You brought a dog home, and you want to train it for your protection. So, what’s next?
First, let me tell you about this interesting part of the canine training. It’s different than the classic, obedience dog training. Maybe you think it’s as simple as teaching your dog to be aggressive on command. But, in fact, it’s a very complex process.
The first step is to establish if your dog can be trained for protection. Not all dog breeds can be trained to defend their home or their owners.
There are some working breeds known for being trained solely for this purpose, like Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Malinoises, or Dobermans. They’ve got what it needs, such as high intelligence, trainability, courage and obedient attitudes.
The principle behind the training of any dog is understanding that they are pack animals and they need guidance and companionship. To efficiently train one, the handler (essentially, you) must become the pack leader, so the dog will follow and obey.
When it comes to protective training, things get a little bit more complicated. Apart from making sure the dog obeys, the handler must emphasize and encourage the dog to express its natural defensive instinct and aggression. At the same time, he must control the dog’s aggressiveness, telling it when to stop whatever it’s doing at that time.
Does it sound easy to you?
Well, it’s not. This type of training must be done by someone who knows what he’s doing. When you choose to train your dog for protection and defense, we always recommend seeking professional help.
If you’ve never trained a dog in protection with a club or trainer, then no, I’d say you cannot train your dog at home.
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The techniques used for this vary widely, from one handler to another. Still, the principle is the same: balancing the dog’s prey and defense drives while ensuring it can discriminate between normal and threatening scenarios.
This means it must be exposed to various situations and people, to obtain an equilibrate response.
So How do Professional Handlers do It?
Protective training begins when the pup is aged 8-12 months old, depending on the breed.
A professional trainer will start by assessing if the dog’s personality can align with the trainer’s ethics and behavior. Not all trainers can work with any dog, and not any dog can adapt to any training method.
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A shy dog won’t be suitable for this type of training, as it’ll become anxious and won’t get the desired result. An aggressive dog will be disqualified from the beginning, as it’s almost impossible to control it and keep its temper and responses under control.
The training begins with the dog’s obedience. The animal learns simple commands like “sit”, “stay”, “heel”, etc. If the dog doesn’t learn to obey, it cannot learn when or why to stop. So, a dog that doesn’t submit cannot be controlled and might become overly aggressive.
This doesn’t mean a good handler can’t transform an aggressive dog to act correctly and handle itself in protection, but there’s a much bigger chance of the dog disobeying at one point or another.
These are the foundation commands of obedience training and play a vital role in a dog’s development because the dog must respond with precision. Simple commands instill discipline and help maintain control during potentially dangerous situations.
For example, someone approaches you in the dark, your dog attacks him, and then you realize you know that person, how can you stop your dog from charging?
There are many trainers and training philosophies, that use either traditional methods that employ discipline, or more modern ones that emphasize positive reinforcement.
Regardless of the training method used, the dog’s health and happiness should always come first during training.
If the dog isn’t the right pick for this type of (protective) training:
- it’s stubborn,
- doesn’t want to obey,
- doesn’t respond in the way the handler needs,
- the training itself causes mental harm to the animal,
Then the process is almost always canceled. Canine behaviorists insist on training that respects the dog’s limits, both physical and mental. They insist on positive reinforcement techniques, to build a relationship based on trust.
A dog that doesn’t trust its handler won’t express its best behavior, will question the handler’s instructions, and refuse to obey. This type of training should focus on building the dog’s confidence rather than instilling fear. Essentially promoting a partnership between them.
From Rookie to Advanced Protection Techniques
Once a dog is familiar with basic commands and performs them consistently, it can progress to more complex protection training. The handler will try to work with the dog’s attention and focus.
This is very important when it comes to houseguarding. The desired result is a dog that concentrates correctly on the right things and doesn’t respond to any other distractions around it.
To understand the dog’s behavior, you must acknowledge the four drives which govern its temper:
- Prey drive is the behavior that starts in puppyhood. Things like chasing objects around the house, like a stick or a ball. Later on, it could mean the reaction an adult dog has when a smaller animal or bird moves around. A dog in prey-drive mode doesn’t feel threatened. At this step, the dog learns the mechanics of biting and fighting.
- The defense drive is the reaction of the dog to protect itself from harm. A dog working in a defense drive is stressed, it feels threatened and doesn’t know what to expect. This is the moment that the dog’s aggressivity usually kicks in.
- Fight drive is about the dog’s willingness to confront (other animals, humans or situations) and have protective behavior. This comes up when it sees a threat to itself or the handler (with whom it is loyal and has a bond with) and acts accordingly, to defend.
- Avoidance is commonly used in obedience training and highly avoided in protection training. When a dog becomes too stressed or anxious, it will turn and retreat, avoiding the situation or person. It’s a form of defense for the dog. Handlers don’t encourage dogs they train to avoid, but rather to enter a defense drive.
Discipline and control are important for the dog’s ability to remain focused under stress. Many handlers incorporate scenarios to challenge the dogs they train, both mentally and physically. This is a commonly used method to prepare the dogs for real-life situations (especially in police K9 trainings).
To enhance a dog’s defensive and protective instincts, professional handlers use:
- Introduction to bite work: the dog is taught how to correctly bite and hold onto a bite sleeve or a special suit worn by a trainer. The dog learns to associate biting the sleeve with a reward.
- Mastering the bark and bite, on command: after the dog learns how to properly bark, it learns how to bite on command. This requires the dog to engage an aggressor. Bark on command is used to signal there’s a protective canine around, to deter potential dangers.
- Decoys: this is a person who knows how to work with protection dogs, simulating different real-life scenarios while wearing protective gear. This step is required for the dog to learn that the handler isn’t the same person as the decoy and to listen to its handler alone. This step also challenges the dog’s ability to discern and react to genuine threats.
Protection Training Uses
There are multiple levels of protection training, depending on each professional handler. Considering the extent of instruction, there are multiple uses for these dogs:
- Home and personal protection, where personal protection dogs are trained against home invasion. These dogs are taught to discern between normal and suspicious behaviors, signaling their owners to a possible breach of security. Personal protection dogs need to be adept at following commands promptly, such as aborting a pursuit or releasing an apprehended individual at the owner’s order.
- Public safety, where many protection-trained dogs serve in public safety roles such as police dogs or in military applications. They are used in operations that include search and rescue missions, narcotics and explosives detection, as well as apprehension of suspects.
- Protection dogs in sports and competitions. Protection-trained dogs may also take place in competitions such as Schutzhund, or IGP. A dog’s agility, tracking, protection skills, and obedience are tested within these shows and they also set a standard for the level of control and precise training that should be achieved with any well-trained protection dog.
Life with a Protection Dog
First of all, the cost for this type of training can vary widely, depending on the trainer and the duration of the training program. It can range from a few thousand, even up to ~ $50,000. This is just to have a sum in mind if you’ve decided on this.
After training for protection ends, you have to live next to your protection dog.
This means both of you need daily routines and consistent ongoing training, to ensure your dog retains its capacities and stays disciplined and under your control.
An important aspect is to observe and understand your dog’s body language, to prevent miscommunications.
These rules are important to follow, especially if you want guests to come over. Think of it as you would live next to a piranha fish. You’ll always want to know what to expect from it, right?
Ok, maybe the comparison isn’t superb, but what you do have to remember, is that protection training isn’t a one-off, “initial” investment type of deal. It’s a continuous behaviour-reinforcing type of relationship.
