I am wondering if how I have a certain way of playing set up with my pup will benefit for protection training later on and if it is even an okay way to play.

Hello,

I recently found your site and it is a wealth of great information.

We are the proud owners of an eight-week old Bull-Boxer and I have been scouring the net for information on the best way to train her. I am certainly not a dog trainer, outside of training my dogs to hunt birds. It does not take a rocket scientist to train a Lab to pheasant hunt. In fact, I gave him most of the credit for training me how to pheasant hunt.

My wife wanted a dog that could offer more protection than our current dogs seem suited for. That is how and why we settled on the Bull-Boxer. Now, I am faced with the challenge to turning the puppy into an obedient and protective member of the family. I purchased a "clicker training" course and plan to use that for the basic sit/stay/come stuff and I am leering a great deal about the complexities of protection training. I understand that I cannot begin any kind of formal training until the dog has matured, but I was struck with an idea after reading your site. I guess it is really never too early to start training as long as the training fits the mentality of the puppy.

We started bite training this week by constructing a simple "play station." The puppy has a stuffed duck toy that she likes to attack. I took a rubber stretch band from one of my wife's unused exercise kits and tied it to one of the overhead pipes in our basement. I then attached a short piece of cord to the big rubber band and then to the duck. The puppy LOVES it! She attacks that thing with vigor and no matter how hard she pulls it always pulls back. When it splits out of her grip she leaps on it like there is no tomorrow. The whole deal is very simple and it kind of works like a combo spring pole/whip. It really seems to activate her prey drive and puts her into puppy-attack mode.

We have also been working on the "release" command and then letting her get right back into "get it."

My question is: Do you think this will be of any benefit later when we begin formal training? Is there anything wrong with letting the puppy "play" in this manner?

Thanks again for a great site.

Jason
Mobridge, SD