Guard Dog Training Schools

Choosing the right guard dog training school is very important. With so many options to choose from, what do you need to look at to determine the right choice for you? We summarize the points you should look for when choosing a guard dog training school below.

First, you need to consider the success of a school's program with your dog breed. Some schools may turn out excellent guard dogs with Rottweilers, but have mixed results with other dog breeds. Most schools will let you observe their classes to see if they are right for you and your dog. Be sure to not skip this important step of actually going and observing a class while it is in session. That will give you a good indication of whether the particular school and trainer's style of instruction is a good fit for your dog.

Second, the training instructors should use humane training techiques. Positive reinforcement is much more effective than cruelly punishing the dog for every little mistake it makes during training. Exacting punishment with a whip or stick used to considered normal dog training technique in the past, but these days, positive reinforcement has been shown to be much more effective. Dogs respond better and don't harbor the resentment generated by negative reinforcement training techniques.

Third, check with your local law enforcement office to see who they use to train their police dogs. With dogs being a much more vital part of law enforcement, the rigorous training provided to police dogs is a good way to gage the effectiveness of the dog trainer/school they use. Your local law enforcement office that utilizes K9 officers should be able to get get you good referrals to guard dog training schools.

Finally, check the Better Business Bureau rating on the school. By ensuring that there are no egregious outstanding complaints about the school, you can weed out the obviously bad schools. No complaints doesn't mean the school is particularly good, however, but the presence of complaints may indicate that there are some quality or customer service problems with the school.

As you can see, putting a dog through guard dog training is not something to undertake lightly. It is an expensive proposition. Usually, only large institutions and wealthy patrons can afford it. If you are a regular joe dog owner, just get a yappy dog and consider it a watchdog, rather than a bonafide guard dog.

Guard Dog Training - Military and Law Enforcement Uses

Dogs go through extensive guard dog training when used by the military and law enforcement. These canine companions can become elite soldiers and formidable weapons out in the field. A dog's fierce loyalty to its handler does not go away when put under pressure in the heat of combat. A dog will risk life and limb to serve and protect its handler without a second thought.

In the military, dogs are trained to serve as scouts and perform search and rescue duties. With their superior hearing and sense of smell, dogs can detect hidden dangers far more readily and easily than humans can. Dogs can be trained to detect booby traps and mines. They can ferret out enemy snipers that may be hiding in camaflouge. Camaflouge may elude detection by human eyes, but they are no match a dog's nose. Dogs are also excellent camp defenders and sentries. Sometimes, the early warning provided by canines mean the difference between glorious victory and utter defeat. Recently, in a controversial practice, dogs have also been used to intimidate enemy combatants during military interrogations.

Dogs have also become a vital part of the modern law enforcement arsenal. The typical police dog is trained by a handler to to chase running suspects and hold suspects at bay until their slower human officers arrive. Police dogs are also useful threat devices. A lunging, snarling dog is threatened to be released and attack the suspect unless the criminal suspect comply immediately with police instructions. Law enforcement dogs are also used to sniff for drug contrabands that may be hidden in attempts to smuggle across borders. Seen primarily at airports and border crossings, police dogs routinely sniff luggage and automobiles for illegal drugs and substances. A dog's keen sense of smell is also sometimes used to locate missing persons lost in the wilderness or to locate dead bodies.

Dogs have been used militarily since ancient times. At times serving as front-line soldiers attacking knights on horseback, modern uses of dogs in military and law enforcement have been relegated to mostly support functions. But these are vital support functions which dogs with their superior senses perform better and faster than anything else. Dogs are highly intelligent animals that can be trained to do man many things. Guard dog training is not only for home and residential protection; guard dog training has many uses in the military and law enforcement arena as well.

Guard Dog Training - Worst Breeds

You want a guard dog to protect your home and family? Almost all dogs make a good watchdog that'll yap if a stranger approaches. But as a guard dog, there are certain breeds of dogs that just won't cut it.

Toy-sized Breeds

These dogs are nearly useless as guard dogs. They're so tiny, a well placed kick will put them out of commission (and out of the zip code you're in). They are more for show and to be pampered instead of doing any useful guard duties. Toy breeds include chihuachuas, pomeranians, pugs, toy poodles, yorkshire terriers, malteses, pekingeses and shih tzus. Some may make excellent watchdogs, however, with their endless yapping. But for guard dog duties? I don't think so.

Chow Chows

These are fairly large aggressive dogs and would seem to make fine guard dogs with training. But they can be too aggressive and do not take well to repitative tasks during training. There are more intelligent dogs that do better in guard dog training.

Great Danes

A Great Dane's size alone would make it seem like a suitable candidate to be a guard dog. But these dogs are gentle giants and a guard dog needs a streak of aggressiveness and fearlessness that make these gentle giants do not possess. As a visual intimidating factor, a Great Dane would serve that purpose very well. But for real guard dog duties, there are other breeds that will serve that duty better.


Alaskan Malamutes

You want a sled dog? Alaskan Malamutes are what you're looking for. You want a guard dog? We suggest you pass on these furry creatures. The malamute is a strong-willed breed that does not always comply with its master's command. Not what you want in a guard dog.

Bloodhound

Bloodhounds excel at sniffing out and tracking scents. But like the Alaskan Malamute, they do not always comply with its owner's command. Its independence and self-confidence is what drives bloodhounds to doggedly pursue a scent it is given. Trying to impose strict discipline onto a bloodhound will destroy its drive to search out and follow a scent. Instead, it will look to its owner to see what the owner wants it to do. Good trait in a guard dog, but bad when you want a determined scent tracker.

If you want a good guard dog, pass on these breeds. Almost any dog will make a good watchdog, but for a dog that will excel with guard dog training, look more to Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers or German Shepherds.

Guard Dog Training Exercises

To train your dog as an effective guard dog, it must excel at several things. It must obey you on command. It must see your family and home as its pack and territory to protect. And it must be intimidating enough to scare off would be robbers and burglars.

The first step is basic obedience training which all dogs should go through anyway. A guard dog is like a weapon. You don't want it to go off at the wrong time or at the wrong person. Obedience to you, the master, is a must. Special training exercises that a guard dog must go through in addition to regular obedience training are learning not to take food from strangers and holding an intruder at bay. Most dogs are gentle animals and will befriend anybody who gives them a doggie treat. Even the most hardened and aggressive dog will succumb to food given by a stranger without proper training.

When your guard dog encounters an intruder, the best course of action for it to take is to hold the intruder in stasis until the police arrives. Through a series of escalating growls and threats, even the bravest criminal will wither like a flower at a snarling set of fangs and teeth. Attacking and injuring someone, even a criminal, should be the last course of action to take.

Your dog must associate your family as a pack that it is a part of. Dogs are very loyal to its pack, some breeds exhibit more loyalty than others, and seeing your family as its pack will bring out its protective instincts. On the other hand, for proper pet behavior and the safety of your family, your dog must see itself as being in the bottom of the pack, so that it won't try to dominate any member of your family (through biting or other aggressive behavior).

Black dogs are perceived as more intimidating than dogs of other colors. This is why Rottweilers and Dobermans Pinschers are effective guard dogs. Sometimes, just the sight of these dogs will send a burglar looking elsewhere to find his ill-gotten gains.

Having a properly trained guard dog can enhance the security of your home as well as enrich your life. But responsible handling of a guard dog is essential to the safety of your family and the public. Proper guard dog training will ensure your dog is safe and enjoyable to be around.