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Dogs, man's best friend, intruder's worst enemy.

Hylan85

Hylan85

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Messages
399
I'm considering getting a Dog, and after some deliberation with my girl, decided that a dog that could protect the home would be a great addition to the family. With that being considered, I'm interested in a Doberman specifically and was curious, does anyone here have any experience with professional trained guard dogs, Doberman's in any sense, and the possibility of a guard dog also having that "family pet" feeling? Or, once trained, do they lose their playfulness? Any experiences you can share here would be great before I made an either unwise or uneducated decision.

Thanks CP!
 
Well, a Dobie's a very high energy animal.

A working animal is a bit different from a pet in my limited experience. Rather than the responsibilities of a security-trained animal, a basically territorial, protective breed (of which the Doberman is one) with good obedience training is all anyone but rock stars, drug lords, and captains of industry needs.

~Boar
 
Have you had any experience with obedience training, is it better to "send the dog to school" or attempt to train it yourself? My family has only owned small, breeds, ie Maltese, so I'm a little concerned with a dog of that size and being able to control it through training. I've always had this dream of a "real" dog, or companion, you play with in the park and don't need to leash because it understands heel and other various commands.
 
Talk to a good K9 trainer. Petsmart type trainers are not dog trainers, they are puppy trainers. A lot of Dog Training is actually Human Training.

All dogs go through adolescence, and that is a challenge. The more dominant the breed, the trickier adolescence training becomes.

A good trainer will also tell you that a run of the mill dog is not going to fight to the death for you. That takes specialized training.

As far as a trained attack dog making a good family pet, it depends on the dog, and the diligence of the owner.

Dog training is a lifelong commitment, not a one time deal. They will always need tune ups.

Others may have differant opinions, this is mine, based on a lot of personal experience. My experience, my personality, etc.
 
I have no empirical evidence (or anecdotal evidence, for that matter) but I'd guess that any medium/large dog with a loud bark living in your house is probably a pretty significant deterrent to most sorts of troublemakers.
 
I agree. We had a german shepard/lab mix that was close to 100 lbs and had a mean bark. That was pretty much all we needed as far as home protection was concerned. Truth be told she was the most lovable dog a person could ask for but anytime the doorbell rang or the mail dropped in she was almost uncontrollably on-guard. I miss that dog a lot! :(
 
Did you bother with professional training, even just normal obedience training? Or just by the book at home type stuff?
 
A lot depends on the situation, too. If you want an alarm system that lets YOU know to go get your handgun, a terrier's all you need. If you're away during the day and want the house protected . . . well, if I had a bit more room, a higher tolerance for doggie drool, and didn't already have Good Dog Henry (who does a fine job of patrolling the fenceline, btw) I'd want . . . one of these:

neapolitan-mastiff-0004.jpg


~Boar
 
The Green Monkey said:
I have no empirical evidence (or anecdotal evidence, for that matter) but I'd guess that any medium/large dog with a loud bark living in your house is probably a pretty significant deterrent to most sorts of troublemakers.
Click to expand...

I have a very aggressive Great Dane. He is not attack trained, but I venture to say he would attack. How tenaciously, and for how long is unknown.
His bark is incredibly loud, and intimidating. His attack bark (very fast, deep, barking) has literally sent door to door salesmen running from the front door (it's hilarious). He knows hand command equivalents for every verbal command. When service men come over, I process his barking with a hand command for speak. The service man doesn't have a clue it's my doing, and it definitely intimidates them. Especially as I continue to process the dog.

If they were staking the place out, I'm positive it gave them second thoughts.

My cop friends say the two most effective B&E deterrents, are Alarn Signs, and beware of dog signs. I have them posted on the fron and rear of the house. The other dogs would give nasty bites. Samson, the GD, could take an arm off in a heartbeat.
 
This is what I recommend:

Extremely ferocious to croquettes and any other gastronomic fiends
Not to mentioned its of portable size! Have it anywhere you go to protect you from aggressive unwanted calories.
 
