My boyfriend is very intent on training our one year old husky to be a guard dog.
Toby is extremely friendly, and would probably lick an intruder and then sit in his lap and cuddle with him. My boyfriend wants to train him to be a guard dog, and appear aggressive (growl, bark, etc) on command.
I've been looking for books on how to train him to do this (although I'm not too keen on it myself, but I can understand why he would want to train the dog to be protective) but I haven't found any.
Does anyone have any recommendations on where to look?

Yes, send them to a professional school

I definitely wouldn't recommend it... especially if you intend to have children over.

Having a big dog in your yard (or even a small one) is enough to deter most intruders.

I have poodles and they have managed to ward off a wannabe burglar, we found a large rock outside our bedroom window, we are assuming the rock was supposed to be thrown through the glass.
Poodles barked, burglar ran off.

Huskies are not known to be protective. They'll alert an intruder and maybe even stand their ground, but always remember any type of aggression is based on fear.

If you do want to do this type of training, please see a professional. A lot of great dogs are wrecked because someone read a book. Books are useful, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to something as serious as behavior modification, please consult the professionals.

Also, the guard/attack dogs that the police or military use are actually hand selected for their temperaments. They don't just train a dog to be mean. Those dogs under go intense training and can be a real danger if put into the wrong hands. I know guys like to go on power trips with big mean dogs that will bite someone who comes into their house, but asking for a breed that isn't known for that type of protection is completely out of the question. What makes it worse, is your dog doesn't have the temperament that should even be considered to be a guard/attack dog in the first place.

If your boyfriend is set on having a guard dog, then have him buy the right type of breed for it. Although I would probably strongly suggest he not own a dog if his intentions are for it to become mean.

But, if you do want to do this with your dog, don't do it yourself. Obedience is completely different from guard training. You'll be entering a whole new world with that...

Story time.

My mother used to do some sewing for a very wealthy lady that had a few acres outside of the town we live in.

She had a beautiful house, gated property, and many valuables, so she decided to get 3 big dogs to protect her property.

Two of the dogs where sheep dogs, very friendly but they would bark when someone came up to the property. The other was a shepherd mix and absolutely the most violent, vicious dog I've ever seen in my life. Only one person could handle him, and it wasn't his owner. The lady actually had to hire the trainer to be on hand 24/7 to care for this dog, because he was the only one that could get within 5 feet without being attacked.

The dog had no life. He was kept in a kennel while the lady was home because she wanted to be able to walk around her property. When she left he was released to guard, then put away again as soon as she entered the property. I actually felt very sorry for this dog.

One year the lady had a horse that gave birth and then died. The lady decided to hand raise this foal, in her kitchen! I kid you not, she had pictures and everything, otherwise I wouldn't have believed it.

When the colt got big enough she let him wander her property.

One day she went out, the colt was wandering the grounds and she forgot to mention it to the trainer. She came back to a dead colt, ripped to shreds by her vicious guard dog.

Why am I telling you this? There's a find line between guard dog and attack dog. A very fine line.

Most dogs will protect their property without any training. It's in their nature. Train a dog to be aggressive (which is what a guard dog is) and you're asking for it. Sooner or later it will come back to bite you in the arse.

Also, most guard dogs only respond to one person, the person that trained them. Do you really want to fear the dog in your home because he won't listen to your commands?

I don't agree with buying pets just to protect your home. Let him be a pet, not a vicious dog.

Just my opinion.

I completely agree with all of you. My mom has a Chesapeake, which is inherently a guard dog that we tried to make into a friendly dog. She still wouldn't really let strangers into the house until we told her it was OK. I saw how frustrated my mom was with having a dog that was so aggressive towards strangers.
I don't agree with training your dog to be 'vicious' or to be a guard dog, and I especially don't agree with doing it to a dog that isn't naturally vicious. It's really my boyfriend that wants to do this, and I think it's silly (especially since it's my dog not his... but that's a different issue entirely)

Thanks for all your advice!

