I received and watched ( 2 times ) the tapes Bite Training, Your Puppy and Building drive focus. I am ready to train my nine week old female GSD which comes from titled working dogs.

I would like to know where to start or maybe someone can help me with a training program. I am working on her prey drive with a towel. It says that I should only give her 3 to 4 bites. How often should I give bite training? How long do I tease her with the towel until I give her a bite? What other training can I incorporate with bite training?

This dog costs me an arm and a leg so I want to do things right. This is my first attempt at training a puppy to be a protection dog. And I really excited to begin training her. I personally trained my two labs for obedience. I have a six year old Malinois but I got him two years ago already protection trained.

I hope somebody can be kind enough to help me with a step by step program for the first two months of training.

What throws me off in the tapes is the word puppy. It talks about six week old puppies, then shifts to 12 to 16 month old which is called also a puppy.

Thank you in advance.

The best advice I can give you is to relax. Let the puppy be a puppy and take things slow. Pick up one more training tool from Ed. A book called Purely Positive. Spend 5 to 10 minutes a dog on a few basic concepts. Right now your main goal is to socialize and build confidence with your dog. While you are doing this you will want to introduce a few things you learned form Ed’s tape and the book I mentioned but this should be a game for the puppy not work. You would not send a two year old to work in a garage but you might buy him a kid’s toolbox to play with the toy tools so later in life he is comfortable with handling tools. Same concept.

Vince,
I've got a question for you with regard to socialization of a pup. I recently ran into a trainer (and not the first one) who told me not to touch certain pups that he had because he was protection training them. The only people that he lets socialize with them is the family members that will own this pup. Is this common practise? I thought we were to socialize the hell out of them in the early stages with many different situations and people. By the way, this trainer has twenty-five years of titled dogs to his credit. Any comments would be appreciated. Scott

It all depends on your goals. If your goal is to have a dangerous and vicious dog that can NEVER be around non-threatening people then I agree with his training methods? If your goal is to have a good tempered well-adjusted dog that is both accepting of people but protective in nature then that is the worst training mistake that can be made. Without knowing your goals I cannot answer.

Originally posted by Scott W.:
Vince,
I've got a question for you with regard to socialization of a pup. I recently ran into a trainer (and not the first one) who told me not to touch certain pups that he had because he was protection training them. The only people that he lets socialize with them is the family members that will own this pup. My first thought was this guy is training pd dogs to perhaps guard warehouses etc. After reading it a second time you said family members that will own this dog.Who would want a mistrusting un- socialized attack dog. I know who they will be out on parole in 5 years.My wife uses the local psd for demonstrations quite often. This dog is not aloud to be petted for obvious reasons, but it was socialized as a pup.

Milt

Milt:

That was my attemp at humor. I was hoping at least you would get that.

Personally, I don't see the value in owning a dog that can not be around non-threatening people. All I see is liability associated with that situation. It all goes back to common sense decision making. Most everyone on this board is hungry for knowledge. I'm assuming we all want to be better trainers and breeders. This board is a great place to get feedback even if it's just to reconfirm what you already know. I suppose a property protection dog might be better served with this style of training. Even in that case, the liability is huge! Not to turn the post legal (PLEASE) but if someone breaks into your business and your dog eats him, I think you may still get screwed.

I give up. I will never attempt humor again.

Don't give up Vince...they may have an open mike night at the local pound. yuk..yuk.. Thanks for the feedback.

Vince,

Once again..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />