once Trained Coco to protect, she was a natural. Especially around Ben these 2 were Best Friends and always together in the Garden, Ben would even ride Coco around the Garden like a small Shetland Pony !! But Coco took the care of Ben to a whole other level, she would watch him constantly and would react instantly !

                             
            Now for those of you who know my house, you will know that my dog's have to wait in the Kitchen, until they are allowed to go into the rest of the house ! Well Coco would lie with her nose resting on the edge of the divide between the Kitchen and the Hall to the rest of the house. Ben was playing out the front garden one day, while I was finishing off his lunch. 

           Well Ben has never been the shyest of children ??  He would constantly stand on our little fence that surrounds out front Garden, just checking the world out as you do when your very young ! While Coco would lie with her nose on the edge of the hall and just watch, She would stay there and just WATCH out for Ben for as long as he was out the front.

               Ben would be looking out the garden and start yelling to anyone who he could see around the place !! He would actually Yell  OUT  at the top of his Voice to any man that he saw  " HELLO  DADDY  !!! "   Which everyone who knew me found highly entertaining ....... and left more than a few men with shocked faces !!

Well it was one of these Hello Daddy Moments that Coco went into  PROTECTOR  MODE !
         This poor man had just been trying to deliver a parcel to a neighbours house, while Ben was standing on his Fence as normal, and as this man walked past Ben. He put out his hand to pat Ben on the head as he passed our Fence ?? With that Instant Coco suddenly growled and then  JUMPED  UP  and  RAN  !!   I turn around to see this Chocolate Labrador Jumping over 2 Fences and Pinning this Poor Man up against the wall that runs by the side of our Car Park area !!

        Luckily my dog's listen instantly so I screamed  DOWN  !! and with that she went down straight away , but she remained in front of Ben !  Luckily this man didn't have a heart attack and he understood why she did it, and she hadn't touched him in any bad way.  But she had put her feet on him and held him on the wall, and had listened instantly. Coco's actions showed that the Natural Protectors can show the Control and Restraint,  that a Trained Protector is taught to show when they have been highly trained to protect. 

       Now we talk about the Protector's who are Naturally Protective  BUT  Don't show the same  DEGREE OF  RESTRAINT  !!   Namely Fizz and the Rottweiler Breed !!!

         By the time Fizz was 15 month's she was enormous and absolutely stunning with a lovable personality that made everybody love her ! My savage Rottweiler spent her life watching over my children Ben and Emma like a hawk and God help anyone who upset them ?? 

            She became their Guardian Angel and when we went on walks she would walk beside me, but her head and eye's would constantly change direction's. As she would watch where they were and you could see her thought process " OK mum's next to me ,Ben's over there and Emma's there " , this would be how she spent her entire walk !! Just watching and if someone came close to her Protection Detail then her whole demeanour would change, her chest would come out and if looks could kill, then anybody that was looking at her babies had better close their eye's ??

        She didn't need to show any form of aggression as her size and look was enough to keep anyone at arms length and woe betide anyone who tried to hurt anyone she loved. This Dog would not have only died to save someone she loved without a thought to herself. But more scarily she would have  killed  anything that tried to hurt me or my family and she would do it without thinking TWICE.  These are the most dangerous Protector's of all, and one's that need to be handled hard and you need to have absolute  CONTROL  OVER !!

             Fizz showed my family and I, the extent of the lengths that she would go through to defend in this case Me !  We had these most revolting neighbours that thank goodness have moved !! But to say that Fizz didn't like them would be an understatement, mainly due to the abuse they used to give their young child !! Fizz did not like people who shouted at children !!

            They had a Dog and you know the statement No Bad Dog's Just Bad OWNER'S ? well they mean't them when it was invented !! Well their dog had it been raised by any other person would have in all realities been a really sweet dog ! But when your raised with Violence you become Violent ? 

                  So this Dog had already bitten a few people, but I was outside in my front garden and then the   " Adam's Family ?!? " arrived home and let their dog out of the car !! As usual no lead and definitely NO CONTROL ! 

               Fizz was at this point in the back garden !!! well this dog comes running over to me Barking and Growling, I was quite prepared to give it a good kick up the Butt !! I mean I deal with 10 stone Rottweiler why would I be scared of a Cross Collie !!

             I had no real plan's as I knew this dog would never actually touch me and those people who know me will know why !! I just stood my ground and then  IT  ARRIVED  !! FIZZ 

            Fizz had obviously heard the dog barking at me and she had Broken through 3 GATE'S !! Yes that's correct this Rottweiler Just Smashed her way through 2 Large Gates.  She  then had obviously put her head down and literally lifted the entire  Last  Gate off  its hinges, well she actually Broke the Hinges off the GATE. Fizz had also Smashed the Bolt off and then had ............

