Training

Our protection dog training is unsurpassed.  This page will deal with what is included in the purchase of every protection dog and a description of each level of our obedience and protection training.

Included Items

Every one of our protection dogs for sale comes with the following (a $400 value):

  • A travel crate that will also serve as the crate you will use in our ‘hand off’ program.
  • The training collars that your dog will use both for leash work and for our Remote Method.
  • A leather leash.

The Hand Off

We feel it our duty to hand off every dog to his or her new owner.  The ‘hand off’, which occurs in your home, is two to three days of intense training with a Protege K9 trainer.  During this time you will work one on one to learn how to handle your dog in all of his obedience and protection exercises.  We perform the ‘hand off’ to make sure that every client is certain that they can handle their dog regardless of the situation.

The cost of the trainer in your home is included in the price you see on every dog.  Due to great variance in travel prices, however, the cost of plane tickets, hotel fees, and car rental are borne by the buyer.  Economical options are chosen.


Obedience Training

Regardless of the level of protection dog that you choose one thing is a constant. Every dog comes with the highest level of on and off leash obedience. We don’t believe in the practice of competitors that only the highest trained protection dogs receive the highest level of obedience. In our programs if you purchase a Level I or a Level III you will find that the obedience is the same. Every one of these dogs will be trained to come when called off a leash and regardless of the distraction. Every dog will be trained for off leash heeling around your neighborhood or park. Every dog will be trained to stay either sitting or lying down whether it be in your home while you entertain guests or at your office as you work throughout the day. Every dog will be taught a ‘place’ command where he can comfortably lay as you go to sleep or eat a meal. Every dog will be an obedient pleasure whether you spend the day lazily around the home or take your dog to visit the local street fair, followed by a trip to the park, and finished off by a trip to the pet store with all the heavy distractions that go with those activities.

This level of obedience is made possible thanks to our Remote Method which uses the latest in technology and dog psychology to create a highly obedient dog that is easy to handle for the new dog owner.


Protection Training Levels

We offer three different levels of Protection Training.  Below is a description of each.  Please feel free to contact us with regards to any of these levels.  If you feel that you have a specific threat, concern, or protection need in your life please contact us to talk about these issues.  It is highly likely that we will be able to custom design a protection training program to meet your needs.

Our Protection Dog Training Program grew out of a desire for originality and for protection behaviors that are actually useful to their owners.  Traditional protection dog training can be very limiting and often does little to protect their owners.  The following are a few examples and the solutions we have designed to combat these potential pitfalls: 

  • Traditional protection dog training that can be viewed on videos all over the Internet depict dogs pulling furiously at the end of a leash, barking like mad.  This is a very valuable trained behavior and we use it in our training at Protege K9.  It is, however, very limiting.  The whole purpose of a protection dog is to scare away a threat and allow you to leave dangerous situations.  If you were to be on a jog on a secluded path only to find yourself the target of an attacker what would happen when your dog began to pull frantically at the leash?  Well, it may scare away the bad guy but it may not.  If not, how are you to escape the situation?  You have a dog pulling like mad and now you are tactically left with little to do.  With our Level II and Level III Protection Dog Programs you are actually provided with a dog that can give a fearsome display of aggression while he escorts you away from the dangerous situation.
  • Traditional protection dog training shows numerous examples of dogs being sent to search for a bad guy.  When they find the bad guy they either bark at him or bite him.  While this looks like a valuable exercise it can spell the difference between life and death for a protection dog owner.  Imagine you arrived home with your dog and suspected that your home had been broken in to.  The last thing you would want to do is send in your dog to search the house.  If you send in your dog and shut the door now you are left alone with no protection.  In theory the assailant could have left the home at that point and could approach and attack from the side of the house while your dog is inside searching for someone who may or may not be there.  A personal protection dog is a canine trained to protect your person, not be sent out on search and destroy missions.  This is better left to the police.  If you come home and suspect a break in the first thing you should do is get back in the car, leave the premises, and call the authorities.  Instead, at Protege K9 we utilize the utmost in obedience and control such that upon arriving home and finding things okay that you can still have the dog accompany you as you turn on lights, set down your items, and get settled in, all the while accompanied by your canine friend in case someone had broken in and left no trace.
  • Traditional dog training that you see in videos shows a person walking along enjoying the day only to be assailed by a screaming madman.  The dog instantly engages and bites the person.  The reality?  There is no better way to lose your home to a lawsuit.  How many times does a person walk along only to be suddenly surprised by a friend?  How often does the neighborhood clown pop out from a bush to simply say hello?  How often does a family member come up and slap you on the back in friendly greeting at a family barbeque?  While these things may not happen every day they do happen, and if your dog is trained to bite any surprise you are in trouble.  If your dog is trained to protect against ‘perceived’ threats you may find that your definition of threat is different than his.  Dogs are creatures of intuition and can make judgements on the fly but should not be so ready to attack when someone raises their voice upon approaching you.  Instead our Protege K9’s are trained to better perceive an attack and are trained to rely on their owners for direction regarding who is friend and who is foe.  In the case of the quick, surprise attack our protection behaviors are taught at high speeds to ensure that your dog is safe to neighborhood friends and dangerous to those wishing you harm. 

