This is quite a popular topic and a difficult decision for someone new to these type of dogs. Should you buy fully trained or buy a puppy and train it yourself? Let’s look a bit deeper into both options:
Training and raising your own puppy.
- Cost
The most popular reason people go for a puppy is cost. Trained personal protection dogs are expensive. Buying a puppy is a cheaper starting amount. You basically pay for the puppy and then monthly pay for its food, vaccinations and training. It might be more manageable for people to afford, than one large amount at once. When buying a puppy, we should remember that we will need to pay for training (Not just any training. Specialized protection
training) and also fuel to get to regular training. - We want the joy of having a puppy.
People tend to think with their hearts and most people love puppies. Puppies can be great fun to have around, it is amazing to walk a journey with a dog from young, to have all the fond memories. The kids are excited and can’t wait! Here I think it is important to keep in mind that firstly, puppies are a lot of hard work! They need 24-hour attention; they need to be trained. Training of obedience, manners, dog manners, potty training and off course protection training. Raising and developing a well-balanced protection dog is a full time job. Secondly, puppies are only exciting for the first few weeks, after that it can be daunting task as one of the family members usually get left with the task of looking after the puppy. This can really take the fun out of everything. - Training
Training is intense and takes a long time, years. So are you prepared to take your dog to training religiously for the next two years at least? If this is not something that appeals to you, don’t get a puppy! You also have to find the right trainer that you and your dog enjoys going to. Training can be great fun and a great learning experience for the right people. If you enjoy training animals than that might be an option for you. - Risky
Buying a puppy is always a risk, for the following reasons:- Not all puppies can do protection training, some pups are just not cut out for the job. You might end up with a dog that hasn’t got the ability to protect you and you have wasted a year on training the dog.
- Health, you can only test the hips and elbows when the dog is much older. Buying an older dog has the advantage of you knowing what you letting yourself in for.
- Training, if you don’t have the knowledge to train these dogs you might make detrimental mistakes, or life gets in the way and you don not follow through with the months and months of training.
- Puppy and adolescent phases are not easy to work through if you don’t have knowledge, passion and commitment. You cannot compare these high drive dogs with other pet breeds.
Buying a fully trained dog
- Cost
Buying a well-trained protection dog is pricy. A lot of time and effort goes into these dogs. But if you weigh up what you would have spent on raising a puppy, including your time and effort, you actually can’t put a price on these amazing animals. - Adult dog
One of the biggest benefits is that you buy a dog that you know can do the job. You know he/she has the drive, ability, genetics and training to protect you and your family. You also don’t have to go through the puppy and adolescent stages. Although this might sound like fun, it could be quite the opposite. Adolescence in these high drive dogs can be very challenging. They are full of energy and can be very destructive. They need the right guidance and environment to develop into balanced members of the family. The worst part of training a puppy is the potty training, getting up in the middle of the night to take puppy out, takes commitment. If you make a mistake here, you might end up with a
dog that always messes in the house! - Health
Buying an adult dog gives you the benefit of knowing that the dog has had his/her health checks and that they are normal and healthy. - Training
It definitely is easier to not have to take the dog through all the foundation training. You can now only learn how to maintain the training. Also if you don’t have the knowledge on how to train these dog, you could make detrimental
mistakes in important phases of the dog’s life that cannot be fixed. Buying fully trained definitely gives you that peace of mind. - Bonding process
With an adult dog you have to give the dog some time to settle in and bond with the family. This doesn’t happen overnight. If done correctly, you will soon move through this phase and enjoy the rest of your time together. It might happen that a certain personality of dog doesn’t get along with your family. This is why it is very important that you buy from a trustworthy source that will either help you manage the situation or replace the dog with an another dog, more suitable to your circumstances. - It’s just a dog
Although these dogs are highly trained, they are not machines and they need to want to work for you. You will have spent some time getting the dog to trust you. And then remember it still stays a dog with needs and a personality.
Hope this article has given you some ideas on what to think about when making this decision. Just remember whatever you choose, that this dog is a long term commitment.
Have a look at our video where we discuss this in much more detail: