Personal Protection & Guard Dogs?

I have no interest in either of the above but I have read conflicting stories that Staff's make good or bad guard / personal protection dogs.

Just wondered what the general consensus was?

Mine would help burglars to the door I should think! She would be useless as a guard dog, and I've never been in a situation to see if she protect me, I'd like to think she would but who knows.

I think any dog can be trained for protection its how you treat them x

LOL same with mine, and if food was on offer my house would be empty!

She'd probably go with them

Clover isnt comfortable with men that she doesnt know in the house and has softly growled on a few occasions. Roxie (my little chi) isnt great with strangers full stop so she would make a lot of noise which would probably set the other 2 off barking. However, Diesel would probably just run off out the door lol

Generally terrible to be honest, they naturally like people too much.

Unfortunatly you could train one to be a good guard dog as you could any dog. Though if I was looking for a guard dog I would choose something thats naturally good for it like a Argentine Dogo, Boerboel, Rotweiler, GSD, Doberman, American Bulldog, Dogue de Bordeaux.

All the above would come to mind for personal protection way before a staffordshire bull terrier.

My little girl is way too cute for either role, mind you farting and talking she would win prizes for every day!

As a breed, they tend to make terrible guard dogs because they tend to love people. My boy even loves the vet! They can be trained as guard dogs, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Naturally Staffy are very human friendly and like many say would even help a robber out with your belongings.
If pushed to the limit trained with inhumane means then they can be very good guard dogs, but naturally their too lovable.

My staffy i would actually class as a good guard dog for the breed, however only at night during the day he's not really fussed

Like mentioned above my other is an american bulldog X staff and he is very protective and very much a guard dog, even though he's only been here a week.

ive often wondered what if.. but my boys around a lot of people all the time but he dosent like people with hoods or hats on near the house he barks from the window if he hears noises at night so he could be of use as to alerting us too stuff. as for protection me and my good lady have joked to hit each other he barks at us it looks aggressive but his tail wags??? lol

kic wrote:ive often wondered what if.. but my boys around a lot of people all the time but he dosent like people with hoods or hats on near the house he barks from the window if he hears noises at night so he could be of use as to alerting us too stuff. as for protection me and my good lady have joked to hit each other he barks at us it looks aggressive but his tail wags??? lol

Not liking thoughs with hoodies/hats probabilly because their eyes are covered and he can not see all of them.
barking when you guys mess around he knows your messing around he can pick up on the energy and see it is nothing seriouse as for him barking can be quite dominant because he is trying to control the situation and to calm you both down.

Billy would lick any burglars to death

I fostered a dog (an APBT mix) that freaked out the first time he saw me with my hood up. He stood up straight and stared at me barking aggressively. When I took off my hood and said, "It's ok, it's just me!" He calmed right down! He was part Shar Pei (a guarding dog), though, so he was weary of strangers. I think that not being able to see the face or eyes makes some dogs nervous.

my Tia is fine with people she knows and most strangers but if she has taken a dislike to them then she lets them know she sort of she looks like she puffs herself up and wont stop barking at them but my Silas loves everybody

johneva wrote:Generally terrible to be honest, they naturally like people too much.

Unfortunatly you could train one to be a good guard dog as you could any dog. Though if I was looking for a guard dog I would choose something thats naturally good for it like a Argentine Dogo, Boerboel, Rotweiler, GSD, Doberman, American Bulldog, Dogue de Bordeaux.

All the above would come to mind for personal protection way before a staffordshire bull terrier.

well if i was a burgerler and i saw one of these i would fill my pants!
http://dogsbreed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Boerboel.png

^^^^^ they big beast remind me of my bros dog, its a douge de bordeux x rottie... big gentle giant

As a personal guard (ie to protect me if someone actually attacked me) a staff is fantastic. However, as soon as the attck stopped the staff would stop as well.

As a guard dog for the home? Not in a million years - they'll help the burglars pack the goods in bags!

During the day I would say no. At night I have learned to be cautious of how I come into the house if the OH and Suki are asleep.

Tinkerbell is a useless guard dog, she would be the same as Moo and would help the burglar into the house and then leave with them. She loves strangers, and has never ever shown any concern over protecting me or the house.

