What is a good guard dog?

I think a good guard dog is one that knows when to turn it on and off.  And, that will stop once you say it's OK.  Willow is very good at protecting and her instincts are usually great.  But, she sometimes goes overboard and she's had to break focus on once in that mode.  Unfortunately, we got her late in life when all her bad habits were already very well established and hard to break her of. 

Lori

Yeah... Rascal is like Willow, though perhaps a bit less intimidating.

He tends to be very protective of me, and it can be hard for him to know when it's "okay" versus when it's not.

In particular, he gets very nervous when I am incapacitated. We've worked very hard so that he no longer gets defensive when BF and I interact (hugging, for example, or me lying down for a backrub). However, if I am incapacitated (say, I just smacked my head on something and am woozy and on the floor), he is very serious about protecting me. Same goes if BF and I are (or have been) fighting. Even though Rascal and BF are pretty good friends now, if there are extenuating circumstances, he will NOT allow BF near me unless I specifically tell Rascal it's okay. I do wonder sometimes if his protective traits come from his past history... he did watch a team of EMTs carry away his previous owner from her bed, and take her to the hospital to die. He's a smart dog with an incredible memory, and I do think that memory of "strangers carrying 'mom' away and never seeing her again" makes him a lot more nervous in those situations when he sees me as "at risk."

Because of the obvious complications (say, a team of EMTs needs to haul me off to the hospital - they aren't going to want to deal with mini-Cujo trying to "save me";), I do not think that Rascal is a "good" guard dog. He is a guard dog, but not a good one, because he reacts soley based on fear and does not use good judgment deciding when it's okay to be protective, or how protective he can be (such as growling might be acceptable, but biting is not). He shuts down his logical brain and becomes purely reactive, which is dangerous for everyone (including him).

So, despite his occasionally-helpful protective tendencies, I am trying to train him out of all guarding/defensive behavior. The risk just isn't worth the benefit, to me.

But I do have to admit it gives me a little bit of comfort to know, without a doubt, that if I were in danger he would do his best to protect me. Little though he may be, I know he's got my back, and I do appreciate the sentiment (even if I don't appreciate the behaviors).

Timmy does the same hiding thing when we come home too, the dogs are kept in the basement while we are at work and when we come home, he quietly waits downstairs for us to get in a shut the door before he appears at the bottom of the stairs. THEN he comes up wiggling and happy.

I like his method, it seems very thought out and careful. He doesn't make a move unless he's sure of it. He seems very organized in his way of protecting.

What is a good guard dog is something I think about a lot, having GSDs and training bitework.  Even among well bred working line GSDs, there are nerve issues and there are plenty of breeders and trainers that focus only on prey drive and developing "points dogs" that are very flashy on the SchH field but are not trained to understand what is a real threat.  It is becoming increasingly rare to find a sound GSD with correct civil/defense aggression. 

I would say 9.9 times out of 10 when someone comes on the GSD board and describes how their dog reacted to a stranger or another dog, it was NOT correct guarding behavior but reactivity and fear aggression.  Unless you have trained and worked sound dogs with correct aggression and guarding instinct, it's not easy to tell the difference.  IMO, it's just not fair to pressure a dog into an aggressive response that is based on fear. 

If someone wants/needs a true protection dog, then that person should seek out a dog bred from lines suitable for that work and be committed to training the dog for that type of work.  The nerves and soundness are genetic but the behaviors and the control need to be trained!!!!

Even though my GSD is trained in bitework and trained to understand a real threat from a prey game, I do not consider him a guard dog or a protection dog.  He is encouraged to give a few alert barks, and I do appreciate the size and looks as far as a visual deterence, but that's it.  I can give him a quick command that sends him to the end of my leash lunging and barking, but again I do not consider this to be true guarding at this point, just a behavior that I have trained and put on cue.  The real defense and civil aggression comes later as the dog matures and is confident and sound enough for real pressure.

willowchow

I think a good guard dog is one that knows when to turn it on and off.  And, that will stop once you say it's OK. 

I think that this is the perfect way to describe a good guard dog.  The only thing that I'd add to this description would be that the dog needs to be physically intimidating as well. 

One of my dachshunds would bite if I he felt that I were being hurt.  He will bark, growl, and physically put himself in between people when I wrestle around with people who are not members of my immediate family.  Unfortunately, he is small & it is laughable when he does something like that.

Our newest boxer, Brutus, is, to me, very close to what a "guard dog" should be.  He is a big dog, who has a intimidating presence about him.  He is supremely confident out in public, although he is always watchful of what is going on around me.  He can differentiate between someone acting stupid, & someone acting in a threatening manner.  He  will bite, if he feels that I am threatened.  When he bit, I did run into the problem of regaining control of him & I couldn't get him to release off the bite.

