Chimera Kennels

Breaking tradition causes waves...well, perhaps I am a wave maker at times, but only in the names of truth, growth, sharing, and hoping to improve the success of all for...

THE SAFETY OF OUR FAMILIES & SOCIETY AROUND US!

One thing about tradition is people have made the mistake of viewing police, service, and sport dogs as "protection dogs" when they are not one and the same. A dog may be able to "multi-task," but again these "duties" are not one and the same. Without question there are some similaries; however, the differences between these different avenues is undeniable. The majority of families simply don't need and most likely don't want police type "pursuit dogs." Yes, a family guardian should be able to reliably pursue an attacker if need be...but the outlook of this in a family guardian is very much different than it is for a patrol type dog. I will come back to this later. Also, most police departments would have no use for a dog that weighs in the 100+ pound catagories. Can you imagine how inconvenient an oversized 130# police dog would be to handle every day in an automobile?

In the past, uninformed people have seen police and other service dogs in action and they have mistakenly assumed that a police/service dog would be suitable or the same thing as a family companion guardian based upon the few similarities of engagement. Again, there are some dogs out there that can do both just fine, but the tasks are not as similiar as some people initially think they are. There is much more to a family companion guardian than just engagement. For example, how safe is the dog with your family? Does this dog have "rank drive" (the desire to dominate) within its family unit? Obviously such behavior or drive would be inappropriate for a family companion guardian and goes against the goal of a protection dog...your family's safety...yet this dominant behavior or "rank drive" may be fine or even desired in a service or police dog.  It simply is not logical to have a "protection dog" with rank drive that in pursuit of rank status may challenge and possibly threaten the family it is supposed to protect. A dog WITHOUT rank drive "issues" is sensitive to the family and therefore generally much safer, yet it can still be more determined in a protective situation than a rank driven dog may ever be. Many "rank drive" motivated dogs will quit quickly when they realize they can't overpower their opponents easily. Do you want such a dog to protect your family? I don't. In addition, the "pack" element found in dogs with low rank drive allows a unique bonding between canine and family in which the dogs can work hard but still be sensitive to the family. This is key to stability and safety, especially around children.

Fortunately, the world is getting smaller and people are getting more informed about what a companion family guardian really is. A family companion guardian is about Personal/Family Protection (PP) and home guarding. Although a few dogs may excell at being both a service dog and a PP dog, many "PP" dog breeders and trainers mistakenly use the same selection processes and training techniques to select and train “PP canines” as they use train sport or service canines. These are different duties and therefore should have some fundamental differences in our selection and training methods. Let me point out a few differences…(Consider these differences when viewing our video page).

1. A police/service canine runs people down generally out of prey drive in order to capture a criminal when necessary. A professionally trained K-9 officer decides when the deployment of K-9 force is necessary in police or military service work. For a police or military service, the service K-9 is a tool actually trained to elicit an attack for the purpose of catching a criminal (prey) much in the same way a wolf catches a rabbit. The goal of a true protection dog  however is somewhat different, for the goal of a PP dog is not to run down and catch someone, but instead to keep a threat OUT of our homes and OUT of our lives. A patrol dog is actually trained to bring a "perp" into the lives of the police officers...it is trained to elicit a response/attack, not to stop one. A protection dog should be trained to prevent or stop an attack. Consider a mother wolf and her pups (dogs are not exactly the same as thier wild relative, the wolf, but follow me here for a minute).  If a bear was minding its own business and far enough away, a wolf would leave the bear alone. Yet, if the wolf saw a rabbit, it would pursue it. Only if the bear came too close or was fleeing with one of the pups would the mother attack it. The same is said for a family protection guardian type dog. Yes, a guadian should be able to pursue if need be...and they are easily trained to do this, but the outlook upon such training is different than it is with a patrol dog. Also, in the home a "pursuit dog" (a dog whose primary purpose is to run down, catch, and hold people) is a liability legally speaking...as civilians are not police officers for a reason and shouldn't try playing "cop."  Also, we don't want our dogs to pursue kids that ride by. With training, a protection dog easily accomidates pursuit needs should such a need present itself or need to be commanded to do so, but the training here is done differently than it is with patrol dogs (we have some videos of such on our videos page). This can be done via a multiple of motivational drives (prey, defense, fight, etc) depending upon how the training was laid out to build this conditioned stimulus command to an unconditioned stimulus in order to stimulate the desired response association. It is in the training and genetics both. All the details involved in this difference are too much to put in this short paragraph, but the point is this...Just as the training of such dogs is different with a different perspective, so is the breeding of such dogs is also done with a different perspective.

2. Although I personally dislike "rank drive" in all applications of any domesticated animal, there are some police and service dog trainers/breeders that desired to have some "social aggression” or “rank drive." Those that desire rank drive recognize that rank drive relates to "active aggression" and believe it can play a beneficial role in pursuit dogs. The reason for this is it is generally easy to develop active forms of aggression in dogs that display some rank drive. However, in a PP dog, much training is reactive to a threat. And even though some needs may need "active forms" of aggression a good trainer will find it rather easy to develop all the active aggression needed in a PP dog simply by doing some associative training (classical conditioning...as in Pavlov's dogs) to combine an engagement command with a threat...therefore creating a dog that will respond as if threatened even when no threat has been presented simply because they heard the command (like Pavlov's dogs salivate without food simply because they heard the bell). By doing this, a well bred dog will be able to do "send" type work very effectively, but without being a risk to society as we take our dogs out to public areas. Many police dogs are kept locked up (away from society) or muzzled for a reason until they are needed. Here, realize police officers are called to a scene and understand the risks of being called to duty and are trained to be prepared. A civilian never knows when a criminal may attack; therefore, our dogs can only do their job of PP if they are accessable. To be accessable, they have to be with us and can't be muzzled. They must be socially stable for this reason. Anyway...As described above, A PP dog or family companion guardian is a different matter and should NOT have the desire to challenge anyone for no reason...especially someone within the family...ever, and dogs with rank drive may display such behavior in hopes to move up in rank (social status). However, always use good judgment when dealing with any dog.

