Should you have a personal protection dog or an Elite German Shepherd as a companion?

Homeowners who may be wrestling with wanting an Elite German Shepherd as a personal protection dog or as a companion include pro athletes, CEOs, and well-known entrepreneurs.

My husband Michael and I have a lifetime of working with the most Elite German Shepherds and if homeowners say they would like a protection dog from us, we ask, “What do you really need?”

A personal protection dog can act as a loyal and loving companion dog, but I’ll also ask, “How much ‘dog’ you can handle?” which I’ll explain below.

 

Targeted Criminal Activity

Burglars have been targeting the homes of pro athletes in recent months.

In April, a 21-year-old man was arrested for a number of burglaries around Seattle that included the homes of Seattle Mariner’s pitcher Luis Castillo, former NFL player Richard Sherman, and Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrows had his home in Ohio broken into during December 2024 when he was playing in a Monday night football game in Dallas.

An assistant with Burrows arrived on the scene and found a bedroom window broken and the room ransacked.

Kansas City Chief’s players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce had their homes broken into weeks earlier.

 

What’s happening?

Police say tourist burglars who fly in to the U.S. lay out sophisticated plans to target homes in affluent neighborhoods. They’ll typicall

y hide in bushes and wait for homeowners to leave.

They often make their way to second-floor windows since these usually don’t have alarms and aren’t locked.

The crimes have been on the rise since 2019 when law enforcement noticed the trend. The Los Angeles Airport Police Officers Association says the criminals typically don’t carry guns because they don’t want a weapons charge brought against them if they’re caught.

Elite German Shepherds as crime stoppers

Michael and I have spent our lives training and providing families with pure, bloodline German Shepherds carefully selected from breeders who we know well in Germany.

The dogs can spot criminal activity on a property.

Call me and I’ll be glad to share more about how we train the dogs to know this.

They’re loyal and will respond fast. Our highly trained German Shepherds can trap and disrupt burglars in action, even those with guns.

But there’s a difference between dogs titled for Schutzhund Level 3 and those trained as a high-level protection dog.

 

Similarities and differences between a personal protection dog and an elite German Sheperd

Elite German Shepherds are able to complete all the steps and achieve the highest titles in the sport, Schutzhund.

All of our dogs start as puppies with the play they’re doing. We get them used to tugging on a toy like a ball. Then we’ll train them on a special sleeve, bodysuit and have them learn certain areas on a bodysuit.

We’ll also acclimate the dogs to a family’s home so they can recognize the people who regularly come and go like delivery people, landscapers, tutors, and others.

But just because a dog can bite on a sleeve, doesn’t mean it’s going to excel as a protection dog.

Personal protection dogs are bred with different temperaments and have more training with chaotic situations like break-ins.

All of our Elite German Shepherds are like the highest-achieving human athletes with tremendous capabilities and they’re terrific crime stoppers. If a burglar has a gun, they can be on the intruder before the trigger’s pulled.

However, if you think you need a level 3 personal protection dog, Michael and I will ask you important questions like:

 

• Are you in danger?
• Is your life in danger?
• Are you being threatened?

 

3 profiles of people needing a protection dog

Profile 1: a life-at-risk 

We know a woman whose ex-husband had worked as a U.S. Marshall and he hired a hit man to kill her. The hired gun mistakenly shot and killed her son who was sleeping in bed.

She was traumatized and improperly arrested for the crime.

After two years, the police realized they had made a mistake and arrested the real perpetrator.

But this woman’s crazed ex said he’d never leave her alone.

Someone like her is the perfect fit for a personal protection dog that also knows how to bond and act as a therapy/service dog for those who are suffering the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This woman had to go to therapy and the dog helped through emotional difficulties. The dog also acted as a service dog for her since it’s reliable and trustworthy in public.

Key takeaway

Wanting a highly trained personal protection dog is like asking for an assault rifle when a handgun will do.

Be aware: lots of dogs are advertised on the internet and casual consumers often think the dog can do all this protection stuff. It’s a lie.

When someone wants and needs a guarantee that the German Shepherd is properly and thoroughly trained it’s completely different.

We’ve also provided protection dogs for high-profile clients visible in the media.

Profile 2: a high net-worth couple who’s being stalked

We know a high-income couple who was dining at a restaurant in Los Angeles with valet parking. The wife was pregnant and after dinner they waited for their car and were driving home.

What they didn’t know was that after they picked up their car, they were being followed home.

They opened the garage door from their car and drove in but by the time the door shut, they were stuck inside with the perpetrator.

