I will not attempt to even come close to
explaining the art of training dogs for protection work on this web page. Even a
good sized book could not could not do the subject justice, or teach a person
how to master this extremely serious profession. Because even if someone were to
read all the material out there on the subject, and even go to a so-called
"professional" school for dog trainers, they would still lack one
crucial element...EXPERIENCE! And when I say experience, I do not mean 50
or 60 dogs, but more like THOUSANDS of dogs. And the first few hundred of these
dogs should be trained by the new trainer only under the direct and constant
supervision of an experienced trainer. This is to allow the veteran to teach the
newcomer proper techniques, mistakes to avoid, and more importantly HOW TO READ
DOGS. And the latter cannot be accomplished in a three month course or a couple
of dozen dogs. It takes years and years, and I will elaborate by giving a brief
explanation.
To properly train a dog for protection
work, one must utilize one of two basic drives. The first one is the prey drive,
which we have already addressed earlier in our obedience section. The second one
is the defense drive, which is the dog's drive to defend himself, his pack (or
family, with the domestic dog), or his territory when threatened. The ideal,
well balanced protection dog candidate will have a good balance of both drives,
but most dogs will be more pronounced in one drive over the other. This is where
a dog trainer's experience is critical. If the trainer is not able to quickly
read the dog and adjust his training program accordingly, a great deal of damage
can be done to the dog and some of it will be irreversible. This is why we see
so many dogs that were supposed to have been protection trained, and the end
result has been dogs that are unpredictable, nervous, shy, fearful, and some
even vicious. It is no wonder why much of the public and the judicial system in
this country see a protection trained dog as a dangerous liability, even though
a properly trained protection dog is a confident, well adjusted, clear headed
individual whose actions are far more predictable than the untrained dog.
To further illustrate, one must have the
basic understanding of a certain aspect of dog behavior. ALL dogs will bite, if
placed in proper set of circumstances. And most owners will encounter these
circumstances at least one time in their pet's long life, and usually more. The
question is, when a dog does decide to bite for whatever the reason may be,
would the owner like to be able to control the dog's aggression (either turn it
on or off), or instead let the dog's instincts determine the outcome and hope
for the best? A protection trained dog should not be quicker to bite, but
rather should clearer understand what type of circumstances would be considered
by the owner to be bite permissible. Sure there are some dogs that must be
taught to be a bit more suspicious and a bit less trusting of strangers.
However, there are also dogs that misread harmless gestures as threats and need
confidence building and control over their overly quick reaction to bite. The
vast majority of dogs fall somewhere in between these two examples, and must be
individually evaluated. And lets not forget that all dogs should not be taught
to bite the same, as they all have different physiological strengths and
weaknesses. A small and quick Jack Russell terrier should not be taught how to
combat a burglar in the same way as a large male German Shepherd. A trainer
simply must have a huge array of ideas and techniques to choose from, and this
can only be the case if he has had ample experience.
It is not our intention to discredit
knowledgeable dog trainers who have put in the years and hard work to learn this
wonderful profession. Nor do we wish to criticize all schools for trainers,
since some of these do teach an excellent foundation of information to one who
is looking to pursue a career in dog training. It is our opinion, however, that
graduates from these schools should spend a few years working with an active,
experienced veteran trainer who can supervise and polish the new trainer's
skills until they become proficient and second nature. Unfortunately, in most
areas there are far more UNQUALIFIED so called "professional"
trainers, and these people know who they are and will probably object to these
viewpoints the loudest. When seeking a quality dog trainer, a person should ask
for a written resume, or even more important some references, and be sure to see
the trainer work his own dog. Watch that the dog not only follow commands, but
also pay attention to whether or not the dog seems to have a good bond
relationship with the trainer. Someone should be leery of long winded stories,
self made titles, or phony certificates as qualifications for a good dog
trainer.
