Dog Training Levels

Training Levels We Offer

It is important to understand that all things (Levels of Dogs) are not equal in the industry when purchasing a Personal Protection Dog or any dog.

We will customize each dog to your specific needs as it relates to the different levels of training.

I deliver all levels of dogs, from the Companion/Deterrent dog to the Level III Estate/Executive Personal Protection Dog. I will personally guide you in the introduction stage, obedience, and personal protection phase as determined by the skill level of the dog you purchase. These training sessions at your location are all done for expenses, with no hidden fees or expensive charges per day. Other people in the industry either charge $750.00 a day to deliver a dog and provide the training, or they require you to pick the dog up at the airport and you are on your own. Some trainers will require you to come to their facility on your time to get the needed training.

We at VFS value all of our customers and feel the training provided at your location is an important part of the process. This is to insure success for you and your new dog. We only charge for expenses to come to you for the training.

For expenses, I will provide refresher training for you and your dog for up to 2 years after the sale. The refresher offer is only available to owners of Level I, II, or Level III Personal Protection Dogs.

If at any time your needs or situation would change and the requirement of the dog changes, we will put additional training on your dog at VFS. The charges for additional training varies in accordance with time and skills required.

Not everything is equal in the dog world. The level of training, the quality of training and the pricing are not the same from one company to the other. Before you buy a dog some- where else you need to look over the training that VFS puts on their dogs. I think you will see a big difference.

Our Training Levels are:

• Puppies
• Puppy Training Program
• Green Started Dogs
• Companion/Deterrent Dogs
• Level I Personal Protection Dogs
• Level II Personal Protection Dogs
• Level III Estate/Executive Personal Protection Dogs

After you delivered my dog he started exhibiting some signs of being shy and not wanting to be around people. If I had guest over he would hide behind me or want to leave the room. What is happening to my dog?

Let me start off by saying that what you are experiencing is not uncommon and we have seen similar incidents like this before. So what I am saying is this will be ok in time.

First I think it is important to review or go over the 3 critical phases about the settling period after delivery. I explained these before but I think it is important to visit the concepts again.

Those critical settling concepts are:

1. The Bonding Phase
2. The Partnership Phase
3. The Ownership Phase

These concepts are very important to how quickly the dog is able to assimilate into its new environment as it relates to his or her new pack structure. Each one of these phases must be worked through in order to establish a pack dynamic that is conducive to the right relationship between the dog and its new owner. These concepts in the very best ideal situations can take up to 8 months to come full circle with no behavioral change noticed from the time of delivery up to the current date. This would be the ideal world and is usually not the case. We normally have some unwanted behavior that manifests itself along the way but over time and with a few modifications things work themselves out.

Let's take these concepts one at a time and review their significance and relevance.

     1.   The Bonding Phase starts immediately upon delivery as soon as we are out of the way. This phase is really the beginning of trust and the open line of communication between the dog and new owner. This is a must and needs to be between the main care giver and at least 1 other adult in the household. This phase can last up to and continue and should be getting strong through the first 8 months. This is where the dog puts its trust in his new owners and relies heavily on the new owners for more than just food. This is where the comfort zone for learning begins in his new pack environment.

     2.   The Partnership Phase is exactly what it says. You are coming together with your new dog to partner with him and are building that bond to accomplish a task. This is not obedience work, but rather a time for the handler to be earning the right to be heard in the dog's life. It is, however, the phase where you and the dog learn how to work together in unison as a team. This is not a slave/master relationship but rather a Partnership. This phase can be where the biggest problems for behavior occur. If the handler approaches this as obedience with a very heavy demanding hand he or she can cause the dog to be over- sensitive to the handler and shut down and go into avoidance. This is not what we want. The new dog has enough on its plate trying to work out the issues of fitting in to its new pack structure and not be dominated with a heavy demanding obedience routine. Avoid doing heavy obedience or keeping the dog on command for long periods of time. Remember, you want to cooperate with your new dog, not over- dominate him. Earn the right to be heard in a partnership.. a co-equal relationship. This is how to build a great dog and handler team.

     3.   The Ownership Phase: This is where things are all coming together and the dog has found his place in the pack structure. He is sure of his boundaries and how to operate in those boundaries. This is where a lot of freedom for the dog comes in to play. This is where the skill sets that the dog has been trained in can be fully recognized and utilized. This is coming full circle as there are a lot of learning curves along the way for both dog and other pack members.

In Summary these are the phases the dog will go through during the settling period after delivery. These phases can take up to 8 months and can have different behavioral issues along the way, all of which work themselves out in time with patience and consideration for the dog in its adapting to its new pack.