by Rabenschwarz

Created on: January 28, 2007   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

There are several breeds that make good guard dogs. A majority of these dogs are in the working group but also the herding group as well, though almost any dog will at least alert a human to danger or defend the house. An important thing to consider is what breed you can handle. Many of the breeds considered to be guard dogs are strong willed and require an experienced handle. People who are inexperienced with dogs or have submissive personalities should choose very carefully. As with any dog the guard dog needs to be trained and socialized properly. It should be protective should it need to act but should also be well behaved and easily handled. The dog should be able to be handled by any member of the household.

One should either be an experienced trainer or find one to help train the dogs. It is important to be careful of trainers that use harsh training methods and anyone that strikes the dog is to be avoided. I would suggest Schultzhund training for a guard dog. This is a training method that is often used for the training of police and military dogs. It was developed in Germany as sort of an ultimate training course. There are three parts of the training. The first part is obedience. It's pretty straight forward dealing with responding to basic commands. As the dog gets more experience distractions will be introduced to make the exercises more challenging. The second part is tracking. It's sort of like search and rescue in a way. Dogs are trained to track either a human or caged animal. No animals are ever harmed in the training if the instructor is reputable. The third part is protection. The exercises are designed to show the dog when and how to bite in order to protect it's charge. This training should not make the dog aggressive. Please, before purchasing/adopting any dog research the breed.

Suggested List Of Breeds For Guard Dogs
Airedale Terrier, American Bulldog, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Belgian Shepherds (Groenendael, Laekenios, Malenios, Tervuren), Black Russian Terrier, Borzoi, Boxer, Briard, Bulldog, Bullmastiff, Bull Terrier, Canaan Dog, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Doberman Pinscher, Dogue De Bordeaux, Great Pyrenees, Irish Terrier, Jindo, Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Rottweiler, Shar Pei, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Standard Schnauzer

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