Family Companion Guardian K9's, Sport K9s, & Patrol K9s

1.  A police/service canine runs people down generally out of prey drive in  order to capture a criminal when necessary. A professionally trained  K-9 officer decides when the deployment of K-9 force is necessary in  police or military service work. For a police or military service, the  service K-9 is a tool actually trained to elicit an attack for the  purpose of catching a criminal (prey) much in the same way a wolf  catches a rabbit. The goal of a true protection dog   however is somewhat different, for the goal of a PP dog is not to run  down and catch someone, but instead to keep a threat OUT of our homes  and OUT of our lives. A patrol dog is actually trained to bring a "perp"  into the lives of the police officers. In other words, the  police/military dog is trained to elicit a response/attack, not to stop  one...while a protection dog should be trained to prevent or stop an  attack.   Consider  a mother wolf and her pups (dogs are not exactly the same as their wild  relative, the wolf, but follow me here for a minute).  If a bear was  minding its own business and far enough away, a wolf would leave the  bear alone. Yet, if the wolf saw a rabbit, it would pursue it. Only if  the bear came too close or was fleeing with one of the pups would the  mother attack it. The same is said for a family protection guardian type  dog. Yes, a guardian should be able to pursue if need be...and they are  easily trained to do this, but the outlook upon such training is  different than it is with a patrol dog. Also, in the home a "pursuit  dog" (a dog whose primary purpose is to run down, catch, and  hold people) is a liability legally speaking...as civilians are not  police officers for this reason they shouldn't try playing "cop." With  training, a protection dog easily accommodates pursuit needs should  such a need present itself. Just as the training of such dogs is  different, so is the breeding of such dogs.

2. Although I personally  dislike "rank drive" in all applications of any domesticated animal,  some police and service dog trainers/breeders desire rank drive as the  desire to dominate brings an additional form of what's known as "social  aggression.” The social aggression stemming from rank drive relates to  "active aggression" and believe it can play a beneficial role in pursuit  dogs. The reason for this is it is generally easy to develop active  forms of aggression in dogs that display some rank drive. However, in a  PP dog, much training is reactive to a threat. And even though some  needs may need "active forms" of aggression a good trainer will find it  rather easy to develop all the active aggression needed in a PP dog  simply by doing some associative training (classical conditioning...as  in Pavlov's dogs) to combine an engagement command with a  threat...therefore creating a dog that will respond as if threatened  even when no threat has been presented simply because they heard the  command (like Pavlov's dogs salivate without food simply because they  heard the bell). By doing this, a well bred dog will be able to go into  drive, be re-active, and even still be able to perform a prey based  "send" type work very effectively if they have been trained to do so.  When referring to rank drive, I would also like to bring attention the  the fact that many police dogs are kept locked up (away from society) or  muzzled for a reason until they are needed. Police/military officers  are understand the risks of being called to duty and are trained to be  prepared. A civilian never knows when a criminal may attack; therefore,  our dogs can only do their job of PP if they are accessible and not  muzzled.

3.  A service dog needs to be small enough to be highly mobile and has  less need to provide an intimidation factor. I am not saying  intimidation plays no role in a police dog, but only suggesting the role  of intimidation is of lesser importance than it is for a home or family  guardian. Remember, police/military dogs are working with trained  police/military personnel who also provide a formidable and professional  stopping force and intimidation. A protection dog should provide all  the stages of the defensive protocol, one of these being an  intimidation factor...as seen in the "defensive stages of engagement"  listed below. Remember, a protection dog may have to provide all the  intimidation a perp may see...for how intimidating is a small woman or a  child? As mentioned earlier, the goal of a PP dog is to prevent and/or  stop an attack.  

4.  In a police/service dog, one needs a dog to apprehend (catch and hold)  the suspect until professionally trained police officers are able to aid  and control the situation. With the protective family companion  guardian, the goal is to PROTECT your family against any crazy lunatic  and your dog may have to do fulfill this job all by itself...unaided.  When it comes to the protection dog, power is of greater concern, as we  do not need to just slow the criminal down so the police can catch the  suspect. The protective dog has to completely STOP the threat. The  ability to completely stop an attacker may require much more tenacity  and/or power than would be needed to just slow a criminal down to an apprehendable or controllable speed. Also, a police department does not  want to deal with complaints about excessive use of force. For a PP dog,  is there excessive use of force when a perp comes into your home and is  in your kid's room? I will leave that for others to debate, but I would  like to point out that not all members in the typical family (kids,  wife, or some men) can offer the same forceful assistance to their canines that professional police officers are able to offer, and for  this reason the stopping power of a protection dog needs to be sufficient to truly stop a man in his tracks.

