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New ‘Super Guard dog’ branded ‘ridiculous’


Guard Dog

A NEW breed of ‘Super Guard Dog’ has gone on sale around the world, as the cutting edge in home security.

Titan the wonder dog has been specially bred and trained with the sole aim of sniffing out danger and protecting its owner. The dogs, which are reared in Germany, are said to be ‘super intelligent’ and taught to track and trap intruders until police arrive, protecting families and their homes to the hilt.

Titans undergo two years of extensive and rigorous training called the Schutzhund trial at specialist German training camps, before being shipped to customers across the globe. The dogs have only been on the market a matter of weeks and are already proving a hit in Japan and the Middle East.

The Titans are the brainchild of American-based Simon Brodie, Founder and spokesman of the company Lifestyle Pets, who came up with the idea after speaking to people about their concerns with home safety.

He said: ‘Primarily these are pets but they are incredibly well trained animals bred to protect a family.You can have the most expensive CCTV cameras and alarms in the world but if someone climbs into your garden when your children are playing they can be useless.’ The Titan will alert people to danger as well as acting as a deterrent, while being completely safe.
‘They are genetically tested to make sure the animal is suitable and then undergo two years of the most extensive training to make sure they are safe. While we train them to be aggressive, they will not attack and are therefore completely safe for families. And, of course they are gorgeous looking dogs. I saw one the other day and it was so impressive seeing something so powerful in total control.’

A ‘standard’ Titan can be snapped up for just £45,000, but for £65,000 the truly security conscious can get their hands on a Titan Ultra - which is guaranteed to be traced back to superior German Shepherd bloodlines.

The rigorous Schutzhund training involves odour detection and search and rescue, as well as testing traits like strength, courage and endurance.

However, prospective owners face a two-year wait while the dog undergoes extensive German training with some of the best handlers in the world.

OUR DOGS spoke to Mr Brodie earlier this week and asked where the dogs were bred. ‘They’re all German dogs, bred in Germany and secured from the very best bloodlines,’ said Mr Brodie. However, he confirmed that Lifestyle Pets do not breed the dogs themselves, but have agents in Germany who visit breeders and secure the dogs with the best physique and intelligence for the training as ‘Titans’.

When it was pit to him that the statement on Lifestyle Pets’ website was a little misleading, giving the impression that the company bred the dogs themselves, Mr Brodie responded: ‘Ah yes, I can see that it could be, that’s a good point.’

Essentially, the company seems to be tapping into the crime and home security concerns that abound nowadays, but the high price of the dogs is reflected in their intensive training. ‘We’re not out to sell aggressive dogs that attack people,’ added Mr Brodie. ‘They are the first line of home security – a strong deterrent to wrongdoers.’

But leading German Shepherd bred expert Dr Malcolm Willis, the Chairman of the German Shepherd Dog Breed Council of Great Britain was highly sceptical of the whole exercise.

‘First off, it’s a ridiculous price for anyone to pay for a dog,’ she said. ‘There’s good breeders and trainers in this country who will sell you a well-bred, well trained dog for a fraction of that cost.
‘Besides which, your average citizen doesn’t want a man-work trained dog – and maintaining control over a highly trained dog isn’t easy.

‘I think the whole thing is extremely bad for the breed. All it takes is one or two highly publicise biting incidents as has happened in other breeds and then GSDs will be slated as ‘Devil Dogs’.
Lifestyle Pets launched the Ashera earlier this year, which is the world's ‘largest, rarest and most exotic’ domestic cat.

It is the size of a small dog, and sports eye-catching leopard-like spots and tiger stripes. Prices start from £12,000 - but can fetch up to £75,000 depending on the ‘grade’ of cat.