The expression "A dog is man's best friend" is a bit misleading. There's something in that sentence. We think a more accurate way to say it would be “A guard dog is man's best friend”—that is, depending on which side of the law you're on.
May people have pet dogs for the simple reason of feeling safe when a dog is around the house. Some owners never go through the trouble of sending their dogs off to guard dog training school, which they should, though some are content with the animal's natural instinct to protect its territory from intruders.
You shouldn't be.
How guard dog training works
Guard dog training is the process of training and honing the dog's skills to become an efficient watch dog. Take note that guard dogs and attack dogs are two different things, and that dogs who go through extensive guard dog training do not necessarily make very good attack dogs.
Contrary to popular knowledge, guard dog training doesn't have anything to do with the dog's age. A dog may start training as a pup, or it can start later in life – it doesn't matter. The preparation for the training, though, that's a completely different story. Depending on what you taught to him or her as a pup, your dog may or may not be cut out to be a guard dog.
A dog that was taught not to jump on people as puppy might have trouble jumping on people as a guard dog. These factors determine whether or not your pet dog gets accepted into a guard dog training school. So if you're looking to transform your puppy into a guard dog in the future don't teach it anything that might hinder it when the time comes.
Guard dog training school
So, a guard dog training school, this is there most of the dog training takes place. Guard dog training is a serious endeavor and is a task for professionals. Don't attempt to train a dog unless you absolutely know what you're doing.
Dogs training at a guard dog training school must pass through the dog obedience training, even if it already got one before. This is to confirm that the dog retains most of the basic commands it learned as a pup. Think of it as a sort of refresher course. Later the dogs are trained to be more alert and to respond more quickly to instructions. A very good guard dog won't have you repeat the same instruction more than once.
A technique known as the “clicker training” is used to teach a dog basic commands. Using a small device that sounds a unique click when pressed, the dog in training is asked to perform a certain task or errand. If the errand was done correctly the trainer sounds the clicker and gives the dog a treat. Eventually the dog learns to associate the clicker with the treat, during which the trainer slowly replaces the clicker with a verbal command.
You can't bribe a good guard dog
Finally, you can't bribe a good guard dog. Period. And they teach this at the guard dog training school, too.
Guard dogs are trained to accept treats only from its trainer and owners. So you no longer have to worry about intruders bribing your dog with food while they make a break in to your house. In this respect, proper guard dog training is invaluable.