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German Shepherd Protects Home from Intruder

8K views 40 replies 16 participants last post by  Heartandsoul 
#1 ·
#32 ·
I do believe it to be true that only a small percentage of dogs are really able to fight a determined intruder and I certainly don't expect much from Newlie whose genetics are unknown and who has never had any training along those lines. But there is another factor that is rarely touched on in these videos and to be honest, I am really not sure that it could be acted in such a way that would be convincing to the dog, even if it was tried. What I am talking about is the terror and screaming and blood of a much-loved owner. Most of these kind of videos that I have seen either show dogs refusing to protect property or maybe having the "victim" do a token yell "Get away from me." There is no smell of real fear because the person is acting and is not afraid. It's the X factor and I don't guess it can really be known what anybody's dog will do unless, God forbid," they are in that situation. It would be dangerous to depend entirely on an unknown factor, better by far to have a backup plan.
 
#33 ·
What newlie said is true. I was once called to come pick up a Doberman because the MP that owned it had set the dog up to see if it would protect his wife. The dog jumped around uncertain and confused. I took the dog and worked with him, basic obedience. When we PCS'd a short time later I had to place the dog because he was over protective of me and they had passed a new rule of no Dobermans on military posts. He went to a friend who trained him in security, no problem biting the bad guys at all. But the point is the wife wasn't afraid, she knew it was going to happen, it only confused the dog.

I had another shepherd many years ago whose genetics I never would have ever expected protection from, but when I was attacked she took the guy down and I had to pull her off him.
 
#34 ·
My old male who was a white GSD crossed with who knows what (I think), put my father up against a wall one night barking very convincingly. The dog had never met my father. My young step daughter let him in without saying to the dog my code phrase which means it's cool. I was in the bathroom having an allergic reaction to hornet stings and heard this ungodly racket...ran out to find the dog with my father against the wall, eyes black (the dog). He was not playing.

I grabbed the dog and hauled him in the kitchen and told him to sit and he did but craning around me to keep an eye on my father, still that very hard stare. I re focused him on me, calmed him down, then told him to phrase to go greet and he went up to my father tail wagging, ears back and no more issue ever. He was a great dog...from some ditch in FL.... was not about to let this strange man make himself at home while I was vulnerable and the dog knew it, kids alone in the house while I was running my head under cold water.

But he didn't do anything rash and haul off and bite him...thankfully my father had the sense to stand still and wait for me to get the dog.

sure miss that dog.
 
#35 ·
What Newlie noted is what we worked on very hard. For example an officer in a sweatsuit would be walking with his wife and patrol dog just casually down the street. The easy exerscise was a noisy gun toting confrontation. This is an extremely dangerous situation in real life and as a training exercise. Both the officer and dog need to act correctly and as a team or somebody will get shot or injured.

The harder exercise is a " soft" confrontation. " give me your money or I'll kill you both" softly spoken. Again it's a very bad situation. The dog is relaxed, the wife is enjoying the walk, the officer is ever aleart as his training requires. At the slightest move of the officer the dog explodes and the officer does his best to disarm the bad guy with out the gun being fired and getting accidentally bitten or scratched by the dog.

These are not beginner exercises. It takes a very good and well trained dog as well as proper handling.

In some cases the dog will aleart by " fear scent" or what ever you want to call it. Other times it happens totally unexpected. Those were the very advanced exercises. Fun yes, very easy way to get injured as it has to be as real as possible.

In some cases we would turn the tables. My own dog handled by someone else would hit me as hard as any other " bad guy".

Even though we often used rope tugs for rewards, a " bad guy" attempting to distract the dog with a rope tug was an easy target for the dogs.

It's all about training well bred dogs. They become so focused on their work or job that distractions are a waste of time.
 
#37 ·
What Newlie noted is what we worked on very hard. For example an officer in a sweatsuit would be walking with his wife and patrol dog just casually down the street. The easy exerscise was a noisy gun toting confrontation. This is an extremely dangerous situation in real life and as a training exercise. Both the officer and dog need to act correctly and as a team or somebody will get shot or injured.

The harder exercise is a " soft" confrontation. " give me your money or I'll kill you both" softly spoken. Again it's a very bad situation. The dog is relaxed, the wife is enjoying the walk, the officer is ever aleart as his training requires. At the slightest move of the officer the dog explodes and the officer does his best to disarm the bad guy with out the gun being fired and getting accidentally bitten or scratched by the dog.

These are not beginner exercises. It takes a very good and well trained dog as well as proper handling.

In some cases the dog will aleart by " fear scent" or what ever you want to call it. Other times it happens totally unexpected. Those were the very advanced exercises. Fun yes, very easy way to get injured as it has to be as real as possible.

In some cases we would turn the tables. My own dog handled by someone else would hit me as hard as any other " bad guy".

Even though we often used rope tugs for rewards, a " bad guy" attempting to distract the dog with a rope tug was an easy target for the dogs.

It's all about training well bred dogs. They become so focused on their work or job that distractions are a waste of time.

I liked almost everything you said, except the part about your own dog being handled by someone else and hitting you as hard as any other.....it makes no sense to ever have someone else handle your dog and have it work on you.

I had to read your post twice to see if I missed something, if I misunderstood it please explain the rationale.

