# Best Guard Dog



## Y2German (Nov 27, 2014)

As much as this is a German Shepherd Forum. I want honest opinion as which breed is the best guard dog in the world? I know some will say that its up to the dog or how you raise it; that I understand but generally speaking which is the best dog for guarding purpose and how do you actually train a dog for guarding your house from an intruder?

3 names stand out. German Shepherd, Doberman Pincher and Rottweiler.

Kindly help me out! Kindly also define clear features and characteristics of each breed. We are not having any contest; just for my knowledge and passion of these beautiful breeds. Thanks

Mr. Simba


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## Hineni7 (Nov 8, 2014)

Honestly, part of your question disturbs me in that you just got a puppy.... If you are asking because you want this puppy to be a property guard dog (ie, left alone to patrol and guard your business etc, solely) many may take issue with that... Let me clarify though... Th type of dog I am speaking of is left alone, often chained during business hours, but let loose at night. His job is only to keep strangers out... This type of dog has a miserable life and few people will want to interject their thoughts (other than to express their displeasure) on how you can do this... Please forgive me if my assumption is incorrect, absolutely no offense is meant if, especially if this is just an honest inquiry  
Certain breeds come by their guarding nature naturally. What is yours is theirs to protect from outside intrusion. Having a well versed dog in obedience and love absolutely aids in the dogs desire to protect. Truly each dog is an individual and each breed has their strong and weak aspects.. But the bottom line is training and love (companionship, even if just with the one handler) is what can make any dog breed (obviously within reason ; a chuahua might be a vicious guard dog but highly ineffective) a great and SAFE to handle, guard dog...


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## shantinath1000 (Mar 18, 2014)

Depends on what you want- do you mean a dog that will protect you and your family or a dog that will alert you to what is going on by barking. Many small dogs are effective deterrents simply by barking- I don't expect my dog to protect me but I do expect that she will bark if there is a problem. I see it as MY JOB to protect my family and my dog.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

A trained dog. Period.


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

I can tell you that we have two shepherds from the same litter...fought to get that...but we needed two for two daughters that are running for training. One dog could not have been in two places at once or handled 15-20 miles a day. Anyway...the female is so social, she never meets a stranger and wants everyone...strangers included to love and fawn over her. The only thing that keeps people distanced from our daughter is Millies very intimidating look when she is working/running. She rarely alerts when inside the home. She likes to sleep when inside and doesn't care what's going on outside. When the door bell rings she very relaxed walks to the door...our male...miles...people avoid him often. No one ever wants to get close to him...he is always working, always on guard and his expression shows it. He is very protective of the girls...and kids we don't even know. Any kid around he thinks he owns. :-/ we have taught the phrase (not your kid) and he has started ignoring others kids unless they are playing with him. When in the house...he will sleep but with one eye open, every 40-50 mins he will walk around the house if we are in separate rooms and he will check on everyone...if everyone's together he will rest. If there's any noise he will check it out...he greets us with a very loud bark (he loves to talk and when he is excited he talks) but strangers think he wants to eat us. Nothing moves in our house without him knowing and checking it out. If the door bell rings his bark shakes the house until he sees who it is. If it's people he knows and love he will excitement bark for a min until he gets satisfied with belly rubs, if it's a stranger he will sit right next to me and watch with a very intent expression...we know he shouldn't bark at friends and people he loves but the girls encouraged that because they loved being greeted like that after school. They loved that he talked back and wanted to have a conversation with him. Everyone that comes In our home loves his excitement...and if they are not the type we tell him to go to his place/mat by the fireplace which he does and leaves guest alone. 
I can't say about the other breeds, but this was our first try with shepherds...we adore them. They have such big and individual personalities...I don't know how we ever lived without one. They are not dogs, they become family. They love their people and want to be right bedside you...if you don't want a clinging dog...don't get a shepherd. They are very independent when working...and have their own ideas...but love to work and love play. Good luck making your decision. If you do any protection training...I highly suggest talking to many people and getting the right trainer! Some can make a wonderful dog...a broken dog.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Presa canario. Will guard you and your home. Then you need a shovel to guard yourself from the presa canario.


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## Waffle Iron (Apr 3, 2012)

Get a Chihuahua.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Hmm.
Get a Tibetan mastiff?


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

I have no experience on doberman and rottweiler BUT my GSD is very alert to noises. When he hear something outside he run to the window and watch until he feel its not a threat and does a really mean deep growl. He is protective at home but i dont think he would charge at someone to defend me but he would bark crazy and act as if he would.. cause we tried it hahha i asked a friend to try it out one night. When my friend move towards him he would hide behind my wife... but when he walk back he go up between my wife and the friend again lol. I did not get my GSD for protection anyways and i would rather him not to charge at intruders . He is a part of my family and i will protect him. I think bark and growl is all i need from him when there are strangers so that they know we have a dog in the house.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Guarding is different than protecting. Any under-socialized dog can guard; barking out of insecurity in situations out of his "normal". it basically means,"someone help me deal with this".
Protecting you physically requires a dog that is not afraid of strangers but not aggressive either. They will have to be trained. A well trained GSD is most likely enough of a deterrent for the petty criminals. Hard core ones will probably kill the dog first.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Why is this in the pictures section? Are we supposed to post pictures of guard dogs?


