Working K-9 military dogs are an incredible force multiplier. Simply put, they can do things that humans cannot. Besides being faster and more agile, they are amazing at tracking while remaining stealthy. More specifically, the Special Operation Forces working dogs are truly America’s Tier One K9′s.

According to the Warrior Dog Foundation, each entity of SOF employs a Multi Purpose Canine program. These dogs train in nearly every aspect imaginable. The MPC’s have the ability to sniff out IED’s and other explosives as well as pick out the scent of an insurgent from several hundred meters away. These incredible animals are usually the ones helping us, but this time they need our help and this is where the Warrior Dog Foundation comes in.

The Military Dog Transition

The goal of the Warrior Dog Foundation is to transition these military dogs from their operational environment to a state-of-the-art kennel facility where they can be cared for throughout the rest of their time. The foundation was established by Mike Ritland who served as a Navy SEAL in Operation Iraqi Freedom and other deployments. Ritland knows firsthand how much support these dogs provide and wanted a way to give back some of that support.

We strive to educate the public on the importance of K-9s in the combat environment, and showcase the level of sacrifice these dogs give in support of our troops.  We care for each individual SOF K-9 with dignity and grace, including both mental and physical rehabilitation for the rest of their lives.

The Warrior Dog Foundation is working to establish a scholarship fund for the families of handlers who are wounded or killed in combat. They are also planning to build a living memorial and museum for SOF K-9s to showcase the talents and awards received in combat operations in support of our nation’s military.

Many people have expressed interest in adopting former military working dogs and that’s now a possibility through H.R. 5314. Not every dog is available for adoption though. The needs of the dog comes first and their future home is closely examined.

Trident K9 Warriors

If the video above does not load, view the 60 Minutes special on cbsnews.com

As the founder and lead trainer of Trikos International, Mike Ritland trains and provides private protection dogs to companies and high net-worth individuals as well as the SEAL Teams, U.S. Government, and Department of Defense.

Prior to starting Trikos International, Ritland was a multipurpose K9 trainer for the SEALs. He’s also served 12 years of active duty as a Navy SEAL and is a disabled combat veteran. He records his experiences in handling these highly trained working dogs in some of the toughest of battlefield conditions in his first book, Trident K9 Warriors.

For the first time ever, Trident K9 Warriors gives readers an inside look at these elite canines—who they are, how they are trained, and the extreme missions they undertake saving countless lives, asking for little in the way of reward. From detecting explosives to eliminating the bad guys, these powerful dogs are also some of the smartest and most highly skilled working animals on the planet.

Support America’s Elite Working Dogs

You can support the Warrior Dog Foundation by donating directly or by purchasing Mike Ritland’s book. Proceeds from Trident K9 Warriors will be donated to the Warrior Dog Foundation.

I’ll admit that before today, I hadn’t heard of K9 Veterans Day. In my research efforts to learn more about this, I discovered that Joe White, the founder of the movement to nationally adopt March 13th as K9 Veterans Day, is no longer with us.

Since 2009, Joe’s wife Sally has continued the effort to get nationwide recognition for this holiday and I’d like to help her spread the word here on ITS. It appears that in 2010 New Jersey officially recognized the date for K9 Veterans Day, but I couldn’t find that any other states had done the same.

I feel that the mission statement from k9veteransday.org best sums up why we need to have national recognition for K9 Veterans Day:

Welcome to the national effort to make March 13 K9 Veterans Day. March 13, 1942 is the official birthday of the United States K9 Corps, and so it seems only right to annually honor their service on that date. They served to save, and they deserve to be remembered.

Because of the attacks on our homeland, many more dogs than are normally associated with the term “war dogs” are in the fight, and this campaign will not discriminate against them. The war came to us, and so it has become seriously important to us as a Nation to have our borders, transportation centers, ports, bases, fuel dumps, energy compounds, and many more places, as well guarded as is possible, and for the most part they are guarded by dogs that are not in the military. Police K9s, Customs K9s, Border Patrol K9s, Secret Service K9s, Airport Police K9s, F.B.I. K9s, and others are working daily to protect the homeland, and they should be honored accordingly. Some of those very dogs died at Ground Zero. They have all served to save, and they all deserve to be remembered.