I have never personally owned a Doberman. I did however have a neighbor that had 4. He had suffered quite a few injuries throughout his military career resulting in a lot of hearing loss and he was prone to seizures. The Dobey's were working dogs, made to alert him if someone was at the door and help him if he began having a seizure. They were also very effective as guard dogs. Now the downside to Dobey's is they have a proven track record, as a breed, of turning on their owners. This happens especially as they get up in years. I was looking for the same qualities in a dog that you are looking for, ie the best friend with the guard dog mentatility. The one I settled on is a Fila. Now being in Iraq right now, I have not been able to actually get one and give you my personal experience with the dog. But I have communicated with many owners and they love them. They are an extremely loyal animal, and are bred for protecting the home/property.

Also this link will help give you an idea of what dogs are "recommended" base on what you want.

As far as training goes it is a good idea for any medium to large dog to go through obediance training. It was stated previously, but a lot of dog training is human training. But getting a good book on training, spending the money on some basic classes, and taking the time to work with your dog will make the whole experience of owning a larger dog much more enjoyable. A medium/large dog will be different from the toy type dogs you said you have had previously. So if you are serious about getting one, take the time to research out many different breeds that fit what you are looking for, find out the good and bad about the breeds you choose from, find out as much about the breed that you decide to add to your family, then pull the trigger and get him/her. If you buy a puppy start training immediately so that he understands the house rules and doesn't get confused. Dogs are a pack animal so you have to show them that you are their pack leader, otherwise they will take it upon themselves to become the pack leader and then you will have a dog ruling your house, instead of the other way around.

Look throughout the dogbreedinfo sight that I linked you too. It is full of good advice. Also the books by Cesar Milan are some excellent guides to start puppy-through-adult dog training.

Hope this helps.
 
The dog above is a Neapolitan mastiff, very large dogs. They also have a little more special needs than other dogs and can have some skin problems because of the fold in their skin. Also typically expensive, around here a purebred puppy can run you $3500.00 (Cdn).

The dog in my avatar is a Bull mastiff x Mastiff. Bigger than a Bull mastiff but not quite as big as a full English mastiff. They are pretty big dogs, mine is about 140 lbs. but we keep him lean, he has weighed as much as 160 lbs. He is very intimidating and his bark is deep and loud. They were bred (the Bull mastiffs) to keep away poachers from gamekeepers and even the coloring of the dog is meant to hide him at night. This works very well, he is hard to see until he is right there, a kind of camouflage.

Very intimidating when he wants to be!

There are lots of stories of people coming home to find their house broken into and their mastiff sitting on the guy or having him cornered in the house.
 
While at a customers house this week I had the pleasure of meeting the family dog, a 9 year old three legged Dobie. (lost his fromt leg to cancer) Prior to even reaching for the door bell all I was greeted with was this enourmous bark and a attentive HUGE red Dobie. His alertness and attentive behavior had me a bit worried and I am huge dog person. Once he new I posed no threat, he then was as lovable as coould be and wanted to be right next to me the entire time. On the other hand growing up we had a total of three Dobies and one was great as a pet the others had some issues in regards to behavior and such.
If it were me, I would get a bigger breed either Dobie, German Shep or the like and have him obedience trained more as a family pet rather than a trained attack dog. If I had my choice I would have my lil Jack Russel and a Roman Canecorso :thumbs:
 
Lots of great info and things to think about here. I really had only considered Dobermans and German Shepherds until this point, I think this post just made my decision more difficult. I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the German Shepherds, I figured they'd be the go-to considering their involvement with law enforcement. I had done some side work for a client who was a NYPD K-9 officer, he took his dog everywhere, and in an office filled with 20+ clients and 15 staff, he was better behaved than most of the adults in the room, a shock to me considering my family's dogs (Maltese and a Bichon Frise) would've been on someone's lap.

Norcal_Aaron's post came seconds before mine!
 
