Pet Forum

mikev7 · Posted: 05/13/2005 10:28 pm Post subject: Guard dog help, plz all?

I'm looking for info on how to teach my dog to guard my yard.

Sometimes i sneak up to the gate at night and make noise just to see if he barks. He's too quick to be friends with the intruder, even though he probably smelled me. He's also too nice to visitors. How do i teach him to distinguish between friends and food?

He loosely understands the attack term, as i see when i tell him to attack someone. He gets into an offensive stance, but he's too quick to play.

Thanks.
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APBTlover · Elite Member Joined: 12 Dec 2004 Posts: 2410 Location: PA

I would suggest a trainer, that knows what they are doing and has trained guard dogs before. Ya it will probably not be cheap but if you are wanting to do this then you might as well do it the right way. Another thing you could get into would be french ring or schutzhund, which is what I do with my older male APBT. He is just learned and its agility and obedience and personal protection (so he will only attack on command and such). It might help a little with training him and him knowing different commands, but it wont teach him to guard your yard. Your best bet is to find a personal trainer in your area that has trained guard dogs before.
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Mihoshi · Posted: 05/14/2005 2:06 pm Post subject:

Be very careful, I don't think I saw you mention the breed but it looks like a pit bull. Don't teach it to tear someone apart for the love of God! These dogs have a bad enough reputation and if it does attack there's a chance the local law enforcement might take it away.

It's illegal to sick your dog on people anyways. Definately go to a professional to do this training. You'll need key words and techniques that you just can't know on your own.

Are you a minor by chance? It seems sort of weird to want to train an attack dog for your backyard, especially if there's already a fence around it. It's not really a good ideal to make a guard dog nowadays anyways with all the security devices they make now. I understand that some areas need/use them, but it's not really the norm anymore. If you just want him to bark at strangers you could probably learn that a lot quicker/cheaper than sending him to "attack" school. I'm sure I'm biased, but I can't comprhend it being a good idea to train a dog that lives with you to be aggresive on comand.
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APBTlover · Elite Member Joined: 12 Dec 2004 Posts: 2410 Location: PA

the breed is American Bulldog, not Pit Bull. lol sorry had to clear that up.
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Mihoshi · Posted: 05/14/2005 2:34 pm Post subject:

Oh gesh, it's been so long since I've seen a bull dog I really thought it was a Pitt. whoops, sorry to breed supporters!
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APBTlover · Elite Member Joined: 12 Dec 2004 Posts: 2410 Location: PA

hehehe no problemo! hahaha.
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mikev7 · Posted: 05/14/2005 5:45 pm Post subject:

It's not to attack anyone and as apbtlover said, it's a am bulldog. It's a secondary protection against intruders trying to get in my yard and steal my motorcycles as someone has tried twice to bypass the power box in the drive way and get into my yard. I'm also not a kid, i'm 28 and i ain't lettin nobody get my bikes without gettin bitten by my dog and held there so i can shoot them Shocked

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Mihoshi · Posted: 05/14/2005 6:05 pm Post subject:

I didn't mean to offend you by asking if you were a kid, it's just a strange thing to have an guard dog anymore. It might be cheaper to just buy some alarms though than to train the dog - putting a german shepard threw obediance training around here cost over $1000, so I can't image what speciallty training like guarding would cost. And if someone is going to break in, they probably won't have a problem with beating the poor dogs head in with a crow bar or whatever, so he might not be the defense you're hoping for. But even if they guy's breaking in, if the dog attacks you can still get sued for tons of money, it's happened many times before. Either way, I hope it works out for you, just be careful about it.
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mikev7 · Posted: 05/14/2005 8:58 pm Post subject:

No offense was taken. It should be illegal to sue me for breaking into my house. Anyone know of good books that can teach me how to train him?
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APBTlover · Elite Member Joined: 12 Dec 2004 Posts: 2410 Location: PA

i dont know of any books, a personal trainer would be best as they know what they are doing. and they help you to train your dog, so they would be better then a book as a book cant teach you everything and wont be able to show you how to do it right.
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cricket926 · Posted: 05/17/2005 12:48 am Post subject:

No solid advice on this issue. My parents have "shop dogs" (hang out in the shop during the day, patrol the fence line at night) that have essentially trained themselves to be protective of their fenceline. My american bulldog is more agressive than I'd like her to be of our property, probably because we never have visitors other than my parents (who she likes). If I'm not mistaken, isn't your boy still young? They won't develop a "guard" instinct until about 2 usually. Until then DON'T let a lot of people in your back yard... if you do he will just assume that everyone is welcome. House and outside on a leash is different, keep socializing him that way (unless you want him protective inside, but then if you ever have company when he's inside you can't really 'turn off' that instinct). Same goes for the back yard... if/when he does get protective (and being an american, he probably will), you can't give him a command and expect him to just let anyone (even a new friend) in the yard. You'll have to put him on a chain, separate area, or in the house. Feel free to e-mail me (cricket926@hotmail.com), I don't check this board all that often.

guinealover4ever · Posted: 05/17/2005 4:23 am Post subject:

My red Staffy bitch is very protective on a chain. She never even lets my neighbours in. But off chain she`s friendly.
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christa · Posted: 05/18/2005 12:18 am Post subject:

Protection is a natural instinct with many breeds like your Am Bulldog, but he is still a puppy and will not get the whole protection idea until he is about 2 like others have said. However if you would like a serious guard dog then I really recommend that you look into a trainer because training a dog for protection is very serious and requires more than you just reading out of a book because if he is not trained correctly then he could be more dangerous to the wrong people. I grew up with my father's dobermans who were trained protection dogs and it is amazing what those dogs will do to protect. I have actually been waiting for my own dobe, Rush, for almost 3 years now who is being trained in protection in Germany and is now completely titled in schutzhund and obedience. A guard dog is a very comforting thing to have around, but they do require hands on professional training. Just please remember that a dog is NOT a weapon and it is still just a dog who only wants to protect you because he loves you. Teaching your dog to attack on command is not the safest thing and sadly it is a lawsuit waiting to happen because a dog like that is considered a weapon.
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