3. A service dog needs to be small enough to be highly mobile and has less need to provide an intimidation factor. We should remember, these dogs are working with trained police officers who also provide a formible and professional stopping force and intimidation factors. A PP dog should provide all the stages of the defensive protocol, one of these being an intimidation factor...as seen in the "defensive stages of engagement" listed below. Remember, a PP dog may have to provide all the intimidation a perp may see...for how intimidating is a small woman or a child? Remember, the goal of a PP dog is to prevent and/or stop an attack. (For the record, the "defensive stages of engagement" is not necessarily about "defense drive" but about legal means of protection. Even if the highly desired "fight drive" is the primary motivator of the engagement, in a PP canine it should only be elicited either by a command or an initial defensive response).

4. In a police/service dog, one needs a dog to apprehend (catch and hold) the suspect until professionally trained police officers are able to aid and control the situation. In a PP family companion guardian, your goal is to PROTECT your family against any crazy lunatic and it may have to do this by itself...unaided. When it comes to a PP dog, power is of key concern in order to STOP the threat. The abilty to completely stop an attacker may require more tenacity and/or power than would be needed in a service/patrol dog. Also, a police department does not want to address excessive use of force. For a PP dog, is there excessive use of force when a perp comes into your home and is in your kid's room? Not all members in a typical family (kids, wife, or some men) can offer the same forceful assistence to their canines that professional police officers are able to offer when it is needed, and for this reason the stopping power of a PP dog needs to be sufficient to truly stop a man in his tracks...again, only if needed.

Many members of the traditional service and sporting canine community seem to express a dislike for non-traditional family companion guardian breeds; however, I believe this expression is sadly motivated by fear of "losing a market." I make a living teaching science, not selling dogs and I don't care about a "market." I care about my dogs and providing a service to those who are interested in a true companion guardian.  Regardless of some similarities between service dogs and PP dogs or what some "qualified" people think, I know a PP/family companion guardian dog is not the same as a "police dog," and therefore I recognize that a family companion guardian should be both bred and trained differently on some levels. Police/service work and family protection are two different tasks, and both types of canines should be bred and trained according to their tasks. Also, although some sport dogs may work out very well in police, military, other service, or even PP work...the sporting K9 field too is not exactly the same as any of these very specific goals...and those that specialize solely in sport tend to take a different approach (some times very game oriented). One of the most fundamental keys to success is to recognize your goal. The goal of the Swinford project is to find a group of cooperative people that are interested in producing the ultimate family companion guardian. A dog that will protect its family at all costs, but will not challenge its family...because the goal of a companion guardian is to protect the "pack!"

I am not saying Swinfords are better dogs than traditional K-9 dogs. I am saying they are a different type of dog with a different and highly specialized goal. Swinfords are PP companion guard dogs. They are bigger, more intimidating, and more powerful canines than are the traditional police/service dogs. Yet, they have very high pack, fight, prey, and defense drives...but to maintain stability they are selected to be low in unwarranted “social aggression” and low rank drive. The Swinford is bred to be a family companion guardian that fears nothing made of flesh, except it masters/family. They are loving and sensitive to their family group.

Now, although I believe with the right training the Swinford K-9 will perform very well in almost any physical event due to its resiliency, power, speed, determination, endurance, and their general mental and physical capabilities...if your goal is to develop a police type of service dog with social aggression and rank issues...I would suggest another breed. I would suggest a traditional K-9 service breed for such a situation and not a Swinford. The reason I say this is because the Swinford was not and is not selected with police or sport work being their primary goal. Mals, GSD, Dutch Shepards and other traditional service dogs have been selected for patrol and service work for decades. Although I do think a Swinford would do well in those avenues, the Swinford is selected as a family companion guardian above all else. The Swinford K-9 is to Personal/Family/Home Protection (PP) what a Mal is to police/service work. If you are looking for a dog to protect and have a loving relationship with your family, then the Swinford may be the dog for you. Before you get a family companion guardian K-9, I suggest you seriously think twice before listening to a person that produces police/sport dogs. Check and see if they have been biten by their own dogs. If so, what did they do about it? Do you really think it is wise to listening to a person that has been bitten by their own dogs and justifies this as part of the breed. I would also avoid someone that doesn't know the difference between PP and other avenues (police, military, etc) of working canines.

A specialized goal helps produce a specialized canine via performance measures to the specialized task! Anyone that would like to evaluate my dogs is welcome to contact me and arrange a demonstration. To do so, email me to make arrangement. Why am I so sure?...because I know my dogs. I produce a physical, athletic, powerful, loving, stable, and determined FAMILY COMPANION GUARDIAN.

Lee Robinson, M.S.

Note: Before you begin training a personal protection or companion family guardian prospect, contact professionals for guidence, lay out a good foundation that includes proper socialization to the many strange things in the world, let them meeting friendly welcomed guests, and at least do some basic motivational based obedience work...as these things are essential in order to have a balanced stable dog as a final product.