Privately handled dogs are also a part of the war effort in ways that have never been done before. Search and Rescue dog teams worked tirelessly at Ground Zero, and at the Pentagon. Private bomb dog and security dog teams are in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other sites as needed; and they are very much needed, and sincerely appreciated by our troops. And private Therapy dogs are in the hospitals both here and abroad, helping to heal our hero’s. Service dogs are now assisting those who are handicapped by the war to have a more meaningful life. And may we never forget as well the service of those privately handled dogs who search for the remains that are so important to their families. And of course many of our troops will readily tell you of how an unofficial war dog, a mascot, helped in keeping one’s spirits high as the horrors of war worked to depress them.

First and foremost are the military dogs of all our wars, as their service and sacrifice paved the way for the creation of all the other uses for dogs. And we are certainly honored to have current handlers voicing their support for this campaign. Dogs have bled, suffered, and died while serving in all our wars, to include this war on terror, and they have done so in ways that do us all proud. Dogs were there in the trenches of France in WW I, and the slopes of Iwo Jima in WW II, and though many were pure breeds, some others were mixed breeds, and our troops didn’t care either way. They were simply grateful to have one, and they treated them with respect as a fellow soldier. Of course dogs also served with honor in Korea, and Vietnam, and wherever our Country has called them to serve. And unlike other so called weapons, dogs served not to take a life, but to save them. They served to save, and they deserve to be remembered.

Joe has put together a great list of ideas here, on how we can help with this movement. Those include writing your state, local working dog demonstrations, parades, etc. I think if we all try to spread the word as much as possible, we could make K9 Veterans Day in 2014 better recognized.

From this point forward I’ll be doing what I can to help support the national adoption of K9 Veterans Day and I’d encourage each and every one of you to do the same.

Many people purchase dogs for the purpose of adding to home defense. For some people, dogs are their only defensive measure. Still others plan to only use their dog as an alternate form of a house alarm and then completely discount them after that.

If you have a very small dog, then perhaps their best application is as an alarm. But if you have a large dog that is capable of protection and especially if you plan to rely on this dog for any portion of your home protection plan, then you must train both yourself and your dog for this eventual possibility.

Having a dog as part of your defensive plan and not training with that additional asset is as foolish as buying a gun and keeping it by your bed side and never shooting it at the range.

Introducing Your Dog to Home Protection

Assuming that you have trained with a competent trainer, that your dog has been properly trained to bite and fight with a person and has been stabilized such that you can give the command to attack and the command to leave it, and both are obeyed equally well, then you are ready to begin introducing your dog to home protection.

If possible, you should request that your trainer conduct this training at your home. Introduce the dog to biting in the space that they are used to viewing as calm. This will turn your dog on to the idea that there could be a threat even here in the home. Bite work should start off outside and then work its way inside your home and in different rooms in your home.

This must, of course, be done with some level of discretion if you have anything that could be broken during this training, and most homes do. The problem can be solved in several ways. You can either remove the items sensitive to being damaged, you can try your best to keep the bite work from being overly active and thus causing damage, or you can limit your bite work in the home to specific locations where there are no easily damaged items or the items are easily moved out of harms way.

Remove Sensitive Items from the Training Rooms

This is usually easier said than done, and if one spouse desires this training more than the other, then this could be an unnecessary point of contention within the home. However, if you can train in each room in the home, then you should take advantage of that opportunity.

Maintaining Calm Bite Work

This may be better than nothing, but if this is required in the home, then you should consider not training in those rooms where this is a concern. First of all, people do not remain calm when being bitten by a dog. Secondly, you do not want to train in unrealistic situations where the communication between the decoy and the handler may cause confusion to the dog.

Limiting Bite Work to Specific Locations

In most cases, this is going to be the best situation that can be achieved. While you want to develop realism in your training as much as possible, often times trying to take it to the maximum level possible is more trouble that it is worth for the benefit gained. But make sure that you do conduct some of this training in your home.

