I used to visit an ex forces elderly gentleman in my then capacity as a community care worker .. both the gentleman and his German Shepard Blue were extremely difficult to visit, in fact only me and one other care worker were able to enter his place, the rest of the staff were either frightened of the man or scared of his dog, the dog was a guard dog by breeding
Part of my job was to take his dog for a walk, once 'Barney' accepted me he was gentle, intelligent but still protective of his master .. I'd take Barney out for walks and tourists would pose with him for photos, kids could play with him etc although he was still physically a head turning formidable looking dog.
The elderly gentleman (I later learned) decided one day to jump on a train to London to try and find his old army captain from the 60's .. as I was told, a woman passenger accidentally stood on Barney's foot and Barney bit her ankle .. crowds got involved as well as the railway police, the elderly man had Parkinsons, swore a lot (as usual) so she decided to press charges which included having Barney put down.
When he told me about this, I encouraged him to stick up for his dog who was his only friend in the world truth be told .. Barney was lovely unless a stranger entered his house unexpectedly .. on one occasion, I had to call the paramedics out for his owner, one rushed into the house before I could stop him, Barney cornered the poor man and bit his crotch just below his genitals tearing his trousers. To this poor man's credit (and after I'd dragged Barney away and into a room I could shut him inside), he continued to care for the old man.
I contacted a local pet shop who had groomed Barney in the past and asked the lady owner if she felt comfortable writing Barney a character reference for the judge which she was more than happy to do given his mellow in public manner that she was also aware of .. I also bought a muzzle for Barney, let him get used to it then took flattering photo's of him both not wearing it and also wearing it and printed two copies of each off as well as writing a letter for the court explaining who I was, how I wasn't writing on behalf of the company I was working for, how Barney was never aggressive in public when I took him for walkies (his favourite thing was to eat grass at a certain spot over looking the sea, sniffing flowers and being fussed by tourists although smaller dogs intimidated by his size would sometimes try to attack him .. the poor fucker) and that he was the only friend my elderly disabled client had .. and that I would only ever take Barney out for walkies wearing his muzzle in future .. and that Barney only bit the woman out of surprise, pain and fear ..
The judge took pity and Barney wasn't put down although my boss told me off a bit for getting involved. The sad ending was that my client became incapable in the end of caring for Barney any more so social services split them up .. but at least Barney wasn't f*****g executed just so the woman who'd stood on his foot could get financial compensation. And I was able eventually to hook up the old man with his ex captain via internet research which resulted in letters, phone conversations, a gift of a DVD player from the captain so ***** could watch a DVD rip of old cine footage of his regiment together in Egypt after clues he'd given me so the daft old twat didn't attempt anymore train journeys ! .. and no peanut butter on anyone's genitals was involved ..
(a 'blue' German Shepard very similar to Barney)
edit: and any time after all this I again had to call the paramedics out for *****, I stressed over the phone that a over protective guard dog was in residence so no staff were to just walk in .. and I bought a large warning sticker for his front door which I also photographed as part of the 'please don't kill this dog' package for the court hearing. ***** turned up for the hearing, his disability made him stumble all over the place and the judge kindly excused him from having to remain in court.