Before making your final decision to buy a dog consider the following.
First and foremost both our Abcalert Neapolitans and our Trublue Bandogs are guardians, capable of giving great love and loyalty to their owners and family, and of great devotion to the children of the family,however, they are absolutely NOT children's pets, no child can control such alpha type dogs, an adult must be their leader and trainer.
We make every effort to breed only sound and stable dogs,but once they leave our care, we cannot be responsible for the way the dogs are then reared and or treated, the home environment to which a dog goes is very important to how that dog will react to different situations, if you do not have the time to spend training your pup in obedience, and cannot spare him your company for a reasonable part of the day or night, you are best to get some other type of dog.
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If you live in an area where you must leave access to your front door see that you have your dog safely contained in the back area.
You must have a safe area to put your dog when other children come to visit.
You must never leave any child unattended with large dogs, it is even inadvisable to leave babies alone with small dog breeds, dogs will be dogs, any dog of any breed can become overly excited by children running and yelling. this can awaken the prey drive that all dogs still posses, this is how many children come to get bitten by the family dog.
You need to teach your children to have respect for your dog, and not be unkind or do foolish things, teach them not to stare into a dogs eyes for one, all dogs see this as a challenge, should any dog approach too roughly or in a threatening manner, it is best for the child to stand quite still and not look directly at the dog, children should never be allowed to hit, jump on or otherwise poke at a dog in any way (try letting a child jump on your gut!!!)
You should never let your dog off lead unless in a designated area for this, and even then only after you have complete control of the dog, this is as much for his safety as for others.If other dogs or people are about it is far better to be sure than sorry, many people just do not have control of their dogs, and no matter how calm your dog may be, you cannot expect him to put up with other dogs in his face unless he has been very well trained to ignore this.
Socialise your dog, it will not stop him from guarding the home, you may limit his access to visitors in the home if you prefer him to be a sharper guard in the home, if you choose to do this, make sure visitors do not 'stir ' the dog, they may stir more than they bargained for.
All common sense stuff I know, but must be considered before just jumping in and buying any of the guard type dogs in particular.
Good links, make sure to visit the 'safe kids safe dogs' site it contains very good advise on safety.
The following is an excerpt from "Choosing and Rearing a Puppy" by Angela McDonnell
B.Sc. (Hons), MAPS Psych. (QLD).
And was published in the October edition of "Dog World", I have copied her article in part here because I think it holds a good deal of truth, though the fear stages she mentions are harder to pick in most Bandogs or Neos, at times they seem not to go through ANY fear stage all, however I have had one dog of mine, and have heard of others who have been affected by fear of either new surroundings, noise or dogs or who, at a later age simply would not accept new owners, I think it is quite possible that these dogs were at a critical period of their lives when the change was effected, with our dog it is unlikely that that the cause was genetic as they have been chosen for many generations now for soundness of temperament, so it will do the prospective buyer good to read and keep in mind this article when rearing their new pup in order to avoid later problems due to wrong handling at a critical stage.
Maria.
"Choosing and Rearing a Puppy" by Angela McDonnell
B.Sc. (Hons), MAPS Psych. (QLD).
There seem to be four quite definite stages in the early life of the puppy. Unfortunately, all dogs differ and the stages may occur a little earlier or a little later but the following times will be fairly close.
1. IMPRINTING occurs from birth up to about three week. This is the time that the puppy decides that the bitch is in fact 'Mummy' and learns to identify itself as a dog. Experiments have shown that animals raised without an adult of their own species in the first two to three weeks never learn to behave in a way that is normal for their species.
THIS IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO FIND A SUBSTITUTE MOTHER FOR AN ORPHANED LITTER EVEN IF SHE CAN'T PRODUCE MILK. The full extent of this period is not really known but it is thought that during the first three weeks, or a little more, the dog learns most if not all appropriate dog behaviours (e.g. the pecking order).
2. SOCIALISATION commences at about three weeks and continues to about three months or a little longer. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT THE PUPPY HAS A GOOD DEAL OF CONTACT WITH BOTH PEOPLE AND OTHER DOGS DURING THIS PERIOD. A puppy that is genetically very sound but raised in isolation during this period may never learn to accept people or dogs. At the very least, training such a dog may prover very difficult.
On the other hand, a puppy that is not as well bred or as stable, but carefully and properly socialized may well become a very trainable, good natured adult. Great care must be take, of course because the puppy at this age has not had it's final shots and is, therefore, highly susceptible to distemper and parvo virus.
3, Halfway through the socialisation period at, about seven to eight weeks, the puppy enters the FEAR period, which lasts to about 14 weeks. Severe trauma at this time may have a life-long effect.It is a generalised type of fear in which the puppy may not link its distress with the cause. Rather if the cause was severe enough, the puppy is more likely to develop a general fearful personality. (I am talking about an extreme case)
During this time the puppy should be protected from dogs likely to attack or any person who is likely to do anything stupid. Very young children should not be left unsupervised with the puppy as they may do something without realising its harm.
4. At about six months the puppy enters a SPECIFIC FEAR period which extends to about 12 to 14 months. This time it is different _ the puppy should associate its fear with a particular event. For example, a dog attack may leave it fearful of that particular dog, or of dogs in general, but not of people.
If such an event occurs it is important to handle it carefully. A dog showing fear should never be punished, but rather coaxed into overcoming its fear.
