How can I make my GS puppy be a good protection dog later on but not to bite my cats or small animals, is this impossible? The pup is 3 months old and seems not interested in the cats but the cat I have outside she chases and is interested but I think she is playing I do not ant her to grow up and kill her or the ones in my home. but I want her to chase people that might intrude or harm my property.

if you are wanting a PPD and you haven't started bite work/prey developement you are already behind the power curve. as far as going after your cats, some dogs are just not good with other pets. training your dog as a PPD has nothing to do with it eating your cats. Just because a Boxer(the sport not dog) is trained to fight doesn't mean he can't go to a wrestling match. he is trained to know when to turn it on and when to cut it off. samething with a PPD. he will know ok danger bite, cat fun to chase but never hurt.

Hi,
thanks for the info. The puppy is 13 weeks old, is this a good age to start the traing for protection? How would I start making her more aggressive or get more drive? Should I use a certain traing tool? I have been using a stuffed animal and playing rough tugging it with her. I know there is much more to it. I see some prey drive with squirls and birds But not people. She is friendy with strangers which I do not want but of course I don't want her barking like a nut or killing someone LOL

I sugest getting some tapes from Ed. The puppy is to young to think of getting agression out of. You need to be working with a rag for now and work on his or hers prey drive and grip. You have a long way to go but get started right.

she is right. your dog is WAY to young to think about aggression. i suggest that you get eds tape building drive and focus.this will show you how to build prey drive, which is a must, from there you will go to preparing for the helper. don't rush it or you will ruin your dog for good.

Dear Heather,

You are not behind the curve as other have suggested as 13 weeks is still very young and you've got plenty of time to do things right. I always say it is better to start late and do things right than to start early doing things the wrong way.

Training a dog in personal protection is SERIOUS, SERIOUS business. It takes a lot of time, patients, and a lot of money. Of course, even if you have all that it takes your dog may not. Not to mention a poorly trained personal protection dog can lead to injured people and law suits against you.

Here is what I would do if I were in your shoes:

1) Google search "protection dog" and read-up on it to see if it really is for you.

2) Purchase a book or video from Leerburg on Protection Training dogs, that way you'll be able to tell (to some extent) whether trainers know what they are talking about.

3) You are going to need a professional trainer with experience training personal protection dogs. A good trainer will be able to examine your dog's pedigree and personal temperment to see if the dog has what it takes. You can not and should not attempt to train a protection dog yourself. In fact, you'll never really be able to seriously train a protection dog without an experienced helper. Professional trainers can get expensive so get some references from them and see some of their trained dogs before you put your good money down.

4) You may want to check into the sport of Schutzhund (German for Protection Dog). While this sport will not give you the caliber of a protection dog that is produced with personal protection from the start, it is a good place to learn a lot about dogs. Futhermore, you can take a Schutzhund trained dog and later train it as a personal protection dog.

As for the cat, all you are seeing when he is outside is prey drive. Leerburg has written volumes about the subject of "prey drive" and they are great articles (best I've seen).

P.S. If all the above just sounds like too much work and/or money than you can take comfort in knowing that a GSD is an awesome family pet easily trained in obedience. Plus, just the presence of a German Shepherd could act to as a deterent to many would be home invasion scum.

HEATHER, as others have said, training a 'real' protection dog is a serious thing and NOT to be done haphazardly. Videos can help give you an idea, but I'd not even consider this unless I knew a trainer and was working with them. You can unintentionally really mess up your puppy, and if someone gets bit 'accidentally' it's the dog that will pay the price.

Your pup is a PUPPY! Sounds like normal play with all the cats and chasing. normal normal normal.

What I would be doing is spending MY time socializing the heck out of the puppy so it starts becoming confident, reliable and happy. Find a trainer in your area and think about some obedience first.

Have you looked at these sites:

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

I don't think you want a protection dog. You want a normal GSD with normal GSD tendency to protect the house. You should be focusing on OBEDIENCE and bonding. A protection dog is SECONDARILY a pet. PRIMARILY, he is a tool. He may be and often is an extremely well-loved, well-cared for tool, but he is treated differently than a "pet".

Do you ever want to leave your dog to be "babysat" by a non-dog experienced friend? Ever want to leave the dog at a normal boarding kennel? Are you prepared to pay HANDSOMELY for proper boarding facility experienced with high-drive protection dogs, if you plan to travel?

Are you prepared to spend at LEAST an hour, but more likely several hours an evening working with your dog doing obedience? Protection training is a MUCH smaller portion of the work than the obedience, or at least it should be. Once you teach the dog how and where to bite, the rest is spent on control (obedience) and it isn't for the "weekend trainer".

My suggestion for you is to join a SchH club in your area if you want to sort of get a TASTE of what training a protection dog might be about. Spend the time at home doing obedience and bonding with your pup, and doing the homework from the SchH club. Let me tell you, if you cannot dedicate yourself to the 3 or 4 hours, 3 or 4 evenings per week that a competitive SchH club demands, then you are NOT in a position to train a protection dog.

Once you have a couple years under your belt at a SchH club, you may start looking into other sports. It's a natural progression. But you are by NO means experienced enough to start this work yourself. Playing tug is one thing, but in your posts you have already demonstrated that you really have no idea what preparing a puppy for protection work entails.

I think, if you focus on obedience and bonding, and perhaps join a good SchH club that will teach you how to raise and handle your puppy, you will have a VERY nice pet, and a great deterrent of anyone who might want to break into your home. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Good luck!

Jennifer,
I could be reading you post wrong since 90% of communication is nonverbal, but take it ease on the lady. i mean really all she did was ask a question and express intrest. lets try to support be supportive and not attack her.

"But you are by NO means experienced enough to start this work yourself. Playing tug is one thing, but in your posts you have already demonstrated that you really have no idea what preparing a puppy for protection work entails"

that was kinda rough. like i said if i read your message wrong i apologize, but if i didn't try to find a little nicer way to express your message.

Heather,
If you really want a PPD get with some trainers ,like a schh club or a trainer that knows how to train a PPD, and work with them. I promise you, you will make a lot of mistakes before you learn how to do it right. don't be affraid to ask for help