How much should I spend on a Protection dog

From all the research I have done and all the contacts I have, I have seen prices from $5,000 to $80,000. I understand on the higher end the pricing is mostly set up because the market will support that pricing.

So if you are extremely wealthy and you do not want to be part the selection process or your time is to valuable to do more looking then go with that. Most likely you will just be throwing away money.

My expert advice is that you should not spend more than $25,000 dollars for a great protection dog! I say GREAT not what many people are calling Level 3 or Executive protection dog. This is a dog that will work off leash, bite and release upon command, deal with multiple attackers, protect an object or person, (Like your child playing in the yard.) be great around children and other animals, bite with a hidden sleeve in real world scenarios, basically everything that is listed a highly trained Level 3 or Executive protection dog can do.

Many of my friends and connections that train dogs at this level will not like the fact I am putting a cap of $25,000 on getting a great protection dog. In fact they will say: “David are you out of your mind?”
Let me assure you I am not. Let’s break down exactly how you can get a great protection dog for $25,000 or LESS!
Finding the right puppy.

When looking for a puppy you will need to do your research on the right breed for you and your family. For this example I will use a German Shepherd Dog or GSD. These are my favorite breed for many reasons but you can use this for any working or protection breed.

Once you have done your research and made your choice now start looking for breeders that supply green dogs to police departments or the military. Note: These breeders will have kennel raised dogs that are not geared toward family use. That is ok because you are getting a puppy from them not a Green Dog.

This way you know the puppy is coming from a long line of working dogs bred for protection work. Be aware that when you approach these breeders they might not want to sell you one of their puppies or want to sell you a puppy that they have deemed to be a pet quality dog. You do not want a pet quality puppy.

Build a list of 5 -10 of these breeders and ask them what they expect from you. A good breeder will have a bunch of questions for you and expectations. You must show that you are committed to not only properly training the dog but also educating yourself and your family on the correct way to handle and care for the dog.

Pricing on these puppies should range between $2,000 - $5,000 I have found great puppies for $1,000-$1,500 because of my network and connections. Note: It really does not matter if you get AKC papers or the puppy is AKC registered or not. AKC registry is just for registering a pure breed dog and most of these will be show type dogs anyway. Many times these puppies will come from European working dog lines and the parents will have foreign papers.

I tend to prefer the Czech line for hard core protection work but do not recommend this blood line for newbies or beginners. With that said you can get one that their great grandparents or grandparents were brought over and the line has been bred with German or the old Eastern Block blood lines.

This is normally done to thin out the sentry type hardness in this blood line. A sentry type protection dog is one that will show aggression and bite anyone that is not their handler. You want a dog that will love and protect the whole family.

A puppy should not be afraid of you when you visit and should naturally come to investigate who you are with their tail up or wagging. You should take the puppy and turn him or her over on their back and hold them there a few seconds. You will notice most of these puppies that are bred for protection will put up a fight and try to turn over or escape. This is what you want.

Do not get a puppy that submits only after a few seconds. At the same time most breeders will get upset if you try to do this for more than 30 seconds. They do not want their puppies to feel dominated by a stranger at such a young age. So be mindful of this.

Sometimes if the breeder is supplying Green dogs they will also have training expertise. You can work out a lower puppy price if you agree to have them train the puppy for you.

I highly recommend if you do this you work out the whole schedule and pricing with a time line and get it in writing.
For your puppy to become a family protection dog you must have it bond with you and your family before this higher level training starts. Normally after the 6 month old mark. Some trainers will start older and old school Schutzhund trainers start at 11 months.

I recommend you start teaching your puppy in a family setting, the basics of good manners, potty training, socialization, and normal commands during this bonding period. Which should be during the first 6-8 months. You can even join a local sporting dog club like Schutzhund, French ring, World ring, etc depending what group is near you.

These groups / clubs will help you learn how to handle your puppy while helping you teach the basics.

PRO TIP: If you have children in your family then when you get your puppy have them bond with the youngest child first. (If the child is older than 5 years old. If younger wait till you have taught the puppy manners and basic commands.)

This can easily be done by getting a 6-8 ft leash and putting it on the puppy and securing the leash around the waist of the child. So that where ever the child goes the puppy will go as well. Even let the puppy sleep in the child’s room on the floor not the bed. The child should be the person that feeds the puppy as well.
Then rotate every month or so to the next child. All the time having the whole family work together training and teaching him or her. This will also help you and the family learn to be calm around the puppy.

