Are Huskies Good Guard Dogs? (With Veterinary Insight)

Vet Approved

This article has been fact-checked by Dr. Dilber Hussain, DVM, to ensure we're providing the most up-to-date guidance. READ MORE

A husky’s wolf-like appearance and striking blue eyes can give them quite an intimidating appearance. They are known for being family dogs, but are huskies good guard dogs?

Huskies are not good guard dogs for several reasons – including their lack of suspicion and also the fact that they would rather make friends with a stranger than be cautious of them.

Keep reading our article for everything you need to know about the traits needed to make a good guard dog and why huskies, unfortunately, don’t meet the requirements.

What Traits Make A Good Guard Dog?

Before we take a look at huskies specifically, let’s see what attributes are needed to make a great guard dog.

Trainable

Firstly, a good guard dog needs to be highly trainable.

For a guard dog to be effective, it needs to be able to follow commands from its owners to either act on a threat or back down if there is no threat in the first place.

When you think of guard dogs, Belgian Malinois are a prime example of a highly trainable dog that is capable of guarding incredibly well.

Intelligence & Alertness

Secondly, a guard dog should have a high level of intelligence and alertness.

It should be able to pick up on unfamiliar sounds and scents and decide whether they need to be acted on.

At the same time, it needs to be able to recognize familiar sounds and scents that pose no danger to itself or its home.

Strong Bond

Another trait that you may not typically associate with guard dogs is that they need to be friendly and sociable. You may wonder why this is needed, but the answer is pretty obvious when you think about it.

For a guard dog to do its job, it needs to have a desire to protect something. What it is protecting will usually be you and your family, so it needs to form a strong bond with you all.

To counteract this friendliness and ensure it doesn’t extend to the wrong people, a guard dog needs to have some natural suspicion towards strangers.

Ideally, a guard dog will need to build trust with its owners and should not automatically trust new people that it meets.

It may exhibit controlled aggression towards strangers, such as growling, but nothing to the point that can’t be controlled by its owner or cause unwarranted harm.

Why Huskies Are Not Good Guard Dogs

Now we know what makes a great guard dog, let’s see how huskies stack up.

1. They’re Too Friendly

The number one reason that huskies are not a suitable breed for being guard dogs is that they love being around people too much.

You will rarely meet a husky that doesn’t instantly want to become your best friend.

Their loving nature comes from their history as pack dogs. The Chukchi People bred huskies to work and live in large packs, so it was important for them to be able to bond with both other humans and dogs easily.

Huskies being exercised in the snow

This is one of the reasons that huskies make great family pets, as they thrive in environments where they always have company. Unfortunately, it is also the reason that huskies are not great at being guard dogs.

Instead of seeing intruders as a threat, they are likely to see them as new potential friends. In fact, husky owners frequently joke that their pets are more likely to help the intruder into the house than chase them away!

2. They Are Not A Naturally Suspicious Breed

As we have already discussed, an important trait for a guard dog is for it to be somewhat naturally suspicious of strangers who are entering its territory.

To put it quite simply, huskies do not usually exhibit this trait and are typically very welcoming to people they are unfamiliar with.

For many owners, this is one of the reasons that the husky breed is so appealing, as they don’t have to worry about having guests come to visit the home.

For those of you looking to make a guard dog out of your husky, this is one of the hardest behaviors you will have to overcome. A husky is much more likely to want to interact positively with strangers than negatively.

3. They Are Very Independent

Another reason why huskies don’t make good guard dogs is that they are very strong-natured.

‘Strong-natured’ is our polite way of saying that they are a very stubborn and independent breed that will more often than not do whatever they want.

A good guard dog needs to be easily trainable to allow it to follow commands at any time. If it was to become aggressive towards someone who it shouldn’t be, it needs to be able to listen to its owner and obey commands to stop.

This is a known weakness of the husky breed as whilst they can be a very well-behaved breed; their obedience can falter at any time. If they, for some reason, do see a stranger as a threat, it can be difficult to change their minds.

4. They Are Not Known For Being Aggressive Or Dangerous

This shouldn’t come as a surprise by now, but huskies are not known for being an aggressive or dangerous breed. This is clearly a good thing for the majority of prospective owners, as their kind natures are the reason so many fall in love with them.

When it comes to being a guard dog, however, a little bit of aggression is ideal. A guard dog needs to be scary to deter potential threats away from a property and needs to act on its aggression at the appropriate times.

This can be as simple as growling or barking through a fence to warn strangers off.

Huskies don’t have aggression in their nature and won’t become aggressive unless they are seriously provoked.