Introducing Your Dog to Gun Fire

The next logical step, although not necessarily next in sequence, is ensuring that your dog is familiar with and comfortable around gunfire. I will not go into great detail here as both Baden K-9 and Dunetos K-9 offer courses in gunfire familiarization, but I will give you a few beginning thoughts. Do not take a dog out to the range for the first time and place them next to your muzzle. Build your dog’s exposure to gunfire.

Be very cautious about your dog while on the range. When dogs are introduced to gunfire, many can become highly stressed and sometimes lash out at others. Ensure that you are in control of your dog and your surroundings. Do not allow others to come and dictate to you how to work with your dog. If this means that you need to find a new range, then that is what you need to do. Remember, you are always responsible for your dog. This means maintaining control of your surroundings.

Finally, working with your dog around gunfire is something that you need to continue over the long haul. As often as possible, you should take your dogs with you whenever you go to the range. Exposing your dogs to gunfire often will ensure that they will not have a negative reaction to it during an actual defense of your home.

Integrating Your Dog into Your Home Defensive Plan

Once you have introduced your dog to bite work in your home and your dog has been stabilized around gunfire, you will be ready to begin the actual integration of the dog into your home defensive plan.

The first step in this process is to train each member of your family how to react once your home defensive plan is initiated. Where are your children going to go? What is your husband or wife going to do? How are you going to communicate clearly throughout this situation?

Ensure that you can clear your home on your own. Where do you start? Are you going to assist in moving your children? How are you going to ensure that you are not bypassed? Once you are familiar with your pattern and how you would respond to different contingencies, you will also be able to identify your areas of weakness. Make careful note of these weaknesses and what the possible responses by a home invader would be.

Finally, begin to walk your dog through the process of clearing your home at your side. With the help of a competent trainer, you can develop the specific actions that will ensure your dog strengthens your weaknesses and maximizes your abilities. You may use your dog to guard an area that could be used to bypass you. You may send them into a room just before you enter it to clear and/or distract a home invader. The possibilities are many, and a competent trainer can help you work through those contingencies.

Conclusion

Any force on force engagement, including a home invasion, is a dynamic and high stress situation. You will respond much faster and with better judgment if you have worked through these contingencies in advance. Run dry practices when there is no threat. Train as realistically as possible as often as possible. Whenever you hear a sound in your home, go through these motions so that it is maintained in both your mind and the mind of your dog.

Integrate your dog into all of your own defensive training whenever possible. This will keep you both sharp and help maximize your bond as well as your ability to “read” one another. A tactical team functions more smoothly the more they train together because they can better anticipate how other members of the team will react in different situations. The same goes for you and your dog.

For more information on the mindset required for protecting yourself and your family, see my article What It Really Takes to Defend Yourself and the follow-up article Integrating Dogs into the Warrior Mindset.

Now get out there, get yourself a dog bred for working and find a competent trainer that can bring you to the next level. With a trained protection dog you can rest assured that you will be a formidable force to reckon with and you will have the confidence of knowing that you will respond well if the worse should happen.

If you have any remaining questions not answered in this series, or if you would like information on Dunetos K-9′s courses for introducing dogs to gunfire and integrating dogs into home defensive plans, please contact me at joel@dk-9.com.

Joel is the founder and head trainer of Dunetos K-9, a training facility and equipment manufacturer specializing in Tactical and standard K-9 equipment. He’s been training and handling dogs for over 10 years and works closely with Baden K-9, a highly respected training facility in Ontario, Canada. Joel has served in the United States Army for 11 years as a Military Police Officer deploying to the Pentagon days after the 9/11 attack, Afghanistan (2003), Iraq (2007) and is currently serving in Bogota, Colombia (2011) in the War on Drugs. Joel has specialized in integrating dogs into every aspect of life, from personal obedience and protection to specialized military application.

When deploying your dog in a tactical situation, you want him to succeed and come back to you safely. There is a lot of equipment available to K-9 units to assist with this goal, including bullet-resistant vests, goggles, booties, leads, and harnesses.