Level I Protection Dog

Our Level I Protection Dog Program is our introductory level but is hardly basic.  Each Level I protection dog is trained in the following:

  • ‘The Alert’.  ‘The Alert’ is a display of aggression.  On presentation of a dangerous situation the owner grabs the leash or collar and gives the dog a command to show aggression.  The dog pulls, growls, barks and generally shows interest in getting to that person.  On command the dog also stops this behavior once the threat has subsided.  This command is great for scaring someone away from the door that is too pushy or too interested in the home.  This is also ideal for warding off potential muggings while on a walk or other such circumstance.
  • ‘The Warning’.  ‘The Warning’ is a territorial response.  We select dogs from our Level I through Level III programs who are territorial by nature and will bark and show aggression towards unwanted visitors.  This may include someone walking by the door or windows or someone approaching a fenced area.
  • ‘The Lock-Down’.  ‘The Lock-Down’ is a secure of a room.  Imagine being home alone reading a book or watching a television show.  Upon hearing a noise at the window it isn’t evident if it was a tree branch or someone attempting to open it from the outside.  On command the dog will go to the window or door to investigate and will bark and show aggression were he to find a lurker.
  • ‘The Car Jack’.  Were a situation to present itself the dog would, on command, bark aggressively at the windows, follow the outside path of the perceived assailant from the inside of the car, and bite, if necessary, were the perimeter of the car to be breached. 
  • ‘The Attack’.  Pretty self-explanatory.  The dog is trained to attack on command and when the situation warrants it.

Level II Protection Dog

The Level II Protection Dog has all of the obedience training and protection training of the Level I dogs.  The Level II Protection Dog differentiates him or herself from a Level I in the following ways:

  • Quality of dog.  Every dog from Protege K9 comes from top European kennels.  Every one of our dogs, regardless of the level, are some of the finest canine specimens you will be able to find.  The Level II dogs, however, have more natural and atheletic ability than the Level I dogs.  The Level II dogs are stronger on the bite, have the capacity to handle more pressure from threats, more intense in their protection exercises, and better overall with their abilities.
  • In addition to all the Level I Protection Dog exercises the Level II dogs are better equipped for potential threats on your home or person thanks to additional training that we give them.  Additional exercises the dog will be taught include:
  • ‘The Escort’- Upon grabbing the collar and giving the command the protection dog will walk backwards along with the owner all the while showing aggression to the bad guy.  This is a perfect behavior when you need to get away from a situation but can’t turn your back on it.  This is also perfect for those that may not be capable of holding a large protection dog while he is lunging at the bad guy.  Instead, the dog doesn’t pull on the leash or collar but walks along backwards as well.  This would allow the owner to back themselves into a home, vehicle, building, or other safe spot, thereby getting out of a sticky situation without incident.  Great for all owners but especially owners who may be slight in stature and physically aren’t capable of manhandling a 100 pound dog.
  • In addition to the extra learned behaviors, dogs that complete our Level II training program are put through more obstacles and more challenges in their protection work.  Their ability to defend you and your family against greater and more dangerous assailants is far superior to a Level I dog.

 Level III Protection Dog

The Level III protection dog has all of the obedience training and protection training of the Level I and Level II dogs.  The Level III Protection Dog differentiates him or herself from these levels in the following ways:

  • Quality of dog.  Every dog from Protege K9 comes from top European kennels.  Every one of our dogs, regardless of the level, are some of the finest canine specimens you will be able to find.  The Level III dogs, however, are the best of the best.  The Level III dogs are far stronger on the bite, have the capacity to handle much more pressure from threats, are much more intense in their protection exercises, and superior overall with their abilities.
  • In addition to all the Level I and Level II Protection Dog exercises the Level III dogs are better prepared for potential threats on your home or person thanks to additional training that we give them.  Additional exercises the dog will be taught include:
  • ‘The Direct’- In the case of several assailants it is important that you be able to direct your dog towards whom he should be aggressive or whom he should attack.  ‘The Direct’ allows you to guide your dog in the direction where he needs to put his attention and who you deem the biggest threat.
  • ‘The Off-Leash’- Imagine that you are in your yard, on a picnic, or in your home when you are immediately presented with a potentially violent threat in the form of an attacker, home invader, or other neerdowell.  In a situation like that one does not have time to grab the leash, or grab the collar of their dog.  Instead, with a single command your Protege K9 will immediately rush to your side and keep his barking and aggression in between you and the assailant.  You move, so does your dog.  Off the leash the dog stays next to your side and escorts you wherever you need to go.  If the bad guy decides to ignore the aggression and continues his approach the dog will engage as the person continues the approach.  This truly is the highest level of training you can receive and is one of the main areas of training that sets us apart from our competitors.  No where else will you find protection training that is as tactical as this exercise.