Yellow labradors are currently the most popular breed in the US and among the top five in the world. They’re wonderful family pets, companions, and playmates. They even make incredible therapy dogs. But are yellow labs good guard dogs?
Unfortunately, labradors aren’t a great choice for protection. If you’re considering adopting an adorable yellow lab for that purpose, you may want to reconsider your choice of breeds.
If you already own a yellow lab, however, and want to expand his training to offer a degree of protection and guarding, this could work depending on your dog’s personality.
In this post, we’ll discuss all the characteristics that make labradors make good or bad guard dogs, so stick around.
Why Labradors Shouldn’t Be Guard Dogs
First, let’s clarify that not everyone will agree that labradors don’t make good guard dogs, as you’ll see from the conflicting opinions online.
Some people will swear that any dog can be anything you train it to be if you know what you’re doing; even a chihuahua can be a great guard dog, they claim!
While this is a lovely and optimistic outlook on things, it may not necessarily be true. As a matter of fact, chihuahuas can realistically make better guard dogs than labradors.
Chihuahuas have two extremely important traits that labs lack, which are aggression and introversion. Let’s examine these traits and others that make labradors bad guard dogs.
Their Priorities Are Questionable
Since labs were bred to be great companions for sportsmen and hunters, they’re generally used to being around a lot of strangers.
Over generations, this went from simply being accepting of outsiders to needing and loving to interact with new people on a regular basis.
Most labradors won’t just befriend their family members; they’ll be friends with the family’s friends, the neighbors, and even your ex from 3 years ago!
They’ll be all sorts of excited when they meet any of these people, even if they’re in your bedroom collecting your jewelry or vandalizing your garden.
Labs Love Making Friends
Imagine if a stranger gave your labrador a treat, a squeaky toy, or their ultimate weakness, a tennis ball. How would they react?
Any yellow owner knows that protectiveness and aggression are likely to go out the window in that case, if they even existed at all.
The average labrador will happily accept gifts and playtime from just about anyone. This is probably the last thing you’ll want in a guard dog.
Maybe if a family member is being attacked, these tricks won’t work, but if the attacker is simply breaking into your home while everyone is out, their chances of success are a lot higher.
They’re Naturally Gentle
Finally, and most importantly, labradors are the furthest from aggressive. An abused labrador, for example, is extremely unlikely to be aggressive compared to other breeds.
Even in situations where they need to defend themselves, labs would be hard-pressed to actually defend themselves by attacking.
Not only that, they’re even likely to develop anxiety or other mental health issues if they ever bit a human. Attacking people is ugly business, even for dogs. This is not a position you’d want to subject a dog to unless they’ve been aptly prepared for it.
Why Some Labradors Can Be Good Guard Dogs
We mentioned earlier that some labradors might do good as guard dogs depending on their personality. At the end of the day, breed-specific traits are nothing more than a predisposition. They’re not set in stone.
So if you’re considering an adult yellow lab to be a guard dog and already know that the above-mentioned traits don’t apply to them, there’s a good chance they’d make a good guard dog.
After all, labradors have all it takes to be a good guard dog except for a domineering personality. Some guard dog traits found in labs include:
They’re Big Dogs
No matter what type of dog it is, if someone is robbing or attacking someone or someplace and a dog as big as a labrador shows up, they’ll be rightfully frightened.
Their size isn’t the only thing they’ve got going for them. Labradors’ barks are loud and deep, sounding almost more scary than a rottweiler’s. If they’re a black lab, then you have the holy trinity of scary guard dogs.
They’ve Got Prey Drive
Now, let’s continue this scenario. A thief gets into a house to rob it, only to find a big loud dog staring at them. What’s the first thing they’re likely to do?
Easy. They’ll start running, triggering the A-class prey drive labradors have earned through years of selective breeding.
As a hunting dog, the main function of a labrador since the conception of this breed was to catch gunned down game. For that, they relied heavily on their prey drive and sense of smell.
Some Are Naturally Protective
This isn’t super common among labradors, but some of them can be a bit territorial or have resource-guarding behavior.
While most people train these out of their dogs during their puppyhood, they can be redirected into some form of protection.
However, it’s important to remember that labradors are sweet, loving creatures that can rarely handle causing harm to others.
Labradors Make Great Watchdogs
So if you’ve got a big, potentially scary, intelligent dog that’s eager to please, how can you use that to improve your safety and give them a task they’ll love? Training them to be watchdogs!
A watchdog will know what to do in case of intruders or strangers snooping where they shouldn’t. They can be trained to bark menacingly at the intruder, alert their humans, or even hit an emergency button.
They wouldn’t be trained to intervene in case of a physical attack.
Conclusion
Are yellow labs good guard dogs? In a nutshell, not really. They’re too gentle to be willing to physically protect their owners before it’s too late and too friendly and sociable to be trusted around strangers.
However, they could make excellent watchdogs that would alert their owner in case of a break-in.