Most "intuitive" guardy dog

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#1
Of course, everyone has a special connection with their dogs in individual unique ways. But my personal "fantasy" guard dog is one that picks up on when I'm nervous/uneasy immediately, is able to pinpoint the source of my uneasiness, and actively be wary of it/protect me against it. Of course all dogs expected to be used as actively guardy ones should be properly trained and taught as to HOW they are desired to protect whatever it is they should be protecting. But through everyone's experience here...what is the most basically "intuitive" guardy breed that you have come across and that has instincts to pick up on something that you perceive as a threat?

I've heard Caucasian Ovcharka, Filas, and Akitas to be highly sensitive to their owners feelings/reactions to things in their surroundings, and accurately and readily reactive to them.

Also, do you think that if these guard dogs are expected to be active working guards that socializing them too much can be detrimental to their protective ability?

My kuvasz is perhaps abit too young/overly socialized (lol) to know what exactly a threat is yet other than the mailman and strange cars in the drive - when I tense up/get abit uncomfortable due to something in the environment - she doesn't flinch or take much notice. She's low aggression in a urban environment so I'm certainly not complaining. and her protective instincts have yet to fully kick in - so, yeah. We're just going thru basic puppy obedience, continuing socialization, and basic commands now.
 

HayleyMarie

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#3
My Bouviers have been pretty protective when needed. Same with my little Westie Terrier.

My next breed will either be a Cane Corso or a Boerboel and boht those breeds can be pretty protective and intuitive.

Mitsu my 7 month old Pit bull cross Tosa Inu, really has no protective insticts as of yet but she is still a pup. It will be interesting to see if the Tosa comes out more as she matures.
 
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#4
There is no such thing as an overly socialized Fila. It won't "ruin" their guarding instincts; it hones their judgment as to what is and is not normal human behavior.

BUT . . . an owner who is prone to being anxious or fearful, especially someone who wants a dog to react on the basis of his or her feelings of fear or anxiety is absolutely the wrong person to try to handle a Fila.
 

corgipower

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#5
There is no such thing as an overly socialized Fila. It won't "ruin" their guarding instincts; it hones their judgment as to what is and is not normal human behavior.

BUT . . . an owner who is prone to being anxious or fearful, especially someone who wants a dog to react on the basis of his or her feelings of fear or anxiety is absolutely the wrong person to try to handle a Fila.
This. All of it. Except apply it to all breeds.
 

Mina

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#7
Needless to say, although I'll state it anyways, when considering any guardian-type breed, genetics, socialization, training, and suitability of owners, are each of tremendous importance.

I've heard Caucasian Ovcharka, Filas, and Akitas to be highly sensitive to their owners feelings/reactions to things in their surroundings, and accurately and readily reactive to them.
The old grey Akita, she ain't what she used to be. But if I were a misanthropic, old coot (as opposed to being just a plain old coot), a well-bred Fila or C.O. or, better still, three (for me, that's the magic number) Fila's or Ovcharka's, would be ideal.


But my personal "fantasy" guard dog is one that picks up on when I'm nervous/uneasy immediately, is able to pinpoint the source of my uneasiness, and actively be wary of it/protect me against it.
What you're kind of describing is our BRT.
"Kind of", as our BRT will always identify that potential threat long before I, or anyone else, is aware of it.

For:
- a "normal" lifestyle, with visitors to the home of all sizes and ages (and many with no dog sense at all),
- a life style which involves taking your dog(s) out with you to different social situations,
- and assuming we are relying on the dog's natural instinct (as opposed to being specifically PP-trained),
I see few equals to a well-bred *BRT
(*and, as in many guardian-type breeds, most we see today are not particularly well-bred ... IMO).

If one preferred more of a visual deterrent as well (as a well-groomed BRT is uncontrollably approachable until/unless in protection mode), a well-bred Rottie would be a gr8 choice.



Also, do you think that if these guard dogs are expected to be active working guards that socializing them too much can be detrimental to their protective ability?
Absolutely not!!!
IMO, the better the socialization, the better the guarding ability. Socialization will not only bolster a dog's confidence in strange situations with strange people, but will allow for better reading of various situations, so that the dog better realizes what is, and what is not, a real threat.

But then again, I'm speaking of actual protectiveness, and not simply aggression due to bad nerves.
 

Romy

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#8
My kuvasz is perhaps abit too young/overly socialized (lol) to know what exactly a threat is yet other than the mailman and strange cars in the drive - when I tense up/get abit uncomfortable due to something in the environment - she doesn't flinch or take much notice. She's low aggression in a urban environment so I'm certainly not complaining. and her protective instincts have yet to fully kick in - so, yeah. We're just going thru basic puppy obedience, continuing socialization, and basic commands now.
How old is she? All of the breeds you mentioned are slow to mature. Most of them won't reliably protect (if at all, because all dogs are individuals) until 2 years old at least.

Also, kuvasz and other LGDs are independent. They aren't going to look to YOU for cues that there's danger about. If you get anxious, they're going to glance around, and if there's nothing wrong they're going to roll their eyes at you or give you a condescending pat on the head. If there is something to worry about, then they'll worry about it regardless of how aware or oblivious you are.

I don't think you can over socialize a kuvasz. From what I understand, most of their defensive instincts are active when they're on home turf vs. going out and about. It makes them a lot easier to take places like the vet and out in public for sure.

When you tense up and get worried, what kinds of threats are you perceiving? Are they real? Is someone climbing your fence with weapon? Or are you just feeling generally anxious?

Coming from someone who long struggled with anxiety issues, one of the least useful things for an anxious person is a reactive/guardy dog that makes it's own judgements based on your emotional state. I tried training a German shepherd as a service dog for me. That was a massive FAIL.

