DDR Guard Dogs Arvostelua 

Thankfully we now know we are not alone in our experience with DDR.
At the start, they couldn't do more for us. We took our 18 month old boy and 11 month old girl to their facility for training. During our first visit they assessed our dogs, told us they were not thoroughbred, that they couldn't do anything for the girl but could with the boy. Just to note, our dogs have every piece of paperwork possible, dating back 6 generations and world champion bloodlines.
Three days later, our boy was back in to begin his training. On this day, we spoke about our needs and what we wanted to get out of the training and a dog from his kennels was put in front of us. He was beautiful and we fell in love. We went back to collect the DDR dog four days later to introduce him to the rest of our pack whilst our boy began his two week training programme. One week later, we were told our boy was useless and that they couldn't gain access to his kennel. I know my dog, he is not aggressive.
The dog we bought from DDR was great. He settled in well at home and was great to walk. We too were given an e-collar which we are completely against so it was left in the cupboard. In our opinion, dogs learn to work for love, affection and respect, not because they are being bullied into it by shock, but each to their own. After a week or so, we noticed that he didn't like to be touched on his hind. He would flinch. We thought it was because he just didn't know us and thought we'll give it a bit more time.
After the two weeks, we collected our boy. Apparently he was no good. It didn't matter, we had our new dog that was fully trained. When we brought our boy home, we noticed that two teeth were broken and he started to cough. My husband didn't want to make a thing of it because we'd formed a relationship, well thought we had, with DDR and the training was ongoing. Now we wished we had.
We continued the training with the new dog from DDR and had three sessions at their facility. He worked very well on their site. We couldn't have been prouder of him. Then one occasion at home we heard a noise that didn't sound right at the back of the house so we sent him out with the command word for bark. Nothing. He didn't move. We tried again, nothing. But we'd been able to send him on this command at their facility so we knew he understood the word from us.
When we approached DDR about the problem, his back went up. He became aggressive, told me I didn't know what I was doing. He was a bully. Called me buddy and was extremely patronising. I was simply asking them "why isn't the command working" and "what can we do to rectify the problem". We were told either give the dog back, pay £100 a week for training or spend £25,000 on another dog. But we'd already bought a trained protection/guard dog. Having watched the DDR dog over the weeks that we had him we knew that the treatment he had received during his time at DDR wasn't great. He wasn't in the best health. We were giving him food and supplements that we had been told to and it was giving him terrible stomach problems. We were advised by another trainer that the reason he didn't like his hind touched was because the training he'd received at DDR wasn't correct, they had flanked him, twisting the skin on the back of his legs to get him worked up. The trainer we are now with has worked so well with our pack and is trying to work with our DDR dog but we've had to start from the beginning with him. We are on our third trainer for the DDR dog due him being unstable. We also had him assessed by a behavioural therapist. All he knows is sleeve work and bite suits. We would train him, we would drop the item to carry on the additional training and he wouldn't pay any attention to his surroundings, just the items. He couldn't engage. He'd been trained incorrectly. The obedience wasn't there either.
Our boy that was "useless" has come on leaps and bounds and has not shown any unnecessary aggression, our trainer is using him as an advert for what can be achieved with the correct training with true professionals. Our girl that was apparently unstable and should be re-homed to accommodate his £20,000 additional dog is also a star pupil. Our trainer is an IPO level 3 trainer so we know he's not a cowboy.
There was no way we were going to send the DDR dog back to that facility and we see him now as an expensive rescue dog.
In our opinion, we would steer everyone clear of this company. Great when you first meet them but no follow through. Rude and arrogant. I just feel sorry for the dogs that are in that facility. If they are all being trained like our dog then I worry that they won't ever be able to find their forever home. We are huge dog lovers but DDR didn't know this. They don't do any background checks on those that are buying their dogs and they would never know if these dogs are ending up in the wrong hands.

Having encountered a vast succession of problems following the purchase of a dog from this company, to which the company refused to acknowledge or accept any malpractice, misinterpretation, or admission, I was left with no option but to commence litigation, now concluded.

The cost to purchase a protection dog from this company was £18,000. £3,000 of which was charged fraudulently by this company for VAT, with the owner blatantly lying that he was VAT registered.

HMRC was contacted through legal channels and it was found that DDR Guard Dogs is not a VAT registered business, albeit the owner consistently misleading in his insistence that DDR Guard Dogs and his other company, PoochDVD Products Ltd were part of a VAT registered group.

In summary, the dog purchased from this company was not fit for purpose and was returned to the company three days following the home hand-over. The company will undoubtedly dispute the facts, however confirmation from Trading Standards and my legal representation, supported the facts strongly in my favour.

The reason for the return of the dog:

1. The dog made unprovoked attacks on our cat and our gardener’s dog having been described by the company as being ‘Good with other dogs’ and ‘Good with other animals’
2. The company guaranteed:
“Her obedience will be of a very high standard she will work perfectly off leash. We will continue to socialise her in the public high street with other dogs and animals.”
There was never any evidence to support the above, irrespective of what the company may say to the contrary and any videos that were made post-return of the dog.
3. The company guaranteed to produce regular video blogs with detailed training advice of the dog’s progress – these videos never materialised.
4. The company’s assurance that the use of the electric collar was purely as a “handbrake”. I do not believe this to be the case, as my own experience indicated the use an e-collar as a main stay throughout training and used inappropriately. As an individual who has never used such a device, the training given to me on this piece of equipment was minimal and lasted less than five minutes.
5. The dog’s Pet Passport details were found to be indecipherable and there was relevant details missing – the dog did not originate from Russia, as indicated by the company.
“Direct import from Russia with a pedigree that represents some of the finest examples in the breed”
6. The company guaranteed the dog being ‘titled’ – incorrect and misleading, there were no pedigree papers.
7. The company guaranteed the dog being hip scored – incorrect, and misleading, there was no hip-score recorded.
8. The dog’s veterinary medical history paperwork had false information recorded with the company implying the veterinary practice had made these errors - When questioned on this matter, the veterinary practice confirmed it was not a requirement to have sight of a pet passport when just carrying out a health check. All information given to the veterinary practice at the time of the health check was from a DDR Guard Dog company representative, all of which were incorrect, inaccurate and misleading.
• The DOB on the Pet Passport did not match the veterinary medical history paperwork.
• The dog’s age was given incorrectly to the veterinary practice as being 1 year, 1 month and 13 days. A discrepancy of nearly 5 months.
• The dog’s weight was recorded as being 26kg. The vet making a comment that the dog was underweight. (Due to the incorrect information being given, the vet was unaware of a 5 months discrepancy which then made the dog's weight far more pronounced with the dog being excessively underweight)
9. The true age of the dog was never disclosed at the time of purchase and has NEVER been accurately recorded on the company website. As of today's date, 10 October 2020, the dog is recorded for sale on the company website as being 22 months old. Doberman 'Penny' is in fact 24 months and 37 days old.

This company purports to have been in business for 20+ years and claim they are “specialists. 20+ years dedicated to man's best friend”.

The company was set up in September 2018 and there is no supporting evidence to indicate it was operating prior to this date. There is no evidence to support the principle of the company or indeed any staff hold ANY relevant training or qualifications in this field of work.

The company failed to bring to my attention that owning and handling a guard dog is subject to various laws which include the Guard Dogs Act 1975, the Animals Act 1971 and in the common law.

Asides the above, the principle of the company continued throughout the process with bullying, slanderous comments, accusations, and aggressive behaviour, which are traits one certainly does not expect from a professional business set-up.