MAKE SURE THE SAFETY IS ON BEFORE CARRYING YOUR WEAPON Dog training has been a passion of mine for over 35 years. I have particularly enjoyed training working dogs in both IPO (originally Schutzhund) Sports, KNPV and occasionally subject to need, full tactical dogs. Watching the dogs do their work can be quite exciting and impressive but there is a lot more to it than that. Another one of my activities is producing movies. You may have seen some of them if you are an action fan. They have featured stars such as Jean Claude Van Damme, Tony Jaa, Dolph Lundgren and Michael Jai White amongst others. In the action movies we often blow things up, kill a ton of bad guys, and have cool fights where our stars do almost impossible action sequences. These are all controlled; after all it’s the movies. Even in this environment the attention to safety is mind-boggling. Every possible risk to our cast, crew and the public is considered before a stunt or action sequence is shot. So what does all this have to do with dogs? Safety! There has been a growing interest in protection dogs and with this growth in interest it is appropriate to comment on certain issues that might potentially arise when keeping a protection dog. To quote a rather well known film “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” Owning a protection dog is not like owning a robot. Behavior is not simply automatic, nor is there an armorer or stunt team to back you up. A well-trained protection dog is by virtue of that training a serious weapon, and as with any weapon there is a need for the owner to behave responsibly. There are many dogs that are “bite” trained and passed off as protection dogs. In many cases these dogs are not trained correctly and in some cases the dogs do not have the temperament for this type of work. People often think that a “hard” dog or a dog that appears naturally aggressive is their best choice. I don’t particularly subscribe to this notion. I do think that there is often confusion between a high drive dog and an aggressive dog, but they are not the same. The most important part of foundation training for a protection dog is obedience training. Without strong, clear and proper obedience training a protection dog is a weapon without a safety. This type of weapon can indiscriminately hurt people as well as you. People often move too quickly into bite training without the necessary obedience foundation. If you cannot control the dog in day-to-day situations, you will certainly not be able to control the dog in a high stress situation. If the dog is naturally aggressive the results in a real threat situation can be both disastrous and very unpredictable. I think I have probably made this point clear enough. Whether you are training the dog yourself or purchasing a protection dog, you need to ensure that the dog has a very high level of obedience training. You also need to make sure that the dog is mentally stable and calm in normal situations. Hard or aggressive dogs often are not. With that in mind you ask, “If the dog is not hard how do I know it will bite?” A high drive dog can be taught to bite. It is simply a matter of context and training. People are often concerned that a dog that is not naturally aggressive will not bite hard enough. This is simply not true and really not relevant. A dog bite from a working dog creates a very nasty wound. Even a dog with a “medium” bite can cripple a person quite badly. A well-trained protection dog biting on an arm or a leg will tear muscle and possibly break bone. Most people go into shock shortly after the first bite. The type of bite training that dogs have is important to understand. IPO dogs are not trained to bite people and most will not do a civilian bite without additional training. These dogs are engaged in a game type of activity and are simply going after a protection sleeve as a prey object. Many people buy IPO dogs thinking they have a protection dog and this is not the case. Even in KNPV many dogs are keyed to the protection suit and will either hesitate or not bite a person who is not wearing a suit. When we train a full protection dog, the dog is trained for a “civilian bite”. We use a Kevlar body suit under regular clothing and train the dog to attack a person’s arm or leg. This type of training creates a weapon, and a weapon like this should only be used under very special circumstances, it is not a toy and you are not playing a game. People should not be casually threatened, nor should the dog be “shown off” for friends. A well trained protection dog should always be trained to bark and hold without biting. The dog should only bite on command or upon direct physical threat to the handler, A recall from attack by command prior to actually biting is very important, and the dog should have a very clean out command. In other words when the dog is told to let go of a bite it should do so immediately. Any protection dog that does not have this level of training is potentially dangerous to the owner and the public. To emphasize this point, without these features your weapon does not have a safety. I have only covered basic considerations of training requirements for a protection dog. The actual list is considerably longer. The point however is hopefully adequately clear, do not casually acquire a protection dog and if you are getting this type of dog make sure that the training level is truly up to standard. Having covered the “weapon”, lets talk a bit about the person behind the weapon. Some years ago in Hollywood it became fashionable for some movie stars to get what were termed Executive Protection dogs. Unfortunately a great many of these dogs were washouts from the KNPV program. They did not have adequate obedience foundations. Others were properly trained but that alone was not necessarily enough. The problem with both types was ultimately the same. The new owner first saw the dog demonstrated by the seller and was impressed by what the dog could do. In many cases the level of the dog was only sufficient to impress someone who had little experience with dogs, and had never seen a dog with a reasonable basic obedience routine and the ability to bite. The purchaser seeing the dog perform purchased the dog. The seller left the dog with the purchaser with little or no training. Within a couple of weeks (at the longest) the dog stopped responding to commands. In some cases the dogs became destructive or bit the new owner or their family. Suffice to say there was a great deal of dissatisfaction on the part of many buyers. The issue here turns on several points. It is imperative that any prospective protection dog owner has proper training in the handling of their dog. This type of training is not simply learning commands, it is physically learning how to handle the dog and anticipate its behavior. This includes the ability to control and correct the dog where necessary. No matter how well trained a dog is, it will from time to time require correction or bad habits will ensue. As I mentioned earlier a protection dog is not a robot. No matter how well trained a dog is, it requires continued practice and training or it will not maintain level. This means that if you are not a qualified trainer with the right equipment and access to a qualified helper/decoy, you will need to find a trainer who can work with you on a regular basis to keep your dog at a reasonable level. Without regular practice in handling, obedience and protection exercises a dog’s performance will deteriorate become unpredictable and ultimately can be dangerous. In conclusion then, a protection dog in the right hands can be great protection, but it is a type of weapon and needs to be treated with appropriate care and respect. Before acquiring a protection dog, or trying to bite train a dog, I hope you will consider some of the points I have raised. Written Exclusively for Day One German Shepherd Dogs Source: dayonegsds/make-sure-the-safety-is-on-before-carrying-your-weapon/
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 02:01:14 +0000
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