Thanks for making this video. It’s very validating.
My family had a beautiful protective brindle Pitsky named Gunnar for 12 years. We just lost him last September. He was the most protective dog we ever cared for and it felt like there were no resources for us while raising him. He was ultimately such a friendly and gentle dog, but had rules that he wasn’t willing to compromise on for any amount of training. Namely not letting people approach our house or us while we were out on a walk. He wasn’t aggressive, but very intense and intimidating. This was a very good thing on a few occasions. He saved our three year old from being kidnapped out of our front lawn and years later saved me from being robbed on an evening walk. Those occasions made us appreciate him so much, but the normal days can be frustrating with these protective dogs. Like, why can’t we just go to the dog park and be chill, man?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that these dogs are definitely working dogs and they are on duty all the time and your life will be different with them. You need consistency, strong peaceful leadership, and realistic expectations of what life will look like with these dogs.
I miss his nightly patrols of all the doors in the house (even the closet doors just in case) and then his sweet gentle cuddles after he determined we were all going to live.

Thanks for this video!

I like the raw unedited videos. It helps show how we all at all levels still on just figuring things/ these animals out day by day

i have a mastiff mix named Athena she is 1/2 boerboel and everytime you make a video about Burleigh i listen because im really working on her reactivity and shes gotten so much better thanks to you . She really takes after her boerboel genetics with the protection and she had her big girl bark by 10 weeks , Shes about to be 2 in july . Shes definitely given me a run for my money ( pulled me like 3 ft off my feet, yanked my shoulder out of socket, etc) and i still am having my troubles with her but truly your information helps soooo much and im saving up to one day be able to work with you because i probably need more work on my handling than her reactivity lol but again thank you.

Tom, ive been following you for 4 years, ever since i got my pit/mastiff mix and appreciate your transparency to the fullest!! TYSM  THIS video describes my boy almost Exactly . I No longer feel like such a failure as a dog mom🤩 Keep us posted. Ty God bless you ❤

You will figure it out, keep working on it. And when you do, you will teach the rest of us how you did it. 😊

I'm the manager of a lovely Malinois. Thanks for the frank discussion.

❤❤...luv that Tom admits that he is STILL LEARNING!...this is what makes him a great trainer...esp that he says lovely Burleigh is the teacher!!🤔😉😁🐾💓🐕🐺🐼🐈💓🐾🇨🇦🇨🇦

22:06 Dude, I KNOW this dog. I HAVE this dog. Ok, he’s Malinois/GSD mix but he’s got all the protection of the GSD and low confidence around strangers. So while he’s 99% fine around dogs, people are another story. I spent 1.5 years on training him with my pet sitter. He loves her, He’s seen her and been handled by her on our property, in our house, in and out of his crate, playing ball in the yard, taking walks on our private trails, coming to the dog door gate when I’m home or when I’m not home (we trained all of these scenarios), in the bedrooms, in the bathrooms, putting him INTO my car into his crate just in case she had a vet emergency, trained her to put on his muzzle and give him his meds for a vet, I trained IT ALL. Because I had Two week travel that I needed her for and I couldn’t get anyone else to sit him but this dog lover who was willing to learn how to handle him (and she handles him beautifully). Well, three days into my travel, she texts me that he “got testy with her”… now i know this dog, he doesn’t do ANYTHING out of dominance. It’s all fear based. I asked her what she was doing at the time, she said “sitting on the terrace, getting ready to throw the ball” and that’s when it clicked… he’s never seen her sit on the terrace. I mean REALLY, that was it. The only tools she can use are his leash, flat collar, prong collar, crates and place bed, food and toys. I don’t allow anyone but me or a certified NePoPo trainer to use e-collar on him. At that time, he was free on flat collar, she stood up told him no and then told him to get a ball, which he did. But he didn’t bring it to her, instead he used it to pacify himself and prance around the yard with it. So to me, he went into avoidance rather than play with her. To me this told me he’d NEVER seen her in that picture (which is something i do all the time, sit on my terrace and toss the ball and told her this was low energy way to move them without doing too much chuck it launcher because that can be too hard on them for long periods of time, but instead use the deck where they have to slowly walk out to the yard, and wait for you to toss it to them and they aren’t sprinting… it’s a nice other way to play fetch more gently). Anyway, I knew this was it, he had not seen this picture. I told her in instances like that, to let him take his space, absolutely tell him no (growling or suddenly barking at her) but to let him take space until his big feelings get worked through. And when she was ready she can call them (my female Malinois and him) into the house for a cookie because that would be something he’d recognize and feel good about. So YES, I do know this dog. I do KNOW when the smallest picture changes. He can’t generalize that well. And it comes out in aggression. But I also know it is ABSOLUTELY not dominance based, being a bully or anything like that. I’ve watched him over the years. I had dominant male GSD. He exuded power but power i could cap and manage nicely on walks. He had an amazing way of protecting us and being dominant in situations when it called for it and keeping his head to come back to me when I called. This dog is different. no dominance. No confidence in new situations and I’m constantly working on that. But yes, I know this dog. Sigh. I love protective dogs, and I’ll never be without some kind of “herding” dog (Mal, GSD, ACD…) but I don’t think there’d a frozen day in hell where I’d ever adopt a Corso or boreble. Or any kind of protective maastive, or Kangle, or Anatolian shepherd basically any dog with protection and aggression on steroids. Props to you for doing it. I’d get why you’d want one for the family.

