Unlike most companies you find on the web, advertising a dog for your home with your children. They specialize in police and military dogs. These types of dogs are not usually suited for the family environment. They are much higher drive which can lead to rough play and occasionally an erroneous bite.

This is why we a Global K9 Group and Florida K9 Services, typically start with completely green dogs that we have imported. This way we can be sure that they have not been mis-handled or trained with negative
reinforcement. Many trainers use pinch collars and are much too hard on the dog. The dog should respond to your commands because he wants to not because he is afraid not to.

Shock collars aka e collars make a trainer look good but again it is negative reinforcement. You will need to carry a controller with you everywhere you go with your dog.

By: Wendy Aston, Training Supervisor Global K9 Group

If you are starting with a young puppy it is suggested to let him mature before getting into formal obedience classes. There are two reasons for this: one is that you don’t want your puppy to receive so much information at to young of an age. This can cause boredom which many times looks like rebellion. Focus on behavioral training until he reaches six months. The second is that a young puppy is much more susceptible to contagious illnesses. His immune system is not completely in place there for you are counting highly on everyone else to have been diligent in their care for their puppy. Let your puppy be a puppy, you wouldn’t want to put a two year old boy into the first grade.

Various parts of training are done once a dog reaches an appropriate age. For example; Obedience Training is done at a minimum age of 6
months old. Prior to that age the focus should be behavioral training such as housebreaking, excessive barking, chewing, etc. Territorial Training (car & home) is done at a minimum age of 8-9 months. Lastly, we do not do the full protection training on a dog until he/she is a minimum of 12 to 14 months old. It is important not to rush aggression training, so you have a dog that makes good decisions. A trained protection dog has to make mature decisions and if he learns the work at to young of an age he won’t have a good foundation to rely on.

By: Wendy Aston
Training Supervisor

What’s up with cats? They don’t have to listen, or follow the rules. They have permission to get on the furniture, and when they ask me to play I get in trouble. If I run room to room, it means I need dog training. When the cat does it my people are looking for a camera. They never have to wear a leash.  They get spoiled and they don’t even have protection training.

If my people want me to bark when someone comes to the door, how come they won’t let me show off my protection dog training?

How come the sprinklers don’t stop when I bite them? People always do. Why can’t I chase the lawn mower? Why do people think I don’t want to play in the rain?

Just because I am looking at them while they are eating doesn’t mean I’m a beggar. Maybe I just love to watch them eat.

Translated by: Wendy Aston Training Supervisor, Global K9 Group

Not the least of these is the festive plants we bring in for decoration.  You will need to pre-plan where you might set your holiday plants. These plants are poisonous, and can cause stomach problems, skin irritation, vomiting, dehydration and respiratory problems.

The following are some of the problem plants for your pets and people if ingested.

Poinsettia – These come in a variety of attractive colors from deep Christmas red to pink and mottled colors.

This plant is more of an irritant then a poison. It is the sap, rather than the leaves, that causes the irritation. The Poinsettia may cause skin and mouth irritation or vomiting.

Mistletoe – Mistletoe is a tradition that has been around for many years, be sure to keep it out of reach of children and pets.

It is the berries of the Mistletoe that are the problem here, if you can remove them before hanging your mistletoe you will have less chance of an incident. The symptoms of mistletoe poisoning are vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart and respiratory rate.

Holly – Again it is the berries of the holly that can be poisonous if a large amount is eaten. This can cause vomiting upset stomach and diarrhea.

Have a safe and happy holiday season, from Global K9 Group.

By: Wendy Aston, Training Supervisor, Global K9 Group, LLC

Ask if you can take a tour of the facility, this should be at any time (not scheduled). If they won’t let you see the kennel that is a bad sign. They should be more than willing to show you where your dog will be staying.

Is this all inclusive? Many kennels market the price per night to be competitive in the market, but then get you with the add-ons. I call them add-ons because they aren’t extras, for instance charging per meal and for administering medications and even exercise time.

At or Global K9 Group, Orlando dog boarding facility we feelthat meals have to be included, weather you bring your own food or you choose
to feed ours. Some kennels actually charge you more to feed your food, because they feel it is inconvenient.

Charging for medication administration is another “extra”. We at Global K9 Group feel that boarding means taking care of the dog. This means giving medications when needed.

Exercise time? We at Global K9 Group, feel every dog needs to go outside several times a day. If they don’t where do they use the bathroom? Again, why is this extra? If they don’t get exercise and time to go to the bathroom they will create much more work and be unhappy.