At first glance, the Tactical Patrol Harness from Elite K-9 looks minimal, but that’s exactly what you want. If you deploy your dog on a harness regularly then you’ll know what I mean. You want just enough equipment to help you and your dog without it becoming a hindrance or distraction.

The dog’s job is out in front of them, and they shouldn’t be overwhelmed with a “sports bra” that’s strapped around them. To assist with this, be sure to train in the harness you’re utilizing before you deploy. You want to avoid those embarrassing moments when all the patrol guys are watching you take the eight second ride, trying to put a harness on your land shark that has never trained in it.

Elite K-9 Tactical Patrol Harness

The Tactical Patrol Harness construction is top notch. It has a handle bar tacked on the top for catching that Malinois that does a fly by when you call him back to the SWAT team in the narrow hallway. It also serves as a great handle to aim your dog just before a deployment. It helps me “handle” my 87 lbs. Malinois when he’s all fired up on a suspect or decoy.

Something to keep in mind is that this harness can work against you if you come up against a suspect that grabs the harness and uses it against your dog.

Details

The Tactical Patrol Harness includes a heavy duty Mil-Spec v-ring for attaching tracking leads. It’s strategically placed to handle the load of a large Sheppard or crazy Dutch Sheppard. On each side of the harness are 4” x 2” Velcro ID panels for your unit patches or PC morale patches.

Elite K-9 does offer reflective or glow-in-the-dark ID panels as well. A newer feature that our harness is lacking, but is now available on all new versions of the harness from Elite K-9, is a spot for an IR beacon which is now located at the top of the harness. The whole harness is locked together with a strong cop-lock buckle with a Cobra buckle available as an optional upgrade. The harness will fit girths of 27” to 34” and color choices include black, orange, coyote and MultiCam.

All in all, Elite K-9′s Tactical Patrol Harness is a great piece of equipment. It fits the bill for a harness that is small enough to work your dog with, while not inconveniencing you or your dog with the bulk of “cool dog gear.” The harness will set you or your department back about $40.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please Join us in welcoming Todd Thompson as a contributor on ITS Tactical. Todd has been a Police Officer, SWAT Operator and K-9 Handler at the Castle Rock Police Department for over 9 years. He’s also a Utah POST certified SWAT Dog Instructor.

In our previous articles on Dogs of Defense we discussed the responsibility that each dog owner has to maintain control over their dogs, as well as how training a dog in protection work can actually make them safer if they are properly stabilized.

Next we discussed the benefits and considerations of owning a protection dog. Having options in self-defense is very important. We should not desire to take the life of another unless it is necessary for the preservation of our own, or in protection of another. Dogs give us significant options in our level of force while allowing us to defend ourselves very effectively.

In our last article we discussed different considerations to think through before purchasing a protection dog. Selecting an appropriate breed and trainer will make a significant difference in your enjoyment of the process, level of frustration with results and long term maintenance requirements.

Foundations

One of the primary benefits to introducing a young dog to bite work is that if you do have any issues during your training, they are much easier to take care of. Young dogs respond to correction much faster and the lesson is internalized much better than with old dogs. This is certainly not to say that you can’t train an adult dog in protection work, but we must clearly understand the benefits and problems with introducing a dog to protection work later rather than sooner.

The old adage that “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is not entirely true, but the principle is sound. My mentor at Baden K-9 calls this early training of the puppy, the foundation. Everything that you do with your dog will be made easier or harder based on the foundation you’re working from. Older dogs are not as easy to establish these fundamental foundations with.

This article will discuss some of the considerations when training a dog in stabilization, when and where this training should occur and a little of the why behind stabilization.

Stabilizing a Dog in Your Home

Arguably, the most important place to stabilize your dog is in your home. If you have children, or ever plan to have children, then you must ensure their safety in the home. Your children must be able to love on your dog and your dog must accept whatever love the children give. If you have a dog that is aggressive with or even suspicious of your children, you should get rid of that dog. There is no room in the life of parents with children for a dog that puts them at risk when its primary purpose is to protect them.

One thing worth mentioning here is that females will typically, but not always, be better in a family setting than males. There are many male dogs out there that are very loving toward children and a family in general, but they are fewer in number than the females. A competent trainer will take you through the process of working with the dog in protection and stabilization with a family.

