To want a guard dog

[Wherewhatyouwant]

DH works away a lot and we live in the middle of nowhere. I do often feel quite vulnerable and wondering about getting a dog. I’m guessing a guard dog wouldn’t be a good idea for a first time owner? We have young kids. Is there a good breed that would protect and make an intruder think twice? Don’t really like bull breeds.

No natural guardian breed is suitable for a first time owner. That instinct poorly managed can be a disaster.

I’ve got spaniels who’ve got proper barks and you wouldn’t guess from hearing them they are 12kg dogs…

That's what I thought about mine until one afternoon I answered the door and the man outside was (well, it was my impression) a bog standard scrounger at the door. Mutt was snoring softly on the sofa when I opened it. I realised very quickly that the man needed to go away, as he was shifting closer to the door as he spoke - I always stood behind the door rather than open it wide, so I wasn't obviously doing anything different to any other time I'd opened the door for a delivery, post or workman.

Suddenly the deepest, evilest growl came from what seemed to be both from my shoulder height and the deepest depths of Hell.

My derpy, daft as a brush, cat battered Staffy cross had woken up, listened, decided something was off, crossed the room silently, jumped up onto the table without knocking everything off, balanced his front paws silently on the baby gate (without falling off), not lashed his perpetually wagging tail and then waited to let the bloke know he was there and not happy in a way that made him sound like the biggest, nastiest, doorstep-conman-robber-eating beast in the world.

I saw the colour drain from the man's face and instead of being way too keen to get his toe over my threshold, he suddenly needed to leave and practically ran away.

He wasn't a guard dog. I wouldn't have a guard dog. He was a family dog, as well trained as any Staffy can be (through food and hand signals, mostly - even the baby/toddler could make him sit and roll over before she could talk from her position of authority in her highchair). He never growled or showed any hostility to any other human, child, other dog, cat, baby bluetit or anything else (except a sofa cushion once, which I suspect meant there had been an abandoned half biscuit). His life was people, running at top speed and football. Was never anything other than happy, lolloping and hungry before then and for the rest of his life.

But he meant business that afternoon.

Anyhow, you don't need a guard dog. You definitely don't need a big guard dog. A dog might be nice if you're looking for a family one, but not for protection.

My Lab would snooze through any intruder entering, he’s slept through us having work done on the house.

A trained guard dog costs thousands of pounds, you won’t be able to train a normal dog yourself (though some breeds are naturally protective). Doberman, GSD, Cane Corso, Caucasian Shepherd dogs, ridgebacks, are all great deterrents but a handful. Not always great with children.

Do you actually want a dog? hair, food, vet bills, housetraining, cleaning poo and pee, potentially vomit then regular training/obedience, walking, kenneling, insurance.

I have a dog, always have - because I love them. I wouldn’t get something that’s a ton of work and money to do a job for me (that isn’t guaranteed).

Spanish Mastin Leones (not the show breed, the working lines). We have a male, he weighs 80kg and his bark is super intimidating. He is low energy, two 20/30 minute walks a day. He is super protective by instinct not training. That being said, he is not a dog that you can cuddle and the children need to know his boundaries and to respect his space. He will come to you for loves and snuggle against you for rubs. He does not want to come in the house, so he doesn't. He likes to see the gate. I sleep like a baby alone inside with my kids.

You can buy sensor alarms on Amazon that sound like big dogs barking. I haven’t used one myself but they seem to have good reviews. Using one of those as a deterrent might be better for you op if you have never had a dog before.

We're on our third Labrador a year old now. We always had them when our children were young, then had springer spaniels. We've a sprocker who's daft with children but will bark when people come down the drive. Our lab lady has started to bark too.

We chose another Labrador because we have five young grandchildren. They're besotted with her and she with them.

Please put lights up front, side and back. We've always had them. You get to see nocturnal animals. Foxes, rabbits, even mice. It does deter burglars, intruders.

Our rural police team told me that living out of the way is less attractive to burglars because they and their vehicles are more noticeable in quiet areas. Whereas in built up areas they're anonymous and unnoticed.

We had an Akita, if you want a dog that barks to scare off intruders this is not the breed. She only barked when she'd been on her hols at the kennels. Scared the shit out of a poor delivery bloke who knocked on back gate and then attempted to come through it-she hit the gate & he hit the floor on his arse 🤣. She and most other 'guard' type breeds take a lot of effort and training -not for the faint hearted.
Labs are great dogs but they chew literally everything, something else to consider.

We have a springer and if anyone knocks on the door he doesn't know he sounds vicious!!! (Then if the door opens and it's someone he knows, he wags his tail so hard it's at risk of falling off

We also have a Springer and same here. The only time she barks is when someone knocks the door or if someone appears in the front or back garden. You'd never guess she's a 20kg spaniel then, she has a very deep bark and sounds aggressive...delivery men tend to scarper very quickly. She instantly stops when she realises it's someone she knows or whoever it is starts walking away.

