Are Huskies Good Guard Dogs? (10 Reasons Why Not)

Looks can be deceiving—if you are looking for a dog to guard your house, then huskies are probably not the best choice for you.

There are several reasons for this that we can further explore in this post. So, let’s look into what it is that makes them unsuitable for this role.

Too Friendly

Huskies are extremely friendly! They love being around people and get along well with strangers as well.

They are playful dogs that always seek interaction and are very fun to have around. For this reason, they make great pets for your family.

They are also friendly with kids and become wonderful companions for them.

Because of their friendliness factor, huskies are not exactly ideal as a guard dog for your house or any other place. Chances are that they probably won’t think of burglars, intruders or any suspicious people as threats.

They also bark very rarely, which is the opposite of what you want when it comes to a guard dog.

Further, it is a difficult task to leave them alone. Surely, this does not work for you if you expect your dog to protect the house while you’re not around.

Also Read: Can Huskies be Service Dogs?

Pack Oriented

There’s a reason behind the fact that huskies are so friendly and good with people.

This is because they were initially bred and raised in Siberia to travel in packs with other dogs of their kind as well as families. They were constantly surrounded by people and developed close ties with them.

This explains why these dogs love being around people and why they can sometimes find it difficult to be without company.

As a result, it is possible that when you or your family aren’t around and they see someone in the house who isn’t supposed to be there, they will seek them out instead of driving them away.

Difficult to Train

Huskies are not the easiest dogs to train. Of course, if you train them calmly, it will make your job easier.

However, even then, don’t expect them to undergo more intense training that a guard dog would usually require.

They get distracted easily and may not be able to fully focus on the training process. Their stubbornness may only make this more difficult for you.

Additionally, they do not naturally become suspicious of new people or strangers. This is tough to teach as well and, in many cases, instinct might win over their training.

A potential reason for this might be their wolfish behavior.

Therefore, it is best to stick to the minimal training that dogs usually require when it comes to huskies.

You can try training huskies as watchdogs as their traits would allow them to be good at that, but training them as guard dogs is another matter altogether.

Not Aggressive

Huskies are not too aggressive. It can be easy to believe that they are because of how they look.

This is a common misconception that people tend to have about huskies. Contrary to people’s expectations, they are actually affectionate and loving dogs.

They will not become instantly suspicious of new people they come across. This is not a very useful characteristic to have in a guard dog.

In fact, if someone unfamiliar enters your house or property, huskies will probably get excited and will end up trying to play with them.

This makes it counterproductive to use huskies as guard dogs.

Not Too Protective

Huskies tend to be possessive and jealous dogs. This does not necessarily mean that they are protective of their owners.

What exactly does this mean? How can they be jealous but not protective?

Well, they might get jealous sometimes if they are not the center of your attention, but this doesn’t mean that they will act aggressively.

Similarly, if they come across someone new or dangerous, their first instinct will not be to act suspicious or protective towards you, your family or your property.

Their fun-loving nature will inhibit them from acting in a deliberately protective way.

Stubborn

Stubbornness is believed to be a defining characteristic when it comes to huskies.

This trait of theirs makes them even more difficult to train. If there is something else they want to do when you are trying to train them, they will do their best to have things work in their favor.

This is not what you need in a good guard dog. In such a case, you need a dog that will listen to you and obey your commands instead of running off.

You might even be able to train your husky to a considerable extent. However, in emergencies, they might not act exactly how you want them to.

Thus, it is highly possible that their natural behavior will get in the way when it comes to guarding your property against someone or something.

Also Read: Can Huskies Live in Hot Weather?

Destructive

Huskies have great stamina and are generally extremely lively and energetic. In fact, they never seem to run out of enthusiasm and energy.

This means that they constantly require a lot of stimulation. They enjoy running around and are always eager for more exercise.

This makes huskies prone to running around the house or property. If you are not around them in the house, they will easily get bored and find ways to distract themselves.

This can result in them breaking things on your property when you are not around to supervise them.

Because of this, people who keep huskies as pets usually keep them in a shed or an enclosed area in the house when they need to step out and leave the dogs behind.

This helps them to make sure that the dogs do not cause any havoc inside the property.

This tends to restrict them to a specific area of the house, which you wouldn’t want to do if you want a guard dog.

Will Easily Escape

As mentioned above, huskies are easily distracted by their surroundings.

Since they are also very athletic and energetic, they constantly look for things to keep doing. They are incredibly fast and agile, making it difficult to keep them in a single place for too long.

It is, therefore, more likely that huskies will look for ways to escape than to stay and protect. They are very effective hole diggers while also being able to jump well and high.

If they see something they want to chase, they will immediately run after it.

This is not what you want your guard dog to be doing, which is another reason why huskies are not the ideal choice for this.

Curious

Huskies are curious dogs. They are constantly interested in what is happening around them.

Their curiosity about things can help explain why they get so distracted. If they spot something new, chances are that they will go and sniff it out or chase after them playfully.

When you are around them, you can make sure that they stay within your eyesight whenever they get too curious about something.

However, when you need to go out and leave them behind, they will get bored easily and look for things in their surroundings to help with this boredom.

This does not make them the most alert breed of dogs when it comes to staying on guard and protecting your property.

This also means that when someone unfamiliar comes closer to them, they might go towards them to find out more instead of barking or scaring them away.

Independent

Even though huskies love company and being around people, they are highly independent dogs who enjoy going around on their own.

This characteristic stems from their stubbornness, curiosity and high energy levels. If they find something that catches their attention, they will go ahead and seek it out on their own.

Their independence will also act as a barrier when it comes to obeying all your instructions properly, making them difficult to train as alert guard dogs.

Since they are instinctively independent and curious, it might be difficult to make them stick to their trained methods even if they do manage to learn it once or twice.

It will be better for you to leave them to their devices instead of trying to train them too hard to be a guard dog.

What Other Options Do I Have?

Now that you know that huskies are perhaps not the best choice for you if you are looking for a protective and reliable guard dog, what do you do?

Well, you can now start looking for dog breeds that are instinctively and naturally fearless, protective, alert and strong.

For instance, you should consider looking into dogs of breeds such as the German Shepherd, Doberman, Bullmastiff, Rottweiler, Bull Terrier, Boxer, Leopard Dog and many more.

Dogs belonging to these breeds are strong and watchful and come with the natural instinct to protect you from danger. They are also highly suspicious of strangers.

They will also instantly be able to alert you if there is danger nearby. Even if there isn’t any obvious danger, they will stay on guard until they are sure that the danger has passed.

With the necessary amount of training, these dogs will perfectly be able to serve your purpose of protecting and guarding you and your house or property.

Also Read: When Do Huskies Stop Growing?