Top 5 best Guard/Security Dogs common in Nigeria and their brief description

In our recent article on “security tips in these times of insecurity“, we mentioned having security dogs as a part of measures for securing your home and as a personal guard.

Why dogs?! You may ask. Well, apart from the fact that dogs have proven themselves to be man’s best friend, who loves man, respect man and is also willing to protect you. All dogs that love you want to protect you, but alas not all have that ability to do that. Maybe because of their genetic characteristics, size or breed.

For this reason, we put together for you 5 breeds of dogs that have been selectively bred for security or guarding purposes. Some are even great companions depending on their temperament.

All of these breeds of security dogs mentioned here are easily found in Nigeria if you know where to look.

Have it:

1. The Cane Corso:

This breed has to be my number one on this list. One, because of the origin of its name and it, actually living up to its name as a protector.

The Cane Corso got its name from the Latin word cohors, which means guardian/protector, as it was its original function and a job it takes very seriously, being a war dog used by the Romans.

The Cane Corso, despite its protector ability, is also a devoted family dog that is good with children, very alert, quite suspicious of strangers but knows when to attack and when to back down.

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Profile in summary:

Weight – 31.5 to 50kg ideal weight
Height – 2 + feet tall (from the withers down)
Lifespan – 10-12 years
Extremely active – needs lots of exercises
Coat Colours – Black, Black & Brindle, Fawn, Tan, Chestnut.

2. The Rottweiler ( rottweiler Metzgerhund):

Just like the Cane Corso, the Rottweiler dog was a war companion for the roman soldiers as they matched across Europe.

The Rottweiler which got its name from the German town of rottweiler was a mastiff-type dog used to guard herds of cattle and as a guard dog by the Roman soldiers and later by traders to cart wares to and fro markets and also used to guard valuables.

The rottweiler has a reputation for being quite the aggressive and dangerous dog with aloofness towards strangers. What many people don’t know is that it’s also a calm, confident, mellow and loving pet that does its guardian job once it has trust its owner(s) and be properly socialized.

I own one myself, and by far one of my favourite dog breeds, she is a beauty too.

Rottweiler Traits

Weight – 42 to 60kg as full grown
Height – 2+ plus (from the wither down)
Exercise – 30 -50 min
Lifespan – 9-10 years
Coat colours – Black & tan (with a distinctive tan dot above both eyes)

3. The Doberman pinscher:

This Dog breed can best be described as a war machine. Believe it guys, cause even the United state’s Marine Corps has honoured this machine of a beast as the war machine of the corps.

It’s not surprising though as it was bred with intention by Karl Friedrich Louis Doberman to have the abilities of:

The German Shepherd’s hardiness, intelligence and soundness
The German Pinscher’s quickness and fire
The weimaraner hunting ability and nose
The Greyhound’s speed and
The Rottweiler’s strength, guarding instinct and courage.

Scary!, right? Well, this dog is as loyal as a dog can be and playful and very trainable.

Dobermann Pinscher Traits

Weight – 32 to 45kg
Height – 2+ feet from the wither down.
Exercise – 30 – 45 mins daily.
Coat colours – Black and Tan(with a dark tan dot like the rottweiler above the eyes).
Life span — 10-13 yrs

4. The German Shepherd Dog (GSD)/Alsatian:

This breed of dog is one of the most widely known dogs all over the world. This would have to be because of its trainability, intelligence, fortitude and adaptability. Its also because of these abilities that it is favoured for police, army and sentry work as search, sniffer and rescue dog. It’s also a very good guard, assistance and companion dog.

It is also a utility dog, that’s why during the first world war, over 48,000 were enlisted in the German army alone.

This breed of dog can be traced to Rittmeister Max Von Stephanitz who is considered the father of this breed.

German Shepherd Traits

Weight – 22-40 kg
Height – 2+ feet from wither down
Exercise – 30 – 50 minutes
Coat colours – Black, Sable, Black & Tan, Grey, Black & Silver, Black & Red
Lifespan – 7 – 10 years.

5. The Boerboel:

This entry here is proudly African, South Africa to be precise. The Boerboel is also known as the South African mastiff is a descendant of mastiff-types dogs known as “Bullenbijter” which were brought to South Africa to guard his family in the wilds. And as other people came along to settle, they also brought other different types of large guard dogs for work and protection.

The majority of these dogs which was brought by the diamond company was the bull mastiff probably interbred with the bullenbijters to give the right to the breed we now know as the Boerboel breed. Boerboel translates to “farmer’s dog.

This Dog is an intelligent, steadfast, loving and affectionate working dog with the required courage and self-confidence to protect his family and their properties.

It’s a companion dog that easily bonds with its family.

Boerboel Traits:

Weight – 70-90kg
Height – 2+feet from wither down
Exercise – 30 – 45 mins daily.
Coat colours – Brindle, brown, red-brown, red,fawn, yellow-cream, black: sometimes with white markings.

Other honourable mention for good guard dogs found in Nigeria: