Eric You're absolutely on track about protection trained. Nevada law is much less rigid and using a service vest is a gross misdemeanor, however I do know of three people who were prosecuted and paid hefty fines for illegally stating that their dog is a service dog. I feel very strongly about their illegal use just to take their dog with them when they are out.
We bred, trained and showed German shepherds for 35 years, including six years in Germany. A protection trained dog will not (as Eric stated) attack without justification and is willing to back off of their watch position when the correct command is used. I have a marvelous German shepherd female that I found after three years of searching for just the right dog. She is certified in Nevada but we decided to forgo protection training because of my high level of injury. However, she will not allow anyone who is a stranger to get close to me unless I tell her the specific command to sit quietly. That does not mean that she is not paying attention to what is happening around us, and there have been a couple of times that she nudged me and whined as if to say "I don't like that person" and I have trusted her instincts and moved on. We trained her totally in German as we have all of our dogs. A well trained protection dog will not take a command to attack from anyone other than their handler so it is never a threat that someone else could push the correct button. This one absolutely adores children and we have trained her to lie down when a child approaches so she is less intimidating to small children her. I then usually teach the children how to approach a strange dog and to always ask for permission. One of her patches says, I am friendly please ask before petting. The parents usually pay attention also, and that is one more person who knows how to treat a person using a service dog. There are a couple of online places where you can get a certificate stating that the dog is a trained service dog, but little by little they are being put of business. So please don't abuse the law that has been so hard fought to have people able to keep their service dogs with them without penalties. ADA certification is not easy to attain and it would not take many situations for it to get a bad name. Just think of the reputation that pit bulls have usually quite unjustifiably as they make marvelous family dogs. German shepherds are on most insurance company regulations as dangerous and unreliable. OK, I'll get off my high horse, but this is a subject near and dear to me. Joan