In the yard, he will not allow anyone to come through gate, but as soon as DH or I say "that's enough" he sits down, allows the person into his yard, & will greet them as if they were old friends.

He may not be the "perfect" guard dog, but for me, he's pretty close.

At my house, Luna (Aussie) is the only dog with any real guarding ability. She doesn't bark or even pay attention to people walking by, and doesn't bark very often. If she does bark, it's an alert, and she turns off as soon as my husband or I say "thank you." She clearly is able to discern when someone seems out of place. Now, if someone broke in... They’d probably need to have an Aussie surgically removed from their backside. However, she is crated when we aren't home so that's not really an option.

Lexi (pointer mix) on the other hand will bark at anyone or the slightest noise. Her alert bark is either nervous or excited depending on the situation. I am not sure what she would do if someone came in. My guess is follow the lead of the other dogs.

Rosco (Am Staff), well, if someone had a treat he's show them the silver and heirloom jewelry. 

For me a good guard dog is one that:

• Is a good judge of character
• Is alert to what is going on around them at all times, but isn't overly reactive
• Would prefer to bark than bite and only uses their mouth as a last resort
• Will defer to their handler or family 100% of the time

If I were getting a dog for guarding myself or my family, it would be a Bouvier. That's the breed I grew up with and they are just tremendous dogs. Very discerning, very easy going, but if the times calls for it, they are going to stop a threat. Because of that they need to be trained and have a high level of obedience.

Actually, I'd get a Bouv tomorrow if DH would let me but he doesn't like their gross beards (wet, drooling, carrying whatever they have been in recently). 

I would love to get a Bouvier someday too.

As for what makes a GOOD guard dog, I agree with what Liesje said. A lot of dog will "guard" or do something that resembles guarding but they are doing it out of fear. It's pretty much all posturing (they may even bite if pushed too far but again you have to ask what is behind the bite?). Now, if you want a dog that will alert you to intruders, then you probably don't need more than it. But if you want a true protection dog, then you need to a completely different dog, a dog said that is serious, confident, and possesses a nice amount of defense and civil aggression (to fight the man for real). You need a dog who wears the angry pants

Liesje

What is a good guard dog is something I think about a lot, having GSDs and training bitework.  Even among well bred working line GSDs, there are nerve issues and there are plenty of breeders and trainers that focus only on prey drive and developing "points dogs" that are very flashy on the SchH field but are not trained to understand what is a real threat.  It is becoming increasingly rare to find a sound GSD with correct civil/defense aggression. 

This is very true. There are some dogs who treat protection as one giant tug game and nothing more and after training would go back to the helper/decoy (the guy he was just "fighting" ten minutes ago) and wag their tails and make friends. And then there are dogs that take names, remember faces, and hold grudges LOL. Most of these guys don't score as high in trials as the point dogs but are usually on the receiving end of compliments like "Now, that is a REAL dog!"

BEVOLASVEGAS

Our newest boxer, Brutus, is, to me, very close to what a "guard dog" should be.  He is a big dog, who has a intimidating presence about him.  He is supremely confident out in public, although he is always watchful of what is going on around me.  He can differentiate between someone acting stupid, & someone acting in a threatening manner.  He  will bite, if he feels that I am threatened.  When he bit, I did run into the problem of regaining control of him & I couldn't get him to release off the bite.

This is very much what Timmy is like, except I have never had to see him bite anyone. He is a very confident dog and very watchful. He seems to be all places at all times. He seems to be able to differentiate between someone acting silly and someone in a threatening manner. It is interesting to watch him, our nephew was wrestling with his dad (my brother in law) and Timmy didn't seem to think it was threatening, but he did walk into the middle and sit on their laps looking pretty pleased with himself. We called him out of there and told him enough and that was fine with him.

With our yard, he will let anyone in and when people come to the door he is very excited to meet a new friend. I think if we weren't there he wouldn't act the same though. I don't know because I am not there LOL.

Jason L

I would love to get a Bouvier someday too.

As for what makes a GOOD guard dog, I agree with what Liesje said. A lot of dog will "guard" or do something that resembles guarding but they are doing it out of fear. It's pretty much all posturing (they may even bite if pushed too far but again you have to ask what is behind the bite?). Now, if you want a dog that will alert you to intruders, then you probably don't need more than it. But if you want a true protection dog, then you need to a completely different dog, a dog said that is serious, confident, and possesses a nice amount of defense and civil aggression (to fight the man for real). You need a dog who wears the angry pants

Exactly.  The problem is that to really know if your dog would truly protect you from a serious threat, you need to actually expose your dog to a serious threat (like a 300+ lb man screaming, whipping a whip, and hitting the dog with a stick, not just a stranger ringing the doorbell at the dog's home).  But at the same time IMO it is inhumane to expose a dog to a real threat like this right off the bat, without ever having developed correct aggression or trained the dog through maturity enough to know how he would react.

