Training a guard dog involves various techniques along with some vital information you need to know about the dog’s behaviour. It is more effective if the training is given at an early stage. For example, if the dog was never taught to jump up on people he might be hesitant in doing so while being trained.
Professional dog trainers are the best people to deal with a guard dog as they are aware of the techniques needed. However, dog owners can train their dogs to expertise skills such as obedience hunting and other kinds of dog sports.
According to Bob from Personal Protection Dogs “The first thing to think about is basic dog obedience when you want to train a guard dog.” Unlike a companion dog a guard dog is expected to obey each and every command of his master and with immediate effect. Using hand signals teach the dog verbal commands such as come, stay, sit, lay down and heel. The dog should only accept commands from the owner or the handler and no one else while training. This is a very important factor in the training as the motive is beaten if an intruder is able to control the dog by using the same verbal commands. Accepting treats from a stranger must be stopped as they may be dangerous.
Barking at a stranger or intruders is the next important step. Train your dog to bark when someone comes to the house and then give a command to stop, making it clear that the person is friendly. When a stranger approaches allow the dog to continue barking until you ask him to stop. A form of this technique can be done by training the dog to go to a family member when something unusual happens. This can be done by letting the dog bark and calling it to be rewarded with a treat or toy. The idea behind this is to develop a reflex at the sight of an unusual event the dog barks and alerts the family.
Teaching the dog to remain indifferent to other animals is also an important factor to be taught during training. This would include not being aggressive towards other dogs or cats and not to peruse a female dog in heat. The dog should also be made familiar to the boundaries of the owner’s property, so it doesn’t go beyond the property line in such events such as chasing an intruder.
A guard dog is also trained to lay an attack on an intruder with immediate action to the owner’s command or when the dog perceives a potential threat. Do not leave the dog with visitors, as they may see the dog as a normal pet, but the dog might harm them by misinterpreting their actions or gestures as threatening.
A guard dog should be made familiar with the trainer but other members of the family too. All of them should interact with their dog. This gives the dog the reassurance that they are part of the pack and not any kind of threat.
