[Patrick Murray]

...read this. It's not a heart-warming story.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...51606,0,5704068.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

Burglar beats 79-year-old woman, kills dog
Henry Pierson Curtis
Sentinel Staff Writer

May 16, 2006, 1:56 PM EDT

A burglar severely beat a 79-year-old woman early today after killing her dog.

Marie Howlett survived with head injuries after the 1:30 a.m. attack inside her West Colonial Drive home, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

"There was blood on the floor, on a table and on a bookshelf," deputies wrote. "Howlett told me she was sleeping when she awakened (to an intruder) beating her about her head and face."

Deputies found the dead pet lying in a pool of blood on Howlett's bed in her home that also serves as the office of the Conestoga Mobile Home Park. The dog had also been beaten.

Howlett was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center. Her condition could not be learned at midday today.

Sheriff's reports show her injuries included bleeding from cuts to the face, a swollen right eye and bruising to both arms -- a common sign of injury from trying to ward off an attack.

 

[Patrick Murray]

My point of posting this isn't to seek comment on the article itself but rather to illustrate the seriousness of a violent home-invader. The perpetrator was obviously a violently sick individual and he´ll get his in the end for sure.

There are many here far more qualified to speak to this than I and I hope you will comment, but let me tell you the lesson I derive from this story.

Training a PPD dog is SERIOUS stuff. Unless you've done something like I am going to describe next, you don't know for certain whether your dog is a PPD dog or an over-glorified pet.

My idea of proofing a PPD dog is to have a decoy, unknown to the dog, come into your home making noise that would wake the dead and come screaming, charging and swinging away at the dog. Preferably the decoy will be in some sort of hidden bite suit. If the dog willingly faces this guy head on and bites the living crap out of him while taking punishment then you know you have a real world PPD dog. If the dog goes into avoidance and backs into a corner then your dog is not yet ready, but could be with the right training.

This particular exercise should not be a philosophy but rather an experience. I'm looking forward to hearing what you folks believe "proofs" a trained PPD dog.

As the sad story above illustrated, a bad man that comes into your home can and will brutally beat you and your family to death. A dog alone should not be the entire security plan. But I'm not talking about securing the entire home I'm talking about making sure your PPD dog is ready. And if your PPD dog isn't ready for this then you DO NOT have a PPD dog.

If a bad man comes into my house whatever happens is going to be very, very violent and over, one way or the other, very quickly. I hear a lot of sport terms used in PPD talk about "calm firm" bites. I don't believe those terms have any place in a discussion about a violent home invader kicking in your door in the middle of the night. Nothing is going to be calm about that including the dog's bite. And to say I want my dog to bite "firm" is a vast understatement. I don't want firm, I want crushing biting power. I want my dog to bite, crush, rip and to cause massive damage and then to do it again and again and again. Before that guy gets sent to hell I want his last images and thoughts to be of my dog and the realization that he made the last mistake in his life.

And if any of you think I'm going overboard let me invite you to go back and read the article above. And if you still think I'm off the deep end I can refer you to some living victims of some horrible home invasions that would be more than happy to tell you that ignorance is only bliss up until the time you awaken to a crackhead beating the life out of you or your family.

Keep it real. Sweet Dreams.

 

[Sarah Hall]

I saw this story on channel 9 last night!
I used to own a bite suit that was made to be hidden in PSD training, and never would allow a dog to pass PPD training if he/she wouldn't bite when confronted in a similar way that you said. I used to have a property with a small house that was given to me to train in. We would bust out windows, kick in doors, or slip in silently to see what the dog would do. When the perp was being violent towards the dog, I didn't care if the dog had a full bite or wasn't growling, I WANTED that dog to be fighting however was best for him. I've seen dogs that never did well in sport that would beat the he(( out of a guy in a hidden suit in a training scenario as mentioned above. I've also seen the damage that comes from ppds that are properly trained. One of the dogs I trained (a mal/gsd cross) practically ripped 2 1/2 inches deep and 5 inches wide of flesh off a guy's arm that broke into the dog's house. This dog was amazing, because he never made a sound, even the perp admitted that he never heard him coming. The dog simply stalked up to the guy and leapt. If the guy didn't hear the click of the dog's back nails on the floor as he leapt, I think the guy would be minus some back or neck muscle.
I loved training vehicle security, too. I used to have an old crown vic that I used for training that had the door popper added. I loved the way a good dog would come barreling out of the car when the door was popped and his handler was being attacked. I would also train PPDs in the woods that surrounded the 2 acre property for woods searches. They always had fun, since a river (Little Econ) ran through the woods.
I wish I didn't sell that property. It would prove mighty useful now.

 

[Kristina Senter]

Patrick,
Many dogs (including some of my own) would bite absolutely no problem under the circumstances you described for you'r testing and not likely at all to bite if someone walked in totally passive, as apparently in the case you attached. The ladies dog was still on the bed so, my guess is they came in totally silent and passive which is how most intruders will enter. It's great to triain for an aggressive, noisy, hectic intruder for the confusion factor but it should be a pretty obvious decision for the dog.
Gator, for example would let you waltz right in to my house untill you tried to enter our bedroom-but only if Im there. If I'm absent- anyone could come in, take anything, let him out and do whatever without the slightest hint of aggression. Turk and Tara, on the other hand- weaker dogs sport wise, would try to eat you just for looking in the windows.