Many people will get a big dog because they want something that’s going to help them to protect their home or their property. Then, a few months down the road, someone breaks into the home. When they look at the video surveillance footage, far from intimidating the intruder or protecting the home, their big dog basically gives the intruder a guided tour of home. What went wrong? The homeowner or the business owner did not take the time to train their dog to guard their property.
Learning How to Train a Guard Dog
First, you need to decide what role you want that cute little puppy you just brought home to play in your family. Do you want it to be a guard dog? Or do you want it to be a family dog? The way you answer that question determines how you will raise the puppy and how you will train it.
Start off by asking yourself what you want the dog to do. Should it just bark if someone comes near your property? Or do you want it to not only sound the alarm but also be ready to defend you and your family?
What Kind of Person Are You?
To successfully train a guard dog, you must be able to train your dog to be obedient to you 100 percent of the time. This means that you need to be a confident leader who is able to control and keep control of your dog at all times. If your dog is not obedient to you at all times, training it to be a guard dog may be a hazard for you and for others around you.
Beginning the Training Process
The training process begins with you determining the right breed of dog for your needs. Most dogs are going bark when someone gets near your home. However, certain breeds like as Dobermans, shepherds, and mastiffs are by nature more protective. For this reason, they are considered to be better guard dogs.
Once you have selected the right puppy, now you have to start obedience training and dog socialization. It is good to start teaching your dog basic commands, such as to sit, to heel, to stay, and to come. You want your dog to master those commands and respond to your orders every time. Once this is done, you can move on to the more difficult task of training the dog to be a guard companion.
It is good to take your dog to areas where there are a lot of people and other dogs. You might want to take it to a puppy park or to a sporting event. You want the dog to be comfortable around large groups of people, and you also want it to be comfortable in areas where there are a lot of distractions. It will take patience on your part because puppies by their very nature are prone to being distracted, and it is difficult to keep a young puppy calm all the time.
Train Your Dog to Sound the Alarm
If you simply want your dog to bark when a stranger arrives or passes by, you need to train them on how to give a controlled bark. This means that your dog starts barking when a stranger approaches your property, but then it stop when you tell it to.
Start by teaching your dog went to speak. Get your dog excited so that it starts barking. Then reward it when it starts to bark at your command. Next, tell your dog when to stop barking. And praise it when it stops. Do this until your dog starts to bark or stops barking when commanded.
Next, use a friend who your dog has never met before. Have this person come to your property and then command your doctor bark. Repeat this process until your dog understands that when a stranger crosses the property line, it should start to bark, and then the dog should stop when instructed. Again, this process will require patience.
It is essential for you to teach your dog the boundaries of your property. You can accomplish this by walking the perimeter of your property with your dog. Use sit and stay commands to teach your dog what the limits of the property are.
Train Your Dog to Attack
It is one thing to train your dog to guard your property. It is quite another to train your dog to attack when someone is threatening you. If you are looking to train an attack dog, we highly recommend using a professional dog trainer. This is because having an attack dog around your property or in your home is a very serious matter. It could be a matter of life and death.
A dog training specialist will be able to work with you to teach your dog to defend you and to teach your dog when it is time to back off.
In most instances, a dog that has been trained to attack someone is not a good pet. There are a lot of stories of individuals who have had “sweet” attack dogs that have gone off and injured someone in the home or injured a passerby.
The most important part of training a personal protection dog is to train them when they need to leave a person alone. If your dog is not responsive to commands to leave the person alone during the training period, in real life it may become vicious and difficult to control.
In most cases, it is sufficient to have a dog that will simply alert you when someone has intruded on your property. Seeing a large dog bark and growl, or better yet seeing multiple large dogs bark and growl, can serve as a big enough deterrent to encourage would be thieves or intruders to look somewhere else.
The Five Best Guard Dog Breeds
Using guard dogs to protect property in human life is not new. In fact, this has been one of the primary uses for domestic dogs throughout history. Just about any dog will instinctively protect its home and owner. However, there are certain breeds that have the characteristics needed to make them good guard dogs.
Bullmastiff
These dogs are known to have tremendous physical strength. They are basically muscle and fur. Their protection instincts are legendary, and their loyalty and their courage in the face of larger animals or attackers has been recorded in history books and stories for centuries. What makes these animals such good guard dogs is that when they are confronted with an intruder, their first inclination is not to bite. Instead, they will use their mass and their power to either knock the intruder over or to block their path. While they are excellent guard dogs, they are extremely docile. In a family environment, they are amazing house pets.
Doberman Pinscher
The Doberman is one of the first dogs that people think about when they think of a guard dog. Dobermans are perfect for protecting large properties. This is because the Doberman is an unbelievably fast animal. It can get to an intruder in almost no time. They are known for their intelligence and have been ranked as the fifth smartest dog breed on the planet today. Dobermans make good pets because they are loyal. They make great guard dogs because they do not know fear and are hyper alert.
Rottweiler
Very few dogs can invoke the level of fear in others as a Rottweiler can. They are known for their size, their strength, and their intimidating appearance. Rottweilers were first bred to protect cattle and now are used as guard dogs in homes around the country. Rottweilers have a stronger sense of the pack, and they will do whatever is necessary to protect their pack. Rottweilers are known for their intelligence and their undying loyalty to their owners. Rottweilers learn quickly, and unlike other dogs who quickly take to strangers, Rottweilers are aloof until they are properly introduced to a stranger.
Komondor
The Komondor is the Hungarian sheepdog. It is a large white dog that has a copious amount of fur. It is a strong dog breed and is a natural guardian. It has an inbred instinct to protect its property and owners. What makes this the perfect dog for guarding homes is that when things are normal, the Komondor is a very calm and steady dog. However, when trouble arises, the dog will fearlessly defend those that it is assigned to protect. It is affectionate within the family, but it is wary of strangers. These dogs have been bred to have the perfect balance of knowing when danger is present and when a stranger means no harm.
Puli
This is another Hungarian herding dog. It has a long coat of tight curls that look corded. The majority of these dogs are black, but they can come in a white or a gray color. These are active dogs. It is important to train them to obey when they are young. They are better suited for outdoors and have lots of energy. They are mischievous but loyal. They are quick to protect their property and their owner. They are prized for their speed and their agility.
A dog can be a loyal friend and serve as one part of a multi-pronged approach to protecting your home and property. A guard dog requires some training and effort in order to make it an effective guard dog, but if there is ever an intrusion on your property and your dog sounds an early alarm, you will agree the effort was worth it.
