They can be highly responsive to their owners. You start showing any signs of tension, they will put themselves between you and whatever is bothering you.

When we watch my sisters dog, my wife has to use a vibrating collar for the dog. He reacts to everything as a potential threat to her, and that ramps up with my kids being there.

If its just me walking him, he tends to just be a roaming doofus. If I add in our (little and much older) dog, he’s fine until the moment our dog reacts.

Its actually extremely wild to me just how responsive they are to those around them.