Thank you! I just learned today that I have a protective Belgian Malinois/Doberman Cross. It was an accidental paring between two registered working dogs. I knew what I was getting to we went hard core with socialization and training from day one. I did everything: hand feeding, taking her to work, group classes, spayed and so on. She’s pretty reliable a commands and gets along with dogs/cats.  I really wanted her to pass public access but she couldn’t do it. Some people she just doesn’t like. She behaves the same way your dog does on walks and with things that are “out of order”. She just HAS to check everything out…  people kept telling me she was reactive and that I just needed to “train her”. What a relief to have my suspicions confirmed! Now I’ll just send folks this video!

My boy is as big as my teenage kids but he knows his place In the family n does great job as guard dog. He's intact n gets along with any dog that wants to play. He very rarely ever bark.

Tom, I am giggling a little bit. Because I rescued 2 boerboel pups a few years  ago. I am a professional career dog person.  My Boerboel was the most challenging dog. I'd ever owned. So I completely understand what you are talking about.  I also learned a ton from my boerboel.  Unfortunately I lost him to seizures.

Tom,   I'm moved listening to this because of your transparency on how you work with Burleigh.  I've been following you for almost 5 years and I know hands down my relationship with my 4 1/2 yr American Pitbull Terrier has improved because of how you teach us to be better handlers with our dogs. She gets concerned when we take a different route in the car....what is different today vs 1 yr ago she trust me when I tell her to quiet (if barking).  This has been helpful to make a distinction between protection, reactivity, and aggression in dogs.  (re: lip balm I think Dr. Hauschka's way better than BB). One thought I'd like to offer.  I wonder if getting Burleigh on a treadmill for 20 - 30 minutes a day would drain some of his mental and physical energy.given that you live in a cold climate during the winter, something that is not suitable for a S.African mastiff.   No we can't change genetic disposition, yes, avoiding a situation is wise on your part...and getting the BIG BALLS GUY on a treadmill will support him in a way he does not need to be subjected to cold (which might be a cause for skin challenges you spoke of with Dr. Frick).   Thank you Thank you for all your videos and ALL you share with us.  YOU ARE AMAZING.

I am in a similar conundrum with my Anatolian Pyrenese. He has been with me since a pup, raised in a home, crate trained, socialized and has good obedience.  He is now 2 and lives out in our orchard next to our livestock pasture 24/7. He is highly territorial (chases cars off the fenceline) extremely reactive when anyone pulls in to the driveway and recently, he aggressively charged and knocked down a visitor that was not supposed to be in the orchard. He had to be quarantined despite the fact that there was no proof he bit, but the individual accused him of mauling her. (She had scratches on her face from his paws) The breeder insists that he was within his right to do what he did and it was appropriate. I agree because if he were truly aggressive and dangerous he could have severely bitten her, he did not. The county does not agree, and deems him a dangerous animal and has been red flagged. If there is any incident involving this dog again he is to be seized and likely euthanized. I have an E collar on him now and he is in a kennel when we have anyone over to our property. What are we supposed to do with dogs that are inherently bred to be independent thinkers, suspicious and reactive, brave and protective? I mean this is the exact reason we have this breed.

I also did so much socialization and that actually cause of others I screw him up a little bit, but I am
So grateful for sharing your experience!!! 😊

I have an intact 135lb male Rottweiler who is 3 years old. He’s extremely protective yet very loving. He likes certain people and sometimes he doesn’t like anyone. He’ll nip if he feels uncomfortable which for his size a nip is a bite. He’s not aggressive, he won’t bark, he’ll just react. Making him unpredictable. Otherwise he’s sweet and obeys. He’ll jump at some cars and some he couldn’t care less just like people or dogs walking, he gets corrections but he’ll still every now and then do the same behavior. He’s very confident just has the need to let it be known. Figuring he’s a male intact Rottweiler with his size and pedigree, he’s the ADRK standard, so he’s more of a working line Rottweiler verses many American bred Rotties that are more like Labs then Rottweilers, he’s not at all. He’s very active, muscular and naturally confident. So we do our best to identify his behaviors but in the end he’s a protection breed and with his standard it’s on 100 most of the time. He gets 3-6 mile jogs a day and YES loves to piss on everything. While most of the time it’s harmless the only threat is the unpredictably. While we continue to work with him, in the end he’s his own dog and has his own personality and traits and while it’s intimidating especially to ones that don’t know him, he’s under control he just isn’t a Black Lab and doesn’t want to be treated like one all the time. Which is fine because he’s a protection breed and wasn’t meant to be a nanny dog even though they are used sometimes for that purpose. He’d be fine being a police or military dog. He’s definitely 💯 ready for action. He was adopted for protection and companionship but not for the neighborhood to love him‼️✌🏽❤️🇺🇸

This is such a helpful, informative video, because I think most people do.n't know the difference. Thanks Tom.

Tom please post video of you putting boots on burleigh, we would to see it

Beelzebub, my intact Boerbol was the same till he was  two  and half ish.
Hang in there

You should meet my boy. He’s so protective

Wish i had known you when i got my first dog in 1990 (I know you weren't born yet 😅) His mother was a GIANT pure bred shepherd and his dad was Old Jack a mixed border collie on my fils farm. My then boyfriend sent me to pick out a puppy from the mothers owner. I was beside myself! I had never had a pet other than a goldfish. I only had him for 2 years before he bit a kid that hit him. I was forced to put him down. He was super protective of me and my shadow. I still miss him.