The next decision you must make is whether you want your dog to be friendly or suspicious with everyone who comes into your home. Ensure that you discuss this with your trainer from the beginning so that the proper process is followed for your particular dog.

Non-Suspicious Dogs

If you are expecting your dog to protect your house from intrusion in your absence or to protect without command or guidance from other family members, then you do not want a non-suspicious dog. However, if you are going to be practicing hospitality in your home regularly and want your dog present during these events, then you want to train a non-suspicious dog.

Dogs trained and socialized in a non-suspicious way will allow most anyone to pet them at random. They will be comfortable with strangers approaching, even in the home, and they will generally be more relaxed about people they do not know.

But do not think that these dogs will not also protect. Quite some time ago, I found myself staying with a friend for a few months. I kept one of my dogs with me during this time. This friend assumed that because the dog was always in his home and never seemed aggressive to him, the dog would never bite. He proceeded to taunt this a bit. (I do not recommend doing what I am about to tell you, but rather understand that it is possible.) This arose concern in my mind as to what my dog would do if a “friend” suddenly turned hostile.

So while he was petting and loving on the dog and spouting these terribly offensive words (sarcasm intended there), I switched my dog from prong collar to flat collar and pulled the lead just tight enough that I knew he would be safe and then put my dog on watch. She glanced back very quickly to confirm that she had heard what she thought she heard — this was also the warning to my friend that something wasn’t quite right — and then she began to bark and attempt to bite this individual. I quickly commanded her to leave it and return to normal. She did so. However, he was not quite so bold with her after that.

A dog does not need to be suspicious to protect you and your family. But a non-suspicious dog may require more direction to protect than a suspicious dog. The flip side to that coin is that a suspicious dog will require commands not to attack.

Suspicious Dogs

So why would anyone want a suspicious dog? Let me clarify that suspicious does not equal aggressive. There is no room in anyone’s life for an aggressive dog. Dogs may never bite or bark out at people who are no threat to the family. It is also important to understand that suspicious dogs, while suspicious of any outsiders, must be completely calm and accepting of every member of the family.

If you have a well-stabilized dog, they will easily accept new additions (babies) as well. We have several protection dogs in our home, some trained to be more suspicious and other less, and we have six children, 3 of which were born after we had the dogs. Our dogs are well stabilized and have never been aggressive toward any of our children.

So let’s consider a few of the advantages of suspicious dogs. First, if you are going to leave your children with a dog (always to be done with great care and consideration), suspicious dogs are much more protective of children around strangers. For instance, we have allowed our children to play in the front yard from time to time and will leave a dog in place while we do other activities that may require moving in and out.

Even these brief moments inside with the children outside can open the door to someone attempting to kidnap a child. However, with a suspicious dog with the children, this will never be allowed. There have been several times when our dogs have ensured that people entering our yard meant no harm to the children by barking and placing themselves between the children and the person. However, upon a command from my wife that it was “ok” they returned to their place. But a suspicious dog will continue to be suspicious.

As a side note, I strongly encourage you to clearly distinguish between sporting dogs and working dogs. They are not the same thing. While some dogs used in sports (Schutzund, KNPV, etc) do make good working dogs, the temperaments that are looked for and unrealism in these events leads to significant problems in real life protection. It is like taking a boxer and expecting him to be able to protect against any threat because he fights in the ring. While he may have a strong left hook, he fights according to a set of rule in the ring that do not apply in real life threat situations. These limitations must be considered.

With that in mind, another consideration for having a suspicious dog is for single women. Unfortunately, I know of a woman who had purchased two supposedly trained German Shepherd’s dogs for protection, and then had someone break into her home and sexually assault her while her dogs hid in the closet and wet themselves. I will not get into the details of where these dogs came from, but they were sporting dogs that had never been trained to handle real world stress.

Training on a groomed field is not real world training. I know of no one personally who has been assaulted on a groomed field. Suspicious dogs with a single woman will generally be very protective and require constant communication when others are around. Depending on your situation, this may be something that you would want.

