A lot of people have dogs for home defense. They are great to have to protect you, your family and your home. If you are a reader of this blog you probably have a gun or guns as part of your protection plan.
Well, guns and dogs don’t always mix. Trained dogs and guns mix well. An untrained dog can actually be a hindrance to you if you have armed intruders come into your home. Having the dog jumping all around and preventing a shot or turning tail and running after a shot could put you in danger.
We found a good article on dogs for home defense over at ITS Tactical on guns and dogs. There are some good sections on training in different rooms and a nice section on introducing the dog to gunfire:
“The next logical step, although not necessarily next in sequence, is ensuring that your dog is familiar with and comfortable around gunfire. I will not go into great detail here as both Baden K-9 and Dunetos K-9 offer courses in gunfire familiarization, but I will give you a few beginning thoughts. Do not take a dog out to the range for the first time and place them next to your muzzle. Build your dog’s exposure to gunfire.
Be very cautious about your dog while on the range. When dogs are introduced to gunfire, many can become highly stressed and sometimes lash out at others. Ensure that you are in control of your dog and your surroundings. Do not allow others to come and dictate to you how to work with your dog. If this means that you need to find a new range, then that is what you need to do. Remember, you are always responsible for your dog. This means maintaining control of your surroundings.
Finally, working with your dog around gunfire is something that you need to continue over the long haul. As often as possible, you should take your dogs with you whenever you go to the range. Exposing your dogs to gunfire often will ensure that they will not have a negative reaction to it during an actual defense of your home.”
Check out the article and let us know here in the comments what your experiences are with dogs, guns and home defense.
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