009. Guard or Protection Dogs
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This article is from the rec.pets.dogs: Assorted Topics, posted to rec.pets.dogs newsgroup. Maintained by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.
009. Guard or Protection Dogs
Many people consider getting a dog for protection or guarding property. Toward this end, "ferocious dogs," such as Doberman Pinschers, Rottweilers, and other large dogs are procured. In many cases, the dogs will be encouraged to bark, bite, etc.
This is an _extremely poor_ approach.
In the first place, many burglers are primarily deterred by *attention*. If your dog barks, that may be all that is needed. And virtually any grown dog that is attached to its family will bark when stranger approaches. There is no need to get a "vicious" dog.
A _properly_ trained protection and attack dog is a considerable investment of time and money. In addition _you_ must understand how to keep it trained. You will throw money down the drain if you buy such a dog with no idea of how it is trained or how to reinforce the training.
In addition, many dogs that are advertised as "trained attack dogs" are in fact poorly trained, and may cause you serious trouble when it goes for your neighbor's child.
Basically, if you want protection, put in a burglar alarm and start a Neighborhood Watch program. Neither of these security assets will sell you down the river for chuck steak and neither will be a potential liability. Choose your dog as a companion -- choose it well, for it will be your companion for quite a few years -- and accept its contributions to your security profile as a bonus.
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