# Two Personal Protection Dogs At the Same Time



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Chalk this up to a "just cause I'm curious" question. Say you have a personal protection dog (anything from a deterrent to a fully trained PPD) and your wife/husband/son/daughter/etc also has one. Or maybe it's just you, and you have an older dog near or at retirement but who still likes to "play" and a younger dog. Say they're also relatively friendly with each other and both live in the house together. Do/would you ever train both at the same time with each other for a breaking and entering situation or a situation where you both have both dogs with you and someone or a group of people tries to jump you?


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

I'm training my 2 Dutchies in protection with Jean-Claude Balu right now. He repeatedly tells me he wants them to work as a team when guarding the "estate". He is training them to work together that way.

His 35 year background is extensive in Schutzhund, French Ring, Police K9, PPD's etc.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Thanks for the response, Lee. So what kinds of exercises/scenarios do you work on with them as a pair? Do you use the same commands/cues for both dogs or do you have to use different ones?


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

My female is just 8 months old. I was keeping her separate from my male who is 15 months. I was doing that for so the younger one had ample opportunity to bond with me.

Balu said from now on let them be together for at least 4 hours per day so they can bond with each other. He biteworks them often back and forth, first one then the other.

His main goal so far is, when they are guarding the house and grounds, there will be the two of them on patrol. I will be retiring to Costa Rica in 8 months. There is lots of petty crime and break ins when owners are not present. In that scenario they would have to bite on their own with no commands.

He said soon he will come over to my home here and start rattling gates and fences.

He's temperament tested them and feels comfortable they are capable of that kind of work.

Since they are green dogs so we haven't gone into specific commands in the event of other scenarios where commands becomes necessary.

Perhaps others here can enlighten both of us in that regard.


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## Kyle Sprag (Jan 10, 2008)

yes, my old dog Cricket (male) (left) worked with several females and one male as a tag team in many scenarios. Cricket, with his new owner has worked with another Male mal and female GSD in many scenarios.

BOTH these guys Very good old dogs


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I've done multi-dog work a number of times, just for the heck of it  As long as the dogs get along, and won't redirect onto each other, it works fine. Usually when first starting out we send one dog on the bite, then bring the other dog in and put them on the bite. After the dogs are used to that they can start doing sends one after another, or together. 

This is Cali and Stephani's Louie. They don't live together, but they were willing to "share" the decoy :-D


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Kadi Thingvall said:


> I've done multi-dog work a number of times, just for the heck of it  As long as the dogs get along, and won't redirect onto each other, it works fine. Usually when first starting out we send one dog on the bite, then bring the other dog in and put them on the bite. After the dogs are used to that they can start doing sends one after another, or together.
> 
> This is Cali and Stephani's Louie. They don't live together, but they were willing to "share" the decoy :-D


What's going on there ya giving bites at a kids birthday party. Is rifle range must be behind the containers WTF =D>


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## Kyle Sprag (Jan 10, 2008)

Kadi Thingvall said:


> I've done multi-dog work a number of times, just for the heck of it  As long as the dogs get along, and won't redirect onto each other, it works fine. Usually when first starting out we send one dog on the bite, then bring the other dog in and put them on the bite. After the dogs are used to that they can start doing sends one after another, or together.
> 
> This is Cali and Stephani's Louie. They don't live together, but they were willing to "share" the decoy :-D


 
SWEEEEET! GREAT pic


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Yes, great pic, thanks Kadi!  Anyone got any video? Other than the infamous video (the same where the dog pulls the decoy through the window of the van) and about 4:19 of this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKf3Vhh0iWY&feature=related

Talk about pack drive!


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Mike Scheiber said:


> What's going on there ya giving bites at a kids birthday party. Is rifle range must be behind the containers WTF =D>


LOL Actually we were doing a French Ring demo at a neighborhood fair. Well, it was French Ring but with a number of "additives" LOL There is an article about it at http://www.ringsports.us/FRDemo0508.php with a link at the bottom to a bunch of photos. That photo was taken in between demo's.


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## Hoyt Yang (Dec 26, 2007)

Cool photos as always Kadi. Were both dogs being sent the same time, or one after another?

Lee- Didn't know Jean Claude was still training. I've known him since 98'. Is he still in Fontana, CA, or did he move to Idaho? He certainly has many years of experience.. and a.. err... temper to match! LOL


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> Chalk this up to a "just cause I'm curious" question. Say you have a personal protection dog (anything from a deterrent to a fully trained PPD) and your wife/husband/son/daughter/etc also has one. Or maybe it's just you, and you have an older dog near or at retirement but who still likes to "play" and a younger dog. Say they're also relatively friendly with each other and both live in the house together. Do/would you ever train both at the same time with each other for a breaking and entering situation or a situation where you both have both dogs with you and someone or a group of people tries to jump you?


I've worked Labs and Border Collies together. It's not a norm but can be done if you have the control. I have worked both of my Border Collies on sheep and it was tough. Jess is very strong willed and Split wants to please. So when sheep break loose and both go into action, it is interesting to see which dog honors the other in the work!


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Hoyt Yang said:


> Cool photos as always Kadi. Were both dogs being sent the same time, or one after another?
> 
> Lee- Didn't know Jean Claude was still training. I've known him since 98'. Is he still in Fontana, CA, or did he move to Idaho? He certainly has many years of experience.. and a.. err... temper to match! LOL


He did retire to Idaho about 20 minutes from my house. I found out on another forum that he was here. I visited him with my dogs and he liked them enough to work with me.

I haven't experienced the full wrath of his temper yet, but I can tell that it's in there somewhere. He keeps telling me there are 3 parts to bitework, the dogs, the decoy and the handler. He insists that I'm the weakest link in the chain.

I am lucky to have someone with his credentials so close to home. This is a tough area to find anyone with any experience. Until I found him I was kinda lost on bitework training.

I like the fact that he tells it exactly like it is. There is no BS. He is sometimes painfully blunt.


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## Robin Gan (Jul 20, 2008)

Here's some pics taken during training on multiple attack. We did face problem with dogs that don't really get along too. We muzzled the two dogs and sent them one after another but they show no interest in the decoy.](*,)


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Hoyt Yang said:


> Cool photos as always Kadi. Were both dogs being sent the same time, or one after another?


With 2 dogs who have worked together before I'll do sends. With Cali and Louie we placed them on the bites on leash, since they don't really know each other and hadn't worked together before.


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## Hank Springer (Nov 17, 2008)

Ms. Jones, Until recently I worked a pair of GSDs as household protection dogs. My primary dog was a large German import stud that stood 28 inches and weighed 115 to 120 pounds. He was probably the quickest dog I ever new in 50 plus years of training. I allowed as a backup a firey East German bitch of 75 pounds. She had all the fight drive of the best males. These two served as a very fine team as they were both trained very hard. 
Over the last two years I lost that pair. The chances of aquiring a dog of the quality of those two is very slim. To own two in their lifetime is mind staggering.
Working protection dogs in pairs is an excellent idea and the training isn't difficult.


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