Would You Pay $150,000 for a Guard Dog?
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There's nothing more shocking than being the victim of a home break-in. Suddenly, your personal sanctuary feels insecure, unsafe, and...if we're being totally honest scary. Sadly, this is one phenomenon some homeowners are all too familiar with. Not only have celebrities like Travis Kelce recently had their homes broken into, but social media is rampant with real-life horror stories of unwanted visitors. Who can forget how a man lived in the crawl space of a 93-year-old woman's home for months?
Installing motion sensors, flood lights, and cameras are a few smart ways to keep tabs on your space while you're away. But if you want to beef up security even more, you might want to consider acquiring a guard dog. Several specialty companies breed and train canines to be both excellent family pets and fierce guard dogs. And wealthy executives, celebrities, and even many British soccer stars are snapping them up as an elite way to protect their homes.
Kempkes Executive K9s is just one of many companies that that breeds and trains guard dogs As a division of Wüstenberger-Land German Shepherds, the company has been breeding German shepherds to defend California residents for the past 30 years. At the helm of this program is Michael Kempke, a seasoned dog trainer and behavioral expert who uses his expertise to turn these pups into protectors.
While Kempkes Executive K9s focuses on everything from guarding to bomb detection, other companies like Svalinn offer more personalized, protective companions. At the Montana-based company, a carefully curated selection of German shepherd, Dutch shepherd, or Belgian Malinois dogs are expertly trained with your lifestyle, routine, and needs in mind. If you have kids, don't worry: Svalinn's dogs are taught to be gentler with the younger members of your home.
And former Navy SEAL Mike Rutland trains "PPDs"—personal protection dogs—at Texas-based Trikos International. The site advertises the animals—some of whom sell for $100,000—as "unrivaled security for high-net-worth individuals." That would include Wynonna Judd, who acquired a PPD named Ike from Trikos in 2016.
Though a guard dog might seem like a trendy flex, it turns out that it's one tactic that actually works. Psychology Today found that the mere presence of dogs can actually make an entire neighborhood safer. Meanwhile, the Navy SEAL-turned-guard-dog trainer Mike Ritland claims the FBI reported 95 percent of criminals will avoid a home or car that has a dog inside. After all, even the most robust security cameras can't recreate a dog's ferocious bark or growl.
A guard dog might be an excellent (and adorable) addition to your security system, but they are pricey. Multiple outlets claim that Svalinn's offering start at a whopping $150,000, which is considerably more expensive than a smart security system.
While most people will not be able to shell out the big bucks for this added line of defense, celebrities are lining up to add a fuzzy friend to their lives, whether they see them as cuddly security detail, or a four-legged friend to take on coffee runs, like Kendall Jenner and her Doberman Pinscher—a species that's known for being an excellent bodyguard. We wouldn't be surprised to see more celebrities with guard dogs soon, which is certainly something to bark about.
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