Natural Pet Health

There are thousands of dogs purchased every year for the sole reason of being hired to act as a family watchdog, but end up without the proper training to do so and eventually put up for sale.

Ask any professional dog trainer, in any city across the globe, and they will all attest to having people bring their watchdog in with the complaint that, We bought him to protect the house but he’s not doing anything like a guard dog is supposed to do…

Many of these lost causes are then destined to be advertised in the local paper with Free To A Good Home as the title of the ad. It’s too bad for these dogs, and the owners as well, that a little bit of education and some willingness to spend a few days in training could not have been afforded thus creating that very dependable watchdog the family wanted to begin with.

Are Watchdogs Even Necessary For The Common Household?

The reasons are many and varied why homeowners feel the need for a degree of protection not afforded by a simple door lock. In most cases, the husband works nights or travels to the extent that the night time hours find the wife and children home alone.

A gun is great, but so are the legal liabilities. Most women admit they could never pull a trigger, and even if they could, a shaking nervous hand would send the bullet into the ceiling. Thus, the canis familiaris, the dog, is called upon to sound the alarm and warn intruders away.

You may have acquired your dog as a result of a Saturday afternoon trip to the humane society, or perhaps by responding to an advertisement in the local newspaper. It was when you brought him home and charged him with the responsibility of protecting his new surroundings that you experienced a general disappointment in his protective prowess.

There are many reasons why the dog you hoped would protect your home and property… will not! One of the reasons could be your dog’s inherit traits. That is, the temperamental, emotional, physical, and mental traits which he inherited from his parents.

Another factor, equally important, is environment. The environmental factor, as a cause for your dog’s problem, may date clear back to the known critical periods of your dog’s life when he was but a puppy.

If he inherited only the best traits from his parents, his environment during the critical period (eighth to sixteenth week) could have modified those traits significantly. Thus, a poor environment as a puppy could be the cause for having crippled your dog’s emotional development to the point where no amount of training will bring out the instincts of territorial protection.

Some dogs have lived such a sheltered life that they are unaware that evil exists. They have never experienced anything bad and their sense of guardianship, present in almost all dogs, has never been required to come to the test.

Your Dog May Have It In Him

In all of life, there are no two beings completely identical. This applies to dogs as well as man. Genetic inheritance dictates this law, and it applies to plant life as well. Your neighbor may have an Airedale that protects his real estate with the zeal and enthusiasm of a Doberman Pinscher. Thus, you may be led to buy an Airedale too, only to suffer embarrassment and disappointment that your Airedale wags his tail and saunters up to anyone who approaches.

No two dogs are exactly alike. With a little prodding your dog’s protective instincts could quite possible be brought out. With a little coaching, the chances are that he can be trained to detect and announce any person approaching the area he serves.

You have no way of knowing what environmental factors may have influenced your dog’s life or his inherited traits, then you have no way of knowing if the protective instincts can be brought out except by trying!

Remember though, if your dog fails to become the alarm dog you want him to be, you can’t blame him. He had no control over the myriad factors that influenced his character as a pup.

All It Takes Is One Week: A Step-By-Step Watchdog Training Plan

One week of selective and careful training could turn that lethargic family pet into a valuable burglar alarm if the protective instincts have not been modified to a great degree.

It’s really quite simple and can provide your dog with the opportunity to really earn his keep. Remember, however, that you’re only teaching him to sound the alarm, not attack with the fury of a trained guard dog.

There are two important keys to success in this type of training:

1) First, the dog must have confidence in his ability to chase an intruder away.
2) Secondly, your dog must know that this is exactly what you want him to do.

This training can be easily accomplished by setting up an intruder-like situation and being ready to praise the dog for any signs of alertness, however slight. To some dogs, just the stiffening of the ears, or a quick look in the direction where the intruder is entering can be considered an initial alert which would warrant praise.

By having the intruder retreat in fright at this alert by the dog, you have set the two necessary keys into motion. The intruder’s quick retreat serves as a necessary tool in the beginning stages of confidence building. Your dog must have confidence in his ability to warn intruders away. Your quick response in praising the dog demonstrates that you are pleased with what he did. Your dog must know what you expect of him.

In transforming a house dog into an alarm dog, these simple steps should be followed for thirty minutes per day for a period of about one week. Some dogs will take longer because their ability to learn is also governed by genetics and environment.

You will, of course, need to enlist the services of a friend whom the dog does not know to act as the intruder. Your intruder must be briefed carefully. A mistake on the part of your intruder failure to retreat at just the right time can cause failure, just as a mistake on your part failure to administer praise at just the right time can also cause failure.

The only other equipment you will need will be a leather 6-foot training leash and a leather collar. Choke-chain type collars are not suitable for alarm dog training.

Drive a deep post into the ground in the middle of your back yard. Your six-foot leather training leash has a hand loop on one end. This hand loop should be looped over the post and the other end attached to the leather collar on your dog.

The size and sturdiness of the post will naturally depend upon the size and weight of your dog. The post must be able to withstand a force at least equal to the weight of your dog.

The entrance of your intruder should duplicate as much as possible, an actual, realistic situation, and therefore, the entire training should be undertaken at night.