I don't think she would ever protect me either, as she would properly welcome an attacker by licking them. Although I would like to think, that if, and I hope not, the opportunity arose she would stand her ground and protect me.

The only way she would be of use as a guard dog is that she would stop the burglars in their tracks by licking them and bouncing on them, they would never be able to get on with stealing our stuff. And her excitment barks would alert us to intruders at night.

My welsh sheepdog on the other hand was an excellent guard dog and he hated men approaching me. He would bark at anything, even the next door neighbours leaving in their car and he absolutely hated the postman and the milk man.

MarleyAndMe wrote:

johneva wrote:Generally terrible to be honest, they naturally like people too much.

Unfortunatly you could train one to be a good guard dog as you could any dog. Though if I was looking for a guard dog I would choose something thats naturally good for it like a Argentine Dogo, Boerboel, Rotweiler, GSD, Doberman, American Bulldog, Dogue de Bordeaux.

All the above would come to mind for personal protection way before a staffordshire bull terrier.

well if i was a burgerler and i saw one of these i would fill my pants!
http://dogsbreed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Boerboel.png

Exactly, most guard dogs and personal protection dogs its more about intimidation and making them think noway I am going in there or noway I am going to attack them.

I am yet to come accross a Staffy where I thought that, its exactly why I got a Staffy I am more than confident if it ever was in fight mode for what ever reason I would be more than caperble of handling it, yeahs its a powerful dog considering its size but it is still small after all, unless its way out of standard and most likely not actually a full Staffy anway.

What would you be more intimidated by a Boerboel like in the picture above or a 14"-16" Staffy?
The ideal height for a dog is 66cm (lower than 60 cm is unacceptable).
The ideal height of a bitch is 61cm (lower than 55 cm is unacceptable).

How about Dogo Argentino http://www.welpen.de/dogos/ronazgr.jpg
Breed Standard:
Weight: 40 to 45 Kg (88 to 99 lbs.)
Height: 60 to 65 cms. (23.6 to 25.6 inches)

These dogs thats exactly what they are for guard dogs and personal protection, they are perfect for the job.

Dogs can be quite deceptive.

My aunt's standard poodle was a real softie. Me & my sister used to dress him up in cowboy hats & scarves & even cowboy boots! We'd roll around with him & he'd just take it all. He loved everybody.

My aunt & uncle went out for a meal one evening. When they came home they could hear a whimpering. They went into the living room & saw a burglar pressed against the wall, crying quietly & begging them to 'let him go'.

The dog had let him in, had followed him around, wagging his tail & the burglar thought he'd got away with it all. But when he tried to leave, the dog growled. Every time the guy made towards the door or the french windows, old softie poodle would snarl & move towards him. He'd backed him up against the wall & that's where he stayed till the police came!

Dempsey's protective, full stop. Inside or out, he's suspicious of strangers & you have to handle him carefully.

Bandit was a sweetie to everybody, in the house or outside, unless it was night time. When I used to take him out at night, if someone walked towards me I'd feel a rumbling through the lead. That would become a growl as whoever it was came closer & if they came too close, he'd snarl. Most people, faced with a snarling staff would cross over the road!

Caryll wrote:Dogs can be quite deceptive.

My aunt's standard poodle was a real softie. Me & my sister used to dress him up in cowboy hats & scarves & even cowboy boots! We'd roll around with him & he'd just take it all. He loved everybody.

My aunt & uncle went out for a meal one evening. When they came home they could hear a whimpering. They went into the living room & saw a burglar pressed against the wall, crying quietly & begging them to 'let him go'.

The dog had let him in, had followed him around, wagging his tail & the burglar thought he'd got away with it all. But when he tried to leave, the dog growled. Every time the guy made towards the door or the french windows, old softie poodle would snarl & move towards him. He'd backed him up against the wall & that's where he stayed till the police came!

Dempsey's protective, full stop. Inside or out, he's suspicious of strangers & you have to handle him carefully.

Bandit was a sweetie to everybody, in the house or outside, unless it was night time. When I used to take him out at night, if someone walked towards me I'd feel a rumbling through the lead. That would become a growl as whoever it was came closer & if they came too close, he'd snarl. Most people, faced with a snarling staff would cross over the road!

