A metaphor that I am fond of is that there are Wolves, Sheep and Sheepdogs. Wolves avoid Sheepdogs. Even thought the Wolf is stronger than the Sheepdog; even though the Wolf will most likely prevail in the end; it's easier for the Wolf to just go and find unguarded Sheep because sometimes the Sheepdog wins.
This always gets me thinking about a documentary on the Falklands War that i watched, where at one point they were talking to soldiers that were on the ground on the islands.
One of them mentioned that there was 3 kinds of soldiers.
First was the one that would refuse to leave his foxhole once the shooting started.
Second was the kind that would storm the enemy at every chance.
Third would also storm, but only if it meant that his probable death could save the life of his fellow soldiers (and/or civilians).
His final remark was that the British army needed less of the first two and more of the third.
> An athletic dog, the Komondor is fast and powerful and will leap at a predator to drive it off or knock it down. It can be used successfully to guard sheep against wolves or bears.
I dunno. Further googling:
> Bred to drive away predators, not hunt them, the powerful Komondor will try to kill any animal that foolishly chooses to fight back.
I dunno. It seems they kill coyotes not too infrequently, but it doesn't seem like wolves usually stick around long enough to kill or be killed by a Komondor, indeed. Wolves don't generally choose to fight animals that can fight back, which I guess is the message of the original aphorism. But if the wolf stayed to fight, the Komondor would fight it to the death one way or another, and their ridiculous looking coat is apparently actually pretty good defense against predator's teeth, and they've got very powerful jaws. At any rate, it's clear the Komondor is a fearsome fighter, despite looking like a stuffed animal to us, heh. And it doesn't protect the herd merely by sounding the alarm, but by being powerful enough to defend against wolves, for sure.
