Personal Protection dogs

[Moobli]

What do people think about companies training and selling personal protection dogs?

I adore loads of dogs from the (reputable) leading supplier of PP dogs in the UK - A1K9

Personal Protection Dogs, Executive Protection Dogs, Family Protection Dogs – The ultimate guardians supplied worldwide by A1K9 – The Professional Dog Trainers

I could never afford one of their highly trained dogs, as they go for £££thousands. It doesn't stop me from admiring their work and their dogs though.

[Caryll]

The trouble is, so many of them have no qualifications at all, and you don't really know what you're getting.

It's also a slippery slope with the new legislation coming out; with private property being included in the DDA.

[Stuart]

The fact that almost anything that dog could do to protect you would be deemed to be against the law, and therefore owning an active protection dog could be risking the dogs life

If you lived in American, then I could see the good in having one

[nisbreagha]

I think with the new DDA it's such a risk and my worry about dogs trained like this even if the trainer is top notch it's all down to the handler once they have the dog and of they don't know what they are doing then its an accident waiting to happen, if they are decent handlers then the risk of accidents is much lower. Personally I'd much rather learn and put the time into training my own dog rather than getting someone else to do it for me.

[Jon]

Devils advocate here:

Surely having a highly trained dog (as long as its in the right hands) would completely lower the risk of an accidental bite. The dog would have been trained to deal with most things... Doesn't Chris Evans have a couple? or am I making that up?

[Moobli]

Originally Posted by Caryll

The trouble is, so many of them have no qualifications at all, and you don't really know what you're getting.

It's also a slippery slope with the new legislation coming out; with private property being included in the DDA.

I think the key, as with anything dog, is to research, research and research some more in order to ensure that the company or individuals involved know just what they are doing.

A highly trained PP dog has a "controlled" bite. Unfortunately there are many aggressive, unsocialised dogs out there who are far more likely to bite than a dog who is trained (properly) to do so.

I would have thought that if you had an intruder in your home and you feared for your safety, then your dog taking a bite out of them (whether he is trained to do so or not) would not put him at risk of being pts? The same scenario if you were out walking alone (esp as a female) and you were attacked by a man, then your dog biting this person would/could/should (!) be seen as "reasonable force"? If not, then the Law really is an ass!

[Moobli]

Originally Posted by Stuart

The fact that almost anything that dog could do to protect you would be deemed to be against the law, and therefore owning an active protection dog could be risking the dogs life

If you lived in American, then I could see the good in having one

Is that really the case though? Would your dog biting, say, an armed intruder mean a death sentence under the DDA for that dog? I am going to speak with A1K9 and get their take on all this I think.

[Moobli]

Originally Posted by nisbreagha

I think with the new DDA it's such a risk and my worry about dogs trained like this even if the trainer is top notch it's all down to the handler once they have the dog and of they don't know what they are doing then its an accident waiting to happen, if they are decent handlers then the risk of accidents is much lower. Personally I'd much rather learn and put the time into training my own dog rather than getting someone else to do it for me.

I think you have hit the nail on the head for me - in that, it is (or should be) absolutely imperative that any new owner/handler of these highly trained dogs should be taught how to look after/care for and keep up with the necessary training of their dog. I also believe that some sort of licence having to be held if you keep a PP dog, as well as a suitability test for the prospective owner/handler of such a dog should be enforced somehow.

There was a discussion on Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show a wee while back about Dangerous Dogs and Charles Wall from A1K9 came on to talk. He said there hasn't been a single case of a personal protection trained dog in this country biting someone they shouldn't have bitten. Unfortunately it is not the same statistic for pet dogs.

[Moobli]

Originally Posted by Jon

Devils advocate here:

Surely having a highly trained dog (as long as its in the right hands) would completely lower the risk of an accidental bite. The dog would have been trained to deal with most things... Doesn't Chris Evans have a couple? or am I making that up?

I completely agree. I think it is the highly trained dogs that you don't need to worry about

I don't think Chris Evans has any (although he did have a pet GSD). However, Nigel Mansell reportedly spent £15,000 on a PP dog If you get a chance to look at the A1K9 website, you will see that many of the purchasers of such dogs are celebrities, top businessmen, sports personalities etc.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Moobli

Is that really the case though? Would your dog biting, say, an armed intruder mean a death sentence under the DDA for that dog? I am going to speak with A1K9 and get their take on all this I think.

I'd be interest to hear their point of view.