Get the boyfriend into training :D

Seriously though, just be firm and tell him that is not what you want to happen, you husky has and will always be a family pet.
If he wants extra protection get a security alarm put in your house.

I would start by considering either getting a new boyfriend or different dog for the job. Looking at a different dog. As luvabull already told you, huskies are not guard dogs and you cannot expect to turn the dog into one.Trust me, I own them myself and I know the breed quite well.

Why is it that your boyfriend wants a guard dog? Dangerous area? Just to look tough by having an "attack" dog?

There are many of breeds that will protect a home and family by nature alone without having to try and change what cannot be changed.

If you want to have any dog trained to guard then it should absolutely be done professionally but remember that even professionally trained attack dogs can attack when and whom they are not suppose to. Even trained police dogs sometimes mess up and attack or refuse to release when they are suppose to.

Well then I would suggest katieokell, to look into the quality of life of you dog as a guard dog. What would be in your dogs best interests? If he is overly friendly, then teaching him to be mean, would literally break his spirit.

He's your dog. You need to put your foot down. If I were you, I wouldn't leave my dog home alone with my boyfriend if his intentions are to make my dog mean. And you should really sit down with your boyfriend and talk to him. Tell him how you feel and how you really don't want your dog to be trained to be mean. Tell him the consequences of a vicious dog. A bored guard dog is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Those military dogs and police dogs are worked daily. They're actually tired dogs at the end of the day. And there are breeds of dogs in this world that are bred and guaranteed to give their lives to protect their people and home. If you do consider looking into these breeds, I'd strongly advise you do a lot of research and go with a reputible breeder. Not only is that better for the dog world, but those breeders will stand behind their dogs and their temperaments. And, they would be able to hook you up with the right people and the right training. But you really need to talk to your boyfriend. Is this just a ego boost? Or does he feel as if he needs this type of protection.

Please always keep in the back of your mind that these professionaly trained attack/guard dogs are literally like holding a loaded gun. You could get into a lot of trouble if you don't have control of the dog, not to mention the dog would be put down if anything would happen. The training, the type of dog... those will really pull you down if something happened. You can also lose your home insurance depending on the type of dog you get, if you even decide to get a different dog for the intentions of guarding.

And for a quick example... I own two German Shorthaired Pointers. This breed is not recognized in any way to be aggressive towards people. Our dogs are not kenneled during the day or when no one is home, they run free. A couple years ago my mom asked a friend of hers to run over to our house to let our dogs out and make sure everyone is OK. The lady told us the next day that if she didn't know the dogs, she wouldn't have walked into our front door.

It is instinctive for dogs to protect their den. I doubt your dog would stand aside quietly while someone raided your house.

Great posts everyone!

Like others have said Huskies are not guard dogs. The love people! When people come to my house my dog will alert me. But its not so much a ''Warning Growl'' as a ''Hello Howl''.

MOst people will be dettered by the sight of any dog.

I do believe however that if a dog senses that
Their owner(s) is in trouble they will act accordingly.

Like I said I own a Husky and although he loves everyone. He is very protective of me. He wouldn't hurt anyone. Unless they hurt me first.

He isn't a guard dog as guard dogs act, and attack. He's simply a loyal dog, who REACTS. If someone were to hurt me, my mom, or my cats(yep he protects them from other dogs) the outcome would not be pretty.

I've actually witnessed his protective side a few times. One of them was one me and my mom were playing cards at around 11 pm. And all of a sudden these kids pulled up in a car, shut it off, stumbled out and started walking around. They were drunk, and I didn't know any of them.Rex was inside, luckily for them and he went crazy. He was barking and growling as if to say'' Get off my property... Or else.''

I of course didn't let go of him, and didn't let him outside, too scared for his safety. However if those kids came in the house... They would have regretted it.

Making a dog scared of you will get you no where! However if you love this dog, and he trusts you he will defend you with his life.

Good luck.