Protection Training, What You Need To Know

So you want a protection dog. A dog that you know for a fact is safe around guests and family, but will protect you from evildoers. Will your pet do it naturally out of instinct? Can you get your dog enrolled into training? Let's discuss it, shall we?

Firstly, let's get this part out of the way. Will your dog, untrained, protect you out of instinct? No. The answer is no. And even if the dog is the 1 in a million who would, the chaos would be unimaginable because nobody involved, including the dog, would know what they were doing or what was going on.

The best analogy I can think of for this level of fear and confusion is this: Expecting an untrained dog who likely isn't suitable for this kind of work in the first place, to spring into action like a Knight in shining armor, is almost as bad as me expecting to send you in a time machine back to the Medieval Ages. Then proceed to literally put you in a Knight's armor and have you fight honorably in the battle of Hastings with 0 notice or training. You'd have no idea what you were doing, where to stand, how to stand, how to hold a sword, how to use a sword etc. You'd be terrified and you'd be confused. Why? Because you didn't have the training, and chances are, if you had access to that kind of training, you'd probably rather be anywhere else than there on that field!

A protection dog is a dog that has to be born before it is made. By that I mean the traits necessary to train a dog to do that kind of work, are born into that dog. You cannot train a dog to fight to protect you if they have no will to do so. So step 1 is making sure you have a dog that genetically has the drive, nerve, health and temperament to complete protection training. They have to want to be on that aforementioned field from the previous fictional analogy. Where do you find a dog like that? Usually in Germany, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia etc. But some breeders and vendors are now producing dogs capable of the work in the US from imported dogs.

You're now left with a dilemma. Buy a puppy for $2,500+ who you will fall in love with and quite possibly come to realize isn't suitable for the work at all and be faced with returning this pup you've grown to love, or taking it as a loss and trying again. Or, go the safe route and buy an adult dog that's ready to train, as is, with much less risk. The only problem is that an adult is $8,000 on the low end with shipping and everything included.

Let's go the easy route. We buy an adult dog bred specifically for work. Now what? Well, now we need to know what we're doing, so we'll have to get training, so that we can train the dog. So where do we get this training? Well, we go check out online for people in the area who are professional dog trainers who actually compete in protection sports or work with law enforcement. Not somebody who says they work with law enforcement, somebody who actually does, because there are more scammers than competent trainers. It's easier to swindle money than take years to learn the craft and get paid for your knowledge and work. And there has never been a shortage of people who would rather swindle others instead of put in the work to earn a living.

Now that we've found a good trainer, how much might that cost? $12,000 is the least you'll pay. Anybody charging half that will sound like a deal, but it's actually a sign to run away. 2-6 months later, depending on how much time you have to dedicate to training, and a minimum of $20,000 later, you have a protection dog.

Or, you can buy one fully trained! You will take a short course on how to handle your fully trained dog, legal ramifications of using the dog incorrectly, when it's legal to use the dog etc. It'll be weird because this dog will have no bond with you whatsoever at first, but you can push through that in time and have a wonderful companion who will protect you. Did I mention that option may cost $30,000-whatever number somebody thinks they can get for the dog? I mean, they did all of the work. You didn't even find the dog, buy it, bond with it in training etc. They did all of that for you, so of course the price will go way up.

Protection dogs and protection work sounds fun. And I won't lie, it's as much fun as you'll ever have with a dog. But your ignorance of the law can get you put in jail if you use the dog improperly. It will take up a good portion of your time. You will spend enough money to buy, at the least, an entry level sedan - and at worst? A new Mercedes-Benz S-Class. If you can afford it, and the training sounds fun to you, and having such a dog makes you feel safer and gives you peace of mind; the working dog training life is for you! Welcome to the club!

If it sounds like it's all too much work, responsibility, time, money etc. There are plenty of other alternatives to defend yourself. Firearms, where legal, edged weapons, where legal, pepper spray, where legal, martial arts and boxing, where legal, and there's training you can get to learn any or all of those skills! And I guarantee you, it'll cost less than a protection dog.

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