Teaching To Bark For Protection?

[Fiona'n'Theo]

Hello,

I was wondering if my ridgeback would protect me if I was in a dodgy situation out on a walk but since he has such a lovely nature I think he would lick someone to death first. It got me thinking that maybe I could teach him to bark on cue? Ridgebacks don't bark much so I'm not sure how I would even start with something like that. Anyone have any ideas?

Cheers, Fiona

[Cleo's Corgwyn]

What worked for me (my Cardigan girl isn't much of a barker either) was finding a youtube video of a barking dog. She would get riled up, and bark at the 'other dog'. I just encouraged her and cued it witha command and later a signal.

Is there something he'll usually bark at? Other dogs, cats, sirens, etc?

[moosmum]

I taught mine to bark by...Barking 1st!

They learned it in seconds and like that that one!

And a reward of course.

[Nekhbet]

you can teach a dog to bark but if pressed by the possible aggressor through offensive body language the dog will in all probability back off. I dont like the idea of rewarding dogs to bark at strangers in a pseudo protection situation either, it can snowball into other unwanted behaviors or confuse the dog completely. If you are that worried about being attacked walk in another area or take a big stick with you.

[moosmum]

Gotta admitt thats a good point.

Mine may bark on command but theres nothing intimidating about that bark and i wouldn't want to teach them to bark so obviously at a person.

[Nekhbet]

there seems to be an idea floating on DOL that non guarding breeds and untrained dogs will do the job. If you are going to be that reliant on a dog invest in an already trained personal protection dog. Ridgebacks are NOT the right breed for it, they are not wired for that behavior and you are going against their nature. True protection is a very difficult thing to achieve and believe me VERY easy to get wrong at any step. Even encouraging a dog to bark towards people and rewarding it = potential disaster.

WHat are you really rewarding? What drive is the dog in? Does it have potential fear aggression issues you are about to blow up? etc etc Remember to not everyone is afraid of dogs. Some offenders know one swift kick and your dog will be running off. YOu try and hold a large frightened animal you push to show protective behavior (even standing in front of you in a situation can be enough to stress some dogs) and you risk being bitten yourself or traumatising your dog.

[Skitch]

It's a tough one really.. I'm not sure if teaching a dog to bark and encouraging it to do so through positive reinforcement is a good idea in a pet situation.. you'd basically have to encourage aggression which I think is very wrong. I think some dogs are natural born guarders are some just aren't.. is it really something you can teach if the initial 'spark' isn't there? He might pick it up as he gets older.. I have a cattle dog - bully breed mix who is a very good guard dog despite the fact that we never trained her to be. She's very protective of both our property and of us regardless of where we are but is also very easily 'called off'. How old is your boy? I dont know much about ridgebacks but maybe he will get that protective drive a bit later in life..

[K9Nev]

there seems to be an idea floating on DOL that non guarding breeds and untrained dogs will do the job. If you are going to be that reliant on a dog invest in an already trained personal protection dog. Ridgebacks are NOT the right breed for it, they are not wired for that behavior and you are going against their nature. True protection is a very difficult thing to achieve and believe me VERY easy to get wrong at any step. Even encouraging a dog to bark towards people and rewarding it = potential disaster.

WHat are you really rewarding? What drive is the dog in? Does it have potential fear aggression issues you are about to blow up? etc etc Remember to not everyone is afraid of dogs. Some offenders know one swift kick and your dog will be running off. YOu try and hold a large frightened animal you push to show protective behavior (even standing in front of you in a situation can be enough to stress some dogs) and you risk being bitten yourself or traumatising your dog.

A very good post Nekhbet I totally agree.

For anyone preferring even a visual deterrent in a dog, they need to be breeds well known for guardian instincts and protection roles, like a GSD or Rottweiler to begin with. From my own experience walking trained protection dogs and family pets of particular breeds in public places, people's reaction towards the breed is the same and most potential offenders are wary of those breeds being unkown to them what level of training the dog has achieved. It's easier to bluff someone that a GSD or Rotty will attack if necessary than threatening someone with the actions of a non guardian breed.

You can train dogs in suspicion for them to bark at people and bounce around on the end of the leash, but the down fall is that the dog becomes extremely difficult to handle and bad mannered viewing everyone as a potential threat. Training in suspicion, agitation and rewarding such behaviour without the proper conditioning and obedience training of true protection dog IMHO, is a dangerous practice waiting to go wrong and is best avoided. Teaching a prey driven yap without defensive aggression is probably less effective to a potential offender than a dog standing silently aloof by your side.

Unless a dog is protection trained properly and it's training is regularly maintained, I wouldn't personally rely on any dog for protection in the time of crisis.

Cheers

Nev

[Red Fox]

Fiona, how old is your dog? Am I right in thinking that he is still a young puppy?

Most Ridgies will become more protective as they mature, but Nekhbet is right, they are NOT the right breed for personal protection.