Chickentrain's Dog Q&A

[black_cat]

After reading through the puppy application for the cockers, they let YOU Pick your puppy- is that enough of a red flag to disqualify them, or does the good outweigh the bad?

 

[ShrekDawg]

How do you train a guard dog? (Not a watch or security dog) so a dog which will be polite to stranges when I am there but will bite if it needs to, I don’t need it to be friendly to strangers just not aggressive
Hopefully that makes sense

Honestly I think you should just purchase a professionally trained protection dog. Definitely don’t try to train bite work type stuff yourself. Huge liability. Either buy one already trained OR find a trainer that trains that sort of stuff. But I’d go with the former. Most dogs, even typical guard breeds, will not bite and maybe even runaway unless they have had training.

 

[black_cat]

Honestly I think you should just purchase a professionally trained protection dog. Definitely don’t try to train bite work type stuff yourself. Huge liability.

I read about one guy that tried to train his german shepherd in bite work, and gave up halfway through- BEFORE the dog was trained to let go, so he then had a very powerful dog that was trained to bite and not let go, which did not end well.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I read about one guy that tried to train his german shepherd in bite work, and gave up halfway through- BEFORE the dog was trained to let go, so he then had a very powerful dog that was trained to bite and not let go, which did not end well.

Oh wow! That’s terrible and very irresponsible of him to let the dog go like that

 

[NatJ]

How do you train a guard dog? (Not a watch or security dog) so a dog which will be polite to stranges when I am there but will bite if it needs to, I don’t need it to be friendly to strangers just not aggressive
Hopefully that makes sense

I would start with teaching the dog some command (like "sit") that makes it be calm and under control. Then, when the dog is good at that, have someone come visit--someone the dog does not know. Let the dog bark a little, praise the dog for barking, then have it sit. Praise the dog for sitting quietly. If you can do it safely, also have the person pet the dog a little, and you praise the dog for allowing that. (Basically, train the dog to tolerate the strangers WHEN YOU SAY SO. Because that's probably the more difficult thing.)

A dog that just barks at strangers might be enough protection while you are away, since you are not there to make it stop. I assume you want the dog to keep strange people away from somewhere, but you would probably be just as happy if the dog could manage that without biting.

If you really feel the need to take it a step further, put the dog inside a fence and arrange for someone the dog does not know to come visit while you are away. When the dog barks, the person should leave again. A few repeats should teach the dog that barking makes strangers go away. Then have those same people come while you are present, and you make sure the dog will stop barking & sit when you tell it to, and let the people pet it under your supervision.

I assume that any guarding-type breed will at least bark at strangers, and may growl and bite even without training, so I would focus a LOT more on having the dog obey you, and having it tolerate strangers when you are present and you tell it to. I cannot think of any situation when I would want a dog that is trained to actually bite, but I'm not you, so I can't be sure about what you need.

 

[chickentrains]

After reading through the puppy application for the cockers, they let YOU Pick your puppy- is that enough of a red flag to disqualify them, or does the good outweigh the bad?

eh, good outweighs the bad here

Usually I'd tell you to look somewhere else, but jeez its so hard to find a dog right now. Its as good as its gonna get

 

[chickentrains]

I would start with teaching the dog some command (like "sit") that makes it be calm and under control. Then, when the dog is good at that, have someone come visit--someone the dog does not know. Let the dog bark a little, praise the dog for barking, then have it sit. Praise the dog for sitting quietly. If you can do it safely, also have the person pet the dog a little, and you praise the dog for allowing that. (Basically, train the dog to tolerate the strangers WHEN YOU SAY SO. Because that's probably the more difficult thing.)

A dog that just barks at strangers might be enough protection while you are away, since you are not there to make it stop. I assume you want the dog to keep strange people away from somewhere, but you would probably be just as happy if the dog could manage that without biting.

If you really feel the need to take it a step further, put the dog inside a fence and arrange for someone the dog does not know to come visit while you are away. When the dog barks, the person should leave again. A few repeats should teach the dog that barking makes strangers go away. Then have those same people come while you are present, and you make sure the dog will stop barking & sit when you tell it to, and let the people pet it under your supervision.

I assume that any guarding-type breed will at least bark at strangers, and may growl and bite even without training, so I would focus a LOT more on having the dog obey you, and having it tolerate strangers when you are present and you tell it to. I cannot think of any situation when I would want a dog that is trained to actually bite, but I'm not you, so I can't be sure about what you need.

I agree here, and genetics plays a huge role, too

 

[black_cat]

eh, good outweighs the bad here

Usually I'd tell you to look somewhere else, but jeez its so hard to find a dog right now. Its as good as its gonna get

That's what I thought too, but figured I'd check

 

[black_cat]

What's this? Not me lurking around at the beach in hopes that one of the 10+ dogs will run up to me so that I don't have to bother them

 

[chickentrains]

What's this? Not me lurking around at the beach in hopes that one of the 10+ dogs will run up to me so that I don't have to bother them

LOL