How to Train a Husky as Guard Dog

Hello Arman, A guard dog's job is simply to alert to intruders, to scare them off. A protection dog is trained to stop would be attackers physically by holding onto the person the way a police dog does. To train a guard dog you will want to teach that dog to bark or growl whenever he sees someone step foot onto your property or get too close to you. To do that, teach your pup the "Speak" command and whenever a person comes onto your property or gets too close to you, tell your pup to "Speak" and reward him for speaking or growling with treats or a favorite toy. Practice this until he begins to bark during those situations when you have not told him to, and reward him for doing that. Also teach him the "Quiet" command and work on his general obedience, like "Come" and "Sit", so that you can tell him to stop when you need to or can tell him to be "Quiet" if he barks at the wrong thing. To teach the "Speak" and Quiet" commands check out this Wag! article, and simply skip the last steps where you teach him to do it more softly. https://wagwalking.com/training/bark-softly-1 Your dog is not too old to learn how to be a guard dog, but whether or not he can learn to be a protection dog safely will depend a lot on his own temperament and whether or not you have socialized him enough with the right things. Protection dogs actually need to be really well socialized as puppies so that they know what is normal and alright versus what is suspicious, otherwise a protection dog can be dangerous and overly reactive too everything. If you are wanting to teach your pup to protect you, then I would advise that you contact a professional dog trainer who has lots of experience training Schlutzhund, police, or protection dogs. Protection training is not something that should be undertaken without a ton of experience and full understanding of what is involved. To determine if your pup can be trained, I would suggest contacting someone who trains dogs for protection work or a club that does it, and booking an appointment to have your dog evaluated for protection work. That way you can find out if your dog is a good candidate for training before you make the full investment. If you wish to teach your dog rather than send your dog to someone for training, then I would suggest finding a club that offers schlutzhund or protection groups, where you can learn along with others how to train and can practice it under the supervision of trainers. You will also need special padding and people to be "The Bad Guy" in order to train, and somewhere like a club or facility that does this often is set up for that. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Douglas, Check out the link I have included below. At that link you can download a free PDF e-book on puppies. There is a chapter in that book on socialization and puppy classes. I highly recommend attending a puppy class that includes supervised off-leash play time for puppies and handling with treats by dog owners. AFTER You Get Your Puppy e-Book download: https://www.lifedogtraining.com/freedownloads/ To get started on protection training, you can start telling the puppy a word that will mean growl and act intimidating whenever he growls while playing something like tug of war with you. This will help him learn to growl on cue. When he growls, praise and reward him for it. It may look like "Stranger", play growling, praise and reward for the growling. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Yacqueline, I highly suggest NOT teaching him to guard her. Encouraging that type of behavior can actually lead to him being possessive of her and in extreme cases not letting you or others get close to her either. Instead, you could have him sleep outside of her door and teach him to "Speak" when someone he doesn't know enters your home. This teaches him to alert and stay close but doesn't encourage acts of aggression that go past alerting. First, teach him the "Speak" command. Once he has learned to speak when told "Speak", then have friends and family members that he doesn't know visit your home. Command him to "Speak" as soon as they enter, then reward him when he barks. You want him to remain social toward guests so don't encourage other forms of aggression, simply barking. A well socialized dog should understand the difference between unknown guest entering while you are there and someone odd sneaking in while you sleep, so socialization should not be counteractive to what you are wanting to teach. Either way he will be learning to alert, whether he feels suspicious about the person or not - simply based on them being new. Practice Quiet with those he DOES know as well, so that he will learn to be quiet around those he knows and speak around those he doesn't know. Practice this until he automatically barks without having to be told when someone new/unknown comes inside your home. Reward him with treats when he automatically barks, in anticipation of being told. When he starts to bark on his own, then stop telling him to bark, wait ten seconds to see if he will bark on his own, then tell him "Speak" if he needs a hint. Reward him more when he speaks on his own than when you have to tell him. Speak: https://wagwalking.com/training/speak Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Next, create a place for him to sleep at night near her door or room. Teach him the Place or bed command and work on that command in that location. Also reward him anytime he chooses to go there willingly. Place: https://thegooddog.net/training-videos/free-how-to-training-videos/learn-to-train-the-good-dog-way-place-command-the-good-dog-training-tips/ Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Thank you for the picture of Rocky. To train a dog to guard, one has to consult a professional at all times. They have experience and can instruct so that you, your dog, other people, and other dogs are safe in all situations. Look for a certified trainer in your area by looking online. In the meantime, take Rocky to obedience classes so that he can learn basic commands and beyond. This will give him confidence and help him to be a well-rounded dog. All the best to you and Rocky!

Hello. Many pet owners are concerned that their dogs are too friendly to be guard dogs. Dogs have intense instincts and know when someone/something is a threat. You can count on your dog to be protective when needed. Even the friendliest dogs know when something isn't right or when you are in danger.

Hello Michael, You can either hire a professional protection trainer to train pups formally, or you can work on teaching pups to bark when someone comes onto the property and generally be more alert of surroundings, on your own. For any bite work, you will need to hire professional help though. To teach pups to bark and be more alert, first, teach pup the Speak command. The following article gives a few ways you can teach that depending on what triggers barking most easily for them. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-speak Once pups knows the speak command, recruit friends pups don't know to step onto the property outside the fence while pups watch from a window or inside your fence. Command speak and reward with a treat when they do. Practice with telling pups to speak each time the person is on the property, until pups bark on their own when the person appears without you saying speak first. At that point, have the person step onto the property, wait seven seconds to see if pups will bark on their own, reward if they do, and command speak if they don't - then reward but give a smaller reward when you tell pups opposed to when pups bark on their own without prompting. Practice until pups will bark each time someone appears on the property. Practice with different people you can recruit, that pups doesn't know so that pups will learn to do this with anyone who enters the property and not just that one person. Draw pup's attention to people outside or people on your property, and reward pup when you see them watching someone in general - so that pups will begin watching people and staying more alert as a habit. Pups don't have to bark to reward this one - just reward when pup is watching someone and you notice that. I also recommend teaching the Quiet command, so that you can tell pups when to stop barking after they alert. Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark If pups are motivated by rewards, you can likely still train this despite their ages. It will take more practice and likely more prompting to teach Speak to begin with. With this type of training you are not teaching pups to protect the property in terms of bite work. You are simply teaching them to alert and appear protective. True protection would need to be pursued with a protection trainer who has the equipment and knowledge to work with pups in person safely. You don't want to accidently create aggression or fear. True protection involving bite work will be much harder with older dogs, opposed to teaching alerting and pups appearing intimidating. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Tiffany, If you are looking to train pup to protect an unfenced yard, I highly suggest hiring a professional trainer who has a lot of experience with off-leash training, including boundary training, as well as protection training. You will need a higher level of training than some to ensure that pup is safe as a protection or guard dog in an area that doesn't contain them. If pup were to react toward someone off your property - even a couple of feet off your property, you could have a lawsuit, pup's life at stake, and the injury of another person on your hands so I wouldn't recommend tackling this type of training by yourself. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden