Question:
The training school is police's and it is 600 km away from home. If we were not their friends, Hercules would not be accepted. And because we're friends, I only have to pay for Hercules' food. It is a good deal, isn't it? Hercules will be back home in 3 months. They said after training, Hercules would obey whoever they appointed. O_o
In the car:
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7782/dsc075205uq.jpg
In his place:
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5278/dsc075231bk.jpg
His neighbour, a German Shepherd:
http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/5066/dsc075286dj.jpg
The training school is a very extensive place. Hercules seemed liked it as he walked comfortably when he got out of the car. But he was scared when being barked by two big German Shepherds. Anyway, he is just 8 months old.
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What kind of training do they do there?
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Are you doing protection training? I've never heard of being away for 3 months. That seems like such a long time.
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The dogs there are trained to attack, to search, to detect drugs...
Hercules is trained for protection.
I don't think 3 months is a long time, they said he would do everything a police dog could.
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That's great. Are you allowed to visit him during training, or when it's a day off for him?
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The dogs there are trained to attack, to search, to detect drugs...
Hercules is trained for protection.
I don't think 3 months is a long time, they said he would do everything a police dog could.
8 months old, 3 months, protection training and "do everything a police dog could" just doesnt add up.
:p Sorry, thats just my opinion, and the fact that you are not the one who is training him.... sounds like wasted money :)
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8 months old, 3 months, protection training and "do everything a police dog could" just doesnt add up.
:p Sorry, thats just my opinion, and the fact that you are not the one who is training him.... sounds like wasted money :)
Me too I also don't think it was the smartest thing to do.
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Uhhhhhh ya I'm deffinately not a big fan of sending a dog away to be trained. The reason? They tend to bond closely to their trainer and though they will respond to others the reaction just isn't the same at all. Sometimes they won't even listen to anyone other than the person who trained them. I've had a few dogs sent to me to be trained then I send back to their owners and the results are never as good as when I'm training the owner to train the dog.
And Orion said a very valid point, it takes a hellofalot longer than 3 months to train a police dog no matter how intense the training! And if too intense the dg may actually get bored of it and no longer respond positively to more training.
Just my 0.02
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I wouldn't send my puppies away for three months, personally. And, I certainly wouldn't let someone else teach them to bite. JMO. Eight months old seems a bit young to me :confused:
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he must be so confused..let us know how he is when he comes home.
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LOL
I recommend waiting.
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At eight months of age he is just a baby, I don't know if he would be able to comprehend the idea of protection. I've never trained a dog for protection but I'd think that a dog has to mature past the puppy (You protect me) stage to the adult (I'll protect you) stage before any protection training will be successful.
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Yes...that's a long time to be away from home! :(
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This is how they train POLICE dogs so I am sure they know what they are doing huh? She is excited about Herc, so let her be excited. What's done is done and I hate it when people come on here all excited about their dog and we all beat them down with oh that was a bad idea, and I don't agree and you're an idiot. I know you just mean to help, really but some people have different ideas about dog training then us. Yes, he may be confused, but he may also be having the time of his life. Dogs aren't so much like people that they over analyze every situation. The joke about the dogs journal...I see that being pretty close to the truth. Sure they can be scared and hurt and all of that, but they do tend to make the best of situations too. It is 3 months to train then the rest of his life to bond with his human. Are you saying then that a shelter dog who has been with someone else for a year can't possibly bond with his new owner even if the previous owner did all the training? I don't think so but this is a similar situation. For pitys sake don't jump down happy peoples throat unless they are truely abusing an animal or breeding for a stupid reason (aka, not a real breeder) This negativity is REALLY getting me down. I woudn't want to send any dog away for 3 months(I'd be waaay to paranoid about my dog loving someone else more then me) but Hercules thought it was a good idea and it is done. Like mama rabbit said "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." there. done. Goodluck with Herc, I hope things go as you want with him and you have a good, loving obedient dog when he returns :)
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From reading this thread it doesnt sound as if anyone is trying to beat anyone down or rain on their parade. One of the reasons I love this site is because I know I can access honest advice from ppl who have much more experience about raising a happy, well behaved dog than I do. What is the point of having a forum if we are all going to go around agreeing with everything anyone else says and not being able to express an honest,well thought out opinion? We all have our strengths and weaknesses and one of the joys of a site like this is we can all pool our knowledge and become better dog owners because of it! I don't mean that we should all go around unthinkingly criticising each other but if I write something that is not for the best of my dog I would want someone to tell me where I was going wrong. For example Sunny, I have had experience of Basset Hounds so i was able to comment on your possible new family member as a backpacking dog. Now was I in the wrong to do this? Should I have said 'yeah, brilliant, great idea' and not shared my experience with you? This does not lead to a place where the dog is the winner, it will mean that we are all (especially the dog) worse off because of it. So personally speaking, if i say something that someone disagrees with please tell me and explain your reasoning, I want my dog to have the benefit of all the knowledge available to me on here, I believe that i will become a better dog owner because of it.
Thanks.
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They are police and as Sunny has said, they know what they are doing. They told me a dog could be trained at the age of 8 months. I called Hercules' trainer this morning and he said Hercules would only start to be trained next Monday because he needed to be acquainted with the new place. When I sent Hercules to them I was afraid would Hercules be treated well, would he be scared of those big German Shepherds... but my worries were completely vanished when I arrived there. I think the only problem of Hercules is he would miss me a lot, otherwise, I feel secure about him.
@Sunny: thank you. :)
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Keep us updated!
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I still don't trust it. Im not beating anyone down im just letting my opinion fly.
