Dog obedience and protection is not something you can do on your own, but it may be something that you think that you would like your dog to be able to do. If you were to enroll your dog in dog obedience and protection, he would go through two levels. Here is a description of the levels of training that your dog would go through:

Level One:

BASIC COMMANDS

At this level, the dog is taught six basic commands:: Heel, sit, sit and stay, lie down, lie down and stay, and recall.

* “Heel” means the dog knows they should walk beside you. Also, as you change directions, you repeat once again “heel” and the dog changes directions too.

* “Sit” means that when you stop walking, the dog automatically stops walking too, and sits down.

*“Sit and stay” means the dog will remain seated even as you walk ahead of them, and when you walk around them in a wide circumference. The dog never leaves their spot.

*“Lie down” means upon command, the dog lies down.

*“Lie down and stay” means even as you walk ahead of the dog, it stays lying in place, and as you make a large circumference around the dog, it does not move from its spot.

*Finally, “recall” means you simply take two steps forward with the dog, then you turn to face the dog. That is when the dog knows its training is over. You can cuddle the dog and they can lean on you with two paws on your chest, and you can just play with them. What is critical here is that all commands are given with hand signals as well as words. This is the foundation for the next level of obedience and protection training.

PROTECTION

Protection is the second part of the basic level of training. All the while, the dog is on a leash. In the protective phase, the dog is taught aggression–but even then, you still must retain control over the aggressive phase. The purpose of the aggression phase is so the dog learns to act as your protector, only at your command.

At this stage a verbal signal is given, such as “watch” and a hand signal such as a sweep of the hand is given towards an approaching man. The dog will immediately lunge aggressively at the man. The man on the other hand is taunting the dog with a piece of cloth. This is the kind of action you will see police dogs do. At your command too, the dog will stop. You simply say “heel” and the dog stops all aggression and stands by your side. The dog is leashed at this stage because he is still just a beginner. Then you make the dog “lie and stay”. The “aggressor” approaches the dog and throws the cloth in front of them, and shakes hands with the dog’s owner. The dog remains lying down. The man then circles very closely around the dog and the owner twice, then shakes hands again with the owner, and the dog does nothing at all.

What if the aggressor uses the commands and hand signals of the owner? The dog will not obey him because he is trained to only obey his master. The most important thing is, the dog must be under the master’s command in every situation. A good dog obedience and aggression school will not release a loose cannon into society, a dog that is unpredictable to commands. The dog must be under the full control of its owner. In the next article, we will talk about advanced class training.

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