rottweiler saves woman from indecent assault!

[annemarie482]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100925/tuk-dog-gets-award-for-saving-sex-attack-45dbed5.html

nice to see the rotty get a bit of good press for a change :D
welldone jake!

[unicorn]

What a lovely story, it shows the bravery and loyalty of this breed, very protective when in the right hands.

[kitty]

What a brilliant story and i agree with you... it's nice to see a rottweiler getting some good press for a change. I love the breed :)

[Rheghead]

So the dog decided to protect a person outwith its usual pack status, a perfect stranger, not the owner? Is that normal dog behavior? For that action to mean anything in terms of real bravery then the dog had to recognise and empathise with the victim's situation. I didn't know dogs could feel empathy.

[teenybash]

So the dog decided to protect a person outwith its usual pack status, a perfect stranger, not the owner? Is that normal dog behavior? For that action to mean anything in terms of real bravery then the dog had to recognise and empathise with the victim's situation. I didn't know dogs could feel empathy.


Who knows what dogs feel or not, but I would think that Jake would have smelled fear, heard the sounds of distress and acted, both through his training and instinct. Well done Jake.:)

[brandy]

ive seen more empathy in animals than i have in some people.. a lot of animals have protective instincts and will often protect women and children. dolphins are well known to attack sharks and save people. Horses tend to be extremly gentle with children, exspecially children with disabilitys, dogs are usuakky a very nurturuing breed of animal. as a child we were given a doberman.. and it was a man hater. he was viscious towards men, but from the moment he met me.. he took over a protect and guard against all males. a man couldnt get within 5 ft of me if he was near me.
i had a yellow lab male that adopted a litter of orphaned kittens.. which is the strangest thing i have ever seen with animals!
this is one thing that has always bothered me about our beliefs on animals..
are they sentient beings?
just because we cant understand them nor they us in a complex way, does that make them less sentient?
we just happen to be at the top of the food chain in the scheme of things.. so i guess we are lucky..*cheeky grin* remember planet of the apes!

[annemarie482]

So the dog decided to protect a person outwith its usual pack status, a perfect stranger, not the owner? Is that normal dog behavior? For that action to mean anything in terms of real bravery then the dog had to recognise and empathise with the victim's situation. I didn't know dogs could feel empathy.

if you think about it, jake acted very like a police dog is trained,
to run to danger, protect victim and restrain/contain assailant.
so after such training he would be acting on a new found "instinct".

[porshiepoo]

A very touching story and I'm glad to see the dog got some positive recognition for his actions.

Brave though? Hmmmm, that's a toughy for me because bravery is a human concept. The dog more likely acted on instinct. To be a 'brave' act the dog would have needed to have sensed danger to himself and still reacted the way he did.
Like I say, a human concept, however that's not to say this dog doesn't deserve all this attention. He does! I guess the 'bravery' part is more for our own jollies than that of the dog, but hey ho positive recognition is positive recognition no matter where it comes from. We see plenty of dog attack cases hit the papers so it's great to hear the nicer ones.

Hmmmm, wonder how that victim felt with the dog 'circling her'. I understand the owner believes he was circling her to protect her until police arrived but I'm not sure that 'circling' is a protective action in the canine world. I guess he could have been herding her or keeping her in place in an attempt to protect her by circling round her! Rottweilers are herd animals and do have a strong protection instinct.
Certainly don't think he was waiting for police to arrive as quoted though lmao, he was more likely waiting for his owner to arrive.
Still, I guess it makes the story that bit more sweet and brave for us fickle human beings!

The sad thing is this dog doesn't even understand what the fuss is about. He's probably forgotten all about the incident by now.

[porshiepoo]

So the dog decided to protect a person outwith its usual pack status, a perfect stranger, not the owner? Is that normal dog behavior? For that action to mean anything in terms of real bravery then the dog had to recognise and empathise with the victim's situation. I didn't know dogs could feel empathy.


I get what you're saying.
Perhaps this dog sensed a danger to its owner in this particular situation and reacted accordingly?
I'm totally with you on the bravery part. We humans regard it as brave but I don't believe a dog has the ability to assess situations emotionally as we would. I think he was reacting purely on instinct not bravery.

Seems awful to say that as it seems I'm somehow dismissing the impact his actions had on the victim, but I'm not.
Her situation could have been so much worse if the dog hadn't come along and seen the guy off, so for that reason alone the dog deserves the commendation he's getting.

Who knows how the canine really does 'think'! We can assume the likes of dog psychologists et al know their stuff through research but that research is always interpreted through the human mind and emotions, they could be completely wrong.

[Rheghead]

Who knows what dogs feel or not, but I would think that Jake would have smelled fear, heard the sounds of distress and acted, both through his training and instinct. Well done Jake.:)

I took from the story that the dog was a rescue dog as in from the animal rescue not as in it used to rescue people.

[porshiepoo]

I took from the story that the dog was a rescue dog as in from the animal rescue not as in it used to rescue people.


Yep, me too. The dog certainly was from the RSPCA and I've not read any report that suggests he was trained for this sort of thing. Unless the RSPCA know of his background and can verify that!

[annemarie482]

but he still acted in a way to protect someone he did not know.
what made him do this?
i for one, am very impressed by his actions.
had it have been me being attacked i'd have been delighted he came to protect me!
(or anything/one who stopped such an attack!)
its nice to see a rotty get good press, but also saddening, that because its a rottty, folk dont seem interested as they're quite happy for them to be dangerous.
as said above, in the right hands, they are very loving and loyal dogs.

[welsh-witch]

what a great story for for the old rotty, nice for him to have a bit of good said about him, ive only ever got to know one of these breeds n shes a gentle wee soul:Razz

[Rheghead]

but he still acted in a way to protect someone he did not know.
what made him do this?
i for one, am very impressed by his actions.
had it have been me being attacked i'd have been delighted he came to protect me!
(or anything/one who stopped such an attack!)
its nice to see a rotty get good press, but also saddening, that because its a rottty, folk dont seem interested as they're quite happy for them to be dangerous.
as said above, in the right hands, they are very loving and loyal dogs.

This story is truly a rare occurence and there's a saying in blogosphere that says even a broken clock can tell the right time twice a day.

[porshiepoo]

This story is truly a rare occurence and there's a saying in blogosphere that says even a broken clock can tell the right time twice a day.

Not so rare as you'd think!
Just google Rottie saves woman and there are many stories worldwide of this breed helping to 'save' people.

I guess we just get to hear about the horror stories more than the happy ending stories.

I hope this story doesn't entice any old inexperienced eejit into thinking 'let's get one'.
This breed is powerful, territorial and instinctive and will react without a second thought. In the wrong hands it doesn't bare to think what could happen.
We humans are a fickle species so lets hope that the Rottie never becomes the next Staffy (supposed hard mans dog)

[golach]

Not so rare as you'd think!
Just google Rottie saves woman and there are many stories worldwide of this breed helping to 'save' people.

The other side of the coin Porshie, just google Rottie attacks woman, you get a myriad of reports showing how this breed can be dangerous.

[welsh-witch]

as with any dog, if its brought up in a kind happy home it makes for a good pet, but treated with cruelty and violence, makes for a vicious dog.;)

[mrlennie]

Big dogs are dangerous weapons - unfortunately just like weapons are generally used for bad so are these breeds.
They are great dogs apart from that :)

[joxville]

Good grief, all the doom and gloom in the world and for a change we get a good news story; why not accept it at face value instead of analysing the dogs behaviour. :roll: