Welcome to Indy Protection Dogs
Hello and welcome to Indy Protection Dogs, your source for all things related to a personal protection or patrol/apprehension dog in Indianapolis, Indiana.
We specialize in professional protection dog training and protection dogs for sale in Indianapolis, proudly serving Danville, Avon, Brownsburg, and surrounding Central Indiana communities. Our team is dedicated to helping families and individuals find the ideal personal protection dog that fits their lifestyle, home environment, and personal goals.
Whether you’re looking for a fully trained adult protection dog or a carefully selected puppy prospect trained from the ground up, we customize every program to the owner and the dog. Our protection dogs are expertly trained to provide reliable home and family security, while remaining stable, obedient, and loving companions.
From executive protection dogs to family-safe personal protection dogs, we focus on building confident, trustworthy dogs that offer real-world protection without sacrificing temperament. With our proven training methods, you gain more than security—you gain peace of mind and a loyal, huggable guardian for your home.
If you’re searching for protection dog trainers near Indianapolis or exploring personal protection dogs in Danville, Avon, or Plainfield, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
It is important we begin by getting on the same page so we can begin a fruitful discussion. First off, learn as much as you can about protection dogs, their training, development, and management. This way you can make educated, smart decisions and not trip into the pitfalls which are unpleasant and potentially dangerous, especially when selecting a protection dog.
A Dog’s Capabilities
You’ve seen the John Wick movie dogs, the police apprehension dogs, military dogs, and countless movies showcasing guard dogs. Their abilities are truly amazing. Their use in military and law enforcement has been proven over and over again.
No technology man has produced has been as effective as nature’s dog!
It’s safe to say, as a crime deterrent, nothing has proven to be as effective as a PROPER dog.
I say ‘proper’ because we’ve also all heard the stories of real-life burglars and home invaders who fed dogs right out of the owner’s refrigerator. Some even stole the dog!
People always think their dog would really ‘give it’ to a crook, but the truth is that’s seldom the case. In fact, when we pick up police dogs for training—some who’ve had tons of street bites—we rarely have problems. They happily go off with us.
Believe it or not, you have to TEACH dogs to protect. Sure, many are naturally suspicious and bark like crazy. And hopefully, barking would be enough. Maybe that’s all you need. But even that behavior needs to be reinforced and maintained.
Ask people who’ve done a lot of protection/patrol dog/watchdog training and they’ll tell you—you have to train most dogs to react correctly.
And what is a correct reaction?
That depends upon the situation.
The Amazon delivery guy doesn’t need to be bitten, does he? That’s a lawsuit and possible arrest ready to happen. But the home invader kicking in your door surely does. How’s the dog to know who’s who?
Don’t believe the old wives’ tales—“he just knows.” That’s Lassie-fantasy thinking.
Even a human can’t necessarily tell who’s who at the door until it’s too late. And even if a human could, they would still have to have the training, mindset, and ability to fight.
Imagine sitting in the living room watching TV in your pajamas when the door bursts open and armed intruders rush in. The biggest tough guy in the world would be shocked. As a human, you’ve (at least) thought of this potentially happening. But your dog? He thinks the house is always safe. Always a place to chill.
Your dog doesn’t sit around thinking he may have to fight for his life in the middle of the living room.
Under those certain circumstances, your dog should attack with intensity and effectiveness. Like a trained soldier/fighter, he’d apply the skills he’s learned and be fully capable to fight a man—a man who fights back.
And he’d be able to do this without his handler/owner present. And do it in the middle of the night. That requires nerve, courage, and a ton of CORRECT training.
But in other instances—probably most—it’d be best if the dog would only display aggression, not bite (unless necessary), and never leave the owner’s side.
Ultimately, you need the dog capable of both at the owner’s command. And eventually, the dog should learn the context to be able to make the choice all by himself… the correct choice.
After all, you don’t want Uncle Jim getting torn up because he came into the garage to say hello.
Sounds hard? Yes and no. It’s not hard to train these things with a quality dog, a dedicated owner/handler, time, and a quality trainer.
The problem is the public doesn’t know what ‘correct’ and ‘quality’ is in a dog or in a trainer. Without knowing this, how do they determine what’s real, what’s sales hype, what’s safe, effective training, and what isn’t? How do they know what they really need?
DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOG
There is so much relevant information on this topic, it’d be irresponsible to only briefly mention it. But to give you something to think about, here are COMMON problems police K-9s encounter.
So common, one or more versions of these affect virtually every agency in the U.S.
And remember, these agencies paid huge money for their dogs. They were often imported from Europe and almost always had extensive training. AND they went through long handler courses before beginning work.
FTE — Failure to Engage
Failure to engage – This has and will continue to get officers killed. Most of the time, an FTE doesn’t lead to death, but you would be shocked by how often FTEs occur. It’s a huge issue.
Many patrol dogs are “sleeve happy.” They’ll bite a sleeve but won’t bite a person not wearing one. And some who will bite won’t bite someone if their arm isn’t dangling out.
Many dogs suffer environmental problems. In fact, environmental problems are often the number one reason police K-9s fail. They won’t go under, through, over, or in between certain things. Of course, they aren’t going to engage if they won’t go over the fence or up into a strange car.
Some dogs are scared of the night. A dog’s night vision is better than a human’s, but still, some K-9s won’t perform in darkness. You have to train dogs for the night. Having said that, some dogs never get past their fears.
Some can’t handle fight pressure. When the bad guy fights back with a stick, fires gunshots, or picks up a trash can, many dogs shut down and return to the safety of their handler. They have to be trained to handle all these stressors. A little yelling and screaming by a decoy isn’t nearly enough.
Some Personal Protection Dogs (PPD) don’t ride in cars well. So even if everything else in training is great, the owner can’t fully utilize the dog.
Often these issues can be fixed with the right trainer and proper training. But sometimes—you can’t fix it.
The dog has been rendered, through bad training or unsuitable genetics, unable to fight a man the way needed.
It’s the same for a personal protection dog. You don’t want to find out your “bad-ass” dog isn’t really what you thought when you need him most.
HA — Handler Aggression
It’s been estimated the number one cause of physical disability in law enforcement is injury from dog bites. The dog biting their own handler, another officer, or someone else on scene is somewhat common.
Is this a control problem? A training problem? A genetic problem?
Most often, it’s a training problem.
Most departments don’t provide access to trainers who can teach high levels of control while maintaining proper aggression.
Even with proper selection, some dogs are simply too dangerous. Blame genetics, poor training, or bad handling—but the risk becomes too high.
Stay Informed
We could go on and on, but the point is—problems are common even with highly trained, expensive police dogs.
Proper selection, continual training, and correct handling fix a lot. But without that? Good luck.
Hopefully, all the information above didn’t discourage you. The purpose was to inform.
We’ve worked with and personally built tons of dogs that don’t have these problems and are great with kids AND remain loyal, dependable protectors. And they’re great additions to the family.
These types of dogs truly are everything you ever wanted.
We run a club for dog training and specialize in protection dogs.
Visit: www.indydogpro.com
We provide training a few different ways:
- We can help you pick the right dog
- We can fully train your dog from beginning to end
- You can join our dog club and learn to be your own trainer
The one thing we implore you is this—never settle for someone who tells you what you want to hear just to get your money. You’ll soon find out their idea of protection training is tying your dog to a wall, threatening and hitting them with a stick until they bite a sleeve. And telling you “there you go, he bites now” job done.
That is wrong on so many levels it would take volumes to explain. The last thing you want is a dog believing:
“If I am scared, angry, or upset—bite, and the problem goes away.”
That’s a recipe for disaster.
When you don’t know what’s correct—slow down. Don’t fall for sales gimmicks.
Training a dog is layered, nuanced, and requires skill and experience.
You can skimp on light bulbs. Be cheap eating out. Be cheap with clothes—but don’t set yourself, your dog, and your family up for disaster.
This problem is so widespread, it’s why we started a low-cost dog club.
For those with the right dog and a passion to learn, our club saves money, educates, and provides a fun, meaningful hobby.
How to move forward:
We are the U.S. headquarters for K-9 Grand Prix. If you want the ULTIMATE K-9, visit: www.k9gp.com
Feel free to contact us if you’re ready to move forward.
Visit: www.indydogpro.com to learn more about our club.