Dog Health Questions: Is it too late to train my pit to be a guard dog?

This past week the monday after christmas my house was robbed. The criminals took anywhere from 5000 to 10000 dollars worth of electronics. We have a pit-bull who we kept kenneled until this happened. And now all we want to do is raise the security of our house as much as possible. Our dog is just over a year old, and i have heard that guard dogs should be trained starting at 8 weeks old. I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about training and if it is too late to train him. Otherwise we were going to look into getting another puppy. We are kind of skeptical about that though due to the fact that we are expecting a baby in July. Also if there is anyone who knows of where we can get guard dog training in north western illinois that would be great! Thank you so much!

Understanding Dog Training Schools

Recommended Answer:
It's never to late

Achieving Dog Training Success With The 18 "Don'ts" Rules

• Attempting to self-train human aggression is always a bad idea, especially with a kid in the mix and a much-abused breed.
  
  Pit bull type dogs, by nature, have been bred for generations to display absolutely no human aggression, so they won't actually take well to guard training. If you want a guard dog, buy a fully trained GSD for $5000+. Dogs can still be shot, poisoned, etc.... buying a gun and lessons to use it would be cheaper and more effective than any dog.


• PIT BULLS ARE NOT GUARD DOGS!!!
  
  Get a SECURITY SYSTEM, pepper spray, a gun, or a base ball bat, NOT a dog!
  
  Dogs are not your body guards. You have to protect YOURSELF and your family.
  
  If you want a professionally trained one, they run anywhere from $1000-$10,000. Schutzhund trained dogs are expensive, and are given specialized training from birth, and they do NOT use Pit Bulls for this kind of work.


• Guarding has a lot to do with their nature. Although you can modify their behavior by not allowing them to be petted by others. Or having someone break the trust. But use caution to prevent creating a liability.
  Some breeds like Malakli have a very strong defense nature bred in. Our socialization is to teach what is not a threat. And at 33-40", and 160-260#, few would dare risk making them mad.
  Wish you luck!!!


• A man in our town has a 125lb Staphie. His home was robbed and the dog who was professionally trained was pushed into a closet with a chair and locked in. They made off with almost 100K. A dog wont stop a gun, a knife, or a smart burglar.
  Most thieves will avoid a house if they KNOW a dog is inside but it isn't a guarantee


• Hi . I think this might help you. I used to be a complete idiot when it came to training dogs. I always used to let my anger and frustration get the best of me when the dog would act up. As it turns out, dogs are really simple. I used The Secrets of Dog Training to finally get it right. It turns out that you don't have to pay big money to get a dog to act right.
  
  I hope this helps.


• Just going off your title question, no.
  Pits shouldn't be trained to be gaurd dogs.
  I'm not saying he would be a bad guard, but a lot of people have prejudice against pits, and would use any excuse to get him shot and killed. That is not fair, but it's the way it is.
  Hopefully people can get over pit bull prejudice in the future.


• Will a newly trained "guard dog" attack a harmless neighbor? Will he mistake your infant for an intruder? What about the mailman?
  
  IMHO, you'd be safer with a gun. That way, you only have to trust yourself and your husband, and not place so much on the instincts of a dog.


• buy a alarm a video surveillance system will also help and it would be better.


• Dogs can be shot and killed. Have an alarm system installed.


• If you train your dog well it shouldn't be to late


• get a security system.


• Pits make lousy guard dogs. Historically, a pit that showed any human aggression at all was immediately culled. (Human aggression and dog aggression are two completely separate behavior traits.) So a pit of any age is very unlikely to guard your property.
  
  Dogs also tend not to show any guarding behavior until they are mature. The age varies, with large dogs taking longer to mature. Around two years is when I would expect to see their adult behavior.
  
  Your money would be much better spent on security measures for your house. Plus, you won't have time to train a new puppy with a human baby in the house. So you are right to have second thoughts about getting a new puppy.


• Pits aren't really guard dog quality (too human-friendly). Guard dogs are very selectively chosen and you buy them already trained- most dogs don't make the cut because many don't have the correct temperament, so trainers are very selective.
  
  If there are any schutzhund clubs in your area, you can ask around and see if anyone in the club knows of someone who does PPD training and then go from there to get a PPD. A PPD is a lot to handle, and they are definately not for everyone... home security systems tend to be a lot cheaper and easier to maintain- not to mention, you won't end up with a dead dog if an intruder is armed... takes one shot and the dog is dead, rendering it absolutely useless to you.