Founded in 1907, K.N.P.V., otherwise known as the Royal Dutch Police Dog Association has the job of certifying dogs with coveted certificates. Located in the Netherlands (Holland) this association is divided into eleven provinces, each one having its own board. Each provinces’ board represents the members of the K.N.P.V. at the Head Board meetings. As of April in 1994 there were 509 K.N.P.V. clubs in Holland. According to many, Holland is a very dog loving country. Especially in the southern area where many of their clubs are located. In Holland, if you leave one of the training fields you are already headed into the next. That shows just how dedicated and involved the people of Holland are in the K.N.P.V. organization.
Holland’s clubs have always been different from other countries like Germany, Belgium, and France when they train dogs like the German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois. They prefer to hold onto the old fashion dog training, to make sure that only strong dogs are produced. In other countries, training programs have changed significantly over the years, but not in the Holland K.N.P.V. clubs. They have never changed their rules, exercises, or making sure that they are breeding qualified dogs like the Belgian Malinois. Unlike other countries that changed their program to fit the breed of dog rather than starting off and dogs fit for the program. The Holland clubs know that K.N.P.V. wants working dogs and not just show dogs.
The members do everything they can to make sure that dogs accepted into the program are qualified. Members of the clubs are usually people who previously owned a dog. Most of the time they come to the club for the social aspect, commodity, and to be with other dog lovers, or enthusiasts. Many of the club members are already into dog training before wanting to join. If they do have a pup or young adult dog, they must be qualified for the program unless they do not keep them. Either the dog is fit for the program and gets a title, or else he gets sold immediately. This may seem harsh to other people, but the main reason for doing this is getting the dog titled as soon as possible. The main goal for all members of the Holland clubs is to train their dogs in the proper way to make them strong and qualified. By setting this goal, the Holland clubs are great examples of how all K.N.P.V. clubs should strive to be like.
Please note that just because a German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois dog receives a K.N.P.V. title certification it does not mean that they are certified as a Personal Protection Dog as the KNPV is only a sporting title. But if your Protection Dogs has one of these prestigious titles it is an additional asset.