That dog was so in tune I'd get anxious and she'd feed right off of it. She wanted so badly to make me happy, help me feel safe, and be a good dog that she decided on her own that X thing in the environment was making me anxious (in reality I was just anxious and it had nothing to do with the joggers, or people visiting, or the doves in the back yard, or the stray cats, etc.). She became extremely reactive to a lot of random things that had nothing to do with anything because she decided on her own that those things were the threats. We ended up rehoming her (she was a foster anyway and we were a really bad fit) with a nice older couple that had a nice stable older shepherd. Within a week she was a totally different dog.

With LGDs, their default is to assume everything is a threat. By socializing them you're teaching them about a lot of things that are not threats, and this makes them safer and happier.
 

Pops2

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#9
My Bouviers have been pretty protective when needed. Same with my little Westie Terrier.

My next breed will either be a Cane Corso or a Boerboel and boht those breeds can be pretty protective and intuitive.

Mitsu my 7 month old Pit bull cross Tosa Inu, really has no protective insticts as of yet but she is still a pup. It will be interesting to see if the Tosa comes out more as she matures.
a tosa is NOT a guard dog. it is a match dog. if the tosa comes out you're going to have 100# plus of red hot highly DA fighting machine.
 

MicksMom

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#10
...But my personal "fantasy" guard dog is one that picks up on when I'm nervous/uneasy immediately, is able to pinpoint the source of my uneasiness, and actively be wary of it/protect me against it...
Believe it or not, that describes the black Lab I had as a teen. Most times he picked up on something/someone not being right before we did, tho.
 

ihartgonzo

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#11
My Border Collie is very intuitive and an amazing judge of character. He definitely picks up on my energy... he HATED my sister's old friend who used to hit on me and grossed me out. Same guy tried to alpha roll him, and it was fade on sight. :p He's done hold and barks on intruders and uninvited guests. He's just enough to be super intimidating and stop some one, but too much of a puss to really bite. I know he would bite if it was needed, though.

I think a well bred German Shepherd is an amazing, intuitive guardian. My GSD saved my life as a child. He was a very friendly, awesome family pet but would get serious in a second if some one threatened his family. They are the perfect combination of biddable, friendly, and naturally protective for me.

I agree about a well bred Akita being a rarity at this point. My family had an awesome Akita... I've never met one like him, all of the Akitas I know are randomly HA and DA with no warning or reason. A well-bred Akita is AMAZING, but too rare. I would love a nice proper Akita.
 
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#12
7 Months, I know, I know - I don't expect her to seriously guard yet but I'm just curious of when those instincts should start kicking on is all - her breeder told me usually after the first heat (9 - 10 months), things will change...

I'm not generally anxious - quite chill most of the time actually. But certain things once in a while can set me off abit...

How old is she? All of the breeds you mentioned are slow to mature. Most of them won't reliably protect (if at all, because all dogs are individuals) until 2 years old at least.

Also, kuvasz and other LGDs are independent. They aren't going to look to YOU for cues that there's danger about. If you get anxious, they're going to glance around, and if there's nothing wrong they're going to roll their eyes at you or give you a condescending pat on the head. If there is something to worry about, then they'll worry about it regardless of how aware or oblivious you are.

I don't think you can over socialize a kuvasz. From what I understand, most of their defensive instincts are active when they're on home turf vs. going out and about. It makes them a lot easier to take places like the vet and out in public for sure.

When you tense up and get worried, what kinds of threats are you perceiving? Are they real? Is someone climbing your fence with weapon? Or are you just feeling generally anxious?

Coming from someone who long struggled with anxiety issues, one of the least useful things for an anxious person is a reactive/guardy dog that makes it's own judgements based on your emotional state. I tried training a German shepherd as a service dog for me. That was a massive FAIL.

That dog was so in tune I'd get anxious and she'd feed right off of it. She wanted so badly to make me happy, help me feel safe, and be a good dog that she decided on her own that X thing in the environment was making me anxious (in reality I was just anxious and it had nothing to do with the joggers, or people visiting, or the doves in the back yard, or the stray cats, etc.). She became extremely reactive to a lot of random things that had nothing to do with anything because she decided on her own that those things were the threats. We ended up rehoming her (she was a foster anyway and we were a really bad fit) with a nice older couple that had a nice stable older shepherd. Within a week she was a totally different dog.

With LGDs, their default is to assume everything is a threat. By socializing them you're teaching them about a lot of things that are not threats, and this makes them safer and happier.
Mina,

Your BRT sounds like a incredible dog!

Our training is going well - well, as well as it can be given Katalin's independent wiring. Patience, nerves of steel, a sense of humor and copious amounts of food are all necessities of LGD/Kuvasz owner.

I prefer an Ovcharka myself over a Fila - purely a aesthetic bias though. Just love their bear/wolfy look. And besides, aren't Fila's supposed to be a notch higher even on the pure aggression level than C.O's? Well, one day, in several years - when I live on enough land, build up enough muscle, and have more experience with serious ass guard dogs - then I may acquire a Ovcharka of my own.
 

Romy

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#13
Your dog is still just a baby. :) Just keep on with the obedience training and socialization. When she does switch on you'll be glad you did.
 

sillysally

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#15
Believe it or not, that describes the black Lab I had as a teen. Most times he picked up on something/someone not being right before we did, tho.
Jack is not generally "guardy" but he does pick up on sketchy people and situations that are just "not right." His reaction is to place himself between me am whoever is the problem, his body posture upright, and do his deep serious bark. It really interesting to see a dog that is goofy and puppylike 99% of the time suddenly switch into "defender" mode.
 

Kayota

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#16
My dog is reactive only to certain people, but it's usually men even so, so I'm not sure if it means anything lol! She used to react to ALL men and now it's just SOME men but I can't put my finger on what the thing in common is now.
 

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