An intruder is highly unlikely to willingly provoke a guard dog meaning huskies will show the same respect to them as they would to their owner.

5. They Prefer Not To Be Left Alone

The final reason on our list of why huskies do not make good guard dogs is often overlooked – huskies do not like to be left alone.

Many people look into owning a guard dog as their property is frequently left empty, most commonly during working hours. As a result, a guard dog needs to be happy to be left in the empty house so that their minds can stay focused and alert.

A husky’s desire for companionship means that it doesn’t like to be left alone for a long amount of time. It can cause them to quickly become stressed, resulting in destructive behaviors such as chewing up the furniture or endlessly vocalizing.

If they are stressed, their minds will not be focused on listening out for potential threats. It may lead to them eventually developing anxiety issues which are certainly not ideal for guard dogs.

Will A Husky Attack An Intruder?

Huskies are not inherently an aggressive or protective breed, but there are several stories of huskies attacking intruders.

The truth is it would be hard to know whether your husky would attack an intruder until that situation actually happened, but it isn’t something that you could rely on.

There’s a very good chance that they would alert you to an intruder, however, and this is why they are great watchdogs.

Why Huskies Can Make Good Watchdogs

Whilst huskies are undoubtedly not a good breed to make into guard dogs, they can be very effective watchdogs.

black and white image of a husky resting its head on a table

The difference between a watchdog and a guard dog is that a watchdog is used to simply alert its owners to the presence of something or someone on the property. A guard dog, on the other hand, is expected to act on this presence and warn it off, even if its owner is not on the property with them.

Having a watchdog can help alert you to people knocking on your door, coming into your garden, or simply if you want a better sense of security in your home.

Huskies are extremely vocal and will bark, yap, and sing away all day long if they’re allowed to. For that reason, training them to be vocal on command is the one form of training they will actually enjoy.

Be warned, though; huskies seem to love the sound of their own voice. Training them to become even more vocal might lead to a few headaches for both you and your neighbors!

What Breeds Are More Suited To Being A Guard Dog

If you’re still intent on getting a guard dog, you might be wondering which breeds are better suited to the job than huskies. We’ve listed below some of the best breeds for becoming guard dogs.

  • Akita
  • Appenzeller Sennenhund
  • Anatolian Shepherd
  • Australian Shepherd
  • Doberman
  • German Shepherd
  • Cane Corso
  • Rhodesian Ridgeback
  • Rottweiler
  • Bullmastiff
  • Giant Schnauzer

These dog breeds exhibit the natural traits required to become effective guard dogs. Many companies specifically train these dog breeds up to a high level of obedience that matches your specific needs.

We highly recommend going through a professional training route to ensure your guard dog learns the needed obedience in a safe and appropriate manner.

Whilst we are lovers of Malamutes and huskies here at the Malamute Mom, all of these breeds are worthy pets and will make great additions to the right homes.

Other Ways To Protect Your Home With A Husky

If you already own a husky and were hoping to train them to be a guard dog, you might be wondering what to do now.

Huskies aren’t suitable for naturally being guard dogs and don’t make a great candidate for intensive guard dog training either.

Don’t worry, though; owning a husky still comes with some protective benefits. As we’ve already discussed, a husky can be trained to be a very good watchdog.

They will happily alert you to new presences on your property (even if they don’t see them as threats), and for many intruders, this will be enough to deter them from entering your home.

Also, many non-owners of huskies don’t realize that huskies aren’t good guard dogs. This means that if you were to put up Beware of the dog signs around your premise, the majority of people would believe that there was a potentially threatening dog living there.

A brown Husky looking through a fence

Only regular visitors to the home need to know that said dog is actually harmless!

Finally, take the basic care to protect your home with an alarm system and CCTV cameras. Nowadays, security systems can be bought and installed for a very reasonable price from many retailers.

Having a noticeable security system on your home is a deterrent in itself for those considering breaking into your property.

If these are still out of your budget, then make sure you have a good automatic light near your main points of entry onto the property. These lights automatically turn on when they detect movement, which can startle intruders.

In Summary

So, huskies don’t make good guard dogs after all.

Their kind and trusting nature towards humans means they are more likely to befriend intruders than try to scare them away.

Luckily, it is these loving traits that make the breed so perfect for family homes, and we wouldn’t want them any other way – even if it means finding home security another way!

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About The Author

Caitlin is the owner and lead writer for The Malamute Mom. She has over 10 years of experience with Alaskan Malamutes and Huskies. She is currently working on getting her PhD in materials science but continues to write for The Malamute Mom in her spare time.

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