i need my dog to guard my family, help plz?

Question

ive got a 14 month staffordshire bull terrier dog,which i need him to protect my family, i work long hours for little money, so i have to leave my girlfriend and my two little angels, who r 8 months and 2 years, home alone there r lots of house break ins around my area, and my dog jumps up strangers and never looks like he will protect us, is he the wrong breed or can i train him to protect us, PLZ HELP ME PLZ

Answer 1

I had 2 staffs when I was younger, they were great with all people and jumped and licked them - everyone laughed saying they were daft. They were never taught aggression but if someone thye didn't like came near me or my little brother they stood in front of us and barked, if the people came closer they used to jump up and hold on to their wrists until they had left.

I'm sure your staffy will be the same, they are often thought of as nasty dogs so don't try and make them aggressive. They know when they need to be!!!

You sound like you've done a great job already with yours. Good luck!

Answer 2

You would be suprised at how protective the even the mildest tempered dog can be. I'd be real hesitant to "teach" your dog to be more of a guard dog, especially with small children in the house. That kind of schooling can really change the family dog into one that needs special handling and is not a great dog for children to be around (there are exceptions always).

Usually a dog is enough of a deterant to keep most people away.

Answer 3

If you want your Staff to guard your family, love the hell out of him. That's all he needs to become a good guard dog. Staffs are naturally very protective of those they love. And dogs aren't stupid. They can tell the difference between a real threat and a non-threatening stranger.

You've got a good breed for a watchdog. Just love him. You don't want to turn him into a junkyard dog by trying to increase his agression. A good guard dog is not one that growls and lunges at everyone, it's one that only reacts to a real threat.

Answer 4

Dogs aren't alarm systems. If all you're interest in is protecting your family, get an alarm system... don't use a dog (a sentient living being) as an object.

That being said, you're an a**hole if you make the dog aggressive (which, given your question, I'm willing to bet you are). That's just cruel. You WANT your dog to be friendly... aggressive dogs are more likely to turn on their family than protect them.

Just treat your dog with love and the respect that should be given to a living creature (including humans), and the dog will love and protect you in return. As others said... even the most mild-tempered and friendly dog will attack anyone who threatens their family (assuming you should them enough love that they consider you their family).

Answer 5

Your dog will not physically protect your family. In order for a dog to have the nerve to physically defend itself/family from an attacker, it needs to have good nerves, and good drives to do protection work (prey, defense and fight drive). 99.9% of dog owners own a dog with weak nerves, and without the necessary drives to do protection work. These types of dogs are what you call your typical family pet. A dog with both the right nerves and drives for personal protection can be purchased from a breeder who breeds these types of dogs. Don't assume that just because you have a dog with potential for protection work that it will just protect your family from a threat. You STILL have to train the dog in personal protection training. This type of training is very expensive (a couple thousand), and you'll need to keep training the dog throughout its whole life, if you want it to be reliable. Also, don't assume that just because you own a breed that Police often use, that it will protect, or have potentional for protection work. The most you can expect out of a family pet is barking. Typical family pets who do bite are either very unsafe dangerous and dominant dogs, or fear biters. I personally own a Malinois, this is a breed that is widely used for personal protection, and Law Enforcement. He is not protection trained, but he does bark at strangers who unexpectedly show up. In reality, this is all I need. He lets me know that someone is around who is not supposed to be there, and if that person attempts to do anything stupid, I'll grab my firearm and call 911. Criminals who break into homes very often have already scoped out the place. If they want to home invade your place really bad, they'll show up prepared to take care of that personal protection dog that you have around. If you pay for some home defense training, and have your girlfriend trained in the use of a firearm, and realistic training, the criminals will never see that one coming. That type of training is much, much more less expensive than having to both buy AND train a personal protection dog. You cannot expect a single protection dog to take care of 2 or more guys armed with shotguns/handguns.

Answer 6

You need to teach your dog basic obedience. He should not jump up on ANYBODY. When he learns manners, he might surprise you. When he is looking to YOU for how he is to behave, he will pick up cues from you that you are not even aware of. My dog is very very submissive to everyone in our household, even extended family who only come to visit occasionally, but if a repairman or someone comes in, she behaves differently with different ones. She somehow picks up "vibes" from them. If someone approaches our home, they will not do so unannounced, nor will they feel safe approaching.. she can be ferocious. My neighbor laughs b/c she is so intimidating, but she also sees her on walks with her frisbee hanging out of her mouth and the contrast is amazing! If we are outside playing frisbee and someone approaches, she doesn't attack anybody.. She looks at ME to see MY reaction. If I am unconcerned, she is curious about the person/car. If I am nervous, she barks, raises her hackles and stands between wherever I am and the person/car is. She has never bitten anyone; but I wouldn't recommend testing her if you have ill-intent.
Teach your dog to obey you and watch/listen to you and your family. He will naturally become more protective when he understands that there are rules. And he will look to YOU about where the boundaries are. You didn't say how long you have had him, but it might take him a little while to learn what belongs to your "pack" and what is community space.
Just remember that 14 months is not very mature. I am not very familiar with the breed, but if the average life span is around 10-12 years or so, then your dog is the equivalent of a 6 year old or something. Keep that in mind. Most dogs of average life spans are considered "teenagers" until about age 3. Have a little patience and teach basic obedience. You'll be glad you put in the effort.
Good luck.

Answer 7

German Shepards are good gaurd dogs, but Japanise Akita's in my experience are very good with children and protecting them, but most dogs will defend their owners and territory. you don't want a agressive dog if you've got children. you say that there are alot of break in's in your area, but if your house hasn't been targeted (yet) then maybe your dog is working anyway. what you could do is to train your dog to "speak" on command, which will put off most people. one thing that you should consider is that your dog is only 14 months old, so is only about 7 or 8 in our years, how brave were you at that age. if he is really jumpy with strangers then maybe he's had a bad experience with them at a young age when he was alot smaller. do you take him to dog training classes, this usually makes your dog not only better trained but also more confident.

Answer 8

Any dog will protect it's own, staffies are very loyal, and you have a great choice in dog, i own a rottweiler, and she will protect us to the max, i haven't trained her to do this however, she is a loyal family pet, and i dont believe in having guards dogs, it comes naturally to them.. i know you might not think your dog will protect you, but trust me anyone that goes near your children, your dog will be the 1st to defend you, treat him/her right, and you a a friend for life mate.
hope this helps

Answer 9

Any dog will protect their family when they know there is a chance someone is going to harm them that is a natural instinct for dogs. You really don't want to teach your dog to be aggressive cause they may turn on your of your family and you don't want that.

Answer 10

What?? all you need to do to ensure your dog protects you, is to love him and care for him. If you do that your dog will protect you from harm out of LOVE not because it has been taught to be a "guard dog" or trained to be vicious which is just stupid AND dangerous to your family. LOVE your dog and your dogs LOVE will protect you.