Our Newest Import Family Protection Dogs!

We are proud to present our new custom selected Imports on the Adult Dog page of the website.

We have added some new features that you will Love.

Ted has outdone himself and selected the finest family protection dog prospects we have ever had at one time. Cevil, Toby & Togy are ready to go to their perfect homes and Rex is a young adult Import who will be receiving our specialized training here at GatorlandK9.

Check back often, as I will be adding more pictures to the puppy page and more videos to the site.

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Puppies will be available from Kanses ABOVE. He is a proven producer of WOW DOGS!! He produces good hips, bear-like heads, superior temperament, size, color and conformation. Reserve your Awesome Puppy Now! Call Ted at 386-749-9000.

Ted Makes a Buying Trip to Europe

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Ted will be going to Europe on June 21st - July 1st.

If you have been thinking of getting a protection dog for your family, this is a great opportunity to get a great dog at the best price from GatorlandK9. We will be taking limited reservations for Ted to scout for the perfect dog for your situation.

Use the "Contact Us" link in top menu, for more details and to give us your list of qualities that you would like Ted to look for in your dog.

Gatorland K-9 German Shepherds Become Therapy Dogs

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Apryl Polster takes her dogs, Bailey and Boone to the library and children who have trouble reading aloud will read aloud to the dogs because they trust them not to make fun of them. Apryl shared their story with us. The dog lays down in the middle of a circle and the children take turns reading to the dog. When we were reading “White Fang,” after we read the last page, Bailey sat up, pointed her nose up and howled like a wolf. Some of the kids still talk about that. We were reading at the school and everyone heard it. Also, my friend wants me to do the hospital with her. They have a guy there with post stress syndrome—who hadn’t spoken in years and he has started talking to her Shepherd. They want her dogs there because of all the good they do for the patients, but she needs more dogs, so hers get a break.

If you would like to follow along with Bailey, Boone and all of our dogs, be sure and become a Fan of GatorlandK9 on Facebook.

Service & Protection Dogs for Women

When you think of a Service or Protection Dog, what comes to mind? A beautiful German Shepherd wearing a harness with a handle, guiding a blind person or an attentive Labrador helping someone who is deaf or in a wheelchair.

Dogs have been known as man’s best friend for a long time. Now more than ever, this is true, as we become more familiar with the human-animal bond, we find more ways that the relationship between a human and a dog can actually help to heal the human. Dogs are now visiting nursing homes and hospitals and helping to bring moments of peace and happiness to someone who is lonely or in pain.

Any person who has been through a traumatic experience can suffer pain in the form of depression and post traumatic stress syndrome. Women who have been assaulted or abused can suffer also from repressed feelings of guilt and shame. These feelings can literally take someone’s life away. It becomes hard to perform simple tasks and going into public can become impossible without bringing on anxiety attacks. This causes the person to be isolated which aggravates the depression. A woman will also be afraid to go out alone because she can no longer trust her fellow human and she feels vulnerable.

A German Shepherd that has been specially trained to assist and protect a person can be a vital key to giving this woman her life back. The dog, if trained and certified as a Service and Protection Dog will be able to accompany the woman into all public places and help make her feel more comfortable and safe as well as being a friend to lean on if an anxiety attack should happen. The training is custom tailored to the individual client as each person has special needs and the dog will learn cues to help a person leave an uncomfortable situation.

The trainer really takes on a dual role as trainer and handler of the Service Dog during the training process and must also be familiar in helping the woman learn to handle and trust the dog and will play an important role in helping the woman to make her first trips out in public. The trainer will need to be familiar with the psychiatric needs of a patient with post traumatic stress disorder and will assist the person if they need medication or experience an anxiety attack in public. It is a lot to learn to handle the dog and deal with all of the feelings of being out in public, so the handler/trainer must assist the person if needed.

The Service Dog will become extremely bonded to its new owner, as the German Shepherd has an uncanny ability to sense the needs of a human and will adapt it’s training to very specific needs of each client.

Gatorland K-9 and Ted & Dawn Hoppe are proud to offer our German Shepherd’s to help with this very specialized role of Service Dogs.

Why German Shepherds make the best Family Protection Dog

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People ask us our recommendation in selecting the right breed for Family Protection/ Companion Dog. First, we would like to say that many times individual temperament / personality is as important as the breed and poor temperament can be found in any breed. Here are some of our reasons for choosing the German Shepherd for most situations as the best Family Protection Dog .