 LITERALLY  GONE  THROUGH  THE  LAST  GATE  LIKE  IT  WAS  A  CAT FLAP  !!!

           This happened in second's and by the time I had my head around the fact that she was   OUT !! She had herself on top of this dog and she was planning on making a Hot Dog out of it !!!

             But she wasn't waiting around for the Roll !! 

This is the moment when you find out if your dog has listened to anything you hope you have taught them ............ I just stood there and said  Ok  ENOUGH  and  GET  IN  NOW  !!!

            Luckily for the Cross Collie and the Revolting Neighbours this 10 Stone Rottweiler had been correctly brought up, she got off him and just calmly walked away and back into our Garden ! But this show's that a Aggressive Breeds Reaction is always  MEAN'T  and they don't ever just give a  WARNING and they would  DIE  without thinking  BUT  more than likely they would also ...........  

KILL  TO  PROTECT  THE  ONE'S  THEY  LOVE  !!     Without thinking about it once.

               Some dog's need to be taught to protect people or guard people ......... and some are Naturally Protective and its these one's who would not think twice of dying for anyone they loved ~ My Fizzly was from the latter category and in her mind she would do anything to protect her ward's. In Fizz's case it was not just her immediate family that she would protect, she would have defended any child, person or animal that she decided she liked !!! 

         I have never felt safer than when I had Fizz in my life because I knew that she would never have let anything happen to anyone she loved. Its hard for me to talk about the million's of ways that I miss that dog, but one of the main ones is this that fact that I knew she would have protected my family with the total devotion and selfless Spirit with no thought of the consequence for herself. 

         The Love that Dog's show to their families without any thought for themselves is a thing of wonder and something that if you have not had a dog in your life, it's something that is hard to explain. But it's why there will always be stories around the world with all manner of Dogs.  These stories of  HEROISM  that we can read daily, are of these fearless acts and true life stories of Bravery and amazing selflessness. 

                   You only need to watch the new's or read a paper to find these miraculous stories of Dog's saving people with no thought for themselves with no agenda, they do it  ............ JUST  BECAUSE  THEY  LOVE  YOU  !! 

                          Here are some of those HERO'S 

Roselle

When Michael Hingson found himself on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center on September 11, it took some unexpected heroics from his yellow labrador to save his life. When the building started to sway and the air filled with choking smoke, Roselle lead Michael to safety, guiding him through the crumbling office toward a stairwell. It wasn't easy for Michael or Roselle, who was panting and extremely thirsty, but the two managed to reach safety just moments before Tower 1 collapsed.

                     



Trakr

Trakr owns arguably the most prestigious rescue on our list. Together with police officer James Symington, Trakr helped dig through some 30 feet of unstable debris at the World Trade Center "ground zero" site and locate the last human survivor of the attack. The dog's bravery was so celebrated that he is going to be cloned for use in other police rescue forces!

Shelby

Shelby became the 45th Skippy Dog Hero of the Year for saving two adults and two children from carbon monoxide poisoning. The dog (with her keen sense of smell) was the first to detect the rising C0 levels while the rest of the family was asleep, nudging each of them out of their sleep and refused to stop barking, scratching, and whining until the family was safely outside. Luckily, each family member was treated at a nearby hospital and made a full recovery.

"In my eyes, and in the eyes of my family, Shelby is more than a hero; she is a lifesaver, a guardian angel," said Joleen Walderbach.

  

Everyone loves those heart-pounding movie scenes where the hero escapes a burning pit seconds before it explodes, but it's not so fun in real life. That's what Kathie, a paralyzed parapalegic, learned when her Rotweiller (Eve)pulled her by the ankles from her burning, smoldering truck. Upon pulling Kathie out, Eve proceeded to drag her to a nearby ditch, just far enough away to avoid the explosion of her vehicle.After firemen cleared the scene, Eve was awarded the Stillman Award for her bravery.

Moti

2007's Dog of the Year winner was Moti, the five year old German Shepherd who literally took a bullet for his human family. When a masked intruder made his way into the Patel household, Moti wasted little time, leaping to his feet and barking to draw the gunman's attention. Faced with the angry pooch, the gunman shot him and ran off without harming any of the Patels. Luckily, this furry hero is making a full recovery!

Kaze

Kaze earned top honors from the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department for saving the life of a woman in her late 20's, reported missing a few days earlier. On his first-ever rescue mission, Kaze located the missing woman under a bridge, in a coma that authorities later reported that would have killed her within the hour if she had not been found. Luckily, the woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered after a week's time.