Then the burglar is a wimp and should get a new profession lol, sorry but noway on this earth I would let a Poodle stop me going anywhere growling or not. If I was a scum bag enough to be stealing from somebodys house I would also be scum bag enough to deal with a Poodle fast enough. Hit it with a frying pan a few times and it would be game over thats if it would even require a few times.

Where as the dogs I listed unless you got a gun or a knife good look, even then not sure the knife would even stop one of them unless you knew where to get it good and where fast enough.

But anyway enough about being horrible to dogs I love them and would never want to harm one, just saying I know what I can handle if need be an a Staffy dont scare me otherwise I would not have got one.

You never saw the poodle. He was HUGE! About 30" to the shoulder & really well built!

Yeah the Giant Poodles are quite big arnt they actually, for some reason when you say Poodle I automatically think of the miniature or standard ones.

Ive seen a couple of staffs trained as protection dogs, however overall as a breed they dont make very good PP dogs. Althought you might get a few one-offs who are born for the job the breed are a little too people friendly and have too much heart! However they are very loyal, I dont doubt that 90% of the staff owners on this site would be protected by their dogs if need be.

I think you lot think of poodles as balls of cotton wool with four legs and a tail! I think poodles are immense dogs, so intelligent, agile and loyal. And I love the look of their naturqal coat if left to grow out. A standard poodle? No way I would want to get bitten by one. Like a border collie they have a fine muzzle but big teeth!!
The poodle is often profiled as a dog with a high protection urge and good suitability as a guard dog!

Poodles get stereotyped, too! They are actually very intelligent (2nd only to the Border Collie in one study), athletic and hard working dogs! I may get a poodle one day, they seem like they would be great pets!

http://guarddogs.bulldoginformation.com/

Got alot of interesting info about other breeds of dogs, how true some of it not sure but.

I don't think saff would stop anyone from robbing us if we were out, but she's really protective over us and if were in and someone comes to the door she barks and runs to the door, only to lick whoever it is to death when they come in lol. Still I wouldn't try and get in if I heard her! I'm quite confident she would protect me if I were in real danger though as the other night my bf came in after a night out and fell asleep on the couch leaving the gate open, I took saff up to bed with me and someone started hammering on the door really late and I panicked and hekd on to her and she was really growling with her teeth out and barking. Quite proud of her really!

well if i was a burgerler and i saw one of these i would fill my pants!
http://dogsbreed.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Boerboel.png[/quote]

lol that is a beast!

Nosipho wrote:Ive seen a couple of staffs trained as protection dogs, however overall as a breed they dont make very good PP dogs. Althought you might get a few one-offs who are born for the job the breed are a little too people friendly and have too much heart! However they are very loyal, I dont doubt that 90% of the staff owners on this site would be protected by their dogs if need be.

I knew a guy who wanted to prove that Staffs could be trained as attack dogs. He went to a friend in the Air Force who teaches their security dogs & asked him to train the dog. The staff would run at the target guy & bark like crazy but didn't want to bite. They persevered, though & eventually the dog reluctantly leapt & grabbed the guy's arm. However, it immediately then let go & crouched down on the ground. He loked at his owner as if to say "There, I've done it. For you. But I didn't want to!"

Tilly would make a good guard dog.She keeps an eye out on everything around her and is very alert.She barks when strangers come to the door and stands by it growling and giving it large lol.

She also has a high prey drive but is intelligent enough to wait for my command to get it.

She loves being told to get spiders.Which is handy as there all dinner plate sized at the moment.

Kaos barks when some one is at the door or near the door but thats as far as it goes he would help a robber pack the bag if he thought he was being a good boy and as for personal protection he gets chased by a pomerianian over the field sooo..........Ty would also make a useless guard dog but has rolled and pinned another dog who attacked me and also put himself infront of my daughters pushchair when she was a baby and did like a really deep growl when a nasty dog slipped its lead and dashed across the road towards us thats my boy!!

my lemmy is frightened of his own shadow at times so would be rubbish in the guard roll we have to watch out for him