You will probably want to know what size area your dog will be kept in. Many facilities use crates, ask if they have kennel runs. A crate can be called a kennel but not a kennel run.

I hope this helps you put your mind at ease while out of town.

By Wendy Aston, Training Supervisor, Global K9 Group

When weather is nice I enjoy taking my dog hiking in pet friendly places. This gives me some extra exercise as well as my pet. Keeping him on a long leash allows for him to have a little fun time and stretch him legs. Once in an environment he can be off lead I always have a tennis ball handy to throw for that extra run and exercise.

Look to your local state parks or recreation area’s to find out where you can go with your dog. Of course always follow the rules for leash laws in these facilities. Come prepared with a copy of your dogs vaccine history and plenty of water to hydrate your pet when outside. You can even get “doggie back packs” for your large breed pets to help you tote around the shot records, water and toys. Enjoy your time outside with your pet and you will find, in return your pet will enjoy time inside with you.

By: Sharon Burch, Senior Trainer Global K9 Group, LLC

k9 playroom

Many people believe that a personal protection dog shouldn’t be played with. On the contrary, a protection dog should use play to build and sustain the drives that are necessary to their job.
We encourage all of our clients as well as our staff to make work fun. If it is all work and no play your dog may become bored. When a dog becomes bored it can look like rebellion. They just go on strike; this is seen most in obedience training.

At our facility in Florida, we keep a plethora of toys for our dogs and puppies. One of the most used toys is polypropylene rope, buy it at the home improvement store. It works like dental floss and makes a nice crunch sound when being chewed. It is also cheaper than regular rope toys so when it is nasty dirty just throw it away.

Tug of war is a great game for building a winning spirit, just remember to always let your dog or puppy win. The win is very important if you are planning on your dog or puppy becoming a family protection dog.

By: Wendy Aston, Training Supervisor, Global K9 Group

Once they have sniffed each other and you are satisfied with the behavior towards each other you can feel free to remove the leashes. I still wouldn’t leave them unattended; an older dog can intimidate a puppy very easily. Puppies on the other hand can totally annoy an older dog. It may take a while before they can be together unsupervised. Be patient, most of the time they will come to common ground.

I like to have the two dogs together while having quiet time. This lets them get comfortable with each other while trying to head off any jealousy. If they see that the love and affection is evenly disbursed they can relax about competing for all of your attention.

When raising a protection dog we try to get them exposed to as many other animals as possible. Including our cats and the horses down the road, we have even had the chance to get around some alpaca’s.

A good personal protection dog can work with the distraction of other animals.

When you first get your new dog you need to establish some ground rules. These can be a simple as not getting on the furniture or as complex as in which rooms play is allowed. 

First, the dog should never receive correction or disciplines from children under age sixteen. Any corrections should be done with an authoritative voice, and IT MUST BE CONSISTENT. Lack of consistency is the number one reason why people have trouble with discipline.

Be sure when deciding what will be allowed that everyone in the household is on the same page. If one person allows a certain behavior the dog will think that it is allowed all the time. This is unfair to your dog and is setting him up for failure.

With consistency this method will save you a lot of frustration. I like to use quiet time to teach my new dog what I expect in the house. Rough play can be done outside. Your dog will instinctively adjust to each member of the house hold at his own pace. But, once he has he will treat each individual in the manner they want.

In the long run you will have a trained dog that can be a part of the family without driving the family crazy.

By: Wendy Aston Training Supervisor, Global K9 Group, LLC

We at Global K9 Group, insist that the dog be told what is expected of him. If your dog knows what you want there is a much higher percentage that you will get it. Commands don’t always have to be verbal; your dog has a very high associative nature. Using their strong association we can achieve a communication without saying anything.

With all of our protection dogs, we use this very often in teaching the dog how to read any given situation. Your dog reads your body language as well as your verbal ques.

In the early stages of training we work with very deliberate and consistent movements to get the dog understanding what is expected. Then we work to a more natural motion, then anything that is inconsistent the dog pays more attention to.

Once you think about how associative your dog is it will surprise you. Note that your dog knows when you pick up your keys that you are leaving. The dog doesn’t know that the keys go to the car and house; he just knows that you pick them up every time that you leave.

A well trained dog uses this association in all of its exercises and real life.

By: Wendy Aston, Training Supervisor, Global K9 Group

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