Angry Guard Dog: Difference between revisions

[[File:Attack_Dog_7043Attack Dog 7043.png|frame|You ain't getting that ball back anytime soon.]]

{{quote|''"CAVE CANEM"'' ("Beware of the dog.")|[[Older Than Feudalism|Roman villa inscription found at Pompeii.]]}}

Going into your neighbor's yard is a death wish. The milkman, the mailman, even the kid who lost his Frisbee disc doesn't want to go in there, because that neighbor has an [['''Angry Guard Dog]]'''.

Most of the bigger breeds of dog have been used for security jobs, especially Dobermans, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and Bulldogs. You also have different types of dogs that are supposed to guard whatever, such as a watchdog (who is simply required to bark, so a Chihuahua would do), a guard dog (who merely has to look imposing, like a Mastiff) and an attack dog (who has to be athletic and very trainable). Your stereotypical [['''Angry Guard Dog]]''', on the other hand, is all three. It looks intimidating, and if you enter it'sits territory it ''will'' bark, but only if it can't ''maul'' you first (and on the way to the mauling). This dog's bite is every bit as bad as it'sits bark. They tend to be the worst professional hazard for a mail carrier, at least in fiction.

Ironically, few [[Angry Guard Dog|'''Angry Guard Dogs]]''' are pitbullspit bulls. This has less to do with emulating realism and dodging current stereotypes than with indicating the old age of this trope. Bull terriers were highly regarded during the World War II era, and considering current media trends, no one wants to really highlight them in an opinionated way. And strangely enough, while bulldogs tend to be used in media for this trope, they tend to be one of the worst suited breeds for guard dogs in real life, due to their amiable disposition and poor athletic ability.

Contrast [[Big Friendly Dog]] (though they might overlap if its friend is the person its guarding), [[They Have the Scent]]. Neutralized by [[Scare the Dog]]. Sometimes named [[Fluffy the Terrible|Fluffy]].

* ''[[Ginga Densetsu Weed|Weed]]'': Weed encounters a guard dog at the very beginning of the series, whether it be anime or manga. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|And kicks his tail]] until Smith arrives.

* In the ''[[Pokémon]]'' mini movie "Pikachu and Pichu" and in some other specials, one of the Pichu brothers' enemies is a Houndour. Yes, a '''Houndour.''' And that Houndour chases the Pichu brothers many times, and sometimes gets flattned by a Snorlax. {{spoiler|One time, the Houndour ended up beating up Meowth after Meowth stepped on the Houndour's head.}}

* [[Superman|Krypto the Superdog]] in his most recent{{when}} incarnation. The temperament of an [[Angry Guard Dog]] and the powers of Superman = pain.

* In the 1980s Henry Winkler movie ''[[Night Shift]]'', the rather nebbishy and timid main character is shown to be frequently tormented by a neighbor's dog who relentlessly pursues him through the apartment complex where he lives, barking furiously. It's a sign of [[Character Development]] towards the end when he finally gets fed up and bellows "Go home!" as it's bounding towards him... and it slinks away with it'sits tail between its legs.

* Played with in ''[[Tintin (film)|The Adventures of Tintin]]'' where Tintin is attacked by a giant rottweiler outside of Marlinspike hall who becomes docile and [[Big Friendly Dog|friendly]] as soon as Snowy loyally leaps out in front to defend Tintin. The dog continues to be comical and friendly throughout the rest of the film.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' novel ''[[Brothers of the Snake]]'', the High Legislator has a fierce black guard dog. The Space Marine, however, manages to tame them with a whistle. He brings along [[Heroic Dog|one]] to help with the Dark Eldar.

* ''[[Harry Potter and Thethe Philosopher's Stone (novel)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]] '': [[Fluffy the Terrible|Fluffy]], who was guarding a trapdoor.

* ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'' mentioned a rather creepy version in passing: vicious guard dogs who had undergone laryngectomies, so they couldn't make any bark. You'd never hear them coming until they were already tearing your throat out.

* In his autobiography 'Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid' [[Bill Bryson]] describes his encounters with Dewey, a vengeful labradorLabrador 'about the size of a black bear' who stalked him on his paper round.

* A wolfhound intended to be sold as one of these makes a brief appearenceappearance in [[Mistborn]]. Vin punches his lights out and feeds him to her [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|Kandra]].

