Thousands of people have decided to add a dog to their family during the pandemic, and some families have decided to purchase a protection-trained dog to get an added layer of benefits.
It’s a sound decision, but there’s a lot you need to know when you go to buy. Some of it pertains to the dog itself, but there are also ancillary issues that can come into play.
So let’s take a deeper dive into how that all works. What follows is a breakdown of some issues people often ignore when they buy a family protection dog, and in some instances they may not be aware of them at all.
Liability
There are several liability-related issues that come into play when you buy a protection dog. The first is that criminals often sue when they encounter a protection dog, so you may find yourself on the wrong end of a lawsuit involving the best friend that just helped save your family from harm.
Another issue is homeowners insurance. To put it simply, it’s almost impossible to find if you’ve got a protection dog.
If you absolutely have to have it, you may find yourself paying through the nose to get it, and you may even have to resort to an umbrella policy that doesn’t have any specific language pertaining to ownership of a protection dog.
The Dog/Family Match
It’s easy to assume that any protective dog will do a good job of guarding your family and belongings, but in fact the opposite is true.
Trainers typically put protection dogs through a comprehensive array of tests, and the dogs that fail even a single one end up being trained to be safe family pets, minus the protection angle.
If you somehow inadvertently get a dog that’s failed these tests, you could actually be putting your loved ones in harm’s way.
The lifestyle of your family is important, too. Young kids often roughhouse all the time, and this can be a challenge for some protection dogs, even if they’re thoroughly trained.
The level of obedience training has to be absolutely bullet-proof in situations like this, and some protection trainers simply aren’t up to the task when it comes to offering that level of certainty.
The best thing to do if you want a great family protection dog is to go to a company that’s been doing this kind of training successfully for years, then ask lots of questions about the process. Total K9 is one such company, and you can find out ore about them at their website, https://www.totalk9.co.uk/
