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There's a class called schutzhund which is available for like, dobermans and shepherds and other breeds used in military and k-9 service. If you're willing to pay for it, you can just buy a dog that's trained under it, or buy a dog trainable under it and send it through.
This is the best way to obtain a personal protection dog if you live in an urban area and aren't a particularly experienced dog owner. Ensure that no one outside of your immediate family feeds it or gives it affection, and have it wear a shock collar for appearances' sake if nothing else.
Awesome suggestion, I don't actually own a dog, or have to worry about this. So it's good that there is an existing training program.
This is the most expensive way to obtain a canine bodyguard- hence why poor people half-ass it(usually with a pitbull crossbreed).
Of course very experienced and competent dog owners can train a dog in house, and pick from a wider variety of breeds, but those by-and-large are rednecks in the countryside who expect to fill any self defense needs that do crop up with firearms(the main reason for such intensive training of a personally owned dog would be for hunting, so pre-existing experience leans pretty strongly in one direction).
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