The Home & Family Protection Dog: Selection and Training

Describes a course of home protection training for dogs, explains what protection dogs can and cannot do, and discusses legal aspects, breed selection, basic socialization, and choosing a trainer

Protection dogs (often termed "attack dogs" ) have become popular as people feel increasingly unsafe in their homes and neighborhoods. This book describes the process of choosing and conditioning a dog that will be used as both a family pet and a protection dog. An initial program of training for house manners and obedience is used to establish control and lay the groundwork for the specific agitation work and protection training that is to follow. The authors state, "we have purposely left out details with regard to how training decisions are made," and in many sections information on troubleshooting is scant or completely omitted. The authors emphasize that the training of a personal protection dog should be done with the assistance of an experienced professional trainer. As such private training can cost between $2000 and $3000, this obviously limits the audience for such training--and for this book. For larger collectons.
- Stacy Pober, Manhattan Coll. Libs., Riverdale, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.