If you are considering protection training your dog, know that protection
training is highly specialized and requires a deep understanding of the drives and instincts that motivate a dog in this area.
Very few trainers are qualified to train personal protection dogs. Addititonally there are many types of protection training.
I specialize in training executive protection dogs as well as family companion protection dogs. Balancing, channeling and manipulation of drives is critical to your success in protection training. For practical protection training your dog, a trainer needs to know how to balance defense and prey drive.
Training session with Rock and his Handler
Defense drive is the drive that we see when we walk up to an area guard dogs are defending or is displaying aggression. Defense drive is also the drive of a animal guarding a bone or object when another dog comes to take it away.
The dog is defending what is his.
Defense Drive
There is also defense of territory, such as a dog guarding a house or a car, or the defense of pack. This is where dogs will have a sense of duty to protect their family members, which is a natural type of defense.
In harnessing this drive, a trainer has to be very careful not to make dogs too high in defense. The trainer needs to control the defense, to avoid the risk of creating a dog who will be a liability.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Protection Dog Training. As always, you can always contact me (Ted Hoppe) with any questions or inquiries. Call or text (386) 337-0730 or email Ted@gatorlandk9.com or gatorlandk9workingdogs@gmail.com