Dog handler security refers to having security professionals present who are specially trained to protect you, your business and your events in the most effective way through the means of searching people, vehicles and property with the help of highly trained security dogs.
As well as conducting searches, dog handler security guards and the dogs they work with are very effective deterrents for all criminals and their activities. The mere presence of security dogs can mean that you can reduce the number of security guards required for many different premises, as the clearly advertised presence of dogs is often enough to deter intruders.
Effective dog handler security has the potential to protect commercial, industrial and retail premises across the UK, alongside electronic, uniformed and physical security measures where necessary. But when it comes to using security dogs as a means of protection for your property or premises, what can they offer you over other means of security?
Better Protection of Premises
It doesn’t matter what it is you are protecting your property from; it could be preventing squatters from occupying your vacant property, you may be protecting a full warehouse of goods, an isolated industrial estate from burglary or maintaining crowd control at a public event, security guards with dogs are all fully trained to deal with all of these situations.
Having dogs is very effective as a lone security guard may find themselves outnumbered in certain cases.
They also provide a level of protection for your security guards as well, who will establish a good working relationship with their dog. This level of trust between the handlers and the security dogs is important which is why there is such great importance on training dog handlers and their dogs.
Increased Effectiveness
There is a certain effectiveness about the pure visibility of uniformed security guards coupled with professional dog handlers and their dogs. It enhances the sense of security as it acts as a heavy deterrence to commit crime on your property or at an event. Experienced security dog handlers have the ability to reduce the need for multiple security guards in one place. This means you can spread out your guards more efficiently.
Animals as a Form of Defence
Using animals to increase security is not a new concept and people have relied on the likes of wolves and other animals for protection since the dawn of civilisation. Animals, particularly dogs, have an incredible sense of smell, sharp hearing and great orientation skills. This makes dogs the perfect animal to complement security guards in their job. In most cases, the dog handler will be alerted when unexpected activity has been found by the dog, long before any CCTV could have picked it up, if at all.
NASDU Certified Dogs
You should always make sure that the handlers are certified by NASDU, the National Association of Security Dog Users. It is all well and good when a dog is fierce, but if it is not trained it may not perform the tasks that you need it to, and it would not be safe.
At Secure Site UK, all of our dog handlers are NASDU certified and all of our security guards are fully SIA licensed. NASDU are the industry standard and uphold strict codes of practice so that you know you will always be getting the best service possible at all times from us and our dog handlers. You will also be protected against any liability on your property if the dogs are certified.
Duties of a Guard Dog
As with our security guards, the security dogs and handlers have a routine list of duties when it comes to protection. These include:
- To have the ability to guard any properties as requested in the presence and/or the absence of the owner
- Protect lives which may be at risk
- To attack when necessary and defend you and your property during confrontations which may have become out of control and violent
- Chasing after criminals that have fled the scene
- To sniff and detect any illegal or dangerous substances such as guns, drugs or anything of the like
- Tracking and trailing
- To pull out wounded people in disasters by which they may be trapped
- To guard livestock and poultry, both from others and from trying to get out
