Customer Reviews

K-9 Bodyguards

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3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mike Harlow includes some beautiful glossy illustrations in his book on protection dog training, however you would be hard pressed to use it as a guidebook to training protection dogs, and you might actually get yourself into some serious trouble if you tried. In actuality he seems less interested in the specifics of the actual steps involved in the training, but more inclined to rescue the reputation of American Pitbull Terriers at every possible opprtunity. I enjoyed the book, but it certainly shouldn't be used to base a training program on.

I enjoyed this book greatly I enjoyed the pictures. I believe the author was a little biased on the breed he liked but he gave a great overview of K-9 protection dogs. I do believe that he made some great points especially about having a gun over having a K-9 bodyguard in his words and mines "You can call a dog back but not a bullet" that is so important. With the rise in crime, the Y2K scares, children being kidnapped and everything else going on a good dog is worth more than a house full of guns especially if your not home and someone breaks in and you find yourself with no gun and the burgular 20 of yours. The idea of a K-9 bodyguard is to prevent the occurence of a mishap, myself being in the military and traveling as much as I do I know one thing wherever I go a dog is the best defense against any threat. I commend the author on his book and I agree with 90% of it but I want people to be aware I have 14 years of experience with dogs and I still don't know it all but I do know this just because your dog barks or growls and bites without command that doesn't make him protective. Most of the time these dogs bite out of fear and unceartinty, a true protection dog knows when and where to be aggressive and when to be a loving family pet. I hate those people who ask "will your dog bite", My father had a german shephered named max that was protection trained we also had a pug people would always ask when walking max does your dog bite, all the time our pug was trying to bite their ankles. The idea any dog will bite so be aware and teach your children even though they have a dog or a dog looks like their dog be careful of any dog that they don't know. Thanks for the opportunity to respond about the book.

This book was great, but should be used with the book by William Koehler "The Koehler Method Guard Dog Training".The obedience training section of the Koehler book should be mastered first,then the rest of the Koehler book read ,then this book read last .Then if you still want to have a guard dog proceid.This book is a great read , great photos but should not be used as a sole guide for guard work.

I basically agree with the comments made by the reader/reviewer from Las Vegas (dated August 25, 2001). I think this book is well worth reading for the variety of useful information it presents, including insights into suitable breeds. And, while I am not personally knowledgeable about training dogs (and therefore cannot opine about the merits of this book's training techniques), the book does SEEM to make sense and appears to be based on actual experience. It is quite well written, though rather expensive (perhaps the pictures are TOO glossy). Like the Las Vegas reviewer, I think this book should be read in conjunction with at least one other reputable book on the subject. (Too much is at stake--training dogs to bite, etc.--for us to rely on only one book's viewpoint.) The other book I therefore recommend is "Protection Dogs for You and Your Family," by Weiss and Rose, et al. If you read that book along with Harlowe's "K-9 Bodyguards," you should get good cross-illumination on this important subject.

I applaude Officer Harlow for writting this book, as it dispells many myths about the breeds and techniques used in creating k-9 body guards. Mike isn't telling people how to train your Aunts golden retriever!! This is a serious book for those who feel inclined to own a dog that could save your life on the streets and in your home. Too many pro dog trainers are scared to death to even think that you can use anything other than Euro hearding breeds to be competant protectors and reliable companions. This is a good book.

This book was a great help with protection training my pitbull. If you start out with a dog with a solid temperament and follow the principles of this book, you can have a good protection dog and a great family pet. The Harlowe method of teaching the out is the kindest to the dog, uses no force,and is very reliable. My dog outed cleanly the first time on a decoy, and never failed to out cleanly. The Harlowe method for teaching the running recall is also very simple and effective. This is the best book I have read on training a FAMILY protection dog, and it is very unlikely that you will need to use any harsh methods if you start early with your puppy. The only other thing I would like to add is that you probably need to work with an experienced decoy and trainer if you are new to protection training, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. It is also takes a lot of time and effort to train a protection dog, you can't do it half way.

I cannot endorse any book that reccomends hanging a dog by his neck as a punishment for innapropriate agression. This method is so dangerous to both the dog and handler, it's a shock to me that a reputable pet press would endorse anything so brutal.
There is a reason why locking jaw bulldogs are not as popular as other breeds more commomly used in protection and police work. Officer Harlowe goes on about his favorite breeds and fails to recognize others. A pit bull type dog is not for everyone. They are extremely strong and have a lowered body sensitivity, thus making them more difficult to handle while in drive. And in my humble opinion, there is such a thing as too much dog.
If you want a training manual of any type, buy one that has more training information than macho cop war stories. It's common sense, but in this case, it bears repeating.

Great read. There is an abundance of good information within this book. Highly recommended for any new dog owner to the advanced dogmen.

After reading this book, I have a better idea as to what is involved with raising/training a K-9 Guardian. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in having their dog K-9 trained. It is not a "how to" manual as no one should do this kind of training unless they really know what they're doing...it's just too dangerous to all.

I strongly recommend the methods in this book for selecting and training a home protection dog. The harlowe out alone is worth the price of the book. This is not a book on dog sports, it is geared toward protection dogs that are also the family pet, or police dogs.