Suburban
Jeremiah Mudonha
In our crime-ridden, modern day societies our love for safety and security is apparent, yet the means to that end are not only many but perhaps disappointingly failing to give us the utmost satisfaction.
Are you grappling with what security measure to turn to as a panacea for your unending crime problems involving people intruding into your premises?
Why not go for guard dogs? Yes, I mean having dogs at your home or business premises.
Extensive security researches revealed that all things being equal, one properly trained guard dog has the ability to outperform over five watchmen.
Incredible, isn’t it? Dogs are endowed with very powerful senses and capabilities necessary for achieving best results in security.
For instance, think of how a dog inside high, closed, opaque walls can sense that there are people milling outside.
You rarely pass by its side without it giving you a spine-chilling bark.
And with its amazing sight, a dog can spot objects situated over 100 metres away.
Depending on breed and of course training, its smelling can surprisingly go beyond that.
Not to talk of its speed, the dog’s vigour, ferocity and strength enables it to effectively deter, chase, track and catch thieves.
But are all dogs that we see hanging around the same in terms of effectiveness in security?
Never! It is one thing to have a dog and another thing altogether to have an effective guard dog at home.
The latter is a priceless asset that gives you all the peace of mind that you require while the former is just a pet.
It is not the sizes, numbers or types of dogs that matter in security but how effective they are in warding off criminals.
Note that every dog however its age has the potential of being turned into an effective security tool.
This is notwithstanding the desirability of training a dog whilst it is young.
However, every dog is trainable if we apply proper skills. How can that be?
I will share tips to achieve the best security output out of your dog(s):
Restrain the dog.
Best results come from keeping your dog under restraint.
It was found that the more we keep our dogs constrained within their kennels and chains, the more
they become vicious when let out thereby effectively becoming deterrent to any would-be criminals.
On the contrary, letting a dog wander aimlessly tends to turn it wild and or social, that is if it does not get stolen.
It loses its much-needed aggressiveness and zeal to act in your best security interests.
Therefore, the dog should live in a kennel and be kept on leash. Allow it only out for patrols around your premises.
Have a relationship with the dog. Develop a close relationship with your dog through giving it necessary love and care.
Spend time with it.
Learn to call it by its name.
Talk to it until it understands your language.
Adequately feed the dog but do not overfeed it lest it becomes too fat to do anything.
For recommended diet, consult specialists.
Never ever ill-treat the dog because that will make it timid and hence less effective for any meaningful security duty. Cruelty to animals is an offence.
In return, the animal will defend and protect you.
Earning yourself trust and love from the dog is necessary for it to obey your instructions. The dog will also be able to distinguish between you or your household members and intruders.
The worst unexpected thing in this discourse is for the dog to attack you.
Similarly, incidents are on record where people were attacked by their own dogs to death.
Discipline your dog for effectiveness.
A disciplined dog is better than any fierce dog you can ever think of.
Your dog should obey you. Train the dog not to eat anything, anytime, anywhere and anyhow. A disciplined dog does not accept food from strangers or any food lying around.
This minimises chances of your dog getting poisoned by criminals.
To instil discipline in your dog, simply apply a modicum of incentives and punishment regimes!
Where your dog excels, give it a pat, an applause or even a sausage. And where it falters, reprimand and or jag it.
However, learn to vary the way you apply the punishment regimes so that you do not overdo it lest you harden, demoralise or antagonise the dog.
Let it know when you are not happy or angry through the mere sounding of your voice.
Ultimately, it will know what is good and bad.
What follows after that is discipline!
Train your dog to be always alert and security-conscious.
A dog should not remain lying unperturbed when people enter and leave premises.
It pisses me ever more to have a dog that dismally fails to take any notice or action during the incidence of crime, let alone barking to alert people around.
Ideally, security conscious dogs should love or be taught on moving around than huddle in one place.
They should lie strategically in open spaces of premises than to be indoors all night long.
Again, dogs have to be energetic and not passive, lest they fail to chase and catch thieves.
These tips are in line with my personal experience and knowledge in security matters.
They may or may not invariably suit your individual situations.
I therefore implore you to further consult your dog specialist.
Furthermore, the use of dogs in security, like other known means, is never infallible.
Dogs can misfire, die or be killed and can mislead. Therefore, dogs should never replace our need for human alertness.
More so, for realisation of commendably greater results, especially in areas where higher security is a must, I encourage you not only to increase the number of dogs but also combine such use of dogs with other reliable security measures such as security alarms, electric wires, security guards etc.
Please note, as alluded to, training dogs may be a potentially dangerous exercise so seek expert help wherever necessary.
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