$230,000 buys you an “executive protection dog” from the same crew that trained the Navy Seal Team 6 dog that helped take out Osama bin Laden… No wonder the rich need more tax breaks…protection from non-existent lower-class warfare can get pricey!

What You Should Know / July 7, 2011

www.nytimes.com -- When she costs $230,000, as Julia did, the preferred title is “executive protection dog.” This 3-year-old German shepherd, who commutes by private jet between a Minnesota estate and a home in Arizona, belongs to a canine caste that combines exalted pedigree, child-friendly cuddliness and arm-lacerating ferocity.Julia and her ilk have some of the same tracking and fighting skills as the dogs used in elite military units like Navy Seal Team 6, which took a dog on its successful raid of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.In fact, Julia was sold by a trainer, Harrison Prather, who used to supply dogs to Seal Team 6 and the British special forces. But then Mr. Prather switched to a more lucrative market.