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.
Read More
Selecting a Protection Dog
Selecting a dog for your family is a big decision, and adding “protection” before the word can complicate matters. However, the mystery surrounding protection dogs can be easily unraveled with the following six part series.
PART ONE:
In order to understand protection dogs, we have to consider several elements. For starters, we handpick each and every dog from Europe. Why? Well, for one, these dogs are not typically bred in Europe the way they are here in the United States. For example, in Europe, Farmer Joe can’t take his German Shepherd to his pal down the street, breed puppies, then take those puppies and breed them back to the mom to create more puppies. Sounds gross…I know. In Europe, several factors are considered prior to breeding including hip X-rays, elbow tests, eye certifications, and live board examinations to inspect breeding prospects’ stature and adequacy. This rigorous process ensures that the breeding dogs are genetically sound in almost every way, both physically and mentally. Nothing’s worse than purchasing and receiving a dog with a screw loose and then having to run the dog to every trainer in town to try and “fix” the issue…especially when the dog is supposed to be trained for protection.
Aside from a sound genetic bloodline, we also study dog’s natural prey drive, athleticism, power, defense, coordination, sense of smell, and level of confidence, among other factors. We are looking for a dog that is confident in any situation when confronted, yet calm around our children and friends—a dog that’s so laid back, you can take him to the local coffee shop and have him safely wait for you outside.
One of our main criteria in choosing dogs suitable for protection is whether or not a dog can handle a social atmosphere without being nervous or defensive without provocation (meaning the act of eliciting or inciting anger in a threatening way to the dog or handler). He or she absolutely needs to be able to deal with direct eye contact, general movement, a runner running toward him/her, etc.
The test of these abilities is to remove the dog from its comfort zone and see how it reacts to all stressors. This is just the first of our six steps in choosing the right dog for you.
Read More