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

A Kangal perhaps.....


SuperG


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## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

fiona guarding the couch


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

mcdanfam said:


> I can tell you that we have two shepherds from the same litter...fought to get that...but we needed two for two daughters that are running for training. One dog could not have been in two places at once or handled 15-20 miles a day. Anyway...the female is so social, she never meets a stranger and wants everyone...strangers included to love and fawn over her. The only thing that keeps people distanced from our daughter is Millies very intimidating look when she is working/running. She rarely alerts when inside the home. She likes to sleep when inside and doesn't care what's going on outside. When the door bell rings she very relaxed walks to the door...our male...miles...people avoid him often. No one ever wants to get close to him...he is always working, always on guard and his expression shows it. He is very protective of the girls...and kids we don't even know. Any kid around he thinks he owns. :-/ we have taught the phrase (not your kid) and he has started ignoring others kids unless they are playing with him. When in the house...he will sleep but with one eye open, every 40-50 mins he will walk around the house if we are in separate rooms and he will check on everyone...if everyone's together he will rest. If there's any noise he will check it out...he greets us with a very loud bark (he loves to talk and when he is excited he talks) but strangers think he wants to eat us. Nothing moves in our house without him knowing and checking it out. If the door bell rings his bark shakes the house until he sees who it is. If it's people he knows and love he will excitement bark for a min until he gets satisfied with belly rubs, if it's a stranger he will sit right next to me and watch with a very intent expression...we know he shouldn't bark at friends and people he loves but the girls encouraged that because they loved being greeted like that after school. They loved that he talked back and wanted to have a conversation with him. Everyone that comes In our home loves his excitement...and if they are not the type we tell him to go to his place/mat by the fireplace which he does and leaves guest alone.
> I can't say about the other breeds, but this was our first try with shepherds...we adore them. They have such big and individual personalities...I don't know how we ever lived without one. They are not dogs, they become family. They love their people and want to be right bedside you...if you don't want a clinging dog...don't get a shepherd. They are very independent when working...and have their own ideas...but love to work and love play. Good luck making your decision. If you do any protection training...I highly suggest talking to many people and getting the right trainer! Some can make a wonderful dog...a broken dog.


Interesting. We had a female border collie/aussie that was exactly like your male shephard. We had her almost 16 years and she helped us raise our kids. She also protected our house from vandals that struck the rest of the neighborhood in the wee hours of the night. Yet she was so friendly. I miss her so much.

Now we have a male GSD that is just like your feamle - loves everyone. Still he intimidates many just because he is a GSD. I feel pretty safe walking him.


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## Charlie W (Feb 12, 2013)

I have a Doberman and a German Shepherd, last week there was a knock at the door at midnight..yes midnight (policeman checking to see if some steers on the road belonged to us)... Do you think either of them barked? No, neither of them..well, that's not strictly speaking true..Norah barked at the steers!
That said, they were at the other end of the house, and both of them have done a great job of keeping callers at bay in the past..Interestingly though, not by barking, but by standing their ground and staring silently. The dobe has done it a few times, and I can imagine that if you're at the receiving end of that stare, it would be very intimidating, nobody has ever come through the gate when he's doing it, they generally get back into their car and sound the horn! He has only ever done it to unwanted callers (we live in the country so get the odd strange character come by)
Funny, though, some strangers are allowed up the path to the house, and the dogs welcome them with licky tongues and waggy tails.. Also whilst they don't always bark at people approaching the front of the house, they always bark if there is anyone in the neighbour's avocado orchard at the back !
However, they look the part, I have a 15 year old daughter who goes running and I make her take one with her, and I also believe that when people look up our driveway and see two big dogs (soon to be three when Bismarck grows), they decide then and there not to target it!


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Rangers_mom said:


> Interesting. We had a female border collie/aussie that was exactly like your male shephard. We had her almost 16 years and she helped us raise our kids. She also protected our house from vandals that struck the rest of the neighborhood in the wee hours of the night. Yet she was so friendly. I miss her so much.
> 
> 
> 
> Now we have a male GSD that is just like your feamle - loves everyone. Still he intimidates many just because he is a GSD. I feel pretty safe walking him.



Lol! That's funny...people tell us our female is more lab than shepherd. We don't need a guard dog so it works fine for us...as long as strangers assume she is intimidating..that's all we need. 
Our males barks like crazy with people he loves! Greets them with the biggest and loudest barks. People he doesn't know just gets stares and a very intense watch while visiting with us. We we are at stores and parks people ask why he stares. I just tell them that's how he watches people while I am visiting...then the guy he loves in appliances at lowes sees him...and miles shakes the store with his bark! The guy adores miles and miles adores him. He always keeps bacon treats under his register for miles and Millie...he gets greeted like friends coming in our home.... it's funny how dogs learn routines and who has the cookies ;-) 
The appliance guy said the days he sees the pups are his favorite days at work... these dogs have been such a blessing to us...They have completed our family in ways we didn't know we needed to be completed.


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## lawhyno (Mar 9, 2013)

*Gsd...*

I have most experience with Czech line GSD. Some are bred to with very strong territorial behavior that don't socialize with strangers but are also very loving to their human family and willing to please. It depends on the objective of the breeder. These types of dogs are out there, you just need to find them. 

I can help direct you if you're interested. Just PM me.


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