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No one is beating anyone down Sunny. We are all just giving our opinions. People can take or leave the advice. Me, I don't like it either. And this is an open forum where we can say that. I'm not saying that Dobepip is a bad owner or anything. I know she loves her dog. I just wouldn't send my dog away for three months for protection training. My dogs don't' need it! Protection comes naturally and since i"m not going to use them to sniff out drugs I think I'd rather have them at home.
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I am NOT beating anyone down. I just don't think it's a good idea to send your puppy off to be kept in a kennel and be trained for three months to attack. Not my thing.
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8 months old, 3 months, protection training and "do everything a police dog could" just doesnt add up.
:p Sorry, thats just my opinion, and the fact that you are not the one who is training him.... sounds like wasted money :)
Wow 3 months training to do everything a police dog can do. Yikes that must be a genouis dog or something. I think you are being lead a stray just a bit. Just protection training is not everything a police dog does either. They search, do drug detection, do bomb searches, do search and rescue work, do apprehension work. They do more than just protect. Oh well it is a pet so as long as you are happy that is all that matters.
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I don't agree with it either...did I say that? :eek: I would DIE to leave Sunny alone for more then a week (a day is pushing it sometimes). That's not my point. It seems like lately everyone is jumping on everyone elses back. I know it's hurtful to me when I am excited about something and people just give me all the reasons I shouldn't. I'm not saying you have to agree with her, but it sounds like Herc is already there. What about us talking down the idea is going to change that? They use the program to train police dogs. I bet she'll come out with a very obediant dog. Not neccisarily everyone needs/wants that kind of training for their pooch. If she does and she trusts it and Herc is already there,then why should everyone say what a bad idea it is? Yes, everyone can express opinions but it seems like if someone goes against the general opinion anyway they just attacked. Just my observation. Please, i'm not trying to start a fight. I wouldn't do this but some people do. I wouldn't use a choke chain on Sunny either but some people will SWEAR that if they are used right they are the BEST tool for an unruly dog. Opinions are like buttholes: everyone has one and most if not all of them tend to stink. I just see a lot of negativity and it saddens me is all. I still hold that if police dogs (whom I have met before and the ones I have met were just darling) are being trained this way, I see no reason to completely write off the idea as a stupid one. People entrust their lives to those dogs, so they have to be trained right. Again, just my opinion. I'm gonna stop voicing it now since it seems to be the wrong one.
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I wouldn't send my puppies away for three months, personally. And, I certainly wouldn't let someone else teach them to bite. JMO. Eight months old seems a bit young to me :confused:
It is not young actually it is old for that type of training. They start them at 6 months here and sometimes at 5 months.
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I too am not arguing it is not my dog to make any decisions on, and if you are happy then that is all that matters. It is your dog and your money but I still gotta wonder.
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I don't think anyone is arguing. And the people on this forum like to help and give their opinions. I don't know if the dog is there or not but it never hurts to have more opinions. I like to go into something with feedback from other people. Some I take, some I leave behind. It's still good to know. I don't think anyone on this thread has been negative!!???!! Have they? We all love each other and feel free to express our opinions. I know if I was doing something that may not be good for Maverick or Mikey or Nanook everyone here would let me know. And I'm glad for that.
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Saje, I have to agree that it's great being on this forum where we can express our opinions on different subjects. There are many forums out there where people just attack others and don't remember that the main objective is to talk about our pets and try to help each other out when we need help.
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I have to agree with sunny on this one. People aren't so much attacking others on this thread not like I have seen on others but sunny has a point. They train police dogs they MUST know what they are doing. These dogs go from a work environment to a home environment without blinking an eye. These people Know what they are doing with these dogs. Also the cop that takes the dog isn't always the cop that trains the dog and I always hear what an unbelievable bond they have with their dogs. So I don't think that whole "they have a deeper bond with their trainer than their owner" thing really flies in this situation. If she was sending the dog away to some training facility where they just train him basic obedience but keep him for three months THEN i would be a little leary but its not. It's for police dogs.
I have been away from my dog for three days and already i want to die without him. I miss him so much I definately wouldn't be without him by choice but I don't think she is wrong for doing what she is doing by any means. i coudln't do it but it takes all kinds
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I have to agree with sunny on this one. People aren't so much attacking others on this thread not like I have seen on others but sunny has a point. They train police dogs they MUST know what they are doing. These dogs go from a work environment to a home environment without blinking an eye. These people Know what they are doing with these dogs. Also the cop that takes the dog isn't always the cop that trains the dog and I always hear what an unbelievable bond they have with their dogs. So I don't think that whole "they have a deeper bond with their trainer than their owner" thing really flies in this situation. If she was sending the dog away to some training facility where they just train him basic obedience but keep him for three months THEN i would be a little leary but its not. It's for police dogs.
I have been away from my dog for three days and already i want to die without him. I miss him so much I definately wouldn't be without him by choice but I don't think she is wrong for doing what she is doing by any means. i coudln't do it but it takes all kinds
Yeah, they know what they are doing. They also have a business to run. Saying that they will teach an 8 month old dog everything a police dog knows in 3 month is simply a sales pitch im afraid.
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There must be some misunderstanding. I didn't mean he could do specialized work for police dogs such as drug detection or bomb searches. They told me they wouldn't teach him those because he couldn't learn and they're not allowed to do so. They just trained him to be obedient, protective and he could do it very well after training.
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I hear you Sunny, when I said I wanted another dog when Boris was 7 months people told me to wait until he was 2 year old, but I didn't, and I'm so glad I didn't. It just takes much more into account than just the age of the first dog to get another one.
Anyway, I have no clue how police trains their dog so I can't say anything about the subject. I just know I wouldn't want my dog to be trained to be a protection dog, it comes to him naturally, and I wouldn't want anyone else to train my pups either. But it's really everyone's decision.