There are tons of reasons why families choose to have a dog in their home, and for many they consider their canine friends as a form of protection. While there are some dogs that are trained specifically as guard dogs, the majority of the family dogs do not fit into this category.

Dogs do build a sense of loyalty for their family and out of instinct in many cases will try and protect them from the potential dangers of a burglar, but it cannot just be assumed that this animal will do so. It depends on the nature of the animal and how trusting he or she is himself. Some of these canines are so friendly and docile that they basically will let anyone into the house. At the same time you don’t want to have to deal with a dog that could pose a danger to welcome visitors to your home either.

Where you pooch can really help with your home and family protection starts with your training of the dog to listen to your commands. Many dogs tend to bark when someone comes to the door out of instinct, but the owners find this annoying and work hard at training the dog not to bark. You may want to consider allowing him to do this but cease immediately upon your command. This way he is giving you an alert which is what you want but not going beyond what is necessary.

Something else you may want to train your dog to do is not to accept food from strangers. Most often burglars will subdue an animal by offering them food and sometimes it can be harmful to the dog.

The other thing to keep in mind is to listen to what the dog may be telling you. If during the night for example the dog is acting out of character and perhaps growling, don’t just assume they have picked up the scent of a stray animal outside. It could be that someone is lurking around your house and the dog’s sensitive scent has picked up on this even though the possible intruder is still some distance away from trying to gain entry.

Basically, you don’t need a highly trained guard dog to afford you some additional home security. You just need to allow the dog to utilize what comes natural to him in regards to strangers or something out of the normal concerning your property, and obedient to your commands when you have checked out the cause and there is no danger.

Another alternative to having a real live dog in your home is to purchase Rex the Dog Bark Alarm from Pre-lock.