My husband is a guy that works for the phone company. In his profession he does a lot of wall hopping in order to get into people's back yards to gain access to phone lines that 'should' be accessible to the phone company. That being said, he has run across many a dog in his day and is proof positive that most dogs will not engage an intruder. Most dogs he meets will take a sweet talking and be his best friend in seconds without much effort on his part.

One of the things that I have worried about so much with Levi is the fact that he does have 'show' lines as well as working lines. He has always been an extremely sensitive dog and loving in the extreme. Never has he shown an unstable or aggressive bone. In the beginning of our training I was concerned that his loving nature would prevent him from becoming the protection dog that I was hoping he would become. He was always very much game for 'prey' games but when it came time to start upping the anty he never once let me down. Everything that JJ threw at him, he would come through. I credit this mostly to good training on JJ's part, he never gave the dog more than he could handle. Still, you could tell that when Levi went in for a bite that he actually 'cared' whether or not he was going to be hurting JJ. Not something that a protection dog should care about, I would wager.

However, time, patience, good training and the plain and simple loyalty and devotion of this breed that I love so much has begun to show through all the doubts that his owner had in him. Comparing him to some of the dogs that I have seen or heard of on this forum has been something that was hard not to do. Still, Sandy and I kept the faith, sometimes more she than I and he is showing himself to be a true GSD, indeed.

I only have two examples to share at this time but I wanted to share them with all of you since most all of you have been a great support to me all along. They might not seem prudent to some of you but maybe some of you will appreciate the circumstances as I do.

First, this weekend my girls and I were laying outside on the trampoline together. None of us heard my husband carefully open the sliding glass door and attempt to sneak up on us. We weren't alone, however, my precious boy, Levi was outside with us and because of the nature at which my husband was 'sneaking' up on us, did he raise a startling alarm and proceeded to charge my husband with hair standing up on his back, ready to do some damage. As soon as my husband spoke to him and he recognized it was him, Levi settled immediately and although he ruined the surprise for the hubby, he made me proud, even still.

Second, tonight when I took the dogs outside to get their bowls out of the kennels for dinner, none of us realized that the hubby slipped out the front door to water the planter on the front porch. It wasn't until he was reentering the house that Levi, literally, lost his mind, viciously growling, barking, hair standing up and full on charged the front door and my husband. Now, you might wonder why I would be proud of a dog that would behave in such a way towards a family member but I assure you he did not know it was my husband until the very last second. In all the years that I have known my husband (14), I have never once seen him show fear of a dog. That ended tonight. He said that was the first time that he can remember ever really being made to feel nervous (his way of saying he was crapping his pants) concerning a dog. As before, Levi heard his voice and settled immediately, although it did take about 3 minutes for the hair to come down off his back. Now, some might say that hair standing up shows insecurity in a dog, however, there is no doubt in either of our minds that he would have engaged, full on and bit my husband. This, my friends, is what we have worked so hard to achieve. To have the assurance that our friend will be there if ever we need him. I am grateful to my trainer, to my friend, Sandy and to this forum for all the advice and support that I have received. Levi is only 19 months old and I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of a dog he will turn out to be at 3 yrs. I can truly say, even though I knew this already (no offense to the Mal owners)that I will never own any other breed of dog. To me, a German Shepherd is the most loving, loyal and sound dog a human could ever ask for. So... here's to the years to come!

Sorry for the long post but I just had to share..

I would tell your husband to stop sneaking around or its gonna be his a$$! =P

WTG, and it is nice to see all your hard work is paying off!

I think a Mal might have bit him and asked questions latter.

 Quote: lee sternberg

I think a Mal might have bit him and asked questions latter.

No He would ask the questions but you wouldn' be quick enough to react

Serious it is great to have dog at you're side that will come foreward when necessary. It gives you security and this peace of mind will make you act less as a victime and will help preventing as such crimes against you


Greetings

Johan

 Quote: Jason Bernard

I would tell your husband to stop sneaking around or its gonna be his a$$! =P

Funny you should mention that, lol. I told him the very same thing and for the first time in our marriage, we agreed!

You know, I still see Levi as such a baby, he still is very imature, which as I understand it, is par for the course with GSD's, however just to see the courage and the protective spirit coming out in him, day by day, is a cumulation of hard work, proper training, good breeding and love and yet I can trust him with my children and my cat What an awesome thing!

 Quote: robbinmann

yet I can trust him with my children and my cat What an awesome thing!

I notice you did not add hubby to your list....hee hee

Great job Robbin, Levi is making progress and that is good. I would keep an eye on him around hubby though, sounds like he is "testing his training".

Quote: "To me, a German Shepherd is the most loving, loyal and sound dog a human could ever ask for. So... here's to the years to come!"

I definately second that statement. You should be proud of Levi.
Congrats!

 Quote: carol boche

Great job Robbin, Levi is making progress and that is good. I would keep an eye on him around hubby though, sounds like he is "testing his training".

Well...the dog has to get his testing done somewhere, doesn't he? LOL!!

 Quote: robbinmann

 Quote: carol boche

Great job Robbin, Levi is making progress and that is good. I would keep an eye on him around hubby though, sounds like he is "testing his training".

Well...the dog has to get his testing done somewhere, doesn't he? LOL!!

Ha ha...your right....I wanted to add that I maybe should have said that you need to keep an eye on hubby as well, sneaking around like that.....but my computer locked up and I could not get in in time to edit.....keep up the good work.

When I first discussed buying/training a dog for protection with my husband, we talked about the intense responsibility that would be involved with owning a dog like this. I explained to him in very simple english that he couldn't do some of the things he liked to do, i.e., annoy me by poking, teasing, scaring, sneaking, tickling, wrestling with me. (now you know the real reason for training the dog, lol, j/k)

He said he was clear on the matter...now, who's fault will it be if the dog bites him? I'm sure the first little 'nip' that he receives will put the message into his brain loud and clear. That's when I will hear, "OHHHH, now I get it!" After all, he NEVER listens when I talk. Heehee