dog protection question

[savingdogs]

A submissive dog probably needs more encouragement to bark than an assertive one. But trust me, I like dogs that are quiet over ones that are noisy. Be careful what you wish for!

Your dog sounds very sweet, just take things in small steps and give a lot of praise in a high voice. Dogs take a lot of repititions to learn things fully, he is probably "getting it" more than you think and if you just keep working on it he will have some breakthroughs. Dogs are usually as good as you MAKE them, the more work and time you put in the better behaved they will be. Often just giving them your attention is a form of training, directing them, telling them when they are being good, is all going to shape the dog and make it the best it can be. I always suggest to people that they go to a formal obedience class because being around the other dogs and still being made to behave is the biggest distraction you'll ever find and even if you are a seasoned dog trainer it seems to be helpful overall for all aspects of their behavior to have that type of socialization. Labs usually do really well at it.

For your dog to have the excellent hunting instincts you describe, he was bred for THAT purpose and sounds like he does that very well. Black labs tend to scare people more than other colors but sometimes any large dog will do the job. I've seen people with labs TELL everyone "Oh, he would never hurt a fly." I always think they just ought to zip their lip unless they are talking to family or whatever.

 

[MsPony]

He's been in professional training since he was 4 months old. As controversial as this is, we used Ceasar Milan up until then. I have trained adult dogs, but neither my mom or I had ever trained a puppy and he REALLY helped. I think jax knew sit on his 3rd day with us. He doesn't question like an older rescue does, he questions what he should donext, where he needs to go, etc. Never questioning authority or questioning if I'm right.

Lol I'm giving up, he's too good to be protective. I'm getting another lab next year, maybe it will be more protective

I took him all over Malibu sunday night after a full day of shopping, *i'd* never been to these houses, we were tired and cranky. He was FABOLOUS, everyone wanted to take him

 

[freemotion]

Rather than getting another dog, get a different type of protection animal that will serve a dual....well, triple purpose. Personal protection, dairy production, and brush/weed control. Just trim the ears off of any goat...a black goat is more intimidating than a blonde goat, I've found....and turn her into a fierce and furious Doberman Protection Goat.

I did this and it worked out great!

 

[MsPony]

Lol!! Trust me, I've been trying to sneak a goat past the neighbors

I'm Jaxons co-owner, my mom is the other half. When I move to college and on with my life, he has to stay

 

[savingdogs]

Freemotion finds a way to promote goats on every thread! You will be corrupted soon......bwa ha ha ha ha ha ........

(I only have three goats so far)......

 

[MsPony]

Oh I already am I lived one a nigi dairy/show ranch when I was 18. I loveeee birthing!

 

[lwheelr]

Labs as a breed are bred to NOT be protective. Their purpose is bird hunting - you can't have a dog barking at everything that moves when you are trying to be quiet.

Sloppy breeding means that SOME labs do have uncharacteristic personalities, and will be somewhat protective - but that isn't true to the breed.

If you want a guard dog, get a breed that has been bred for guarding, don't get another lab that has just been bred for the same behavior as your current dog.

 

[pinkfox]

as others have pointed out labs are SUPPOSED to be happy go lucky, welcoming and increidbly friendly dogs...
an agressive lab is a badly bred one...

But in terms of protection, a large breed alone if often enough, but since she is obviously quite smart, how about training her to bark or growl or bare her teeth on cue, theres plenty of methods to do this but the general rule of thumb is find a way to make her do the desired behaviour in fun, click (or otherwise mark the behaviour ie a bark) and treat. once shes picked up the bark = treat part start adding a word or hand signal (hand signals are better if you want it to seem "agressive" because eventually you cna make the signal very small and get her to bark on cue without anyone noticing you gave her a command) link the behaviour to the cue, click and reward...
eventually you can lessen and eventually stop the treats and tada, a dog that can easily seem agressive, while not doing anything to change or destroy your babies WONDERFULL character

 

[savingdogs]

good plan, pinkfox!

 

[MsPony]

**UPDATE**

So I gave up trying to teach him, he's just my buddy However Sunday night he barked! I didn't even register it, as he never does it. I guess my little brother tried to come in, and Jaxon barked at the stranger

Then today!! We were driving and I saw my little bro at the corner waiting for a friend, he spiked his hair into a mohawk for the last day of school. Drove Jax nuts and he was barking!!

Let me tell you, my dog is cute, soft, cuddly, etc...don't ever meet him in the dark because his bark is *really, REALLY* scary.

I'm not sure if he's growing up, or if he feels protective over me now. After I got him, I realized I'm not a puppy person...our first year was very rough. Only recently have I really dug him, he's with me everywhere I go and sleeps by my side everynight.

But, he barked