In Kenya, wealthy residents in Nairobi who fear being robbed often take extensive security measures to protect their homes and loved ones from danger. In some cases, those measures include investing thousands of dollars in a protection dog or a pack of protectors.
While living in Kenya, Kim Greene learned about protection dogs and was intrigued enough with the prospect of owning a living security system that she brought one of the hefty hounds back with her to guard the family home.
Eventually, Greene started a company called Svalinn and now she mixes and trains German, Dutch and Belgian shepherds on a 167-acre ranch in Montana. Trained for thousands of hours from the time they are eight months old until they turn two, the protection the dogs are able to provide, which is more reliable than a handgun or a security system, is priceless. The dogs themselves are not, and they retail for around $125,000.
Trained mentally and physically, Greene’s dogs also undergo psychological training and are taught to sense biological rhythms from humans so they can detect anger and other emotions that might indicate violence is going to occur. The dogs can fight and attack, but they are trained to avert and avoid confrontations before they happen, according to Robb Report.
“Aggression is the least important part. You can train any dog in the universe to bite, if necessary, but that is not the appeal of what we do,” Greene told the publication. “At the end of the day, technology can fail, but our four-legged security goes with you everywhere — it can sleep in your daughter’s room at night, or travel on your jet with you.”
Clients who buy one of Greene’s dogs must commit to taking an annual refresher course to keep their handling skills primed, and each canine is hand-delivered by a member of the Svalinn team so the buyer can learn how to work with their animal over the course of several days.
“Every minute spent in Svalinn’s consistent and precise training program has a purpose,” per the company. “The foundation of our training is obedience, stability, socialization and agility. These elements are critical for dogs that will be in public, with families and individuals in daily life situations. Many so-called ‘protection’ dogs are trained for competitions; at Svalinn we aren’t interested in sports or games. Our focus is developing loving and faithful companion dogs that are also exceptional deterrents to a would-be threat, and instant protectors, should you or your family ever be in imminent danger.”
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