The First Night

Hook your dog up to the leash and post, then go sit down and relax on your back porch. Try to find a spot that will give you clear vision of both your dog and the intruder. Get far enough away from your dog so that he doesn’t look for security in you. He must be out there on his own.

After your dog has had a chance to settle down, a pre-arranged signal should summon the intruder to begin making his way into your backyard. His entrance could be over a fence but it’s best for the intruder to enter through a side gate.

To add to the necessary realism to convince your dog that an undesirable is making his way onto your property your intruder should play the part to the hilt. He must act very suspiciously, and equally important, he must act cowardly, inching his way close to the house, through bushes.

He must pretend that he doesn’t see the dog, but yet he must watch the dog carefully so that he can make a cowardly and quick retreat at the first sign of alertness from the dog.

When the dog sees or hears the intruder, the intruder must immediately run away. The fading footsteps should signal the dog owner to go to the dog and reward his alertness with physical and verbal praise. The owner should then go back to his spot on the porch.

After a few minutes have elapsed, the intruder should once again attempt to make a cowardly and suspicious approach into the backyard, retreating quickly when the dog alerts as if the very alert of the dog scared the intruder half to death.

Five such approaches on the first night will do. Excuse your intruder and, after you’re sure he has departed, release the dog with a bit more praise. Be sure to remove the leather collar every time the training session ends.

The type of alert will vary with the breed of dog you’re working with. Most German Shepherds will actually bark at the intruder, as will Doberman Pinschers. Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes have a tendency to scream; not in fright, but in warning.

For the sake of this article, we are assuming that your dog up to this point has done nothing in the way of training. You must then be doubly conscious of any alert, however slight, so that you can get to your dog and praise him as the intruder retreats.

The Second Night

The second night should duplicate the first night, with the intruder intruder cowardly inching his way into your back yard, only to the point where the dog shows the alert. The intruder retreats and the dog is praised. Five such praises should be sufficient for the second night.

The Third Night

The third night differs from the first and second only in the distance covered by the intruder. On the third night, with the dog staked, the intruder will stop at the first sign of an alert from the dog, but will not immediately retreat.

Instead, the cowardly intruder will try to get just a little bit closer, slowly, very slowly. This will put the dog in a position of trying to tell his owner that the same thing is happening as before, except that the intruder is not running away.

The dog will pace relentlessly, moving his gaze quickly from the intruder to the owner and back again. The intruder should listen for the first audible sound from the dog and immediately upon hearing it, whether it be a whine, growl, or bark, retreat quickly.

The first audible sound of course, is exactly what we’re after. The intruder must retreat before the dog’s owner makes his move to praise the dog. Otherwise, the dog may think that the intruder ran away at the approaching steps of the owner.

Five such approaches and retreats should be accomplished on the third night, before removing the leather collar and releasing the dog.

The Fourth Night

On the forth night, the five approaches from the intruder should be from different locations, so that the dog will learn to expect an intruder from any point of entrance onto the premises. Again, the owner should be quick to praise as soon as the intruder has fled.

The Fifth Night

On the fifth night, as the intruder makes his cautious approach, he should not flee too hastily, but rather stand his ground with an air of uncertainty. If the dog is not barking audibly, the intruder should inch even closer, watching out of the corner of his eye for the first sign of aggressiveness from the dog.

By the fifth day, the dog knows that the intruder is a coward, and up to now, seemingly the very presence of the dog was enough to frighten the intruder away. The dog must learn by the fifth day, that he must do something other than just pace or whine for this cowardly intruder to run away.

The first four days have instilled an element of confidence into the dog by virtue of the intruder’s quick retreat. The owner’s praise showed the dog that the owner was pleased. The dog must therefore determine exactly what action will best chase this intruder away and therefore earn him the praise of his owner.

The intruder must never show any signs of bravery, nor exhibit any show of authority over the dog. On the fifth night, the intruder should slowly and cowardly inch his way closer until an audible warning is elicited from the dog.

Then and only then will the intruder retreat in fear. When the intruder runs away, the owner quickly praises the dog. The dog is learning that not only is the intruder afraid of the dog’s mere presence, but that if all else fails, barking, will send the creep fleeing in fright.

Once the dog realizes his powers and ability to send an intruder scurrying this usually occurs on the fifth night the dog will be most anxious to exercise these new powers.

The Sixth & Seventh Night

On the sixth night, the intruder should make a slight sound in some manner, out of sight of the dog, but within hearing range. When the dog’s ears show that he is alerted to the sound, the owner should whisper excitedly from the porch What’s that? What is it?

All five approaches on the sixth and seventh night should be preceded by such pre-warning commands from the owner. This will help teach the dog to be alert at any time the owner feels that such an alert is necessary.

The collar serves as a stimulus as well. Each time it was affixed to the dog, an intruder appeared. By placing the collar on the dog, he now expects an intruder to appear, and will be ever watchful and alert for that appearance.

By the end of the week, your dog should know what is expected of him. Keep in mind that no two dogs are exactly alike. Your duration of training will depend upon your dog’s particular ability. By setting up the actual situation and rewarding your dog for favorable response, you’re on your way to having the watchdog you wanted.

Once trained, you’ll be able to say, We bought him for a watchdog and he really knows his job!

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