After training several dogs in both manners for our home, I will say that if you have multiple dogs, then a mix may be well suited to what you want. But if you are not a highly disciplined person, then you may want to avoid making your dog overly suspicious.

Carefully consider your own personality, your life style, position in life and hoped for future position (spouse and children) and how disciplined you are and are willing to remain when making this choice. You can make progress to correct either method if you wish, but it is best to choose wisely from the beginning. Remember foundations.

Stabilizing a Dog in Public

Of lesser concern is stabilizing your dog in public. I am not saying that you shouldn’t concern yourself with this, but simply that it is not as important as stabilization with your family. However, it is also worth noting that if your dog is stabilized with your family, then you will have very little trouble stabilizing them in public.

Your biggest concerns in public, quite frankly, are stupid people. I hate to put it this way, but you would be amazed at how many people will walk right up to an unknown dog and start petting it. They know nothing of its level of aggression, history, or even what it is doing there.

Dealing with Stupid People

Your best defense against stupid people is to respond directly, but politely. “I am sorry, but this dog is working and you are not permitted to pet the dog.” Believe it or not, I have received every imaginable response to this statement; from a polite apology, to the offended response to one step below aggression. I am happy to report that my dogs have always remained calm and under control.

Much of your dogs reaction to others is going to be dependent upon your reactions. If you allow yourself to take an aggressive posture, then expect that your dog will do the same thing. You must remember to communicate with your dog when you are under stress. This is where most fail with their dogs. In the absence of reassurance from their handlers, and the observation (communication from the handler) of an aggressive stance, the dog will respond in a similar fashion. Many are then taken aback that their dog reacted in such a way. It doesn’t matter what you think you are doing, it only matters what you are doing.

A competent trainer will prepare you for maintaining control of your dog in public places and so long as you communicate with your dog, you should have no issues.

One other thing worth mentioning is that children may approach your dog. Often, even if the parents are aware and attempt to stop them, children will come running to the “puppy.” Your dog must never act aggressive toward a child. Communication to the dog that “it’s ok, I see it, leave it” is critical in these situations. Some dogs are completely comfortable with children, even when they are being “aggressively attacked” by them. Others require a little more communication and control. Never forget that you are responsible for your dog.

Stabilizing a Dog Around Other Animals

The primary concern here is stabilizing your dogs around other dogs. The key to remember is that most people have no control of their dogs whatsoever. This complicates the issue, but the principle stays the same. You must control your dog. Socializing your dog around other dogs in a training environment is helpful, but when another dog is jumping on your dog and biting at them (usually in a playful, but annoying way) you must determine if you will allow enough aggression from your dog to get the other dog to leave them alone or if you will allow the dog to continue harassing your dog until you can get out of the situation.

If the owner of the other dog is present, I will usually ask politely if they can get control of their dog. If they refuse, I will demand it, not so politely. I have never had anyone continue to refuse, but if you do, then you must determine the most appropriate course of action based on the situation.

Pepper spray is often the best response to a dog that may be aggressive to the point of concern. While dogs, like people, can resist the effects of pepper spray, most will not, even if they have been sprayed before. For this purpose, I recommend the direct stream of spray so that you do not blanket your dog in the process of defending yourselves from another dog. This is especially useful when you are dealing with dogs that have no owner present.

Finally, if you live on a farm, or anywhere that many different animals are present, or if you hope to do so, it is important to get your dog around these animals when they are puppies. Simply being familiar with them is one of the most important parts of socializing your dog to other animals. As a general rule, most farm animals will respond quite well to dogs. I will warn that you should not allow your dog to attack and kill any of the smaller animals though (rabbits and chickens primarily) or they may likely develop a “taste” for it and desire to do it again. When training puppies, it is important to keep a close eye on them at all times.

More Advanced Bite Work

I will discuss this in more detail in the next article, but properly advancing the bite work training will condition your dog to know when it is appropriate to bite and when it is not. The primary consideration in all bite training is that it is never appropriate to bite when the dog is commanded not to.

