Guard Dog Training Will Make Your Labrador Courageous

I’m sure that most people assume “guard dog training” is only used in Training Your Labrador to stop unwanted guests. But there is another very large benefit to training your Labrador to be a guard dog: this special training will establish a very strong desire and passion to protect you and your family, and will build your Lab’s confidence. Guard dog training is used to make your dog courageous, powerful and confident, as well as learning how to protect his family. This decision should not be taken lightly, however — guard dog training should be done by a very competent trainer.

Guard dog training often takes the form of courses that are usually in-house training where the dog will be boarded for the duration of the course. These trainers can train Labradors for the home, business, family, personal, car yard protection and property. A protection dog is both a verbal and very visual threat to an unwanted intruder, and thus provides strong security.

It is most important to get your guard lab training done the right way the first time. It is an expensive training and there should be no need to have to repeat the course because the instructor was unable to train your dog. A good guard dog training course, and trainer, will train your dog properly the first time.

Stages

There are two different stages to guard dog training and you should decide which best fits your Labrador’s intended services that will be required of him/her. The first stage is the basic guard dog training work. There will be a test for temperament and an alert of strangers and intrusions. Outside yard work training is done with this training.

The second stage is the advanced guard dog training work. Family protection, body guard training and stopping individuals is included in the second stage of this training. Labradors are not suited for attack purposes because of their temperaments– these kinds of training are meant for other breeds like German Shepherds and Rottweilers. This is why some research needs to be done before venturing into guard dog training.

The internet is a good place to research for a good trainer, as well as your veterinarian. Major chain pet stores are another source of finding good trainers. Most of these chains offer training themselves, but guard dog training is a little too intense for them to do in-house. However, they do have a list of established, competent trainers. Pets are their business, and it is only to their advantage to recommend the best trainers possible. Just remember that this isn’t a decision you shouldn’t make lightly; but having a trained guard labrador is an extremely rewarding decision if it is right for you.

-Lauren

P.S. — On February 23rd, A professional dog trainer revealed all her secrets– and I recorded the call! Want to listen in for free?

Riaan
February 7th, 2009 at 1:04 am

This would be a tremendously bad idea. First off, Labradors does not have the temperament to be a guard dog, so training them as one would be incredibly stressful for them. Secondly, the reason you get a Labrador is for their wonderful temperament. Why would you want to turn them into an aggressive dog then? If you want a guard dog, get a Rottweiler, they’re wonderful dogs, and fiercely protective of their family. If you want a confident Labrador, take them to puppy school, or if it is too late, to a good trainer for basic obedience or agility training. A good trainer will help you and your dog with confidence building exercises.

admin
February 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am

I can see your point, but I think there are three reasons that this post is still 100% valid for labradors. First, I said clearly that a good, experienced trainer is imperative for this process. A good trainer will understand exactly what will help a labrador and what will hurt them in the long run. Secondly, guard dog training doesn’t necessarily involve attack dog training– they are two separate things. Guard dog training can be as simple as training a Labrador to only bark at people in the back yard, or to learn the difference between friends and intruders. Dogs have a sense of purpose just like people — if you give them a job, or you make them feel like they are needed and wanted, they will be much better off. Third, not all labs have the same temperament. While most labs act in very similar ways, there are always those that both want and need a little more training and more challenges than others. My two labs are both extremely mild-tempered, but my neighbor has a huge black lab that is much more strong-willed and difficult to manage than mine, making it necessary to spend extra time in training and giving him more things to do with himself. I think there definitely is a time and place for guard dog training for labradors, provided that 1. you’ve considered yourself, your need, and your labrador very carefully and 2. you find a knowledgeable trainer to do the job.

Felix
February 9th, 2009 at 11:49 am

I dont think the Labrador breed will suit youre need as being a guard dog

Riaan
February 9th, 2009 at 4:02 pm

I disagree. Guard dog training is never a good idea for a Labrador. I have two incredibly strong willed and energetic chocolate labs, and while I spend about 30-45 minutes every single day training them, they still have no end to their bouncy exuberance. Do they need something more?
Yes, definitely. That’s why we also do obedience training and why they have a fair number of tricks they can do flawlessly, but I will never send my dog to be trained as a guard dog. If you need more, go duck hunting, or if you don’t like that idea, field trials - Let them do what they’ve been bred to do for over a 100 years now…

Labradors are not guard dogs and as such trainers that train guard dogs do not understand them and can not possibly give your Labrador what’s best for them. And please don’t think I’m being negative about the abilities of guard or attack dog trainers - They know their job, but it is a very different job than socializing and training a family dog… I think very few trainers can do both well.

Part of the guard dog training is to teach them to be less social. Guard dogs aren’t supposed to go play with other dogs and greet the friendly stranger. This is such an ingrained part of Labrador nature that I just can’t see how you can suggest that they be subjected to the 2 weeks of very little human companionship… I would never wish that on any Labrador.

hari
February 13th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

I have a four year old lab and have trained him ever since a puppy. He is very obedient and clearly distinguishes the family friends from strangers. Shows distinct agressive ness towards strangers entering our yard, unless restrained by the family. Although he has not been trained specifically for personnel protection I think he has a very good potential for it.

2;abs
February 17th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

WRT Hari: our neighbor also had “agressiveness” towards stangers, and ended up trying to bite my child. Our neighbor was a little afriad of the dog herself, because it was her husband’s dog and was sometimes “agressive” towards her.

