Guard dog training for dobie pup.

bentennessee

Hello, I have a 5 month old doberman puppy which I purchased as a companion, and guardian for my wife and farm. There are no trainers within 200 miles of my home who do guard dog training, so I'll probably have to do it myself. Any tips? She already growls at certain men. I want her aggression to be controlled, however.

Mikey

I wouldn't embark on this kind of training unless you know what your doing-you could potentially create a problem dog who has to be destroyed. If you really want her trained-then you would need to travel that distance and have her trained by someone with experience

bentennessee

Yeah, I don't really feel comfortable doing this training myself. I work with someone who trained police dogs for quite a while, and she has given me tips. I will prob just forget the guard training, and keep her as a great buddy.

Mikey

Oh good I'm so glad-I think you posted in another thread that you have kids so I was quite worried Glad
Most dogs, without training, will protect their family if needed-loyalty is something they come with

TashaHope

This is true, Tasha loves people to death (she whines and cries to meet people), but one day she thought somebody broke in... since then I know if anyone really was in the house they would have been severly bit. No one did of course, it was just a huge branch that fell down near the house during a wind storm.

If I hadn't had her since she was 6 weeks I would have thought she was a perfectly trained protection dog. As soon as I let her out of her crate she did a full search of the area like police dogs do, and did not settle until she was satisfied we were all safe and no one was there who shouldn't be. Outside of that she's a super gentle giant and loves swinging on the swing with the elderly man we live with (he's 97).

So yeah, I agree with Mikey, I'd keep her as a companion and if the need to defend/protect were ever to arise she'd most likely be by your side.

bentennessee

Thanks guys. I would say all my dogs would defend us if the need arose. They are just so intensely loyal, loving, and in tune to us. I am very able and willing to defend our home myself. I just worry about my wife and daughter when I'm gone. We live in a prime location for burglary, and meth heads often do break into homes here. She refuses to learn how to use a gun.

RedyreRotties

The best training for any dog expected to do any real guarding is to be well socialized, confident, and friendly with all non threatening people.

The growling you reference is almost always a fear based insecurity related behavior.

5 months old puppies should be boistrously happy to greet everyone they meet. The territorial drives that make dogs territorial shows up later in most dogs I have had experience with.

alfi

I own a Dobie too. She will be a GREAT guard dog even if you don't train her this way. It is in her instinct to be protective. Socialize as much as you can.

If you really want to do guard training then find a pro and a very good pro with a lot of experience. I have seen dogs trained as guards out of control cause of "bad" training and they are very untrustworthy and dangerous even for some family members. That's why the most important is to know that your dog will do only the necessary for you to escape and not kill anybody.
(To be sure about it I travel every year (or my parents - they find an opportunity for vacations lol) from UK to USA for Chico's (our dobie) training in the K9 program.)

nando

Great responses here. Guard/protection training is serious work and you need a very experienced trainer and a helper/decoy to accomplish that and not mess up the dog mentally (takes well over a year). Very few dogs have the temperament/genetics to complete such a program (involves putting a great deal of pressure on the dog) and are predominantly bred especially for such work.

Growling is not considered a plus in protection training as it is a sign of defense/insecurity.

Maura

Get your dobie out into the public and meeting as many different kinds of people as you can. Put a fantastic recall on her. It's easy to get a guarding breed to bite, not so easy to call them off. She is smart and will learn quickly.