Personal Protection questions - Page 1

I want to get a dog, preferably an intimidating German Shepherd, for personal protection of my wife when I am at work. It would be in the house with her, unless she lets it out to go potty. I presently have a Chihuahua male who is about nine years old and we have a cat who is lazy and spoiled. My questions are. Should I get a schutzund trained dog? If so, should it be schutzund 3? Should I get a working line dog as it is called on here, and pay someone to train it? If so, how would it be trained to protect my wife, in and at our home only. She would not be taking it anywhere? Would such a trained dog be a danger to visitors or if and when we have children and also to our pets we already have? Thanks. P.S. I am not rich, but I can afford a decent amount. We both have had larger dogs previously, as teenagers.

SchH has nothing to do with real life protection. It is a standardized test that simulates what could be real life situations. But for real life work you need dogs that have been trained to that, not SchH. A SchH dog is an overall well trained dog that helps you in the everyday handling of the dog, and it may alert to strangers if that is what it does naturally, but it is not specifically trained for that sort of thing. The effectiveness against intruders or assailants has not been tested in a SchH dog though, it is not part of the training. The potential that a dog trained for protection is more of a liability is there, and you need to be aware of that. A dog trained to protect will not be able to differentiate between friends and foe, nor should it. Lots of companies out there that tell you what you want to hear, they work off your fear, but the reality is different. The dogs are not Lassy or Rintintin who magically know what is right and what is not. The dog will react to what it has been conditioned to during training. That also means that a dog trained to protect in real life situations may not be able to reason that the visiting neighbors kid who is slapping your own kid during childs play, rough housing or a harmless kids fight does not mean actual harm to your child. So yes, you need to stay on top of things. If such a dog gets to interact with visiting friends and strangers a lot, it will over time become less effective. Protection training also needs to be kept up in order to stay effective. How much protection do you realistically need though? Realistically, if a home invader will go beyond the presence of a large dog like a shepherd, the shepherd will not be able to do much, especially if such a person comes armed and drugged out. It takes one bullet, or a knife, or a couple of good swings with a baseball bat and the dog is out, dead, or has decided it is no match for that. Training only goes so far, and the dogs are not machines. The best you can hope for is for the dog to be a decent deterrent, a good alert system, and to keep people at bay, give you time to get your gun if you really have to worry about such high threat levels. And yes, dogs trained for that work specifically are rather expensive. There are lots of options for you to consider though. First of all you need to sit down and work out what your real needs are, what your actual threat level is, what your limitations are in terms of budget, training, maintenance and handling abilities of such a dog, and what kind of liability you are willing to live with. Please eMail me privately if you would like additional info. Click on my ID in the top left hand corner for contact info.

Excellent post DH as well as the time you took to write it to help this person.

D.H. is correct in what she is telling you regarding SCHH dogs and protection dogs. However, I would caution in being discouraged from considering a true protection dog. There are several disclaimers I would add though, such as make sure that you are dealing with someone of high caliber in the training of your dog, There are too many people out there that fancy temselves protection dog trainers that don't really know what they are doing. Get references, check them out, if possible, arrange for an exhibition, etc. Second, do not scrimp on the training. Most companies will offer several levels. The levels are defined by the amount of time a trainer has to spend with the dog and how many varied situations a dog is exposed to. Is he merely going to be in a room with her and attack anyone that come in there ( for example a cashier at a a private business). Or is the dog going to be her constant companion? It is with the higher levels that you get a dog that can discriminate best between real and perceived threats. If children, visitors and such are to be in the mix, this becomes extremely important. As it has been pointed out, a dog will have limitations. It can, however be trained to go for the hand with the weapon, the groin, the throat, the head, etc. Very very few people, including those doped up on PCP can withstand a full-out attack of one of these dogs. But what it does, is buy the protectee time. Time to run, time to go get the gun, whatever. The balance between the liability and benefits of having a dog like that needs to be well thought out and usually is only justified due to a high threat environment.

K9hooligan, You'd be wise to go to www.k-9classifieds.com, under 'Personal Protection' and emailing an advertiser for specific advice. As DH has stated a SchH dog isn't what you are looking for.

Sch training has nothing to do with real life protection IMO. PP dogs have to bite people,if told to, not equipment. EurosportK9 has some reasonably priced PP dogs and have a good reputation. I have not purchased from them but likely will someday. A PP dog doesn't have to be a liability. That depends on the training,the handler,and if you have a clear headed dog to start with. I can't speak for anyone's experience but my own and my PP dog can differentiate between friend and foe. He is not a liability,And he will absolutely bite a "friend" he has known for a long time if I tell him to or if I am in danger. Contrarily there are alot of so called PP dogs that are unstable and would be a liability. You have to be so careful with purchasing one take some time and do your homework.. I have seen good one's range widely in price. You should be able to get one for $5,000 or so. I have seen them up to $40,000.00. My trained PP dog is good with kids,cats,other dogs etc. I would recommend purchasing one trained by professionals who train these types of dogs vs getting one and having someone you know train it. That could backfire on you and you could then wind up with a problem. You may e mail me privately if I can be of further help. There are several reputable people/companies who train dogs this way and some to steer clear of.

Okay. Thanks very much. If I have this correct, I should consult with an expert on dog training but check their reputation as best I can first. I should also consider that a trained dog has to periodically re-trained or updated. I should get the best dog I can afford. I should ascertain exactly what I expect out of the dog. I should understand that a protection trained dog can not 100% be trusted with children and strangers and should not be let to intermingle with them anyway, in order to maintain his protection qualities. Just a few more questions please. I do not live in an bad neighborhood. I would say that it is average. Would it be feasible for me to purchase an obedience trained dog that looks menancing but has not been trained to attack persons, and that would give her time to call 911 or run next door? Would a shorter haired dog do, such as a Doberman or some other breed? Shepherds do shed a lot from what I have read. Are there breeds of dogs that you are familiar with and can recommend that have a natural instinct for protection, so that I would not have to expend the costs of training and would also not run into insurance problems? Thanks for all of your effort in helping me already. Jason.

Sorry. I was typing at the same time as the post above and had not read that one, when I sent my last one. Now, I'm a little confused. Thanks for the info.

K9hooligan, If your interested in a real personal protection dog you can check out my site at www.vomhausgalbreath.com You don't want your life to be depending on a sleeve happy schH dog in a real situation.

You are getting some good advise except for one thing. You wife will need to take some training so she can handle the dog while you are away. Most Gsd's respond best to the one who works with them. The true protection dogs receive agitation along with the bite work which gets them past them taboo of biting a human. If your wife works the dog and it lives in the house with you the chances of it attacking an intruder go way up. Remember, a 12 year old boy cutting thru the backyard playing with a stick could be seen as a threat. Myself, I would not have any problem with a good schutzhund dog with excellent nerves as long as it is somewhat civil. Good luck...