It is also very important to ensure that you can call a dog off of an attack after he has been deployed, both before and after he has actually made contact with the individual he was sent after. Many people will turn and run when they realize that you were serious about sending your dog. If they do so, no matter how much you may want to allow the dog to bite, you should usually call the dog off. To allow an errant bite is usually a death sentence for the dog. Even if you are found innocent of wrongdoing, courts will often order that the dogs be put down after a bite.

Scenario Training

Beside the scenarios that you will conduct during advanced training, it is also important that you develop and train in scenarios that are most familiar to the dog. When you can train on your own property and in your own home, it will increase the dog’s awareness and help to establish appropriate and inappropriate situations. Just as scenario training is very useful to the defense minded individual, law enforcement officer and soldier, it is also very important for your dog if you want maximum performance when it counts.

Humans often will conduct mental rehearsals of situations, but dogs do not do this on their own. So you have to actually run through these situations as best as you can in order to expose the dog to what you might encounter and what you expect of it.

Conclusion

I hope you have a better understanding of how to continue to develop your protection dog after you have him. Maintaining control and stabilization is extremely important with a protection dog. Just as you must remain vigilant with your security of weapons, you must also maintain your vigilance with the dog. It will become a natural part of your lifestyle eventually, but you must train yourself to it, just as you train your dog.

Next time we will discuss how to integrate your dog into your home defensive plan.

Joel is the founder and head trainer of Dunetos K-9, a training facility and equipment manufacturer specializing in Tactical and standard K-9 equipment. He’s been training and handling dogs for over 10 years and works closely with Baden K-9, a highly respected training facility in Ontario, Canada. Joel has served in the United States Army for 11 years as a Military Police Officer deploying to the Pentagon days after the 9/11 attack, Afghanistan (2003), Iraq (2007) and is currently serving in Bogota, Colombia (2011) in the War on Drugs. Joel has specialized in integrating dogs into every aspect of life, from personal obedience and protection to specialized military application.

If you have made it this far in our series, hopefully you are seriously considering a protection dog. In this article we are going to address the selection of a dog and the training of that dog.

These are going to be the two most important aspects for you, as the owner, when determining what kind of dog you want and how to prepare both yourself and your dog for home protection.

Breeds

Sadly, many Americans have fallen in the fallacy that bigger is better. Many would argue with everything they are worth that a .50 caliber bullet is superior to a 9mm for personal protection, even for a 90 lb. woman who can barely hold the handgun. Are .50 caliber handguns bad? Not necessarily, but they have certain characteristics and limitations that must be considered when purchasing them for self-defense.

If a person can hit their target under stress consistently with a 9mm, then they are much better off with that handgun then a .50 caliber that they can’t control. The same thought process must be applied to the purchase of a protection dog.

Size

There are benefits and detriments associated with large dogs. Large dogs are often stronger and may give you a psychological advantage, but they are also going to be less agile and slower.

Of course you do not want to have a Pomeranian or Chihuahua for home protection. It is important to balance the size and strength of the dog with its ability to move and negotiate the natural obstacles in your home or wherever else it may be protecting you.

For a home protection dog that is capable of giving you the greatest performance in the widest number of circumstances, you should look for an agile breed somewhere between 50 and 85 lbs. A dog this size will give you plenty of biting strength while maintaining the greatest agility and ability to move during a fight.

Agility

Agility is the measure of how quickly a dog can change directions or negotiate obstacles. Obstacles can be anything from jumping a fence to leaping into the back of a pickup truck, or even transitioning from carpet to tile in your home. When fighting with dogs, those that are most effective are the medium sized dogs that can change direction and react very quickly.

Dogs that are much slower, such as Basset Hounds and very large English Bulldogs, do not necessarily make good protection dogs. Although there are always exceptions to this rule.

Temperament

This is perhaps the most important consideration for those concerned about the safety of those around them. Most of our nightmarish images of dangerous protection dogs come from the image of the junkyard dog or drug-house dog that has a very poor temperament. These dogs are dangerous and should not be used as pets or protection dogs.

This being said, there are dogs of practically every breed that have good and bad temperaments. Generally, but not always, females will have better temperaments than males. Just as you do not want an overly aggressive or posturing dog, you also do not want a dog that acts skittish at every movement or schizophrenic.