This was a bad situation, not a good one. I had previously used a method to show my dogs that they were not the Alpha dogs and explained it to her. She used those techniques and now she no longer has an “agressive” dog in her house. However, her dog and my dogs will alert us when people are approaching the house, if you are looking for an early warning system.

“Agression” or over-protectiveness in a lab is not ever a good thing.

Paul
April 10th, 2009 at 5:57 am

Well it depends. I hve a German Shepherd/Lab cross. She displays all the atributes of a lab- very friendly, great with my daughter, full of energy and extremely easy to train. She does however display aggression towards strangers and strange sounds and that comes from the Shepherd side of her. Despite this however, her aggressive displays dissapear after she sees friendly interaction between family members and visitors which is a mark of intelligence I guess.

Tess
April 11th, 2009 at 10:56 am

My lab has the best temperment of any dog I have ever had, and while she interacts beautifully with people and animals, she is also protective. For example: at the dog park, she plays and runs around with most of the dogs (won’t play with pit bulls), but she always knows where I am and watches out for me. Once when I was playing with another dog, she heard it growl and ran back to me from the other end of the park, got in the middle and pushed the other dog away from me. Also, with strangers at the door or in the yard, the hair on her back goes up, and sometimes she will growl or bark depending on the situation. As soon as she sees the person she’s at ease. It’s almost as if she has a sense of my own feeling of security or apprehension. She’s never biten and would never pick a fight, but I believe that she would do what she needed to do to defend herself or her family from harm. These are wonderful dogs, and I don’t believe that most of them could be trained to be guard dogs in the traditional aggressive sense because it is against their nature. However, they can be trained to enhance their innate sense of protection for those they love. Perhaps that is why they have been so successful as helpmates to people with disabilities.

Kelly
July 20th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

I have to agree with the professional training point of view that this breed of dog is especially adaptive to sniffing both drugs and rescue. It is of the wrong temperament to be used as a guard dog except for the occasional bark at strangers though the dog is more inclined to greet and wag-tail them.

Get a Yorkshire terrier or Jack Russel for watch-dog (lots of noise with small bite) or Alsatian Doberman Rottweiler for Guard duties the same as Military Forces do

Rob
December 6th, 2009 at 12:45 am

Labs make great guard dogs( not so great for attack dogs) like he said. Labs are very protective of their home and their family, without being too aggressive. This makes them great as guard dogs. When I was little I had a choc. lab that would play with other dogs and people, but if there was any threat to me or our house he had no problem stepping up and keeping people away. The same dog fought and killed a rottweiler that tried to attack me when I took him on his afternoon walk. I completely agree with the author that labs can benefit greatly from guard dog training.

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February 7th, 2010 at 6:29 pm

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Sara
July 12th, 2010 at 11:31 pm

I have a black lab, and he growls and barks whenever someone approachs me in the dark when i don’t notice it first. when i’m sleeping, it’s him who wakes me up to alert me someone walked across our back deck (a brother). when i’m alone in the basement and my boyfriend opens the door up top; and the house is silent; he growls, barks, and leaps up to see who it is. as soon as he sees who it is he is incredibly sweet, he has never nipped or growled in someone’s presence. more as an alert to me and to “check it out’ first.
a note: he is my service dog; passed w/ flying colors from the dog trainer and certification board. he can have his tail stepped on, be crowded, be petted by strangers, have children sit on him and pull his ears…and nothing. but you pair him, me, a dark street and a large male stranger walking quickly behind us, and he growls. his fur goes up. he waits for my command to do anything out of the ordinary (which he’s never done nor been commanded to do), but i can see them being guard dogs.

admin
July 17th, 2010 at 7:37 am

Hi Sarah, thanks so much for the comment. I think yours is an example of a lab personality that is more conducive to guard dog capabilities. There is a great range of temperaments that exist within the labrador breed, and while some labs act much too friendly with everyone, others do act with more protective and family-driven instincts. I think that, to an extent, guard dog effectivenesss ultimately depends on the individual labrador’s temperament.

Flame
July 29th, 2010 at 5:36 am

I think all dogs can be good gaurd dogs because all dogs have that instinct to protect.
Like with that golden retriver who protected that from a couger goldens arn’t said to be gaurd dogs but that didn’t stop that dog.
Plus labs are very inteligant there are search and rescue labs and police labs.
Labs that guide the blind.
SO why not gaurd labs.
All dogs have that ability to learn with the propper training.
And all dogs have that ability to protect even with out traing .
I have a chocolate lab named Hershey who I got for christmas four years ago.
And she’s the best gaurd dog weve ever had.
She’s very protective of me and my family.
She barks when anyone but me comes in my room.
And one time she bit my brother in law for coming to close to my room.
Not all dogs have to follow breed standers.

Doug Hyde
August 31st, 2010 at 2:39 pm

Rottweilers, generally the most reliable of dogs in most situations, are named yet again in the same breath as tragedy after the mauling by two rottweilers of young Rhianna Kidd. What is it that occasioned these specific animals, themselves mature domestic pets in a family with five children, attack seemingly the least objectionable of subjects? Smell perhaps? Shouldn’t we be looking into that? The rottweilers themselves have subsequently been put down - what for? Wouldn’t it be arguably more beneficial if they were retained for examination?

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