If you are up for it you might also consider adopting a retired working dog from .mil or LE. They are already trained and have been through many tests to make sure they are adoptable. Might be another option to look at.
 
MadMonk said:
The Green Monkey said:
I have no empirical evidence (or anecdotal evidence, for that matter) but I'd guess that any medium/large dog with a loud bark living in your house is probably a pretty significant deterrent to most sorts of troublemakers.
Click to expand...

I have a very aggressive Great Dane. He is not attack trained, but I venture to say he would attack. How tenaciously, and for how long is unknown.
His bark is incredibly loud, and intimidating. His attack bark (very fast, deep, barking) has literally sent door to door salesmen running from the front door (it's hilarious). He knows hand command equivalents for every verbal command. When service men come over, I process his barking with a hand command for speak. The service man doesn't have a clue it's my doing, and it definitely intimidates them. Especially as I continue to process the dog.

If they were staking the place out, I'm positive it gave them second thoughts.

My cop friends say the two most effective B&E deterrents, are Alarn Signs, and beware of dog signs. I have them posted on the fron and rear of the house. The other dogs would give nasty bites. Samson, the GD, could take an arm off in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

Awesome. I've always wanted a dog who knew hand signals but don't have the time or heart to put our two through any more training than they've already had. We've got two ~65 lb. retired greyhounds--one loves everyone, and one is very suspicious of most unfamiliar people--particularly men, tall people, people in hats, and black people. It's pretty clear that she had a trainer at some point in her career that was a tall black man who wore a hat and whatever he did (likely just yelling at her--a greyhound who has been physically abused isn't going to earn any money...) she didn't like him much. Our friendly one loves black people so it's always difficult whenever we encounter a black person on a walk--one dog is beside herself with excitement and wants to go say hello while the other one is on edge and keeping her distance.

Most greyhounds make terrible guard dogs, but our suspicious one is definitely the exception to the rule. Her bark is downright startling when you're not expecting it, so anytime we've got a service man over I usually let her bellow for a minute or two after he rings the bell (if she isn't already aware of his presence) before putting her in her kennel and answering the door. Our friendly dog is usually there to greet them and they always assume it was her barking but once they come inside it's pretty clear that she's never met a stranger but rather the dog in the crate is the one they heard.

She doesn't bark from her crate and she's perfectly secure and calm in there, but I'm pretty sure if anyone were to be casing our place, they'd probably rather not take the gamble on her. If a petite white woman broke into our house, I doubt she'd do anything (and the extrovert certainly wouldn't) but I'm pretty sure any man who might break in--especially a man of any considerable pigment--would probably find himself trying to outrun a 40 MPH bundle of muscle, teeth, and fur...
 
A word of caution, if you go the route of a protection dog or get a large breed dog that could be considered "dangerous" by your community, read up on any legal requirements in your area and also check your homeowners policy (if you are a homeowner). I am a long-term Rottweiler owner and have been involved with Rottweiler rescue off and on for many years. You would be surprised how many dogs wind up in rescue because of insurance issues, HOA problems and "dangerous dog" laws.

Also, as someone mentioned, protection training is a life-long commitment and must be done under the guidance of an ethical, knowledgeable and professional trainer. They are few and far between IMHO. In addition, you must find a dog that is genetically disposed (for lack of a better term) for this type of work. Protection training requires a dog that is very stable, strong mentally and physically, and incredibly smart. A pretty hard, and expensive, combination of traits.

I'm not trying to dissuade you, just know what you are getting into to and be prepared for a lot of work.
 
This is was my dog for 10 years till he past he was a champion breed show dog as well as a protector of my home he love all children great breed, Dogue de Bordeaux 155 puonds head 22" he was no joke look into it
NANU2.jpg
 
My man, I don't know but you guys sort of resemble each other :laugh:

That's a big dog
 
Police dogs are sometimes the Belgian/Malinois breed, not the German Shepard. But they are super expensive.
 
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