Real Protection Training Versus Sport Training

Introduction

Instead of hiding what is broken, we should always try fixing it. That is the case with the police service dog forum. The price that we are now paying for it is making it difficult to overlook this truth!

Poor Training and its Result

Cases of unprovoked bites and dog attacks by police service dogs are being reported more and more often these days. On the other hand, I have also come across reports of police service dogs who had been killed while in the line of duty. The report mentioned stab wounds as the cause of death but I disagree. Poor training got the canine killed – his training led him to hold on to the unarmed limb of the suspect after a “sport” bite. 

Officers of a neighboring department shot another police service dog during a drug raid when attacked by him. Again, the cause of death is listed as gunshot wounds; poor training is the real culprit.

Poor Training and its Result 

What limits the effectiveness of a police service dog while in the field? Departments like the one in California are now downsizing to 2-3 dogs per K-9 unit because of their ineffectiveness. Poor training, handling which hampers a dog’s decision-making ability under stress. Most of such dogs, as well the handlers, are certified but what does a certification like that prove? Does it help you against the bad guy you are tracking? 

Old vs. New Training

The feats performed by the German K-9 Units in the World Wars let us know in no uncertain terms how effective – and dangerous – a dedicated handler could be when paired with well bred and well trained dogs. Technology has seen unimaginable advancements today, but when it comes to using K-9s as police dogs and their breeding, we seem to be regressing. An effective Personl Protection Dog is only as good as his handler. 

Protection Dog Training 

Do we see the truth easily? It tells us that the dogs on the street are ineffective. Poorly trained handlers and handlers who cannot function under strain are decimating their usefulness even further. 

Protection Dogs being of the oldest and natural dog training incorporates handler-dog communication in it. Its effectiveness can be seen very clearly, when a handler is able to work and communicate while under stress. However, unlike the towel tug and the ball, you need hard work with dedication to achieve that sort of communication with the canine. Working services uses truth and just truth as its prop. This form of training uses the natural bond between a dog and his handler. On the other hand, the sporting method has cost lives and continues to do so! To read more visit, www.ccprotectiondogs.com

Training Your Dog for Protection is not a Game

Introduction

Aside from the misconception about Bark and Hold way to train your dog, the full mouth bite is another huge one. Due to the belief, many law enforcement agencies hold that a full mouth bite will help them avoid lawsuits; they tend to think when faced with strain or pain of death, the dog will let training take over and give a full mouth bite. A dog trained that way may even test well during a U.S.P.C.A. trial. 

Background

Predators, like dogs, possess four large canine teeth. When threatened, a dog will use them. It is a natural impulse and he will not stop and think to bite down with his molars. That is the reason actual bite marks are in the form of four punctures. A dog knows that his molars will be useless when biting through heavy clothing, naturally he will use his canine teeth for a more penetrating and effective bite. No amount of training will overcome this natural instinct. 

The drive to defend himself is a choice between flight or fight. If he chooses to stay and fight back, the canine will not want to look weak or frightened. In order to survive, hunters like dogs, lions and tigers need to behave this way. A full mouth bite only alters this instinct, but cannot completely overcome it. 

Importance of Communication

As I said in the blog post, To Motivate your Dog to work, when training a dog, you need to keep the lines of communication open. The canine needs stabilization that is the result of working with it in a natural, straightforward manner. Think that the nervous dog you can spot on a sporting field that refuses to bite in a manner unnatural to him is a wrong dog for the job? Rethink that! A dog uses his canine teeth to chew and digest its food. Why do we train it to use its molars?

Educate Yourself

Through this blog post, I aim to educate dog trainers sufficiently so that they can separate truth from the myths. Through stabilization, we can form dogs and their handlers into a team with their natural instincts and habits as their biggest strength. These teams will work whether in homes, on the streets or in law enforcement. 

A dog is gifted with natural abilities, like strong sense of smell, the bite and agility. We did not train them to acquire these and we should not try to take them away through training, either. The dog is an intelligent creature, fully capable of differentiating between bare flesh and a bite suit. With the sleeve on, a sporting dog will use his training and give a full mouth bite. Remove the sleeve and attack its handler and you will see the transformation for yourself. When under stress, the dog will use his canine teeth to protect his handler. 

Incorrect training is one of the biggest causes for the lawsuits brought in the court. If you train a dog in prey, how can you expect him to react in the same way in real life situations? Stabilize and remove factor that leads to unnecessary bites. The U.S.P.C.A. and Schutzhund fields do not factor here unless your life is also a part of the equation! 

To read more visit, www.ccprotectiondogs.com

To Motivate Your Dog to work

More than one dog owner has had trouble motivating their canine companions to work. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject:

Using Food or a Toy

Some dog trainers use this method to communicate or motivate a dog. They start to associate the command being given with the exercise. It is all well when being taught in play or prey; however, it might be easy to predict the dog’s reaction in a serious situation. Dogs trained this way will wait for the clicker to click or the toy to make a sound, rather than retreat! It is easy to deduce that while the dog was in communication with the accessory, it made no connection with its handler.

