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Training a
Guard Dog
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Training a German
Shepherd can be a rewarding
and fun activity for you and the dog, but after mastering the basics some
owners want to advance.
German Shepherds make excellent guard dogs as they
are strong, clever and highly obedient.
If you would like to train
your dog as a guard dog it can be done initially and then the dog is
taken for trials.
You can teach your puppy
or a young dog
the basic skills of obedience training and scent discrimination
yourself without any assistance. If you want to prepare your German
Shepherd for official guard dog trials you should get advice from your
local German shepherd dog club and have an experienced assistant who is
willing help with the training.
The German Shepherd Club of
America will include, or be able to refer you to, competent advisors
and assistants. If there is no club near you, write to the American
Kennel Club or take a look at their website (see below).
Any dog embarking on training as a guard dog has to meet the following
criteria:
- Perfect competence in all the obedience
exercises described
- Excellent scent discrimination
- No gun shyness
- Protective instinct in a general test of
character.
The South African Police Service use German Shepherds to locate drugs
during raids and in airports for security patrols.
To
protect yourself against possible disappointment during the dog's
advanced training, it is a good idea to have your dog undergo a test of
character stability at about eight months of age to see if it is suited
for special training. In the course of this test your dog will be
confronted with simulated situations, and its reactions then serve as a
basis of character evaluation. The results of these tests are
relatively reliable. Local or central kennel clubs can provide you with
information about when and where such tests are given.
For your German shepherd dog to pass the guard dog trials, it must be
able to perform a number of other exercises that you can practice with
it,
aided by an assistant, on the training field.
Examples
of the tests are a simulated attack on the dog and its master; flight
of the attacker; pursuit by the dog, which is supposed to stop the
attacker and indicate the attacker's location by barking; and search,
in which the dog has to find the presumed criminal and keep the
criminal in place by barking.
The video below shows the power of German
Shepherds as guard dogs:
If you are interested in
special training programs for your German shepherd and you want to find
out about trial regulations, take a look at the American Kennel Club
website on http://www.akc.org/
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