Time to receive your new dog
Personal Protection Dog Handover Process
After successfully selecting your new personal protection dog or obedience-trained dog, we do a complete handover with you. Depending on your chosen dog, the process may take up to two days to complete.
Personal Protection Dog Handover Training For Clients
After successfully selecting your new A1K9 personal protection dog or obedience-trained dog comes the all-important handover. We insist on a minimum of a two-day handover for all of our trained personal protection dogs, or one day in the case of one of our obedience-trained dogs.
This is where you and your family get to spend valuable time establishing an initial bond with your new dog, whilst being shown by our experienced trainers how to master control of and care for your new friend and canine protector. Handovers usually take place at our kennel facilities; however, we can on request arrange for the handover training to take place at your home, whether that is at a location within the UK or abroad. We are very flexible and will go out of our way to make the process as easy as possible for the client.
This dog and owner familiarisation and training are designed to help you form an initial relationship with your new protection dog as well as to provide valuable insight into both the dog's training, agility, and commands. This way, by the time the handover is complete, you and your family will feel at ease with your new protection dog and equally, your new canine companion recognises you as its new family and master.
Training The New Owners During Our Structured Handover Is One Of The Most Important Parts Of The Entire Purchase Process.
This dog and owner familiarisation training is designed to help you form the initial relationship with your new protection dog
Handover : Day 1
Typically, you will start by going out for an accompanied walk with the dog and its trainer, during which time you will be given an overview of the obedience training the dog has received and be shown the basics of how to handle the dog yourself.
You will be shown the correct way to use the equipment, such as the lead and collar. Whilst this might sound simple, this initial training forms the foundation for the handover process and dog-owner relationship in years to come.
Then it is time for a little fun; playing ball with your dog is a great way to get to know each other and is the beginning of a lifelong friendship. After a break you will have the opportunity to take your new companion out on an unaccompanied walk to try out the new skills you have acquired, practising simple commands such as 'sit', 'stay', and 'down', as well as getting your dog to walk to heel.
Before the day ends you will be shown how to groom your dog correctly, what brushes you should use, and when to use them. This is also a great way to bond with your dog and will help to keep your beautiful dog in peak condition.
Normally, by the end of day one, your new dog will be happy to take commands from you and the start of that all-important bond with your new protection-trained family dog will be well underway.
It is only when you feel 100% happy, confident and competent with your A1K9 trained personal protection dog that the handover is complete.
Handover : Day 2
In the morning, you will take your dog for a walk unaccompanied, which will give you an opportunity to practice and recall what you learned the previous day.
Now you have your protection dog paying attention to you, and you feel more confident handling him / her, it is time to move on to the next phase: off-lead obedience and control. This may include getting the dog to stay in one place and the all-important recall - how to get the dog to always come back to you.
When this is completed, you will be shown the personal protection work that the dog has been trained in. In this final stage of the handover you will be taught how to use the dog to deter a potential threat and ultimately, how to handle the dog whilst it deals with and neutralises a physical attack against you.
We will enact different scenarios, during which you will be tutored in the best methods to employ, to keep yourself safe in any situation that may cause you threat or harm. This will help you understand how best to maximise your dog's efficiency when dealing with a hostile situation, even down to the importance of maintaining your positioning relative to the threat, and keeping yourself behind the dog.
Customers are usually amazed by the ability of our protection dogs to change roles as the situation dictates. This is a particularly exciting time in the training and many of our female clients have expressed feeling a great sense of empowerment when being confronted by a large man or group of individuals, knowing that they have a highly trained A1K9 protection dog by their side that will definitely equal the odds.
It is only when you feel 100% happy, confident, and competent with your A1K9-trained personal protection or family protection dog that the handover is complete.
It goes without saying that our after-sales support and service to our customers continues throughout the lifetime of the dog, and many of our protection dog customers not only elect to send their A1K9s back to us for periodic refresher training, but also visit us with their dogs to brush up on their own handling skills. We build up a very close rapport with our clients, many of whom like to stay in touch.
Whether you are located in the UK or abroad, our trainers will work alongside you, tutoring and advising you about all aspects of owning your new protection dog.
