US-Israeli company sells $125k protection dogs to Jews worried about security

Daniel Cohen, a Jewish school counselor in Los Angeles, was looking to get a dog around the time of the Hamas invasion of Israel in October 2023. He was upset by the attack, and weeks later, was further unnerved when a man broke into a home in his neighborhood while shouting antisemitic slurs.

Cohen began shopping for a trained protection dog online and found a company called Israel Protection K9. The company helped him pick out a 90-pound German shepherd named Zeus, and in December 2023, he brought the dog to Los Angeles.

“He’s a big dog. He’s beautiful. And walking around, nobody’s going to bother me with a big dog like that,” Cohen said.

Israel Protection K9 said it has seen a surge in demand since October 7 as Jews seek out protection due to surging antisemitism, despite the high cost of the military-grade dogs. The interest in the dogs marks one of an array of measures Diaspora Jews have embraced for security in recent years.

The company, based outside Jerusalem, started as a part-time operation in January 2023, selling around five to 10 dogs in its first year. This year the company will place more than 20 dogs with owners, and currently has 45 more in training. The increase comes despite a lag between orders and deliveries, since the dogs take around 18 months to train, said company co-founder Eli Bobroff.

All but two or three clients have been Jews, Bobroff said. Around eight of the dogs that have been sold are in the US, while others are in Europe and Israel.

“We just saw a huge, huge increase, not based on our marketing or anything like that, but just Jews searching ‘Israel protection’ or ‘protection dogs Israel,’ stuff like that, and looking for viable options for security,” Bobroff said.

As demand has increased, so have prices. The dogs initially sold for around $30,000 but now go for between $75,000 and $125,000. Cohen bought Zeus for $25,000, using an inheritance from his father who had recently died. The more expensive dogs have a better genetic pedigree and come with additional training, such as the ability to conduct home perimeter searches. Some wealthy Jews who have recently met with the company include a mall developer in California and a businessman who runs a publicly traded company, Bobroff said. The price aligns with the handful of other companies offering similar services in other countries.

Protection vs. guard dogs

Bobroff, from southern California, was working in health care when he took a break for a gap year in Israel when he was 19. He had never had a dog because his mother was allergic, and it was his first time living alone, so he started looking into getting one. He is drawn to extremes, partaking in activities such as skydiving, which led to an interest in an “intense type” of dog. He couldn’t afford a trained protection dog, so he got a German shepherd to train on his own and started contacting trainers in Israel.

He was referred to trainer Arik Deri, a veteran of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit. Deri had worked with the IDF’s Oketz canine unit in the military, sparking his interest in protection dogs, and got into the training business after his army service. Deri was training other people’s dogs by the hour, but the two realized they could make a larger profit by raising and training dogs themselves. They decided to go into business together, with Deri doing the training and Bobroff handling the business side.

In their first “test run,” Deri raised two dogs in his home. Interest grew and they scaled the business up, prompting both to quit their regular jobs to work on the business full-time.

Bobroff and Deri traveled abroad to source their dogs from countries including Germany and the Netherlands and do the breeding themselves. Most are German shepherds or Belgian Malinois, the breed favored by Oketz. Training starts when the dogs are a few days old, with the team exposing the dogs to different environments and forms of touch. The dogs receive socialization training with children and toddlers so they will be safe with families. The company has a staff of around eight, Bobroff said.

Protection dogs differ from guard dogs. Protection dogs are highly obedient, can assess and respond to different threats, and are focused on protecting people. Guard dogs defend property, for example by barking at unfamiliar people, and tend to be larger and more intimidating.

The company works with clients to place the dog best suited to their needs, taking into account factors such as friendliness with children and other pets in the home. When the dog is trained, the staff delivers the dog to its new owner and spends about a week with them on an “integration process,” teaching the owner how to handle the dog and covering subjects such as the dog’s Hebrew commands, body language, dog psychology and practicing protection scenarios. After the process, the company stays in touch with the owners.

A surge in self-defense measures

Jews in the Diaspora have taken different measures for security due to surging antisemitism in recent years, such as learning Krav Maga or training with community security groups to protect their synagogues. Others have acquired firearms, which security professionals have said pose significant risks.