Communication Barriers

Is there ever a reason to raise communication barriers between yourself and the dog? When training a dog on what to do when in danger or under stress, being open and honest will take you farther than bribery ever could. 

You might complain that your dog is not taking it seriously; however, understand that serious work requires serious motivation and communication. You can only motivate the canine through your own motivation.

As explained previously, maintain a working attitude while working with your dog to let it realize the gravity of the training. Another important thing to take under consideration is the breed your dog belongs to, which has an impact on how it gets trained. Training a sled dog or a Shitzu to Search and Rescue would be pretty useless. Select a breed that will suit the “work” because someone’s life may be depending on your training!

Honesty and attentiveness when training your dog will serve you well in the field. Bribery will not. To learn

more visit, www.ccprotectiondogs.com

The Use of E Collars in Training

The Promise

The media has made you a hollow promise by showing that a protection dog can be trained using an electric collar. Not only is this practice unproductive, it is also inhuman and the layman’s way out.

The Training

The K.N.P.V. program in use in Holland employs the use of electricity to train their dogs. The dog is supposed to find a box in the woods; since it cannot mouth it, the box has been rigged to electrify. A dog that has successfully found the box will bark to announce its success; if it does more and touches the box, it will receive a shock.

At CCPD, we do not believe in exposing our German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois dogs to such maltreatment. We are strongly opposed to this type of treatment because history attests how unpredictable and unreliable a dog that has been trained this way can be. During the Second World War, detection dogs were used to detect mines. These dogs were trained by administering electric shocks from wires lying just below the surface of the ground. It was thought that they would learn to anticipate danger in the ground this way.

The Side Effect

When trained in that way, it made the canines extremely nervous, effectively shortening their service lifespan. When you train a dog to anticipate pain, you put them under undeserved strain!

The communication between a protection dog and its handler is quickly becoming an extinct art. We, at CCPD, urge all handlers to communicate with their animal, instead of mistreating them in this way. To read more vist, www.ccprotectiondogs.com

CCPD'S Advise How To Train Your Dog

Years ago, when I received my personal protection dog from CC Protection Dogs, the trainers went into detail about how my dog was trained. In addition, I remember a story they told me about another trainer who called them seeking advice on how to work with a dog that had reached a learning impasse due to behavioral issues.

This trainer explained one of his methods for becoming the dog’s “pack leader” involved biting the ear of the dog, something wolves in wild packs do. Another ritual he adopted as a training technique involved “alpha rolling” the dog; again, something wolves do.

The problem this particular trainer had is that he viewed dogs and wolves in similar ways due to ancestral history. In fact, this well-meaning trainer was correct in his desire for control but his misunderstanding of the real dynamics of the human/dog relationship meant he was going about it the wrong way.

Over the years, I’ve heard other people advocate similar types of flawed training and I’ve concluded that dogs understand their role in the human world better than humans understand their role in the dog world. Simply put, dogs are smart enough not to confuse a human for a dog. I’m certain my executive protection dog doesn’t get the two of us confused.

Considering the complexity and intricacy of canine interactions, it would be arrogant to think that humans are able to accurately replicate a dog’s view of the world. Given that dogs are masters of body language, they view human attempts at imitating canine behavior as abnormal at best. When a dog bites another dog’s ear there is much more going on than meets the eye. We shouldn’t presume we understand what’s happening.

By observing wolf behavior, we really are highlighting the differences between wolves and dogs. The two behaviors are not interchangeable. The ways in which wolves interface with one another should not be applied to our own interactions with dogs; nor should the way dogs interface with each other.

The differences in the two species are apparent. While wolves do all that they can to avoid humans, dogs readily leave their litter mates to join them (the reverse of the pack instinct). Dogs will even defend their two-legged human companions against another dog. They are fully committed to defending their human handlers whereas wolf pack leaders often have to defend their position from rival members within their own pack. Such behaviors, a few of many, demonstrate that dogs view us differently than they view their own kind.

So when asserting yourself with your personal protection dog or canine companion, please keep in mind that he or she does not see you as another dog. Dogs see us as something they think is even better: a human. To learn more visit, www.ccprotectiondogs.com

Training Protection Dogs to Defend

I have had many clients who have purchased a protection dog from me after having been the victim of a violent crime. These are some of the best deliveries because I know that their chances of having anything else happen will now be minimal. Plus, the victim will often say that getting a protection dog has made them feel safe again. It’s great to know that our dogs are helping some of our clients in ways that go beyond just providing security. While training, we often reenact situations and scenarios that are most likely to occur in reality. In fact, I listen closely to our clients who have been in violent situations and tailor the training around the crime with the addition, of course, of a protection dog. As you can image, adding the dog makes the outcome completely different! Sometimes I hear other trainers say that they never allow their dogs to “interpret a situation” and that their dogs will only become defensive on command, when you tell them to. I understand the motive behind this and agree to a point. It’s true, it is very important that the handler has complete control over a highly trained and possibly lethal Protection Dogs. However, I have found through the years and from my clients that, when put in extreme circumstances, sometimes it is okay to allow the dog to come to your defense without receiving a verbal command.