To me, when someone walks onto my property and my dogs charge the gate and bark, they are not truly guarding, they are just whipping themselves into a reactive frenzy.  Visually and vocally, Kenya is the most threatening of my three dogs but guess what, she's also neurotic and nervy, not sound in tempermant and would probably pee herself and flee with tail tucked if a *real* threat ever presented itself.  Yet, I leave her loose in my house and don't have to worry about whether I locked the door.  The visual she presents and the barking behavior is enough to deter any sane person, but she is not a "guard dog".

A sound dog with good civil aggression is often more than most owners can handle anyway.  Even among world level schH competitors there are plenty that stick with "prey monsters."  My TD competed nationally with his Malinois but he jokes that he has to bring Sam (older GSD) along in the dog trailer in order to protect the Mal from being stolen because he is so friendly and will do anything for a ball or toy no matter who holds it.

On the topic of "A sound dog with good civil aggression that is more than most owners can handle". Have you seen this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95GNM7GGKVQ&feature=channel

Now, from a sports standpoint this was not a good "routine" but - you know what - I would be more than happy to let this boy guard my house any day lol. Angry little bugger!

Guard Dog or Watch dog......I think differently when I hear those words.  We have had 2 Rotties both, Like Timmy :) real sweethearts but impressive size.  Bear was huge and if  someone is coming up our lane they need to be there for us...if not they usually turned around quickly and went back down the lane.  Bear was a calm, quiet, Rottie and he very rarely barked when someone came up the lane but always barked when they went back down the lane.  We used to laughingly say "If someone broke in he would open the door point out the good stuff and help them load it, then he would alert us to the fact they were leaving!"  Shadow was a bit more protective but we raised him a little differently also.  He was the dog that taught us most about being good dog people.  Shadow was more socialized, he would herd all the neighbors cattle if they got out, he would visit all the neighbors every day but he was part of the family and we never had any type of threat.  He would alert us if someone was coming but his body language always told it was someone familiar to him.  If a stranger came we always kept him at our side until the new person was introduced.  Both Rotties had one thing they did whether it was a friend or a stranger coming to see us, they would stand between me and the person, especially if it was a man.  Not in a threatning way but more in a "this is my Mommy" way.  Once I said "Its ok" they would wiggle their nubs and go for the petting and the leaning of course.  I do think if we had been in any danger both Rottie would not have hesitated to take care of business.

Hot Shot is proving to be a good "Watch" dog and his size is very impressive, most people dont know what kind of dog he is just that he is huge!  He will alert to anyone coming (as long as he is not asleep :) but he is a bit of a scaredy dog and would be more inclined to run and hide than protect, I think.  We do introduce him to people when they come to  the house but I dont think he would do much unless he clipped someone with that 150 lb body while running off!  

Rocky is good to alert to someone coming but I dont see him as a Guard Dog or a Watch dog really, more of a loyal companion. 

 What is a good guard dog?

Prefereably all of these, but failing that, I've listed them in order of importance (IMO):

First of all, a dog that is temperamentally sound, confident and well socialised. 

A dog that has had a VARIETY of positive experience when young, so that when he is older and something "feels bad" to him, it means it IS bad. 

A dog that is usually friendly!  A dog that is very rarely fearful, but always alert. 

A dog that is co-operative with his owner, well trained and under control. 

A dog that LOOKS scary, just by BEING, and can be loud and vocal in his warnings. 

Lastly, a dog with "good instincts".  I read a story a while ago about a Rottweiler who protected his owner from a fake gas-man or something.... he growled at the door and WOULD NOT let the man in, but he did not attack, and he also "herded" his owner back away from the door.  Turned out the guy was after robbery, or worse..... and the dog had not been trained to guard.  I think that shows "good instinct", and some dogs have got it and some dogs haven't.

I heard from another Rottie owner that she was walking him in a park and a strange man was walking through, and the dog took a dislike to him.  He came and SAT by his owner (this is a dog who usually revels in going for a run and having a good sniff!) and wouldn't take his eyes off the man, ears up and foward, very alert, occasionally rumbling.  The man looked like he was coming towards them, changed his mind and walked away.  Once he had gone the dog relaxed and went back to normal.  Later, there was a report of a woman being attacked in that area that evening.  What did that dog sense? 

Chuffy

 What is a good guard dog?

Prefereably all of these, but failing that, I've listed them in order of importance (IMO):

First of all, a dog that is temperamentally sound, confident and well socialised.

[.....]

As a matter of discussion, this is always the crux of the issue for me - what is "temperamentally sound"?  Because what I consider sound may not be what you or anyone else considers sound, and vice versa.  To what standard is the dog held, and how is this soundness determined/tested?