You and the family can and should play often with your puppy. But you and the family should not shout or yell at the puppy. Even when the puppy makes a mess or chews something. If that happens it is your fault because you or the designated family member was not watching the puppy.
Research and learn how to train and raise a puppy in the house.

Selecting the right young adult

By young adult I mean a bigger puppy to young adult. This is one that is 8 months to 1.5 years old
Here the pricing can be very similar to just a little bit more. Stay away from the bargain priced young adults for the most part because these are dogs mostly designated as family dogs and for some reason the breeder has decided would not make the cut to becoming a Green dog.

So you should look to spend around $3,000 - $7,000 depending on how much bite work the dog has had with the level of training.

Now remember if you are getting a young dog from a Green dog trainer this dog has spent his or her puppyhood most likely in a Kennel environment. So you will have to do extra work in teaching manners and potty training.

You could also start looking at breeders that train both working dogs for police and family protection dogs. If they say they train both then you have to ask if the family protection dogs are fostered with real families or brought into and raised their family home environment.

Again some breeder trainers will either give you a discount when you have them train the dog or even require you to have them train the dog.

Work with them to figure out how you and your family can first bond with the young adult then start training. If you are nearby this trainer it is not as much of an issue.

The cost of training more advanced protection work should average out around $50 - $100 dollars an hour. Handler and helper included. Note: You should never, never I mean never be the helper for your dog. The helper is the person that has the bite sleeve on or bite suit on and gets bitten.

It is ok to work out a deal where you learn to become the helper for other dogs the trainer is working with but your dog should not be present. This can save you a lot of money, possibly cutting your cost in half.
Working with the right trainer

There are benefits to using a local trainer.

If you end up working with a trainer that is local you will be able to learn as your dog learns and it is a win, win situation for both. Having a local trainer makes it easier for the whole family to join in. Depending where you live there might not be a good enough local trainer near you.

The benefits of sending your dog to boarding school with a trainer is you will have a fully trained dog faster.

If you have a local sporting dog club near you this can help lower your overall cost. This would be a Schutzhund or French Ring type club. The cost of membership and training in these clubs can save you thousands of dollars. You can then choose to stop hear once your dog becomes titled but I do not recommend this.

The big difference in just having a sport trained dog and a real world protection dog is big. Sport dogs look at the sport as a game. They are conditioned to bite the sleeve and the suit not the person. So you will have to still work with a trainer to teach the dog to bite and protect in real world scenarios. This means working with hidden sleeves and special thinner bite suits that go under normal clothing.

Real world scenarios are not just your home, yard or neighborhood. It should include parking lots, garages, café’s, strip malls, woods, parks, all kinds of everyday places.

You could spend $2,000 to $5,000 for this transition training. Compared to the $8,000 to $15,000 it would cost starting from scratch.

Educating yourself on how to handle a protection dog

The best way to do this is join one of these clubs and make it a family activity. This has a number of added benefits for children as well. I am a firm believer in: research read and do then repeat. When you do this you and your family will truly have a great protection dog that is also part of the family. One that will give his or her life for your family.

Let’s look at the costs involved and ad up everything. I will average this all out you could end up paying more or less depending on actual costs.

Puppy: $2,500

Basic training $500

Sport Club Membership and classes per year: $500 Local and national on average.

If you go this route and spend 3 years in the club this comes out to be $1,500 not counting event fees for titling.

Protection dog trainer Locally after your dog has been titled $100 hr, 1 hr a week 50 weeks a year: $5,000
Now if you go this route and start when the dog is 8 months old and train for 1 year you will need a min of 2 hrs a week. This could be broken up into 4, 30 minute sessions. $10,000 for the year. Then you can do just retraining every couple of months for an hour.

If you send your dog away to be trained on site, aka boarding school, you can have a fully trained dog in 4 to 8 months. This should run around $4,000 - $8,000. You will have to retrain, house training after.

So with puppy and sport club training the going the real world protection training route you are looking at around $8,500.

Puppy with basic and real world training at around $13,000 Locally

Puppy with basic and boarding school real world training of $15,000 for training around $18,000.

Young adult would be very similar with the difference paid for by a thousand or two dollars.

So I hope from these numbers give you an idea of how much it will cost you to have a great fully trained protection dog grow with your family. Another good thing is that these costs are not due all at once and are paid over time. 1-3 years.

You and your family will also learn how to handle the dog and find a new family activity to enjoy.

Let me know what you think and you are welcome to check this article and more on the training site I am building.

https://k9workingdogsworld.com/how-much-spend-on-protection-dog/