We are regularly approached by potential customers asking if we can sell them a protection dog puppy, and when we tell them that this is not possible, we are invariably asked why. There are many reasons why we do not sell puppies, and hopefully this blog will help answer the more common questions we receive surrounding this subject.
Everybody loves puppies. They’re cute, fluffy, friendly, and seem to love spending time with everyone. Given their small size, they may also appear more easily controllable than an adult dog, especially if the breed is large such as the ones Protection Dogs Worldwide specialises in (German Shepherd Dogs, Cane Corsos, Dobermann Pinschers, and Giant Schnauzers). However, our business specialises in providing customers with a finished product, not the raw materials necessary to create it.
While dogs may live in an instinct-driven manner, this is only to a certain extent. Much like humans, their upbringings and formative experiences in their adolescence are hugely important with regards to the adult dog they develop into from puppyhood. Additionally, all dogs have personalities which lend them to a lesser or greater extent to different types of work. Despite this, training and upbringing will play a very significant role in how an adult dog will be. For example, Labrador and Golden Retrievers have strong reputations for friendliness, gentleness, and suitability for being kept as a family companion. While generally true, if either of these breeds are untrained, under-stimulated, and not socialised with other dogs and strangers outside of their families, then they are likely to become aggressive, neurotic, unpredictable, nippy, and even potentially dangerous with children. This outcome is particularly likely if a family purchase a puppy with little awareness or ability of what their responsibilities to it will be, and how much time and effort they would need to invest in its training. In a time where “designer dogs” are becoming increasingly popular and certain features are guaranteed to increase one’s social media following, unscrupulous breeders will allow dogs which exhibit them to inbreed. This may produce litters of puppies which display the desired feature, but also increases the likelihood of them having genetic diseases and temperamental disorders.
Protection Dogs Worldwide’s procurement and sales process has been specifically designed to ensure that any dogs we sell are as reliable, safe, and user-ready as possible. In no small part is this due to our refusal to sell puppies. Our procurement process involves investigating puppies’ parentage lines to ensure that they have no hereditary temperamental issues, testing their own temperaments, and how they behave around other dogs. Once we have obtained a young dog, we treat it as a blank slate, and are then able to build it into the family protection dog that we believe, and experience has shown is most effective. This combines obedience training, exposing all dogs to small children in controlled environments, extensive socialisation with other dogs and livestock, and protection work. By not selling puppies, we are ultimately able to provide clients with this finished product that offers them the perfect combination of protection and companionship they are seeking.
The key characteristic of a protection dog is that it operates under the direction of one of more handlers rather than simply acting off of its own volition. This is what separates them from guard dogs, who protect and defend a site rather than people while using its own…
We welcome any queries and are happy to provide further information, so please get in touch – we would love to hear from you!