My dog tries to rescue people who are in our pool. He is getting too rough. What can I do?

Mr. Frawley,

Two training questions for you, first the background. We've had our GSD, Kaiser, for going on two years. Vom Haus Glitzernstern supplied your 8 weeks to 8 months video with the pup. We've used that and your basic obedience video to develop Kaiser into an excellent house dog who loves to please. He has very strong drives and has worn a path around the perimeter of our property that he regularly patrols.

First question. We have a swimming pool that Kaiser is not allowed in; this was quick and easy to train with "PFUI POOL!." His drive to protect people, especially small children, from what he perceives as the danger of the pool leads him to attempt to "help" save by grabbing whatever he can of flailing arms and legs. On one occasion this summer he was so intent on saving people that he ran laps on the concrete around the pool for hours until his paws were raw. This has led to Kaiser not being allowed around the pool when we have guests. Can we train him to relax when we have guests?

Second question. In July we added two llamas to our little slice of Wisconsin. The introduction went fine, the llamas let Kaiser know that they did not want him to get too close and he quickly learned to respect that. In November we added two more llamas and Kaiser seems to have more of a drive to get out there and herd them which involves nipping at the llamas' legs. Today he drew blood on two of the llamas.

Sidebar: In early November my wife was hiking with Kaiser on the farmland behind our house. Kaiser ran five coyotes off a deer carcass and made it his own dinner; Erin called him off the deer as soon as she realized what he was doing. Could this have increased his drive to view the llamas as prey?

Thank you for your help, Mr. Frawley.
Sincerely,
Sean