Border Collie Gaurd Dog

[Lloyd]

Can a Border Collie be trained to use it's stare to discourage trespassers. Could I train it to give "the stare" on command?

[Steph M]

I'm sure you could do it, but tresspassers would have to get close enough to catch it and would it be enough?

Plus do lots of people/potential robbers read 'the stare' or just think 'dog isn't barking, all good to go'

[kelpiecuddles]

Probably easier just to train the dog to bark on command

[Vickie]

A bark is more intimidating to an intruder than a stare.

It is not within a BCs instinct to stare at people as a form of intimidation.

Of the 8 BCs I've had, 6 have barked when someone arrived at my house. This hasn't been on command, it's something they have done naturally. You don't really want it on command, as I assume you want them to do it, even when you're not there to give a command. What you do want is a command for them to stop barking!

Border Collies can be obsessive, some lines more than others. If you don't give them something you want them to be obsessed about, they can obsess over birds, cars driving by, anything that moves...with this obsession can be non stop barking.

If you have livestock & you want them to work, they have to learn from day one that access to livestock is dependent on you...otherwise they can be very difficult to manage. If you never want them to work chickens, that also needs to be the rule from day one.

[DeltaCharlie]

We have a few here that I would feel perfectly safe walking down a dark alley with (and some who would be more likely to lick people to death :laugh: ). I have one who has had a nip at the heel of someone he thought was trying to break in through the back door (lots of warning barking which went ignored, when the person opened the back door he went in for a nip). I was home alone at the time though.

If the house was empty? I highly doubt any of them would do a thing. They have no protection instinct when it comes to the house, even those who wouldn't hesitate to protect their person.

As far as the bark goes, some of ours have an incredibly loud and deep bark that would sound like a much larger dog, but some of them have a yip type bark that would scare off nobody :laugh:

I personally wouldn't recommend them as a breed for use as a watchdog.

[persephone]

ANY dog can act as a "watch dog" :) The dog needs to have the inclination .. One of our best watchdogs ever was a scruffy little terrierX dachshund ! She would bark/growl ..and in extremes- go for an ankle (all she could reach) .She was very effective .

Sometimes I wish a few of our dogs had not ever decided to 'guard' It can be tricky to manage - esp if that "off" switch isn't easy to locate .

[huski]

My beagle is a pretty good watch dog! She will go OFF if she sees someone walking past the house etc. Unfortunately most people just laugh at her, she doesn't exactly look menacing :laugh:

[persephone]

*coffeesplurk* Sooper Beagle !

[JulesP]

My current border collies take their guarding duties fairly seriously. They have made big men run Poppy will stand and glare at tradies.

Amber is currently glaring at me because she wants to go out :laugh:

Not a breed to be buying for guarding purposes though.

[cavNrott]

Sounds like the OP is looking for a watch dog rather than a guard dog. Most dogs are pretty good watch dogs if a stranger comes on to the premises.

A guard dog needs specialised training from a professional trainer.

[DeltaCharlie]

Best "watch dog" I ever owned was a Siamese Cat :laugh: She knew my Dad (he lived with me for a few weeks) yet still would not allow him into the house one day when he went round to feed the animals for me one night when I was away. He ended up having to go to Woolies and buy a bowl and some food and push it quickly through the front door LOL The dogs of course were all over him and happy to be fed outside.

[Seita]

My girls certainly act the part if there is a barrier between them and the person they are barking at... once that barrier is no longer there they just jump all over the person in question and give them kisses. I have been broken into with the dogs loose inside and there wasn't even a peep out the dogs, either they slept through it or welcomed the intruder in and showed them around. As a watch dog they are great but definitely useless as guard dogs!

[DeltaCharlie]

When my house was broken into a few years back they gained access via the back yard. All they took of value was my computer and laptop- I suspect the dogs deliberately showed them where they were given the amount of time I was spending on them at the time! I could just picture Delta spinning in circles all the way down the hallway in her excitement to show off Mum's toys :laugh:

[persephone]

My BCX let my work briefcase be stolen out the car ..... but bailed up a postman delivering a parcel

[JulesP]

I assume mine did prevent a robbery at my last house as I came home to the front gate open, the porch door open and finger prints on the window frame. Could also have been religious folks :laugh: Whoever it was left in a big hurry. The borders were sitting innocently at the gate line when I got home!

[Amax-1]

Can a Border Collie be trained to use it's stare to discourage trespassers. Could I train it to give "the stare" on command?

GSD's and Rottweilers are the best deterrent breeds by offender avoidance statistics, with these breeds the offenders are never sure of the training the dog may have on entry even when the dog is seemingly docile. Border Collies are unlikely to deter offenders from serious threat and often results in injuries to the dog by offenders willing to take it on showing guarding instinct. The beauty of GSD's and Rotties is that they don't need to show any aggression as their mere presence is intimidating to potential crime. Crooks know what breeds are most trainable in guarding and protection as dogs are hazardous to their unlawful activities. Dogs used as crime deterrents if not known breeds, need to be large dogs that show aggression or intimidating territorial barking where smallish dogs of watch dog types aside from noise alerting owners are often donged on the head in the crime process.

My belief is to use the right breeds for offender deterrent to keep the property and dog potentially safe :)

Edited June 6, 2014 by Amax-1

[aussielover]

The presence of any dog at all is a deterrent to opportunistic intruders. A large barking dog is even more off putting. If someone is purposely targeting your home then even the best security systems may not be effective.