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What is The Difference Between a Sports and Protection Dog?

9 September 2024

One of the questions we are most asked is what the difference between a sports and protection dog is, and whether sports dogs can be used for family protection work. Sports dogs are trained and bred to perform to predictable standards in a ring, whereas protection dogs must be ready to defend in the real world against any number of potential threats. Effective performance in the sports ring is certainly an achievement, but very different from the demands and rigours of real-life security work.

The experience of owning a sports or protection dog can be very different, and this alone is worth giving serious consideration to. A sports dog will be naturally predisposed towards having high energy and demanding significant attention and activity levels. Failure to meet these needs will almost certainly result in unwanted and destructive behaviours which become hard to manage and live with. While not impossible, it can be difficult for a sports dog to assimilate to normal family life and settings outside of the ring.

In contrast, a protection dog will have been selected and trained to live with and protect its family, not simply perform to a given sport’s competition standards. A protection dog doubles as a guardian and a companion, and is unique in its ability to defend and be a pet too. At Protection Dogs Worldwide, we emphasize preparing our dogs for everyday life, and ensuring they are fully conditioned to all the stimuli they can expect to be exposed to with their families.

While canine sports demand high performance and a certain calibre of dog, they seldom meet the requirements for a family protector and companion. Instead, it is better to choose a specialised breeder and trainer whose dogs have been proven to meet the standard for family protection work. For information on how we can help you, please email [email protected].

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16 September 2024

Dental Hygiene in Dogs

Dental hygiene is an important part of any dog’s health, and something all owners should be aware of. Although dogs’ teeth do not require daily brushing in the same way as humans, good dental hygiene is still relatively easy to maintain. We recommend a healthy diet as the best starting point, with raw feeds being most conducive to promoting dental hygiene given their lower carbohydrate and sugar content. If a raw diet is not practical, your vet should be able to advise on other dental-friendly alternatives. Tooth decay and poor dental hygiene become more of a risk if plaque is

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12 February 2024

How often do I need to walk my dog?

One of the most common questions we receive from first-time owners is how often they should walk their dogs. While more is almost always better than less for young and healthy dogs, understanding why we walk dogs is a good starting point which will help you make your own properly informed decisions. Walks are commonly understood to be how owners exercise their dogs, but can and do offer so much more benefit. Walks tend to be when dogs spend the most time outdoors which allows them to perform natural behaviours and fully exercise their senses which may be under stimulated

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