Owners commonly make the mistake in believing that because of their dogs breed or attitude, that it would protect them if the need ever arose, but truth be told...it is extremely rare to find a pet dog that would actually protect its owner.  Dogs generally have a propensity to take flight over the option to actually fight.  More often than not its the owner that gets bitten in the dogs heightened state of arousal and frustration at being restricted on the leash.  Many a security and police dog handler have been bitten by their own dog during confrontations where their dog lacked confidence.  Even if your dog did feel the need to bite in fear or self preservation because it could not escape, it is more likely to be a nip than a proper confident bite.  These are things that need to be taught correctly.

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Personal protection dog training is designed to produce confident balanced dogs that will defend upon command; however, they will automatically respond to a perceived attack should the owner be threatened or physically assaulted without warning.  They should be under full control of the handler at all times.

Training is geared towards real life situations.

The dogs are trained to perform in the house, on the property, and on the streets. In any of these situations, Hampshire Dog Club produces the ultimate, intelligent, reliable and obedient protection dogs.

Our dogs are trained using up to date methods and various equipment such as muzzles, hidden sleeves, and full body bite suits with and without weapon scenarios. The methods we use mean our dogs are capable of carrying out real life civil protection and are not just sleeve happy sport dogs.  Anyone can get a dog to bite a sleeve in play, but will they do it under extreme pressure.

All dogs that wish to undertake personal protection training must have a reasonable level of basic obedience both on and off lead. Every dog is tested for their temperament before moving on or even thinking about doing any kind of protection work. There will be no exceptions.

We will then move on to the advanced obedience commands necessary for the protection work.
Personal protection training is tailored to the individual dog and owner based around their individual requirements, be it for business or public reasons.
Dogs will be tested in obedience and ability prior to any protection training.
Here are some of the scenarios in which we train dogs for protection work
and all commands can be taught in English or any other language.

1. When the handler is attacked without warning.
2. When the handler gives the command to protect.
3. To search your premises for any intruders.

Option 1 when the handler is attacked and unable to command the dog, such as when the handler is sleeping or when you don’t see the attacker approaching.  This kind of protection work training involves a lot of distance and threat perception signals from assailants, such as raised voices, erratic arm movements, objects in hands, etc .

Option 2 when the handler can see a potential attack, the handler can command the dog to protect.  This kind of training has varying levels of protection involving weapons, distances, objects and environmental factors such as vehicles, tight spaces, etc.

Option 3 the dog is trained to search your home as you enter if you suspect there may be an intruder inside.  Safe handling & searching with the dog on leash in a systematic way.  How to read the dogs body language for indication pickup and deal with intruders safely.

Our dogs are taught to bite and hold on to an attacker if necessary and only release on command. Which will give the handler time to escape and raise the alarm.  The dogs are also taught the Bark and Hold to front up a threat without a physical bite.  We can also train muzzle attacks, which is especially useful for deterring the approach of multiple assailants.

When considering a dog for personal protection training, make sure you select your dog carefully and ideally as a puppy.  This cannot be stressed enough. Not every dog is suitable for personal protection work.  Every dog must be tested and judged as an individual.

We believe that only a certain amount of information should be placed on a website regarding the actual training of personal protection dogs, this is for safety reasons and to prevent people who believe that having such a dog gives them a weapon to play with.  To use a dog as a weapon without provocation or valid reason is an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.  Any incident involving a dog must demonstrate its justification and that there was only applicable use of reasonable force.  Training records must be kept for legal reasons.

A personal protection dog is solely for personal protection in the event of a direct attack against the handler when out or by an intruder in your home/business.  Remember your dog’s mindset towards people will change with certain training.  Any dog that receives threat perception training in personal protection should be excluded from certain social situations.  Anyone who lives with or handles the dog must participate in the dogs training regime.

For Personal Protection work we do the following:
Show of aggression on command.
Stop the show of aggression on command
On leash bite/release on command
Bite without command when handler is physically assaulted or threatened
Release of the bite on command
Bite from a stay when called by the handler to defend.

Muzzle attack on command or based on threat perception.

 

We reserve the right to refuse to train any particular dog or handler.

 

This work is highly specialised and takes a lot of time and commitment to get correct.  Do not try and replicate this training yourself as it can be dangerous.  Please contact us for an hourly rate.  Any training undertaken by us away from Hampshire Dog Club will incur additional time/travel expenses.