Executive Personal Protection Dogs

A protection dog, or executive or personal protection dog, is perhaps the jack of all trades when it comes to working canines.  The term ‘executive protection dog’ came into fashion in the past twenty years to define a highly trained dog that is trained to look after executive level clients.

An executive protection dog is a dog that serves several functions:

  • Deterrent – A trained protection dog is typically a dog from one of several breeds (German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, Rottweiler, Doberman, etc.) that is large and physically imposing in aspect.  His first job is to ‘look the part’ and convince would-be bad guys to stay away.  Studies conducted by the FBI have shown that the average criminal takes into great consideration the mere presence of a dog in a home before planning a crime.
  • Display of Aggression – A trained protection dog is a dog that, on command, will show aggression to ward off would be attackers.  In this sense a protection dog serves ‘watch dog’ duties and both sounds the warning to an approaching person and alerts the owners to a potential threat.  At Protege K9 we are very cautious and practical about this aspect of the training.  Many of our competitors send their dogs to new homes with the instructions of ‘your dog will protect if he senses a danger.’  This is incredibly irresponsible and sets you up for legal trouble.  Many dogs sense danger where there is no danger.  We make it the job of the owner to determine where there is a threat and where there isn’t.
  • Apprehension of a Threat – Not only does the trained protection dog warn a potential threat he is capable of stopping that threat with force.  On command a trained protection dog will bite an attacker and engage him in a fight.  A protection dog will also release that bite on command and continue his protection duties.  Your trained protection dog from Protege K9 has received the highest level of training in order to effectively deal with whatever threat comes his way.  This part of the training is what sets us apart from many other companies.  We work on teaching the dog to actually go after threats, and not go after guys yelling and waving a stick while encouraging the dog to bite a big piece of padding.  A real ‘bad guy’ doesn’t act that way and it’s important for dogs to undergo training that helps them realize how to REALLY apprehend a threat, and not just act that way.
  • Family Companion – Perhaps the most valuable function of the trained protection dog is that of companion and friend.  The trained protection dog is capable of playing with the children, associating with invited guests and friends, and accompanying his owners wherever they may go.  The trained protection dog is level headed and stable enough to know that not everyone is a threat and that people are his friends unless directed otherwise.  This dog is not a liability because he only uses force when his owners deem it necessary.  In fact, many of our clients take their protection dogs to work, on airplanes, into restaurants and hotels, and anywhere else they go that they feel they may need help.  Protege K9 has developed a special designation that allows our clients to enter with their dogs into public places that other family pets cannot.