The key is to train the dog to understand not only verbal direction but physical cues as well. It can be done.One of my female clients who had been the victim of a vicious assault by a stranger spoke in detail about how the crime was committed against her. In training I keep what she said in mind. In her circumstances, a stranger struck her from behind, in the back of the head, in an effort to incapacitate her. Lying on the ground but still conscious, she described the state of shock she went into. She explained that she was not able to speak immediately after being hit. Fortunately, she escaped but even as she dialed 911 her speech was extremely slurred and she was confused as a result of the head trauma. This is a perfect example of when a protection dog needs to understand that his or her handler needs them to come to their defense. Although the victim would not have been able to give a verbal command, our dogs are trained to take physical cues from their handler. In this situation, the protection dog would have jumped into defensive mode and targeted the wrist of the hand holding the weapon. The dog would have continued to bite until the person left. This crime would most likely be prevented all together if the protection dog had been present since the dog is a visual deterrent alone. Another situation would involve someone breaking into your home as you sleep. The dog must protect you even as you are awakening and not able to fully comprehend the danger you are in. Given the dog’s superior sense of smell, an unknown person shouldn’t even make it a few feet past the front door. I know that this treads a fine line since, obviously, you don’t want your protection dog to defend you when, say, someone bumps your shoulder. So we at CC Protection Dogs focus on the difference and train our dogs to come to your defense when your body language demonstrates exceptional fear. Also, without a doubt, your protection dog will always respond to verbal commands indicating that you are not in danger. So it really is to your advantage to have a protection dog that is able to interpret if their handler has or will be assaulted. With a properly trained dog, this ability doesn’t mean a loss in control or that you aren’t in charge. It just means that your dog is prepared to come to your defense when you need them most. To learn more visit, www.ccprotectiondog.com

Training Your Dog

Today I took one of our German Sepherd Protection Dog, Nicco, for a bike training session. Typically we take the dogs to a suburban area, like a sub division or calm neighborhood. Especially if we are training the animal to become a Personal Protection Dog , because that environment is likely where they will experience bike riding with their future owners. To begin the exercise, I picked a starting point and left the bike standing up. I then went to get Nicco and walked with him over to the bike, where I gave him a command to sit as I got on. Once I am on the bike and start to pedal, I tell Nicco to “heel”. This command lets him know to stay along my side the entire time while I am moving. As I continue riding through the street, I occasionally remind him to remain beside me by using this command. We kept a steady pace, but I would also speed up or slow down to make sure he was staying focused.

Nicco, is a young trained German Shepherd and is one of the most stunning dogs we’ve had here at CCPD. Physically, he is quite large with a big sturdy head and incredibly powerful bone density. His protection abilities are unbelievable, he attacks fast and hard with a strong bone-crushing grip. As we were going through the bike exercise, I realized just how much confidence Nicco has for such a young dog. The streets of a suburb can be calm at times, but also may present many distractions. However, Nicco stayed attentive and focused on me, refusing to let anything distract him.

Imported from an all-working line in the Czech Republic, Nicco possesses incredible traits that place him among the very top of his breed. His genetics, personality, and extraordinary aptitude made him a great choice to mate with one of our females, Ombra. These two are now expecting alitter of German Shepherd puppies this spring. We believe their litter will have very large puppies with beautiful pigmentation, black and reds and possibly some bi-colors, similar to their mother. In addition, the puppies will likely have large heads and strong bones like their father. We are hopeful that all of the puppies from this litter will be suitable for executive Protection dogs or Family protection Dogs. To read more visit, www.ccprotectiondogs.com

Protection Dog Training

Today, myself and one other trainer took two of our German Shepherds into town to train for some real life situations. They are currently enrolled in the Elite Protection Dogs custom training program. While in town today we primarily focused on walking, this may seem like quite a simple task but it’s a crucial part of protection. In many situations like a neighborhood setting it is imperative that our dogs learn how to remain focused at all times. There are countless distractions that occur every moment, like the noises from the street, people passing by or even other animals. We use our specific training methods to teach the dogs how to acknowledge these factors but to always keep their direct attention to your needs.

One simple exercise that we use is simply walking down a relatively busy street. We will pick a starting point and then begin walking with the dogs like any owner would. The streets we use here in Buffalo are somewhat residential and are likely similar to those in For Florida, or even California. During the exercise if we come to an intersection where it’s required to stop before crossing, our dogs know not to continue without us. In addition, they learn to walk right beside us the entire time without the use of a leash. As the exercise continues we will choose a store and use a voice control to tell the dog to sit and stay. The dog remains exactly where you leave them, while you go into the store, understanding that you will soon return. After returning to your dog another voice commands signals them that it is time to continue walking and they willingly do so. This entire exercise is a great way to expose the Personal Protection Dogs to real life situations, teaching them how to remain focused and ready to protect you at all times. To leard more visit, www.ccprotectiondogs.com