Growing up my mom always said, “Children should be seen and not heard.” I believe the same is true for a well-trained dog. Of course we love dogs with big personalities who are fun to be around and valued family members, but when it comes to training we want dogs to be reliably obedient and unobtrusive.
In addition to complete protection training, our dogs’ obedience training is broken down into four key categories: on-off leash obedience, home manners, manners in public and control.
1. Obedience
Our dogs come trained standard with the following obedience commands and behaviors, both on and off leash:
- Engagement
- Art of Doing Nothing
- Sit/Stay
- Down/Stay
- Heel
- Come
- Place
- Crate
- Wait
- Load Up
- Good, No and Free
- Clicker Training
And that’s just the start!
Our dogs are taught commands in German, Czech, Dutch or French, depending on their country of origin. We use a standard six foot leash for on-leash training and an e-collar for off leash obedience training.
We teach commands and behaviors using positive reinforcement (food rewards, affection and praise) throughout puppyhood and then proof training after dogs reach 9-12 months of age using the e-collar.
2. Home Manners
In the home, our dogs are a dream to live with and be with. They are polite, mindful and cognizant of their size and location. They can follow you around or stay out of your way, whichever you prefer. They stay off the counters and out of the trash. They are housebroken and crate trained, if you want the dog to be in a crate. Or if you prefer, the dog can stay loose. They are calm in the house and do not seek to play or be rambunctious.
We teach our dogs that there’s a time and a place for everything. Play is for outside; calm behavior is preferred inside. Our dogs sleep through the night but always sleep with an eye open, so you can rest assured knowing you’re safe! (All of our dogs complete Nighttime Scenario Training throughout their upbringing.)
Our dogs are great with kids and other pets like dogs and cats, so rest assured: the transition from us to you will be seamless!
3. Public Manners
If you’ve ever seen a true Service Dog in public (not the fake ones we see so often these days, wreaking havoc and making a scene), you’ve seen what you can expect from a VPD dog. Impeccable manners and obedience. Our dogs are trained to be seen and not heard, unless of course you command them to alert bark and protect you against an intruder or someone with bad intentions.
Our dogs are trained by Professional Service Dog Trainers, so our standards for them are the same. Quiet. Unobtrusive. Out of the way. You’ll get complimented not only on the dog’s good looks but also his or her behavior.
4. Control
A protection dog is of no use if you can’t control him or her. The bite training itself is ten times easier than the control work. It’s easy to teach a working dog to work. But teaching that dog that there’s a time and a place for everything – now that’s much harder. We believe in putting just as much effort into a dog’s protection training and abilities as their control work. Capping their drive, teaching them to obey when a threat is present- it’s important for us and it’s important for you.
A dog who’s out of control is a liability. We do our work so you can feel confident knowing your dog will obey you no matter the situation. Call aways and call-offs, reliable outing and off-leash obedience are just the start to what you can expect from our top-notch German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois.
Excellence is our standard. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again- because it’s true. We expect the best from our dogs and we put in the 100s of hours of professional training to achieve the results you can expect from a Valor Protection Dog.
And our handover training is inclusive of all this and more. We’ll ensure our buyers feel comfortable and confident with their dog’s training before we leave. We will work tirelessly to set up everyone in the home for success with our top-of-the-line personal and home protection family guard dogs.
