With crime on the rise and America’s love for their dogs, purchasing a personal protection dog is one of the smartest things to do! We have found that many of our clients are simply uneducated on what makes a great protection dog for themselves or their entire family. Buying a protection dog is a huge investment with great return simply for the security and of course adding an addition to your family. First and foremost you must understand that having a protection dog as a new member of your family comes with responsiblity, liability, and educating your friends and loved ones. You most remember that they are a working dog and you and your immediate family may be able to pet and love on your protection dog, not just any person can, like they would be able to with your regular pet dog. You should be able to control your protection dog but never leave it unattended with mixed company and children. You will be surprised at the number of people who find out your new dog is capable of bitework and they act totally different, doing everything from being terrified to teasing your dog to see what it will do!

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I recently had an opportunity to conduct a protection and decoy seminar in Jundiai, SP, Brasil. The seminar was for Police, Military and civilian handlers and dog trainers. The seminar was a huge success and everyone had a great time. The culture amongst the Brasilians is quite different from that typically seen here in the US. Below are a couple of articles that appeared in the Jornal de Jundiai. The translated version of each article is listed below it.

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I often speak with people who have purchased a dog for personal protection or for protection around the home. I often find that they have selected the wrong breed or temperament for a protection dog. The first thing that you should look at when purchasing a protection dog is the breed. Yorkshire Terriers and Shih-tzu’s do not generally make good personal protection prospects. Common breeds for good personal protection dogs are German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Giant Schnauzers, Tervurens, Groenendaels, and some bully breeds. I am not saying that a breed not previously listed could not be trained as a suitable protection dog. What I am saying is that the breed should definitely be taken into consideration.

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When contacted by clients about personal protection dogs, I am often asked the question “Should we get a puppy or an adult dog?” A number of people are under the impression that they must raise the dog in their home as a puppy in order for it to be well socialized and to fit into their household dynamics. This is absolutely not true. The are many adult dogs that fit in well and adapt quickly in homes after being rescued from a shelter well into their adult years.

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I have conducted dog training seminars throughout the country and even worldwide.  During these seminars, I have seen a great number of police dogs and protection dogs that do excellent bite work.  I have also seen even more of the dogs that didn’t.  The excuse for the poor bite work is never the same.  He has a weak grip, his drives are bad, female dogs don’t bite well, etc.  It’s easy to blame the dog for poor performance, they really can’t argue. A majority of the time however, the dog has been worked by a poor decoy to the point that the dogs bite is suffering.  A good decoy can easily change a mediocre dog to one that is excellent.  With that said, a poorly trained decoy can turn a great dog into one that will not bite at all.

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