Selecting a Protection Dog…Part 4
The fourth step is to acclimate the dog to your household while enhancing protectiveness in a real scenario. We practice carjacking scenarios, mock break-ins with a variety of intruders, possible attacks and abductions, gun fire stressors, and so on. While continuing this real simulation, we acclimate the dog to a variety of real life needs: going to a coffee shop or grocery stores, long car rides without barriers, drive through restaurants, and the such.
Read MoreSelecting a Protection Dog…Part 3
The third step would be testing it’s obedience, tracking, protection, and all of it’s abilities. Choosing a dog that is alert, confident, powerful, and formidable weighs heavy in our experience with sport and working dogs. As law enforcement officers, we know what the bad guys are doing and have done. We also know what deters and protects better than anyone else. After enduring our tests overseas, we bring the dog back and place it into our training program.
Selecting a Protection Dog…Part 2
The second step would be choosing the right dog that fits your family. For example, if you have children we would search for a dog that has been raised around them. If you have livestock, we’d acclimate them to livestock. If you have allergies, we’d find one that produces less dander, and so on. This is all part of our questionnaire to find the exact right dog for you, not one we happen to have in “stock.”
Read MoreWhat sets our dogs apart from the competition…
Oftentimes we’re asked by potential clients, “How was this dog trained?” This is a great question to ask, but one that will take some time to answer. First, this depends on the client. Some clients prefer to have a titled dog that’s recognized around the world. For example, when you purchase a diamond you choose one recognized by GIA or EGL. Why? It makes your diamond more valuable, capable of enduring eyes that scrutinize every blemish or defect, ensuring a stone is of a higher quality than one not GIA or EGL certified. For dogs, it is the same way. Typical working dogs are classified in a few main title recognized organizations: Schutzhund, Ring (Belgian/French/Mondio), KNPV, and so on. What you are paying more for (over the price charged by Farmer Joe down the road) is the fact that the dog has been tested by a panel of judges to prove her stamina, agility, obedience, protection abilities, and tracking abilities, among other criteria. If the dog passes these rigorous tests, she is awarded titles for each level of accomplishment, thereby increasing her value.
When choosing dogs for our clients, we look at every bit of a dog’s training background, including the breeder, the dog’s complete pedigree (the majority of those we look at date back to the early 1900’s), the previous trainer, his/her training style, the dog’s level of socialization, breedability or Korung (KKL1 only), exposure to stressors (trashcan lids, gunfire, sustained eye contact, loud engines, trains, etc.), and much more. We only want to associate our name with the “best of the best,” and that’s one thing you’ll find that separates us from anyone else in this business.
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