My husband and I just had our GSD evaluated for protection training. (My husband works 3rd shift, and this is one of the primary reasons we got her). The trainer had my husband hold her by the leash while he walked toward him with a stick shaking it. My husband was instructed to say "watch him" to the dog. The dog who has never barked much at all went crazy. The trainer said that she was ready, and a good candidate for protection training based on this evaluation. He asked us to note how her tail was wagging and up in the air while this exercise was going on. He told us this meant she was enjoying it. We have decided not to send her to this school because the trainer requires her being in his care for 12 weeks. We would, however, like to know, if the evaluation he gave us is reliable based on her behavior during the exercise. We have begun to allow her out of her crate at night. (We want her to be able to get an intruder should one come in) She doesn't tear anything up, and she is totally potty-trained ( 8 mos old). She sleeps on the floor next to the bed. HOWEVER, when my husband comes in at night she barely raises her head. I'm wondering if she has it in her to be a protection dog???? Any information from anyone would be great. Also, could someone tell me how to reply to a post.

There are some things about this scenario that I find a little disturbing. The test in itself sounds simple, but without being there to see the dog, her reaction, among other things it's really hard to tell by just a post if the dog can do protection work.

I assume this test was to test the defense drive of your dog, which in my opinion should not be occurring with an 8 month old puppy. Ed makes a comment in one of his video's that expecting an 8 month old puppy to defend it's home is like asking an 8 year old kid to defend it. Sure the dog may bark up a storm if it hears someone, but I seriously doubt the dog would defend itself much less you if confronted with a violent situation. There is no way a puppy could handle that level of stress.

If your goal is serious proetection, then you need to get serious about getting a good trainer. It takes a skilled trainer to bring a dog to that level. JMO

Protection training for an *8* month old? Huh?
Tami, ya'll need to do *a lot* of research about protection training before you end up wasting a large amount of time and money, which is exactly what would have occured had you payed for training at this age.
Protection training remains probably the biggest rip off going in dog training today. You can get good training ( but not too often though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ) , but you need to do a ton of research to be able to evaluate if the trainer and his methods are sound.

Your "trainer" sounds more like he was testing the dog for defense right off the bat. With an 8 month old. :rolleyes: Most knowledgable trainers would laugh at that as a primary evaluation for a dog that young. And actually, an ethical protection trainer wouldn't be considering training a dog that young, period.

Use the "search" option here at go through some of the many posts about protection training in the forum. It'll help to answer some of your questions.
And let your dog grow up a bit, ok? I wouldn't expect my 10 year old son ( if I had a son.. ) to grab a gun and defend my house against an intruder, and your 8 month old dog is at a comparable level of maturity there.

Tami, you've been given some great advice here...please take the time to consider this carefully.

All the best.

Good Lord, John and I gave nearly the exact same advice and we both posted at the *exact* same time...scary.

Tami
I agree with the previous posts. I think you made
a good decision not to send your pup away for 12 weeks. You need to be involved in the training.

The most important decision you will make is deciding on your trainer. Maybe if you posted what area of the country your in someone would have recommendations on reputable trainers near you.

To post replies, scoll to the bottom of the page.
On the left you will see a button to post reply, next to the new topic button.

Ha! Will, Great minds (sometimes) think alike. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the advice. This is our first Geman Shepherd, and I'll be the first to admit we are a little gung-ho. She just really amazes me daily with how smart she is. We just purchased the Basic Obedience video.

The "test" you describe is not uncommon nor unreliable to determine a dog's basic drive and suitability for protection work, and I don't agree that 8 months is too young to begin the preliminary work in protection training, that is, the exercises that build and condition the primary drives. Good K9 trainers begin with even younger dogs, working the rags with them, getting them into the joy of it.

But a good trainer eases into it, and should be able to explain each of the stages, both in theory and practice, leading to your goal. The work should always be fun for the dog, the high point of his day, even his life. Demand nothing less than this experience.

Rip,
The test is not "uncommon", as you said - but that's entirely because many "K9" trainers that offer "protection training" are outright frauds, or don't know what they're doing, at the very least. At eight months of age, testing a dog in defense is mostly, if not entirely useless - if it had any value, we'd be testing dogs at that age for suitability as Police Canines. Notice that no reputable trainer does. Ever wonder why?
However, that doesn't stop people that know zero about "protection training" from giving incorrect advice about it, apparently... :rolleyes:

Working with rags at an early age is developing drive and grip, yes - which may or may not have anything to do with "protection", it's useful from a sport standpoint, where the grip is graded, but a protection dog doesn't need to grip, only to bite.


Rip - if you're going to give advice about something as important as protection training, that may have real world consequences, you should know what you're talking about. You don't have a clue, and your advice could easily ruin a dog or lead to injury of the owner when the dog that was trained by some phony trainer failed to protect them due to crap training. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Tami,
You've gotten good advice from some folks, and poor advice from some others. Before another fool confuse the issue with bad advice, I'm closing the thread. Good luck!