How to Raise a Working Puppy

This is a handler training video, not a dog training video. It's a video that explains how we raise and socialize our puppies. If you are looking for a video on how to train a working puppy - this is not the video for you.

There is a difference between how we raise a working puppy vs. how pet owners raise their dogs. Working puppies are expected to look at their world through different eyes than a family pet. This DVD on puppy training shows owners how to raise a working puppy.

If you are raising a Schutzhund puppy, a police service dog puppy, a S&R puppy, a personal protection dog puppy, a puppy for competition obedience or agility - they will all benefit by making some simple changes in how they are brought up and handled.

This is not a bite training video, in fact it’s not even a puppy training tape. Rather it's a DVD in which Cindy Rhodes and I pass along our combined 60 years of experience with working dogs.

This is a DVD that shows people how we raise working dogs here at Leerburg kennels. I have bred more working puppies than anyone I know, since 1978 over 350 litters.

Cindy and I have put our heads together to come up with a program that will benefit anyone interested in raising working puppies. This DVD allows you to benefit from our experience.

The key to raising a successful working puppy is to have a plan and make the best use of the time you spend with your dog.

Topics

• Should the working pup be a house dog or a kennel dog?
• It explains how to manage and neutralize a working pup to training collars.
• There is a detailed section on how we teach a working puppy that a vehicle is going to be a big part of its working career.
• A working puppy has to learn to be neutral to other dogs. We explain the protocol in how we approach this process.
• There is a detailed section on how we socialize, or as we say, "neutralize" our pups to strange environments.
• One of the differences between a pet and a working puppy is that we are not as concerned with the manners of a working puppy. With that said, there are certain manners that we do consider important and we start work on them at a very early age.
• It is very common for new trainers to over exercise their puppy. We cannot tell anyone exactly how much to exercise their pup, but we do talk about some of the guidelines that we take into consideration.
• We have a section in the DVD on medical issues and a working puppy. It's a given that a working puppy is going to be exposed to more examinations by a stranger (a Vet) than the average dog. We believe that a little forethought at an early age goes a long way towards eliminating a dog getting stressed over this as an adult.
• We have a section on games and toys.
• If you are raising a working puppy you are probably going to have a dog with a degree of drive. While this video does not show how to bring out that drive (my video Building Drive and Focus does that) - we do caution people that "JUST BECAUSE YOUR PUP CAN DO SOMETHING DOES NOT MEAN IT SHOULD DO SOMETHING" We talk about this in the DVD.