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Guard Dogs

post #1 of 9
4/19/08 at 7:56pm
Thread Starter 
I've been irritating my neighbor, though that wasn't my intent. I've made friends with his dogs. He wants them to be guard dogs. His newest one is a puppy, tho a big one. It's like a husky but part black and part white. I made friends with his pit bull too. He came out back and told me I'm doing this at my own risk.

Yada yada, I've done a lot of service work at people's houses and know to be careful of dogs. Been nipped a couple of times in my thousands of service calls, so I know how that goes. I hate to see dogs assigned to guard duty when I can tell it's not really what they want to do. Most of them want someone to play with them and talk to them. Dogs given "guard duty" hardly get any friendly attention. Their owners often don't treat them well.

I say that if a dog barks at intruders, that's good. But they ought not be trained to be vicious because that's not necessary, especially when what they want is human companionship.
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post #2 of 9
4/20/08 at 9:16pm
I understand what you're saying about training dogs as guard dogs, but when it comes down to it - they are his dogs. Whether he's training them to be vicious or not is another matter. Guard dogs trained properly - and I hope he's doing that - don't need to be taught to be vicious. Essentially they are there to deter people from entering the property they are meant to defend, and to not let them leave if they do get in, until the owner comes and solves the situation.

In the long run, its up to him. I hope he treats them well. I also hate to see animals misused.
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post #3 of 9
4/20/08 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 
My beef is when the dogs are craving attention they're not getting, as I can tell these dogs are. I understand that a lot of dogs like this duty, actually thrive on it. But if they want so bad to be friends with me, they are missing out on something. Or maybe I am just that charming Yeah right :^)
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post #4 of 9
4/20/08 at 10:11pm
Yes you are Prince Charming :p

But seriously, from what I've heard and seen - you're not meant to be friendly with a guard dog (I may be totally misinformed!). Otherwise it defeats the purpose. Then any Joe off the street can come in, give them a snack, give them a pet - and lo and behold they are suddenly accepted into the property. Plus the snack may be poisoned. A proper guard dog is trained not to accept food from anybody while they're working.

No, it's not a natural way for a dog to live. People use dogs for various purposes. That's how it is, right or wrong. I prefer a dog to be either a pet involved actively with its owner/family, or as a working dog, as on a sheep station etc. It gives them purpose in life. Which is all any of us can ask or hope for.

We've just lost our dog to old age and disease :( She'd always been a great pet but a hopeless guard dog. Great big beast of a thing, rottweiler/ rhodesian ridgeback cross, weighed 55kg. Would lick you to death first rather than bark at a human. But we loved her, and i think her time was enjoyable. Now if we'd have made a guard dog of her, we would have never known how lovable she could be. Will be a while, if ever, that we get another. We've had 2 great dogs - that's enough.
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post #5 of 9
4/20/08 at 10:23pm
Thread Starter 
OK, so I like to make friends with dogs. My dad was almost killed by a German Shepherd when he was a kid. When I was teen I had another teen sic his German Shepherd on me and it bit my legs up a bit. I guess I am proving something to myself.
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post #6 of 9
4/23/08 at 6:14am
My thing is when you see people getting "guard" dogs as some sort of macho posturing. They don't train the animals to guard, just to be stand offish and scary. A real guard dog is trained to know when somebody is in a place they aren't supposed to be and repel (or restrain) them. Not to tear them into a sashimi platter. If your neighbor is trying to train his dogs to be guarding against everyone, including you, a person they will most likely be seeing every day, he's going in a wrong headed direction. God help the mailman!

For home defense the best guard dogs are ones that have a sense of ownership over the property. They should accept strangers once introduced by their master. My largest dog is total cream puff. I've never actively trained him to be suspicious or mean, only to be loyal. I can honestly say that he loves me so unconditionally that its almost frightening. He's the one living thing in this world that I know would lay down his life for me without a second's hesitation. That kind of devotion makes me feel secure.

--Al
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post #7 of 9
4/24/08 at 5:56pm
Thread Starter 
A couple of observations on dog behavior (or "behaviour" if you prefer):

When dogs do the rapid breathing thing for a second or 2, maybe 4-5 times per second, I think they are laughing in a dog way. When I do that with dogs they always get more playful. My first wife had a very special relationship with dogs, and she told me about that, and I believe it's true.

Another thing, dogs "smelling" fear . . . I think they hear our breathing very well, and the sound of our breathing tells them a lot. It's the most logical explanation I have thought of, and from my experience I think it's true.
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post #8 of 9
4/24/08 at 9:29pm
You say it's not your intent to irritate your neighbour and yet you continue to violate their instructions regarding their property. So you'll forgive me when I dismiss this disclaimer of yours :)

You make a lot of ill informed judgements regarding the keeping and training of dogs as others have also picked up on. Whether you feel that this dog is being kept for purposes that don't fit your paradigm is irrelevant. It's not your dog. If you like dogs so much, get one of your own.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh (I'm just being straightforward) but I've seen many examples of people doing exactly what you're doing, getting hurt then attempting to sue the owner. Not saying that you'll do this but the premise is the same in that you're saying you know dogs and you feel you know what's best for these ones.

Simply put, you don't.

Rapid breathing is a pain/fear response as well as an illustration of oxygen debt. Likewise, they pick up our fear via chemical markers present in our scent as well as triggers in our body language.

You'll find this out when one of them eventually bites you.

:smoking:
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post #9 of 9
4/24/08 at 10:01pm
Thread Starter 
I've done a lot of work around customers' dogs. The rapid breathing I was talking about was much more rapid than being out of breath. When will I get bitten and find out this wisdom of yours? I'm 45, over the hill already. You don't sound harsh at all, just opinionated. I spent hours getting to know these dogs,and kept the limits in mind at all times. Now I do my little call from 60 feet away and they wag their tails at their fence looking at me. I think Allan McPherson is right on.
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