You work on a construction site or farm where lots of expensive equipment is kept. You can’t make the whole farm or site inaccessible, but you do need to find a way to keep it secure. If you can train your dog to guard a specific expensive piece of equipment or one location, then you’ll have one less thing to worry about. Alternatively, perhaps you want to train him to protect a suitcase, a TV, or anything you else in the house. Whatever it is, with the proper motivation he will guard pretty much anything.
This training is useful for more than just keeping a specific object safe and secure though. You’ll need to gain strict control over him throughout this training process, and that control can be used to teach him a whole range of other commands too.
Training him to guard an object isn’t always a walk in the park, but with patience and determination, it’s definitely achievable. You will need to use a rigorous incentive system to drill into him the protective behaviors you do want. You’ll also need to incorporate the object into his territory so he naturally wants to guard it. Training will have to be strict and controlled as you don’t want to encourage the wrong type of aggression. If he’s a puppy, he should be receptive and may respond to training in just 1 week. If he’s older and never had such a responsibility before then he may need up to a month to truly get the hang of it.
Get this training right and you’ll be able to sleep easy at night knowing the car you’ve saved up for all your working life is perfectly safe. You’ll also find it easier to train him to guard and protect your house too.
Before you get to work you’ll need several bits. A generous supply of his favorite food or treats will play an essential role. You’ll also need access to the object you want to train him to protect, but you may want to use another dummy object to begin with.
A quiet space, away from the distractions of a noisy house will be required, and you’ll need 10 minutes every other day for the next few weeks to commit to training.
Once you’ve got all of that, it’s time to get to work!