1. Because the criminal recognizes the German Shepherd as a Police Dog , this adds greatly to the deterrent effect a German Shepherd has in comparison to a Labrador (a breed developed for hunting)
2. Most versatile of all breeds – intelligent, trainable- catches on quickly and retains commands. German Shepherds have many uses. Police, Military , Seeing Eye, Detection Dogs, herding dogs, sport dogs, Service Dogs and area guard dogs.
3. Very tolerant of small children. Very in-tune with the owner also alert, naturally defensive of territory and pack, good sense of duty.
4. Ability to adapt- the US Military’s preferred dog is the German Shepherd for various reasons but importantly it’s ability to adapt to new handlers.
5. These traits are or should be characteristic of the well bred German Shepherd Dog. We place and have trained many such dogs for families and have had the most success with this breed over all others and we owned and have trained too many breeds to mention over the last 25 years.

Picking A Level of Protection Dog Training

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After researching protection dogs on the Internet and feeling totally confused, people often ask what level of protection training my dogs have? It’s like they are trying to compare the deluxe model with leather interior, power windows and all of the bells and whistles vs. the basic model. Buying a dog that you can trust with your family is something entirely different than buying a car.

You should ask yourself ‘What is my handling ability/experience?’ ‘What do I need in a dog?’ ‘What is the right dog for my situation?

Communicate your needs and describe what you expect from the dog. A good trainer will take the time to listen to your needs and try to get a feel if he has the right dog for your situation.

Most people and families need an excellent quality animal with a good obedience foundation and basic protection that is useful and practical. A trained dog is not a vicious dog. It is confident and approachable. You don’t want a dog that is aggressive to the point of being a liability. You need a very forgiving dog, your children can pet it and it does not feel threatened. In the Military and Police K-9 schools, the handlers are matched with the right dog for that individual. The same will hold true for matching a protection/companion dog with the individual needs of that person or family.

The proper temperament for a family protection dog is something a dog is born with. Dogs, like people have their own personalities, i.e. a very alpha/aggressive dog is not a good choice for a family companion dog. It is possible to find a very well trained dog that looks good and acts good in its training environment but is entirely different when you bring it home.

You need a good instructor to show you how to maintain a protection dog’s training. You need to acquire training/handling skills. This is all part of our service. So when selecting a dog for family protection, be less concerned about levels or bells and whistles, and more on individual personality and traits of the dog.

Why Import Your Next German Shepherd

In the US, a person with 2 registered dogs can breed them regardless of their individual qualities and receive AKC papers. These dogs may have floppy ears, hip dysplasia, and poor temperament, be nervous, gun shy, fear biters and the owner of the litter will still receive full registration privileges on all of the puppies. In short quality control is non existent in the states.

This does not mean that there are no good breeders of German Shepherds, there are many breeders who have knowledge of the genetics of the breed and x-ray their breeding stock. The German Shepherd breeders in the US who breed quality dogs, practice the European standards but these breeders are in the vast minority, so yes it’s possible to buy a quality German Shepherd in this country but hard to find.

The breeding of German Shepherds as done in Europe is an entirely different affair and uses the following quality control standards.

1. All dogs must have a hip certification by a qualified veterinarian.

2. All dogs must have a conformation rating. It is important that they look like German Shepherds and conform to the standards.

3. Each dog certified for breeding must also have a working title, like Schutzhund , IPO , SVV or ZVV. This is very important because it assures to a certain degree that drives and temperament remain true as required of a working dog which the German Shepherd was originally bred to be. It requires a lot of effort on the part of the owner to achieve a working title as required in Europe. A puppy must be schooled from a young age in tracking, obedience and sport oriented protection work.

4. All dogs must also go through a breed survey called a Koer in Germany or Bonitacia in Slovakia, in which many individual qualities are evaluated, and where they are rated and approved or disapproved for breeding. This is extremely important as the dog is truly put under the scrutiny of experts.

These 4 requirements are necessary for 2 dogs to be bred and receive Pink papers.

Quality control standards are why someone should choose an Imported German Shepherd or one that is bred from imported bloodlines.

The German Shepherd breed is considered the most versatile and useful of all breeds. No other breed works in so many varied services to the degree of the German Shepherd. Quality control standards assure the buyer that they will receive a well bred dog, who is intelligent, loyal and mentally/physically sound.