Personal protection dog?

[Daigga]

This is a topic close to home so let me give you a good three prong approach.

Let's be clear up front about one thing. Unless you are armed, you are at an extreme disadvantage. A protection dog is a great addition to, but never a replacement for, a firearm and training. To be blunt, if the intruder is armed and you are not, you're looking at a dead dog and dead family. A young mother in the Tennessee, with a newborn baby and wife of a local preacher, was recently shot dead during a home invasion at 8:30am on Tuesday morning in a good, "safe" neighborhood. A protection dog gives you the warning and time needed to reach for your own protection. They can scare other intruders off but never make the fatal mistake of relying on anyone but yourself for protecting your family. Owning a firearm will not put your infant in any danger. It will on the other hand allow you to protect yourself and your child.

It is a great idea to get a protection dog as a puppy and have it grow up with your child. Each of our children have received their own German Shepherd puppy within a week of being born. These dogs worship our children and are always looking out for them. We have also trained the dogs to locate and seek each child by name which can be very useful (think of it as hide and seek for training purposes). If someone is afraid of their dog being around their own infant then (a) the dog needs to be put down or b) the owner shouldn't own a dog or c) both a and b.)

We have 30 acres of pasture and woodlands so need very active dogs. For apartment living, I think a mastiff would be an excellent choice. They are large but do not require nearly the amount of space as some smaller more energetic dogs. Whichever protection dog you get, it needs to get from a breeder not the shelter, but it does not need to be AKC registered. If the breeder has kids, see how the parents do with the children. Get a puppy so you have full control over the temperament and training. The Monks of New Skeet have an excellent book on dog training.

The third prong is an alarm system, even though you are in an apartment. There is no need to spend thousands of dollars are on monitored alarm system. Personally, I think it's a little ridiculous people do this when you can do a better job yourself. For $200 or so, you buy your own DIY alarm system from a place like Fortress Security Store. It will send alarms directly to your cell phones so you can respond. You can also put up good quality IP cameras that you can view on your phones anywhere, anytime for $60. Since you rent, everything can be taken down easily and taken with you when you move.

I'm not adverse to owning a gun exactly, only I've always thought that in case of home invasion a gun is only useful if it's close and ready, which I just don't feel mixes well with infants or small children. If having a dog meant I could have a gun tucked away somewhere not accessible to my child I would probably be more comfortable doing so, if you understand my meaning? I wouldn't even mind having a firearm a little more on hand once my son is old enough to understand what that means. I think I just need some adjustment time.

I'm certainly not afraid of Odin being around the baby, more worried about him being destructive around home if he doesn't adjust well to not being the center of attention. We've gotten good at not leaving anything lying around to tempt him, but he's been known to chew the wall or poop on the carpet out of spite if nothing else is available. One of the reasons I would absolutely go with a professional for training purposes over doing the training myself. He's beautifully behaved at the dog park or as long as someone is home, but he's a proper butthead when he thinks he can get away with it. Which reminds me, do personal protection dogs do well at dog parks?

A security system is something I probably should have looked into before now and I'll certainly explore those options.