Guard dog?

[winnie]

okay.. forgot to add to my last post.

we are really hoping to (somehow) train Winnie to be a guard dog. hubby wants her to be particularly protective of me.

i know that nothing but professional training will get this trait down pat, but is there anything we can be doing in the meantime to help begin to enforce this kind of protective behaviour?

[Thomas Liggin]

They are naturally protective. However, a mistake in training could result in a dog that is vicious to anyone who approaches you.

It is relatively easy to teach a Boxer to bark when anyone comes to your door or on your property. They get quite excited, and while they remain friendly, they appear to be quite menacing.

Both of our Boxers would look out the window barking loudly, while appearing to be quite threatening. Strangers often retreated to the security of their vehicle. They were harmless, but strangers didn't know it. Our first Boxer, Rocky, has passed on, but Indy is continuing the role nicely.

For actual guard duty, that is best left in the hands of professional trainers. Otherwise you could end up ruining a wonderful dog that threatens everyone in your presence. Should he accidentally bite someone, you'd have a serious problem that could result in the destruction of the dog, along with other liabilities.

Do you really have the need for such security? The reason I ask is that many people enjoy having a protector (read vicious dog), without a good reason. That is one of the reasons Pit Bulls have attained such a notorious reputation. They have a "tough guy" image, which has been fostered and promoted by many misquided individuals. I would hate to see a Boxer used in this way. Too many people already mistake them for Pit Bulls.

It took a long time for people in my neighborhood to realize the difference. When I first took Indy for walks in the development behind our house on a lead, I actually witnessed people hustling their kids away from the sidewalk. It took some time, but now they realize the difference in the breeds and now are glad to let their kids greet Indy.
Indy and I both enjoy the attention he gets from the neighborhood kids and the adults as well.

Please don't take this as a criticism. It's meant to be food for thought.


Regards, Tom

[Rowdy's Dad]

Rowdy is very protective of my entire family without a bit of training. When I talk to strangers, he leans against my leg while standing between me and the other person. Last month, a pitbull charged toward us while inside his yard. Before the pitbull got to the fence, Rowdy had jumped over my baby's stroller and stood between the pitbull and my baby. If you want him to be particularly protective of you, make sure that you are his primary caregiver. (feeding,walking,etc....)

[winnie]

I certainly DO NOT want Winnie to be an attack dog of any kind! Barking when a stranger comes to our door is pretty much what we are hoping to get her to do (right now, she grabs her favourite squeaky toy and runs up to the door waiting for the 'stranger' to come in!).

She is still just a baby but she has done a little bit of what you've described.. I had an incident last week where a woman approached me and was being rather aggressive (understatement) and Winnie did exactly what you're dog did; stood infront of me but was almost leaning on my legs - when the woman took a step towards me and raised her voice, Winnie let out a little growl..... (which was so very cute!)
Needless to say, she was praised to bits after the woman walked away. I would like her to be a little more 'vocal' when strangers come to our door or try to enter our house though.

[Thomas Liggin]

What we did with Indy and Rocky was to get very excited and animated and go to a window when someone arrived. In an excited voice we would as "Who's here?" or say "Go see".

Very quickly, they got excited and animated and would begin with a low growl which would turn into a bark. Lavish your pup with praise and enthusiasm when she exhibits this response.

Before you know it, this will be her routine for greeting people. Both Indy and Rocky learned this to perfection. Once the person was in the house the dogs posed no threat.

Be prepared though, they will respond the same to family members as well. There may be times you wish they would tone it down a bit. Believe me, any stranger will think twice about going into a home where the dog on the other side of the door sounds like he'll chew them to shreds.

Deterrence is always preferable to intervention.


Regards, Tom

[JulieM]

Winnie is still young, too, and will grow into her protective tendencies. What Thomas suggests is good - but I'd suggest teaching an "enough" or "quiet" cue, as well, so that you can get her to stop barking when you want her to She should bark to let you know someone is there, and once you're alerted to the situation and are taking action she should stop. Lots of people use "thank you" - possibly inadvertently, but it works for them!

[Tulsa-Dan]

I am one of the "thank you" types and it works very well. They bark once or twice to tell me there's something out there, I say "thank you girls" and they stop barking. Then I call them to me and love on them for being "good guard girls."

As for protection, no need to train for this. This is what boxers are bred to do and they do it instinctively and do not need training. If you are in danger of any kind, the dog will sense it and will without doubt do whatever he knows how to do to protect you and your family, including sacrificing his own life to protect you. Believe me, I've seen it myself and so many other boxer owners have experienced it as well.

Good luck.

[winnie]

Well, last night I was sitting at my desk and the blinds and the curtains on the patio door were open. Winnie was playing in the middle of the room with one of her toys when all of a sudden she froze.. jumped up, and took a few steps towards the door where she froze again, bared her teeth, and with the hair on the back of her neck standing on end proceeded to let out a deep throaty growl that shocked even me! I couldn't figure out what was wrong.. so when I went to go walk past her to the patio door, she took a couple more steps so she was inbetween me and the door and growled even louder.... so now i'm a little freaked out, wondering whats on the other side of this door! (it was dark outside and with the lights on inside I couldn't see out.) so instead of opening the door, I walked to the other end and drew the blinds and the curtains... she stopped growling as loud but it took her a wee while to get calmed down (she wasn't hyped up.. just very very tense and wouldn't take her eyes off the door)

I found out this morning that there was a coyote outside our building last night and had killed my neighbours cat.. it also was still around this morning as it attacked a little westie terrier as it's owner was walking it!!

needless to say Winnie got praised to bits.. (although she probably had no clue why this morning..) and we went for a 'car ride' to the park for our morning walk!!

[newark]

Our pup is still young (not even 5 months) but we do a lot of obedience training. To spice it up for both of us, we've started learning some 'tricks'. One trick I wanted her to learn was 'speak' so I could stop her from barking at our cat. The only time she barks is when she's trying to engage the cat in play.

I made up my own hand signal and taught her 'speak', and it was easy to teach her 'no speak' or 'no bark' after that. We even can do a simple speak, or a one, two or three count bark. If I keep making the single 'speak' signal she'll keep barking til I give her the stop signal. This would be easy to adapt to your situation. When someone comes to the door, get her into a sit/stay and then speak. I could keep Jersey barking a long time, as she loves this particular command.

I know when she's older she'll naturally adapt to her protective instincts, but for a puppy, this certainly works before she's learned that she wants to be protective!

Hope this suggestion helps you.