Many members of the traditional service and sporting canine community seem  to express a dislike for non-traditional family companion guardian  breeds; however, I believe this expression is sadly motivated by fear of  "losing a market." Additionally, many trainers may even resist these  ideas as they are more familiar with training the traditional service  dog and have often become accustom to training dogs that display rank  drive (which is easily stimulated and requires less work). I make a  living teaching science, not selling dogs and I don't care about a  "market." I care about my dogs and providing a service to those who are  interested in a true companion guardian.  

Regardless of some similarities between service dogs and protection dogs or what some "qualified" people think, I know a protective family companion guardian dog is not the same as a "police dog," and therefore I recognize that a family companion guardian should be bred and trained differently. Police/service work and family protection are two different  tasks, and both types of canines should be bred and trained according to their tasks. Additionally, some sport dogs may work out very well in police, military, other service, or even as protection dogs, but the sporting K9 field is not exactly the same as any of these very specific fields either...and those that specialize solely in sport tend to take a different approach (some times very game oriented).

One of the most fundamental keys to success is to recognize your goal. The goal of the American Sentinel K9  project is to find a group of cooperative people that are interested in  producing the ultimate family companion guardian. A dog that will  protect its family at all costs, but will not challenge its  family...because the goal of a companion guardian is to protect the  "pack!" I am not saying American Sentinel K9s are better dogs than traditional K-9 dogs. I am saying they are a different type of dog with a different and highly specialized goal.

American Sentinel K9s are  PP companion guard dogs. They are bigger, more intimidating, and more  powerful canines than are the traditional police/service dogs. Yet, they  have very high pack, fight, prey, and defense drives...but to maintain  stability they are selected to be low in unwarranted “social aggression” and low rank drive. The American Sentinel K9s is bred  to be a family companion guardian that fears nothing made of flesh,  except it masters/family. They are loving and sensitive to their family  group.Now, although I believe with the right training the American Sentinel K9s  will perform very well in almost any physical event due to its  resiliency, power, speed, determination, endurance, and their general  mental and physical capabilities...if your goal is to develop a police  type of service dog with social aggression and rank issues...I would suggest another breed. I would suggest a traditional K-9 service breed for such a situation and not an American Sentinel K9. The reason I say this is because the American Sentinel K9 was  not and is not selected with police or sport work being their primary  goal. Mals, GSD, Dutch Shepherds and other traditional service dogs have  been selected for patrol and service work for decades. Although I do  think an American Sentinel K9 would do well in those avenues, the American Sentinel K9 is selected as a family companion guardian above all else. The American Sentinel K9 is to Personal/Family/Home Protection (PP) what a Mal is to police/service work. 

If you are looking for a dog to protect and have a loving relationship with your family, then the American Sentinel K9 may be  the dog for you. Before you get a family companion guardian K-9, I  suggest you seriously think twice before listening to a person that  produces police/sport dogs. Check and see if they have been bitten by  their own dogs. If so, what did they do about it? Do you really think it  is wise to listening to a person that has been bitten by their own dogs  and justifies this as part of the breed. I would also avoid someone  that doesn't know the difference between protection K9s and other  avenues (police, military, etc) of working canines. A specialized  goal helps produce a specialized canine via performance measures to the  specialized task! Anyone that would like to evaluate my dogs is welcome  to contact me and arrange a demonstration. To do so, email me to make  arrangement. Why am I so sure?...because I know my dogs. I produce a  physical, athletic, powerful, loving, stable, and determined FAMILY COMPANION GUARDIAN.Lee Robinson, M.S.Note:  Before you begin training a personal protection or companion family  guardian prospect, contact professionals for guidance, lay out a good  foundation that includes proper socialization to the many strange things  in the world, let them meeting friendly welcomed guests, and at least  do some basic motivational based obedience work...as these things are  essential in order to have a balanced stable dog as a final product.