230000 Dollar Dog: Putting a Price Tag on Safety

Julia who boasts a to rate pedigree, child-friendly cuddliness and arm-lacerating ferocity is an executive protection dog. Her resume includes the same same skills such as tracking and fighting as dogs used in elite military units like Navy Seal Team 6. She should she was trained by Harrison Prather, who used to supply dogs to Seal Team 6 and the British special forces with their canine team members.

Top Executives and celebrities will pay upwards of $40,000 to $60,000 for a well-bred German shepherd that is certified as an expert in the sport of Schutzhund, which means protection dog in German. If the dog has been entered into Schutshund competitions and win they can sell for much much, more like Julia the dog in the picture above.

Schutzhund Competitions according to wikipedia test dogs for the traits necessary for police-type work. Dogs that pass Schutzhund tests should be suitable for a wide variety of tasks: police work, specific odor detection, search and rescue, and many others. Some of those traits are a strong desire to work, strong desire to work, courage, intelligence, trainability, strong bond to the handler, perseverance, and protective instinct. It also tests physical traits such as strength, endurance, agility, and scenting ability. The goal of Schutzhund is to illuminate the character of a dog through training.

Dogs like Julia are sought after for security and companionship. When not working Julia can be found nuzzling her owners leg just like any other pet. However when an intruder emerged near the tennis court of his estate as part of a demonstration for the NYTimes Reporter all it took was one word, “Packen!” (the bite command from the German word for “seize”), to send Julia racing across the lawn. Julia did as she was instructed, she  sunk her teeth into the intruder’s arm, which was encased in padding for a demonstration. She let go only upon being commanded and then stood guard over her new prisoner, barking and threatening to bite again whenever he made a move to escape.

Executive protection dogs have to get along with children. Most clients get the dog(s) to protect the entire family because the executive is away on business often leaving his wife alone with the kids in a large house — maybe as large as 30,000 square feet, so big you don’t even know what’s going on at the other side of the house. But the dogs still need to be able to live around and with the children without showing any dangerous behavior.