Mitch Silber, the head of the Community Security Initiative, which coordinates security for Jewish communities in the New York region, said he was not familiar with Israel Protection K9 and hadn’t heard of Jews acquiring protection dogs, but that it fell in line with other security measures and was likely safer than firearms.

“Certainly since 10/7 we’ve seen a lot of Jews buying guns. I think this is just another version of that, where Jewish people are feeling insecure and they’re looking for things to make them more secure,” Silber said. “With a gun, the fear is that children are going to get access to it and shoot each other. With a dog, if it’s well trained, as long as they know who the good people are, I do think it’s likely to be safer.”

Daniel, a European businessman who declined to share his last name due to privacy concerns, said he grew concerned about security due to increasing antisemitism in Europe. There were raucous anti-Israel protests in his hometown and vandals scrawled graffiti that said “Fuck Jews” and “Dirty Jew” on his office.

He did not want a gun and restrictive firearm laws prevented him from acquiring one anyway. He discussed hiring a driver with his wife but said he had a difficult time trusting employees. He has always been an “animal person,” he said, so started looking into protection dogs.

He figured Israeli trainers had more hands-on experience with security than European companies. He connected with Israel Protection K9 and bought a Belgian Malinois named Aries last month who now accompanies him nearly everywhere, including to his office.

“Everyone can touch him. Sometimes my wife is like, ‘Oh, he’s too friendly. He looks too sweet.’ But this is what I wanted. I don’t want a headache,” Daniel said.

Several days ago, though, Daniel was walking with Aries at night when a man approached them.

“When we came close, I gave him the guard command and he literally, not even a second, was already looking at the guy and barking, and then I stopped him immediately,” he said.

“I hope that more dogs will be able to help Jewish families around Europe and around the States because the world is a little bit upside down,” Daniel said, adding that Aries had sparked interest in family acquaintances. When he brings Aries to his children’s school to pick them up, their classmates all play with him.

“Everybody’s very curious and everybody’s surprised by my choice because when you speak of security, you don’t think of a dog,” he said. “But seeing Aries and seeing what he does and how he does it, many families are getting more interested.”

Not ‘just’ antisemitism

Antisemitism is one factor for the new owners. Owners also seek protection from everyday crime and a connection to Israel.

Cohen said there are “a lot of drug addicts and weirdos” in his neighborhood, and he had previously adopted pitbulls that he would take for walks at night and that would help keep bad characters away. He had read about protection dogs for years, and after his last dog died, a combination of the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 in southern Israel and his inheritance prompted him to buy one instead of adopting.

“If you have just a large pitbull, those dogs are sweet as hell. But when push comes to shove, are they going to protect? It’s hard to know,” he said.

Cohen, who lives with his wife and two children, aged eight and 16, said Zeus helped them feel safer, and fostered a connection with Israel. He enjoys answering questions about Zeus and that his children are picking up some Hebrew by learning the dog’s commands.

Zeus is trained to protect when Cohen gives the command shmor, Hebrew for “guard.”

“We’re talking a huge amount of aggression when you give the command. To go from just panting and smiling and playing with his ears, to you saying the word and it’s just all on,” Cohen said. “When you say shmor and you give that command and just this immense power comes out, it’s somehow a spiritual experience. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Cohen plays fetch with Zeus in a park and does obedience training to keep him sharp. Cohen will put Zeus’s food out, for example, and tell him to lie down instead of eat, so Zeus will remain attentive to the specific commands and not just react to his expected verbal cues.

The dog keeps an eye on strangers but acts calmly toward other people, for example, by not barking when visitors come to the house. Cohen said he had Zeus in a school parking lot when one of his daughter’s Hebrew school teachers walked near her.

“Zeus was looking at him extremely close. Zeus looked at me, like, ‘Is this the time? Do I go for it?’ But I just told Zeus to lie down and it was cool,” Cohen said.

He described Zeus as more of a pet than a working dog. Cohen’s daughter likes to grab Zeus’s bone and run around the house with Zeus on her heels, and the dog keeps his son company while he plays video games.

“Right now, he’s probably watching TV with my wife on the couch,” Cohen said. “I would say for us, he’s more of a pet. A pet that we know can protect us when we need, if we ever need it.”