One of the most crucial aspects of training a Police/PP dog is having an assailant on top of you and have your dog released while wearing a muzzle., why? Because most dogs will attack the handler who is underneath the bad guy, it is the natural instinct of most dogs to do this.

I can tell you that most handlers will laugh and say "not my dog, he won't bite me", and yet they will refuse to test their own dog in a muzzle.


This is very important because if you get attacked and you are on the bottom, the last thing you need is your own dog biting you. It is a very easy problem to fix if you know how to do it.

Any trainer who knows anything about this type of work will train their dogs in this scenario so that it never happens on the street.

Professional Police dog and Personal Protection dog trainers test every possible scenario, because until you have tested it you really don't know how the dog will react. If there is a problem, the place to find out is in training, not in the street or your home when it is to late. Problems can be fixed and training should always be ongoing to keep the dog and handlers skills sharp.

We have a saying in our group "Show Me", don't me what your dog can do....just show me.

Slamdunc has several very good video examples of PSDs doing this and I have one as well of my PP dog.



Kim
 
#38 · (Edited)
Bentwings1, I'm a novice but love reading and learning about everything. It is absolutely clear to me that genetics and training is necessary for police and pp work.

Actually on the flip side, if anyone has a dog with the genetics and suspects through clear reasoning that the dog may possess the temperament to back up the bark with a bite, then they would be wise to train extra hard for absolute verbal command obedience.

That said, could you expand on your statement ..."my own dog handled by someone else would hit me as hard as any other bad guy".

The reason I'm asking is that I was under the impression that ones personal dog who has been trained for police or pp was instilled with absolute obedience to his/her owner no matter the scenario.

My question stems from wanting to learn.

Edit: looks like my question has been asked while I was typing. Sorry for the duplicate but will keep it here since my question stems from inexperienced novice eyes.
 
#39 ·
The concept of me being the " bad guy" was not my invention by any means. I asked the question in a training seminar because I needed to maintain my dog. Yes it was possible but not recommended. It evolved because I couldn't get qualified help to work as the " bad guy" . It easy to say " oh yeah, I can handle the dog with protective equipment on me" however it quickly becomes a macho thing with no concept of interpreting what the dog needs or is doing. It takes intensive training to learn to handle and give the dog the help and confidence he needs for this work. This is why the "bad guy" is called the " helper" ...he helps the dog learn.

Certainly the dog can scent me but as the dogs get more and more highly trained they become so focused that who the " bad guy" is doesn't matter. They are commanded to do something and they do it.
We used to liken it to playing football. In practice you would tackle your team mate as hard as your opponent in the game. Your team mate would try to evade as he would in the game. If you could not do this and endure it, you sat on the bench. Just as in sports there are some dogs that simply can't do this. It's not really a fault it just means you can't work your dog this way and you need qualified help.

These dogs are the top tier like the gentleman in the video points out. Few get to experience this level of dog. They are not easy to train physically or mentally on your part. Once trained they are a true joy.

There is lots of obedience training in protection training. Much of it with heavy distraction. Much of it when the dog is in very high drive. The dog must learn to control himself at all times. Something that we could take lessons from.

Muzzle training. Frankly I'm not a fan of it. It's used in protection training to frustrate the dog into building higher drives and nerves. Again some dogs need this to awaken them others respond negatively. Out walking your dog with a muzzle doesn't send very nice signals in my mind.

There are a few dogs that are truly vicious when protection trained. The legal system has a hard time supporting these so most go to the military. There everyone has guns and is out to kill each other so these dogs are another weapon. I didn't work with these guys.

Scenario training was always fun. Safety of the dog, handler, helper and property were always considered in training. There were lots of interesting situations. Women were always good when screaming and hollering was needed.LOL It seemed to excite the dogs easily especially if they were wives or girlfriends.

I'm not involved with protection training any more. I'm too old to be getting knocked about by big dogs and I'm just plain worn out according to the doctors. I practice situational avoidance. I avoid going to suspect areas, drive defensively, don't talk on my phone while driving, stay away from crowds, negotiate rather than argue, eat healthy and play with my dog.
 
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#40 ·
With all due respect, most of what you have said makes no sense , and I have had the pleasure of working with and raising some very serious dogs. Three of which are now Award Winning Police Dogs in Iowa and Colorado. I'm proud to say I played a big role in raising and training with those dogs. And, I have the videos to demonstrate their/our work while they were being raised for a Police Dept. to finish and Certify them.

Because only the Police train Police dogs.

I am always leery of people who post other peoples videos instead of their own, So I will agree to disagree with your observations and rationale.


And for people wishing to learn about raising a potential Police Dog Candidate or Personal Protection Dog, muzzles should be introduced to the dog as early as possible (as early as 5 weeks of age) and the dog should never associate it with bite work, a muzzle should be no different than a collar to the dog.

The same theory applies to gunfire, it should never be associated with bite work or a trigger to fight and should be started when they are puppy's. If you have any questions feel free to send me a PM

Have a Good Night.


Mr. Kim Moore
Euphoricfx German Shepherds
Canczech Dogs
 
#41 ·
Thanks very much for your in depth explanation. I was able to understand a lot of what you said which is appreciated. With all the technical intricacies of the profession, I can see it as being exhausting at times. I have more questions, I always do so they can wait for another time and perhaps in another thread.

I really like the last few words of your post "negotiate rather than argue, eat healthy and play with my dog." It made me smile.
 
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