1-866-505-1773
Getting a Guard Dog for Your Home
If you have considered getting a guard dog to help protect your home, here are a few tips of what to look for and how to train a guard dog. Even though training a guard dog doesn't completely replace the benefits of a home security system, but having a guard dog can help in the battle against burglars.
Dogs live for 10 years or more, so make sure that getting a dog is a commitment that you are ready to make. Typical dogs that are used for their size, deep barks, and instincts are Chow Chows, Doberman Pinschers, Bull Mastiffs, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and Rhodesian Ridgebacks.
Guard dogs need special training so that they don't become a hazard for your family and friends that visit your home regularly. The breeds listed above that make good guard dogs have strong self-preservation instincts that make them more likely to attack if confronted. They don't tolerate teasing as well as some other breeds, and need professional training.
Make sure that you get a dog that already has a good reputation, or a puppy that comes from a breeder with a good reputation. The sex of the dog doesn't make too much of a difference because both male and female dogs make good watch dogs.
Make sure that your dog gets socialized around a lot of people and other dogs and that they get used to noises like traffic, the garbage truck, and mail carrier. Taking your dog on regular walks around your neighborhood will get them used to the normal sounds in the area.
Professional trainers prefer to work with young dogs that are less than a year old. Many will work with older dogs, but it takes longer to train them. The first training you should make sure your dog gets, is basic obedience training. Then you can sign up for Controlled Aggression Training for several months to teach your dog attack commands.
Once you have a trained guard dog, make sure you take responsibility and post signs warning visitors and neighbors that you have a watch dog. Tell your friends and family to not come over unannounced, and warn people who are new to your home that your dog is trained as a guard dog.
Having a dog trained as a guard dog, can be a good start to keeping your home safer and keeping intruders from wanting to enter your home. The deep bark of a watch dog is likely to scare off most burglars scouting for homes to invade.