May 17, 2011
I am raising a puppy for police work. Should I allow people to pet my pup when I take it out to socialize it?
Full Question:
Is there a certain age where you should stop allowing people to approach and pet your puppy if you want this dog for police work or personal protection. My puppy just turned 6 months. I am not sure if you should continue to allow people to pet him and play with him. Thank you very much for your time. I have purchased 6 or 7 videos from you and they are very educational. 
Ed's Answer:
If you are raising a working puppy that does not show any fear in meeting strangers (it does not matter if it is a police service dog or a sport Schutzhund dog) you should not allow anyone to pet or play with your puppy. Not your wife, not your kids not your partner not one single person. The dog should look to you as the only human on earth.
This does not mean you should keep your puppy away from people. It means that you should tell the people that the dog comes in contact with to ignore your puppy. They should not adopt the "OH ISN"T THIS A CUTE LITTLE PUP" and bend over to pet and play with it. People cannot even pet my pup. They ignore it.
The only exception to this rule is if a puppy is a little stand-offish to people. If the pup has a slight nerve issue then you need to do something differently. In these cases you need to have people become hot dog machines when they meet the pup. This means that people give the pup treats. But this only continues until the pup no longer shows concern over meeting strangers.
The bottom line is a handler needs to be the center of a working bloodline puppies life. I will be doing a short training video explaining how to raise a working puppy. You do not do it the same way you raise a pet for the home.
This does not mean you should keep your puppy away from people. It means that you should tell the people that the dog comes in contact with to ignore your puppy. They should not adopt the "OH ISN"T THIS A CUTE LITTLE PUP" and bend over to pet and play with it. People cannot even pet my pup. They ignore it.
The only exception to this rule is if a puppy is a little stand-offish to people. If the pup has a slight nerve issue then you need to do something differently. In these cases you need to have people become hot dog machines when they meet the pup. This means that people give the pup treats. But this only continues until the pup no longer shows concern over meeting strangers.
The bottom line is a handler needs to be the center of a working bloodline puppies life. I will be doing a short training video explaining how to raise a working puppy. You do not do it the same way you raise a pet for the home.
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