Scary, right?

Skilled perpetrators know their victims’ properties and their schedules so it’s likely this couple’s lifestyle behaviors and patterns had been studied. It’s possible the invaders even knew how long it took for the garage door to open and close.

Key Takeaway

Here are two vulnerable entry points in your home.

1. Sliding glass doors.
2. Your garage, even if you’re able to enter it with an automatic door opener.

Read on to see how we train our Elite German Shepherds to know how to respond to invaders using these and other entry points.

 

Profile 3: a retired couple who enjoys being in public

A retired airline pilot and his wife browsed our site, including our blog posts, are German Shepherd enthusiasts and they decided they wanted a specific type of German Shepherd as a personal protection dog.

We’re custom importing a pure German SV working line sable German Shepherd dog that was getting ready for competition in Germany. 

He’s a Schutzhund dog with a great temperament and we’ll convert him to a personal protection dog.

The husband was an airplane pilot for United and they’re going to their other home in Norway. While they’re out of the country, we make all the arrangements to bring the dog to our 5-acre ranch in Agua Dulce, northeast of Los Angeles and we’ll work with him for 6 weeks. Once the couple returns we’ll acclimate the dog to his new home and family.

The husband says he likes to take control of the dog while the wife isn’t as steady on her feet.

Key Takeaway

Michael will work with both the husband and wife to handle the dog. For example, the dog will be on a heeling position between the husband and wife. This way, they can have maximum enjoyment from its companionship and maximum protection.

Michael’s training abilities

Michael has titled hundreds of German Shepherds from around the world to the highest levels of Schutzhund and he has trained protection dogs in Germany to guard government officials and equipment like jets.

He’s trained them to stay calm and do their job when explosions from flash-bang grenades are going off.

Michael knows how to train German Shepherds so they thrive under peaceful day-to-day family times with kids playing and stressful situations similar to combat. 

Dogs have special attributes to make them specialists like acting as bomb protection dogs.

Michael knows what’s in the dog’s head and heart and can bring out their full potential. That’s one of the reasons he earned a lifetime achievement award from the German SV.

How we train

Assimilating a personal protection dog into family life is done over months.

We do fake break ins and home invasions to take the guesswork completely out of it. It’s imperative that dogs are trained on location with human decoys.

We staged a home invasion for a client after working with the dog for over a year.

They opened up the sliders to the back yard.

We suited up our decoy and Michael and him walked in and then Michael stood back so the dog wouldn’t recognize him. The guy came in and at the first bite, the man was thrown off and didn’t realize what was going on. The dog was all over the guy in about 15 seconds.

In another staged invasion that we did in the Holmby Hills area of Hollywood, a couple was flying in from Las Vegas.

 

 

 

The garage door opened and our decoy slid in. Now, the couple is in the garage with the perpetrator and the dog was immediately on the intruder.

Couples and their protection dog can act as a team. Some husbands and wives will take handgun training at a shooting range. We can bring the dog there to acclimate and it gains confidence.

In the event of a break-in, the dog will be all over the intruder and the couple can train their guns on the burglar.

 

Your security plan

We recommend that you have a full security plan that can include cameras and either an elite German Shepherd that we’ve trained or a dog that’s bred as a protection dog.

Technology is helpful, of course, but it has limitations.

The tourist burglars are smart and will jam wi-fi signals to disable security cameras and other alarm systems.

German Shepherds are amazing and enjoy being stimulated and taking on challenges. They can cover areas in a yard or home that may be out of a video camera’s range.

I want you to understand that Michael and I offer an unmatched service.

He’s literally gone the extra mile by helping dogs get used to riding in classic automobiles and he’s gone on private jets to get them used to flying with their families.

Please understand that we don’t just sell dogs and ship them to you like some dog trainers, dog brokers, or breeders may.

This is our life.

We carefully choose the right dog for your family, plan the logistics, and acclimate them to your lifestyle.

Training personal protection dogs requires a deliberate plan we follow for several months or longer. In one case, we worked with a family for two years.

We’re hands-on and our clients have access to us for the life of their German Shepherd. And we’ve had clients who have followed our advice with lifestyle and nutrition and have been rewarded with dogs living to ages 16 and 17.

We love what we do and we enjoy families who appreciate the value of a one-of-kind dog who will be part of their family and serve them well.

Call us and let us know of your interest in elite German Shepherds and protection dogs.

(661) 904-4737

For more on the home burglaries I mentioned, read this Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers release from April 2024:

California’s Latest Safety Threat: Burglary Tourists