* Inverted in ''[[Peanuts]]'' where Snoopy was terrorized by "World War II", the cat next door. Occasionally Snoopy himself would be put in this role. Performance ranged from lacklustre (falling asleep while guarding Peppermint Patty) to metaphysical ('You try to warn them the world's gone mad ... ') to, and I'm not kidding, [[More Dakka]] (how many guard dogs have ever mounted a [[wikipedia:Lewis Gun|machinegun]] to their house?!).<ref>A [[Genius Bonus]] here, as Sparky was a soldier and clearly remembered enough about the Lewis Gun to draw it in detail.</ref>

* ''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' has Broggy, the dog of the shopkeeper Broque Monsieur. First annoyed enough that it was willing to take ''Bowser'' in a [[Boss Battle]], you actually get to walk this dog after collecting all the Blitties... translated as a new [[Special Attack]] for the rest of the game involving him and about twenty kittens swarming the enemies/bosses. It looks hilarious. <ref>This is the first time this series has used an actual ''dog'', as the role is usually played by the Chain Chomp enemy (complete with barks). Broggy's more of a giant ? Block with a dog's face an personality though.</ref>

* ''[[Oblivion|The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'': Oddly used and subverted. Occasionally bandits will have guard dogs who sit around barking to themselves, even if you are covered in blood from their owner. They only seem to turn hostile when their owner does.

* ''[[ToeJam & Earl]] in Panic on Funkotron'': The game features an old lady and her poodles as enemies. The poodles start as dangerous, but if you capture the lady before them they turn into whirling balls of destruction.

* Runner from ''[[Septerra Core]]''. He's a robot dog built by [[Gadgeteer Genius|Grubb]], and joins your party when Grubb does. Other dogs bare their teeth; Runner bares a ''[[Frickin' Laser Beams|beam cannon]]''.

* The Allies in ''[[Command and& Conquer]] Red Alert 3'' deploy fairly normal attack dogs; not to be outdone, the Soviets deploy ''[[Everything's Worse with Bears|Angry Guard Bears]]''.

== WebcomicsWeb Comics ==

* [http://www.unintentionallypretentious.com/index.asp?c=121 Aibo], from ''[[Unintentionally Pretentious]]'', Mia's robotic guide dog. Also her [[Angry Guard Dog]] with a manual [[Berserk Button]].

* Taken to absurd lengths in ''[[Eek! theThe Cat]]'', where the neighbors' yard is guarded by Sharky the Sharkdog, who is a literal shark/dog hybrid. Sharky would often go out of his way to terrorize the well-intentioned Eek!, regardless of where they were. Leading to the classic episode involving Annabel's pool in the backyard, a submarine full of ocean-exploring waterfowl parodying Jacques Cousteau, and the "Shark" part of things suddenly being much more literal.

* In ''[[The Fairly Oddparents]]'', Timmy's ploy of getting friends Chester and A.J. to rescue him from "vicious guard dogs" backfires when Cosmo and Wanda are too distracted to play the part, and the junkyard's actual vicious guard dogs go after Timmy instead.

* ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'' had Garfield [[Medium Awareness|citing]] the [[Angry Guard Dog]] as an especially annoying trope, since he never understood why a dog would automatically defend a mouse or immediately attack a cat for no reason. (Garfield, of course, thinks that dogs are ruled by [[Dogs Are Dumb|their stupid instincts]]. Garfield himself does run afoul of dogs occasionally, but it's usually after baiting them.)

* The [[Looney Tunes|Warner Bros.]] "Sam the Sheepdog" cartoons subverted this; Sam protects the sheep but has no personal animosity toward the wolf, as a [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Hero]] -- literally—literally; in one, we see them both punching out mid-fight, having lunch, and getting back into position afterwards.

* The Pickles live next door to one such dog on ''[[Rugrats]]'', often mentioned but only seen twice -- threetwice—three times if you count the [[Whole-Episode Flashback]] before it became the ferocious "monster dog" the babies had come to know.

* A 1963 [[Looney Tunes|Daffy Duck]] cartoon involved Daffy trying to contact a millionaremillionaire, and having to make it past the man's pet bulldog first. Daffy faced a similar situation in the 1948 cartoon "Daffy Dilly", but in "Dilly" the obstacle was the millionaremillionaire's [[Furry Confusion|anthropomorphic dog]] butler.

* A 1998 short of ''[[Ka BlamKaBlam!|Life with Loopy]]'' had Seymore, who confiscated anything going into his yard, including humans.

* ''[[Re BootReBoot]]'' has Frisket, a super strong dog that only listened to Enzo. He absolutely hated Bob, which is used as a [[Call Back]] when Bob returns from the Web. Frisket sees a "stranger" and growls, then sniffs and learns it is Bob, then goes back to growling.

* [[The Simpsons (animation)|Mr. Burns]] has a pack of these at the ready whenever his guests have overstayed their welcome. [[For the Evulz|Or if he needs a good chuckle.]]

[[Category:ThisCanine Index BarksTropes]]

[[Category:Angry Guard Dog{{PAGENAME}}]]