Personal Protection Dog Glossary

Note: We invite your suggestions to improve and expand this glossary. Email tom@ProtectionDogsElite.com

When you are shopping for a personal protection dog it can be very difficult to get a handle on all the unique terminology you will encounter. I remember when I was getting ready to get my first dog. I had no idea what words and phrases like Schutzhund, IPO, Agitation and Prey Drive meant. Even if I had an idea of what something meant, I really couldn’t tell what it “looked like”. That’s when I had the idea to create this personal protection dog learning glossary which will save you many hours of web searching and frustration on figuring this whole protection dog thing out. Whenever appropriate I’ll put in a picture or video that will further illustrate what an individual term means.

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Acclimation – A. Introducing the dog to a variety of  threats AKA “stressors”(see ‘Gunfire Training‘ as an example), B. Introducing the dog to its new home.

Agility Work – Training for a protection dog that increases stamina, balance and athleticism.

Agitation – Exciting and encouraging a personal protection dog to attack or bite something or someone. The dog is normally restrained by the handler to cause frustration and increased drive to make the attack.

Agitation Harness – A piece of training equipment the dog wears that has  a padded breast breast plate to give more control over the dogs body and to eliminate pulling on the dogs neck during agitation exercises.

Agitation Stick – A flexible or noisemaking stick that either agitates the protection dog or strikes the dog (does not hurt) during protection training

Agitation Whip – A noisemaking device to bring out aggression in a dog

Aggressive Threat – A person or persons who are acting in an obviously threatening way.

Alpha Dog – The leader of a pack of animals

Alpha Roll – A controversial and dangerous way to dominate a dog by pinning the dog on his/her back.

Alsatian – A controversial alternate name for a German Shepherd Dog (GSD)

Ambidextrous Sleeve – A bite sleeve that can be worn on either arm.

Animal Aggression – A dog that shows aggression toward other animals by barking, growling, biting and chasing.

Anticipation – The personal protection dog begins a behavior based on the body language of the handler prior to a command being given.

Anti Rape Training – Dog training on how to react during a rape or attempted rape.

Armed Robbery – A bad guy or girl using a weapon or threatening to use a weapon in order to steal money or belongings.

Armpit Bite – A target area for protection dogs to bite that is known to have an enormous number of nerve endings and pain receptors. This bite could be delivered from the front or the rear. This bite is especially difficult for the bad guy to fight off. The rear armpit bite would only be appropriate if the dog was approaching from the rear as the bad guy was chasing or attacking you or if an abduction or kidnapping scenario was occurring where you could not get to the bad guy fast enough to protect another person. The first video is from the rear and the second is from the front.

Arm-to-Arm Transfer – A method taught to personal protection dogs to change which arm they are biting depending on which arm the weapon is in.

Arm-to-Leg Transfer – A method taught to personal protection dogs to change from biting the attackers arm to biting the attackers leg most likely if the attacker is starting to kick the dog.

Attack on Command – A training procedure where the dog is taught to attack upon the command of the handler even if the dog does not perceive a threat.

Automatic Tailgate – A motorized tailgate of an SUV that can open by remote control to release a personal protection dog.

ATM Training – Training a protection dog to watch for, deter and neuralize approaching threats while you are using an ATM machine either while standing in front of it or driving up to the machine.

Aversive – An unpleasnt stimulus designed to reduce unwanted behavior in a personal protection dog. Also see “Positive Punishment”.

Avoidance Training – See “Aversive”.