While training a protection dog, the dog’s ouch tolerance can usually be determined. When you are training your dog on a leash, you can detect it best. This is because you will be able to tell when your dog yelps or how much it takes them to yelp after correcting them on a leash. Training your dog on a leash can occur by simply walking down a street. There are certain pieces of equipment that are often necessary for this kind of training. A prong collar is often used because it has a better effect, unlike a flat collar that has little to no effect. Prong collars are used in the learning face, obedience, basics obedience, and intermediate face of the obedience training. A very lazy and unbeneficial way to train your protection dog is the electric collar, or more commonly referred to as the shock collar. It is important to correct your protection dog accordingly, whether its is a German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, or Dutch Shepherd. For example, if they do not sit when you come to a stop sign, it is not the end of the world. If a protection dog has a certain ouch tolerance, you should take this into consideration for your correction level; for example, if your dog has a ouch tolerance of a five, then the correction level should be a three. There must always be a constant communication between you are your dog, and it is important to treat your dog fair, but firm.

Unlike protection work and tracking, which take advantage of the natural tendencies in canine behavior, obedience training is very unnatural for a dog to learn. Because of this, training obedience can be very stressful on a dog if not done correctly. When we deliver our personal protection dogs, we tell all of our clients to perform quick ten-minute obedience exercises with their dog each day. This not only improves the dog’s obedience, but also helps build a strong bond and sense of leadership between the handler and the canine. In a ten-minute training session, the dog should be able to complete a sit, down, come heel and stay, about 20 times each. Keeping the sessions short and quick helps reduce the stress on your dog. Remember to use a strong and commanding voice during these exercises. Done five times a week, this becomes 100 repetitions of each command; over a month, it becomes 400. Keep doing the math, and you will find that this leads to a happier, more balanced dog with very strong obedience.

I am very fortunate to have the luxury of walking my dogs each and every day on the street. I walk my dogs at least five miles a day, and not a day goes by that I won’t someone won’t pass us with their own dog. Although my dogs don’t pose as a threat to those who walk past us, people always react the same: they immediately stop, and tighten the lead.  This reaction is the exact opposite of what one should do. By doing this, one only builds suspicion in their dog. One must use common sense when walking their dog. This means having a loose lead and to have movement, not to stop.  Remember: a loose lead shows control, a tight lead shows no control. To some, this is common sense, but common sense is often not so common.