Look for calm and confident dogs. If you can find a puppy from a parent’s second litter, you can be fairly certain that your dog will have a similar temperament to its older brothers and sisters, but, again, this is not always true.

Another important aspect to remember is that a poor owner and poor training can take a calm and confident puppy and turn him into a skittish dog lashing out at everything he sees. Ensure that you read my 12 Pillars of Dog Training and find a competent trainer that can guide you through the training process for a protection dog.

Recommendations

While this list is somewhat biased and certainly not all encompassing, several of the recommended breeds for protection dogs are the German Shepherd’s Dog, the Belgian Malinois, the Dutch Shepherd’s Dog, the Airedale Terrier, the Australian Shepherd’s Dog, the American Bull Dog, the Rotwieller (although it is difficult to find well bred animals in this breed anymore) and the Black Mouth Cur.

Remember to do your research. Do not select a dog simply because you like what they look like. Base your selection on the dog having desirable characteristics for you and your lifestyle.

Training

After you select a breed, you should locate a competent trainer prior to purchasing your selected dog. First, determine if your trainer works with your breed of dog. Secondly, speak with that trainer about the characteristics and traits of that breed and if this will be compatible with your lifestyle. Thirdly, discuss the level of training you want to conduct with the trainer, and how much that will cost. This way you can plan for all expenses involved and determine what your capabilities are.

There are many trainers out there who would recommend against purchasing a dog as a young puppy, but I would have to disagree with that approach. The absolute best way for you to ensure that you have the best-trained and most closely bonded dog is to get him when he is a puppy. Eight to 12 weeks of age is best if you can manage it, but certainly aim for less than four months.

Having a dog that has only ever been trained by you, under the observation of a good trainer, will yield your best results. This will ensure that the home environment is fully familiar to your dog and that the dog has been socialized around your family, reducing the risk of errant bites.

There are several key aspects of training that you should look for in a complete protection-training package. These aspects can be trained in a single extended training package, or conducted over the course of a year or two depending on your budget and schedule.

Realistic Stress

One of the greatest flaws I have seen in training for protection work is also prevalent in many law enforcement and military training models: unrealistic training stress. What I mean by this is that the handlers must first take their training very seriously. If the handler is not serious about their training, then the dog will not be either.

It is critical to train as you fight. If you encounter a trainer who uses a weapon in one hand but encourages the dog to continue biting the empty hand, find another trainer. Finally, realistic stress should also include fighting in the environments you will be most likely to actually fight in.

Home Defensive Evaluation

If you have the capability, have the trainer come to your home and walk you through a home defense evaluation. Where are your likely points of entry? Where does your family sleep? Where should your children go if there is a home invasion? What pattern should you use when clearing your house for threats? And finally, how do you integrate your dog into that plan?

This cannot be done to the fullest extent without the trainer actually being on the premises at your home. Try to find a trainer that will take the time and walk you through every aspect of home defense, and not focus simply on the dog. The protection dog is an added asset, but you should not rely on the dog without a weapon for yourself. You should also not rely on yourself alone when you have a dog. All of these aspects must be integrated together for the maximum effect.

Conclusion

Having the right dog and the right training can make all the difference in the world during a violent encounter or home invasion. Do your homework and think through your situation before making final decisions. After you have selected a breed and trained your protection dog, test your plan in a force on force manner.

Without getting into too many details, you should conduct a coordinated home invasion in which you put into use all of your assets to ensure that your plan is effective. This will help to point out weaknesses, which you can then plan for.

Joel is the founder and head trainer of Dunetos K-9, a training facility and equipment manufacturer specializing in Tactical and standard K-9 equipment. He’s been training and handling dogs for over 10 years and works closely with Baden K-9, a highly respected training facility in Ontario, Canada. Joel has served in the United States Army for 11 years as a Military Police Officer deploying to the Pentagon days after the 9/11 attack, Afghanistan (2003), Iraq (2007) and is currently serving in Bogota, Colombia (2011) in the War on Drugs. Joel has specialized in integrating dogs into every aspect of life, from personal obedience and protection to specialized military application.