A dog is said to be man's best friend. Many of us have/had dogs and have benefited from their loyalty and companionship. They can be expensive to look after medically, feed, train and care for. In a survival situation they pose an added burden on your resources.

Depending on the breed, some make good protectors and all seem to provide advanced warning of company or intruders. Other than an early warning (invaluable in itself) the physical threat of a canine is usually over-rated. There are few pets which would actually attack a human to begin with. Most are socialized to a degree and have more bark than bite.

Our Society arguably has been over reactive to dog bites. Many municipalities demand that the dog is immediately destroyed in such an occurrence. The family dog raised from a Puppy, is taught not to growl, show his teeth or bite anyone. Because of this, we can't expect our pets to provide a real physical deterrent to an intruder (although this may be the case).

Enter the Guard/Attack dog... Dogs that are have been specifically trained to guard and protect humans/property and attack on command. They are very costly to train. In many jurisdictions, the liability for the dog's behaviour lies squarely on the Owner. As a result, many Owner's maintain liability insurance for such an eventuality.

Having and owning a guard dog is a huge investment on the part of the Owner. The dog cannot roam free, so the area under protection are required to be fenced and signed. Because it's signed doesn't automatically mean that the Owner is free from liability, should a member of the public become injured.

As those of you who have been trained in the military can attest, silencing an attack dog is easier than one might think. Many dogs give away their position warning the Owner (and the trespasser) of their exact position. Dogs usually bite high at the closest accessible area of the target. Padding held-out can become the bite point and a sweeping knife can silence the K-9 (assuming that the intruder elects not to use a firearm). Obviously the attack method employed is dependent on the training methods used, but this is a good rule-of-thumb.

Your family pet will provide an excellent warning for intruders. Unless the dog has been trained to take on an intruder, don't let it confront a perpetrator. Perhaps it could succeed in chasing him away, but your pet will be placed in harm's way and possibly be injured or killed.

A valuable resource could be lost; at a time when its needed most. Don't make unreasonable expectations as to your dogs contribution to the survival scenario.