Choosing a home protection dog is a process that should be done with careful consideration. It’s important to understand how factors such as breed, temperament, and training work together to shape a dog’s behavior into a home protector and loyal companion that best fits your specific home, family and lifestyle. This article will help you determine what characteristics to look for when selecting a guard dog, with recommendations from the world-class protection dog trainers at Gold Coast K9.

Breed

Some dog breeds are better suited for home protection than others. When determining the best guard dog for your lifestyle, it’s important to consider breeds that are well-known and bred for their responsiveness, obedience, agility, and intelligence, as well as their loyalty, affection, and companionship. They should have a strong physical presence, enough to ward off potential intruders, be fast and tough enough to neutralize a threat when needed, but also be able to “turn it off” when engaging with the family while at rest or play.

Gold Coast K9 selects and trains the following breeds as home protectors based on their excellent qualities as both defenders and faithful, family companions with added abilities:

• German Shepherd
• Malinois / Belgian Shepherd
• Dutch Shepherd
• Doberman Pinscher
• Giant Schnauzer

Temperament

A dog’s overall personality/temperament is a critical factor in determining whether or not they will make a suitable family protector. Home protectors have to be able to successfully balance their drive to protect with their role as a companion and playmate, as well as be responsive and attentive to commands from anyone in their family – be it a small child or grandparent. This culmination of responsiveness and willingness to please coupled with the ability to distinguish between “work time” and “family time” are the traits Gold Coast K9 looks for when selecting dogs for home protection training.

A number of factors go into defining a dog’s temperament including breed, lineage, conditioning and training. That’s why Gold Coast K9 works with the world’s top breeders and hand selects dogs using a comprehensive screening process that not only looks at overall health and lineage to ensure a stable temperament, but also measures a variety of aspects including physical and mental biometrics to establish a baseline of acceptable abilities and performance levels.

The environment in which a dog is raised can also have a huge impact on their suitability and ultimate success as a home protector, which is why Gold Coast K9’s home protectors are exclusively selected from pups who have been raised in a family environment, not a kennel. This ensures that they are exposed to a variety of people, pets and stimuli at an early age and have a foundational understanding and level of comfort with the general ebb and flow of a household. Dogs who have been kennel-raised and don’t have early exposure to those types of real-life experiences will often display signs of stress and anxiety in household environments, even after training.

Pedigree & Performance

It’s important to make sure that you’re receiving a dog from a responsible breeder who meticulously tracks and optimizes the health and performance of their dogs over multiple generations. Picking a dog from a reputable, proven bloodline is key in ensuring your canine companion will remain healthy and in peak condition.

Gold Coast K9 employs full-time staff members whose sole job is to search for the best dogs for home protection from top breeders and trainers around the world. After the initial selection process, the dogs start conditioning and training, which includes a multi-step, rigorous screening process that measures their mental and physical acuity. Only 1 out of every 80 dogs pass Gold Coast K9’s internal screening process and go on to evaluation as home protectors or police dogs.

By only selecting dogs from the best bloodlines, Gold Coast K9’s home protection dogs can outperform any standard dog of the same breed for speed, agility, courage, and mental capacity.

Home Protection Training

At Gold Coast K9, we understand that individuals who are searching for a home protector have high expectations when it comes to training and performance. They’re looking for a dog that can proactively protect their family from potential threats, remains vigilant and alert as they settle into their new home environment, and can also serve as a friend and companion.

Every home protection dog should receive special training from an early age to ensure they establish a solid foundation in the skills, socialization and responsiveness they’ll need to become an effective protector. The quality of training a dog receives can make or break their appropriateness as a family guard dog. Dogs that are used for home protection need to have the temperament, discipline, and training to activate their guarding actions when necessary, but also “turn it off” in situations where their more protective instincts and training are not needed, such as down time/play time with family members and friends.

While there are different schools of thought in regard to training, it’s important to find and work with an experienced trainer/facility with a proven track record and history of success in developing protection dogs for home environments specifically.

The Gold Coast K9 Difference

Gold Coast K9 Home Protectors are the gold standard in home protection. Each home protection candidate is hand-selected for their upbringing in family environments, balanced temperament, social acceptance, and overall confidence. We only select dogs that meet our strict criteria and are not “crazy” or overly-aggressive. Each candidate also goes through a rigorous thirty (30) day screening process to determine their natural physical and mental aptitudes. This in-depth evaluation ensures they have the ideal temperament and work ethic to create the perfect family companion and home protector by collecting data to establish a baseline of acceptable performance.

Our K9 Home Protectors are thoroughly trained in obedience, agility, barking on command, searching a residence for intruders, and searching/monitoring outdoor perimeters. Gold Coast K9 dogs are also well-socialized with other dogs, humans, and animals of other species to ensure they are extremely well balanced, sociable, and vigilant.

We also understand that our clients have demanding schedules and can’t always dedicate dozens of hours to ongoing training for their canine companion, which is why in addition to making sure each home protector receives best in-class training, we also train each new owner on how to reinforce obedience with a clear and consistent management program and even provide them with a manual for everything regarding their new companion.

With over 2,000 protection dogs trained and placed, you can trust your family’s protection with our well-socialized, balanced, and highly disciplined dogs.

To learn more about available home protectors or
to schedule a tour, contact us at 805-647-1799.