[QuietMutt]

My son works on a mink ranch and the owner has two Rotties who stay in crates most of the day. At night, when the last worker has gone home and the gates are closed (the pens are surrounded by a solid metal fence to keep mink from escaping if they get out of the pens), the dogs are set free within the enclosure (we're talking several acres of land) to protect the mink from thieves and so on. Apparently, the owner told my son that at night, when it's dark, he -- the owner -- won't open the gate and go in. You'd think the dogs would recognize his voice and smell, but it seems he won't take the chance. It's fine in the daylight for him to go get them, but not for anyone else.

It seems extreme to me, but I suppose when you have millions at stake, it makes sense. But still...

[luvdanes04]

Yeah, that seems really extreme to me. I couldn't imagine having any pet that wouldn't recognize me at night.. that's kind of scary don't you think? What if for some crazy reason he has to go in there at night?? I get that he has a lot at stake, but wow they must be some good guard dogs if he's doesn't even want to take the chance of going in there. Whatever system works for him, I guess.

[QuietMutt]

I would also hope that none of the mink would escape at night. It wouldn't go well for them, I'm thinking.

[dogfriendly]

That is quite an eye-catching thread title. Kind of conjures images of Anubis and Egyptian dogs of death.

While I do understand how valuable the mink is, having dogs that could not even recognize you seems somehow strange to me. Isn't it more important that the dogs could readily recognize the owner? What if an accident occurred at the ranch and the dogs had to be somehow controlled by the owner immediately? Sound extreme to me too..

[PugLuv]

sounds like he was trying to scare someone... guard dogs should at least know their owner!

[SeeSpotRun]

He is probably just being paranoid. Can you blame him? He'd pay a high price if he was wrong. They would probably run at him, until they recognized his scent.

[PitBullLvr]

I really wouldn't want to own a dog that I couldn't approach at any point in time. That's just my opinion.

[nattiej1976]

Originally Posted by Pitbulls

That's really sad how they're crated the whole day...I'm pretty sure that's not even legal around here..the dog needs to have room to move around and stretch and be comfortable..not just be locked up in a cage the entire day

Knowing me, I'd probably report that

I agree! No dog, including a guard dog should be crated like this. Technically are they really properly trained guard dogs as apposed to trained killers?
A properly protection trained dog, should be very social and friendly with everyone, unless the protection command is given, and then should be an immediate revert back to normal behaviour once the release commands given. We have a protection dog at our puppy school, he is in the advanced classes, unless somone tells you he is a fully fledged guard dog you would have no idea in meeting him on the street.