Can an American Bully Be a Guard Dog? A Simple Training Guide

American bullies are characterized by having a strong muscular body as well as a caring, protective, and loyal personality, but does that makes them good guard dogs? Let’s see.

Can an American Bully be a guard dog? An American Bully can be a guard dog. These dogs make the best guard dogs as they have all the requirements needed. They are strong, smart, loyal to their owners, and they have protective personalities which they will always protect you and your family.

Continue reading to learn more about the reasons why American Bullies make good guard dogs, how to train them, and when to seek help with their training.

Why Do American Bullies Make Good Guard Dogs?

American Bullies make good guard dogs because they meet most of the requirements that you need in a guard dog. These requirements are related to their physical appearance and size as well as their personality and intelligence.

So, let’s take a close look at some of the characteristics that make American Bullies good guard dogs:

American bullies have four sizes, which are: pocket, standard, classic, and extra-large size. Their muscular build makes them ideal as guard dogs as they can easily run and jump and take action against any threat.
- But it’s not recommended to get the pocket-size as your guard dog because they’re so small compared to the other size; therefore, they will have some problems doing tasks that they should be able to do.
They are protective of their family. When they feel that their family is threatened, they will become aggressive and do everything they can to deal with the threat.
They are fearless and bold. They would defend their family against any dangerous animals such as snakes since they are brave and would do anything to make you safe.
They are always in control of their temper, even when they get teased. You can easily control their behavior by commanding them, whether you want them to calm down or attack.
They are fast learners. Not only that, but they are so smart and have a great willingness to be trained. They love spending time with their owner, even during training, and love to take orders and be told what to do.
They can alert you to any danger from intruders or strangers without attacking. Their training and instincts would prevent them from showing any kind of aggression in any circumstances unless they were ordered to.
They have a high bite drive as they have the willingness to bite an intruder or animals, although they are companion dogs.

How to Train Your American Bully to Be a Guard Dog?

We’ve mentioned the characteristic found in the American Bully that makes it the perfect guard dog. In order to train your American Bully to be a guard dog, you need to strengthen these characteristics.

So, let’s take a closer look at how you can train and strengthen these characteristics in your American Bully to make it a good guard dog:

Physical Mobility

Physical Mobility is essential in a guard dog since the guard dog must be able to run, jump, and move fast and move their body easily to be able to get the intruder or animals.

Therefore, you need to be aware of your Bully’s weight. Make sure that his food is balanced to not get overweight.

It’s recommended for your Bully to have 2 meals a day, and don’t forget to make them delicious, healthy, and rich meals.

Also, exercising is very important for your American Bully. It makes them energetic and more flexible when they’re about to attack.

Bite Drive

The bite drive is a very important feature that must be in a guard dog, and American bullies are great with it.

American bullies have the willingness to bite an intruder or animals, although they are companion dogs. When it comes to protecting his owner and house, he is going to do whatever it costs.

You have to be focused on the bite training, to make them bite when you order them only because you don’t want your dog to bite anyone or everything all the time.

Obedience

Obedience comes with very dedicated, focused training, but the good news is that American bullies already have the willingness and the desire to be obedient and loyal to their owners.

They are smart, easy to train, and well-behaved compared to other dog breeds. With training, their obedience will only grow stronger, and you will be able to make them follow your commands, so you’ll always be in control as they like to be told what to do.

You need to start with the basic obedience orders like “come,” “sit,” “eat,”…etc.

Make sure you are giving each command its time because rushing the training process will not make the dog better. Instead, it will end up with him forgetting all the commands and can’t differentiate between them.

When you are teaching your American bully aggressive commands such as “bite,” “catch,” or “attack,” make sure you are training them the word “stop” while doing this behavior, and give them the treat to make them know they are acting right.

You should also make your dog socialize with new people, so he can be able when to take any action as an attacker and when to be friendly.

Temperament

Temperament is something you should carefully consider when you are choosing the guard dog.

You don’t want a dog that gets frustrated easily and bite anyone or any animal passing by or a child that wants to play with him.

American bullies have a good temperament. They would not bite anyone they are not commanded to, even by accident.

They get frustrated like any other dog. However, they always manage to control their behavior, whether inside or outside the house or in public.

And by training, they will realize when to take action and when not to. You can also control their temperament by giving them orders on when to attack and when to calm down.

Signs of Aggression in American Bullies

It’s rare to find an American bully that is always angry, mad at everyone, and bites everything all the time, as they are not inherently aggressive. However, it may still happen due to wrong training or bad socialization.

So, here are the common signs of aggression to watch for in American Bullies

Leash pulling while you’re taking them for a walk.
Becoming excessively overprotective and guarding you against people and other dogs
Attacking and biting so fast suddenly without giving any alert.
Always seeking to steal attention from other dogs.
Baring and grinding their teeth
Inserting himself aggressively between you and another person or animal
Barking and lunging at people for no reason
Holding their ears and tail high while moving stiffly from side to side
Refusing to listen to orders and responding by barking, jumping, and nipping.
Having food aggression by begging and guarding their food and barking whenever someone gets close to it.

When to Seek Help with Training Your American Bully?

You must seek help when your American Bully shows escalating aggressive behaviors. Don’t wait till something bad happens, and immediately seek a professional trainer’s help before it’s too late.

Make sure to monitor the dog’s behavior all the time, and if you find any signs of aggression, you have to go for training and obedience classes.

American bullies’ aggression leads to serious issues and injuries. They would hurt adults and children by biting and attacking them.

Can an American Bully Be a Guard Dog? A Simple Training Guide

Why Do American Bullies Make Good Guard Dogs?