I've had several Dobies and they are pussycats when they know you. Most of them just want to lean against you or sit in your lap, they don't ever seem to realize how large they are. Our current Dobie is like that but she is not fond of strangers. Once we introduce her to someone she is ok if they call her by name and aren't scared of her. We don't introduce her to casual workers that come in the house, we shut her in another room. She will not let them come back in the house if she is out. With our friends she mostly bugs them for pets by leaning against their leg non stop. She can push you over if you're not paying attention and she gets just the right spot on the back of your knees, it's not aggression though it is a demand for scratches. She's serious about guarding though, she once bit a concrete worker that I thought had left but he came back for a tool bag he'd forgotten. He opened the door and she went for him, got him on the leg as he got the door shut again. After that, her reputation among the construction guys was enormous. Not a bad thing, I was not unhappy with her. She was doing her job. She's a rescue, we found her when she was about 6 months old fending for herself by catching iguanas and charming a gardener into sharing his tortillas at an RV park on the outskirts of the city. She was really skinny and had some intestinal problems but she's really healthy now.