Our new window cleaner made the error once of simply opening our back gate and letting himself into the garden with no notice, where ddog happened to be...I was in the living room where I could see ddog but not the gate. She stood bolt upright, all her hackles went up (never seen that with her before) and she barked and barked viciously at him. Thankfully she didn't chase, just slow stepped towards him barking wildly which looked even more menacing. He made a sharp exit 😂 5 minutes later after I'd welcomed him into the garden and she could see I was clearly OK with him, she was dancing round with tail wagging and accepting belly rubs.

Exactly. You can't embark on this solely for the guarding reason ... though I do understand why you'd want that!

I grew up with Staffies. They are wonderful!

Really?? I've never known one who wasn't protective of their family and home

In fact, when my dad used to come home after a night shift, he'd chat to our Staffie for a minute through the front door! Only then could he come in. If she thought it was a stranger, she'd have gone for him 100%.

My chihuahua would alert me instantly to anyone outside the house at night.
No protection physically of course but I'd be aware 100%.
I have a beware of the Rottweiler sign in my window though...

Bullmastiff , I've had 4 and they look the part but are soft as butter . I bought mine because I live on a horse yard and can feel vulnerable being isolated . Running towards someone there look imposing and would definitely make an intruder think twice

My children were raised with Weimaraners and they were great with them. They were bred as a duel purpose breed - Gundogs and family guards. Hence they are sweet natured, but also have a good guarding instinct. They are large, highly intelligent and stubborn though, so training and making it through the first hyper, play bitey year would require the regular support of a good trainer for a first time own. Not a trainer who believes that all will be well with only positive reinforcement. A sensible one who recognises that some/most larger breeds need firm boundaries and to understand that their owner has the final word.

I have 2.

One is dopey as hell and a total flirt. She'd welcome anyone into the home provided they give her sausages.

The other completely dotes on me, I joke but I'm also serious that if I were to die he'd have to be buried with me as he couldn't cope without me. He's more reserved but welcoming of strangers in the home. Until he heard some noises on my balcony in the dead of night. His bark went through me and I woke up heart racing thinking someone was in the flat. Nope. No idea what it was that got his attention but once he investigated he came back sat on my bed staring at the door. What a good boy 🥰

Was also going to say dachshund. Those big chests make them sound much bigger than they are!

The best dog we ever had was a yellow lab bitch she would have defended us to the death when there was a threat (and there were a few where we lived) but was the nicest softest dog the rest of the time.
The other option is to get a largish dog with a loud bark and that’s often enough to put people off.
Terriers make great guard dogs but aren’t great with kids.

Mine too.

Although also if we were about to be burgled by hedgehogs or a suspicious looking leaf.

He did once scare off an amazon delivery man from behind a fence, I heard the man on his phone "no I can't leave it in the garden, there's a dog, not sure how big", which was the exact opposite of helpful really, had to go hunt down the parcel from the neighbours later.

I know two truly vicious dogs, both owned by women, both chihuahua breeds

Get the sensors first, a beware of the dog sign as well, both would deter most intruders.

I have my first Spaniel who came at 2 completely untrained, I've also got a JRT.

The JRT is a gobshite if allowed to be and will alert you to nothing anything, she's not got a yap but a bark and sounds bigger than she is. I wouldn't advise for a first time owner though, or with small children, they're little size wise but they've got big attitudes and without stimulation, training and supervision can be awful (I've met a few) and snappy. And it may just be mine but she'd not think twice about sacrificing me to save her own furry arse.

I call the spaniel the muscle behind the JRT's gob! She watches and weighs up a lot and she positions herself between me and anything she doesn't like the look/sound of, until she's told it's ok, and watches, alert.
We were approached and confronted by another dog and she kept manoeuvring to keep herself between me and that dog that was circling and was hackles up, growling and barking. I've never had a situation like that with a human but I don't doubt that she would react the same way if we were confronted by a human who showed bad intent.
She barks at someone at the door/coming into the garden, but comes back to me for reassurance, unless she knows them and then it's all belly rubs and wagging. If she doesn't know them she stays close to me but isn't aggressive, just watchful until she knows them a little and realises I'm relaxed.

Wouldn't say a working spaniel would be for a novice owner, but most dogs if you put in the effort with the relationship will protect their home and family as a natural instinct - but you've got to train and work at them being a sensible and appropriately behaved member of the family or it could quickly turn sour.

🤣 hilarious breed aren't they.My dearly missed boy used to bark at feathers,hated them with a passion.

Well, labs and any retriever breeds may well bark if the door goes or they hear a noise at the door. But, once that person has crossed the threshold they will be their best friend which is not what you need. I’ve had multiple retriever types as they are great in the sense of giving a good scary sounding bark but completely harmless.

GS need firm ownership and aren’t aggressive to family if well-socialized. If you’re committed, do lots of research and find a bombproof breeder I think you’d be ok. yes, they aren’t the easiest dogs but OTOH there is a lot of faux OMG you couldn’t cope with my type of dog in the dog world. GS are very popular for a reason. You could use eg dogtime website to suggest suitable breeds.

You want a terrier, have a look at which would suit your family best. They are very good alert dogs and some, even though small to medium, will relentlessly attack anyone upsetting you, handy if needing time to defend yourself/alert police/get help etc.

If you were already experienced and had abit of land, I'd have suggestes a Kangal (Anatolian Shepherd Dog).