Mmy story goes as follows:
The economy was worrying me. What if things really hit the skids and folks got more desparate, and petty crimes and residential break ins became more prolific? What if there wasn't enough police protection to go around? What does the average home owner do to protect themselves?
Well, as someone has already mentioned, get a gun, and learn to use it. And we've got many. A better solution for me was to convince my husband to keep his compound bow/arrow under the bed for easy access - it doesn't have to be "loaded", you can just reach down and string it up in seconds....and believe me, this bow is every bit as intimidating and lethal as the gun when pointed at you.
Since we already had decided to get a companion dog for my beloved australian shepherd, I figured we'd get more bang for our buck if we got a dog that served a purpose too....protecting me!
For me, however, the idea of getting an aggressive dog is totally out. Instead, I only wanted a dog that looked and sounded bad-ass, but in truth was NOT. All show and no go. I desired a simple no-nonsense alarm-barker at the door, and a dog that would wither the toughest mailman just by how bad-ass she LOOKED!
We decided on a GSD and started looking around at the shelters and rescues to find a good one.
There *are* good ones, but we sure had trouble locating any that weren't also fraught with troubles, nuerosis, and health issues...so, I looked into the matter more and discovered that the GSD is in crisis in the US - bad breeding had led to many bad "American GSDs".
Not so with the "GERMAN-GERMAN Shepherd", my research reveals, imports from Germany, a country with careful breeding restrictions on the dog. Intrigued, I mentioned this to my husband, who really lit up at the idea, and we decided this might be the better route to go.
We found a breeder who lived about an hour from us, super-pedigreed imports, and as luck would have it, she had 3 pups remaining from a litter. These dogs were red/black, another super plus for me, but not for the reasons you're thinking.
My research had also uncovered the interesting debate among the serious GSD owners that there is a very big distinction between the german import "show dogs" vs. "working dogs". The show dogs (many of them the lovely red/black color) weren't well thought of by the working dog folks - I believe one direct quote from one certain Ed Frawley stated: "they couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag"....so I'm like, great, one red/black pup and a paper bag for me!
All 3 of these pups were the epitome of hyper-happiness, so we had the breeder put the 2 females in a play area, we tossed in a small toy, and I figured the first pup to get to the toy was the winner and the one I would take home. Its just that simple when you're me.
We paid a princely sum for this bundle of joy, tucked our pup under our arm, and headed home. I insisted that we immediately engage in obedience lessons, since red/black or not, I was pretty sure that ALL GSDS have the potential for trouble, one way or the other.
Enter beloved trainer, the wise sage, John O'Connor.
http://euro-training.com/ John is pretty much the real-deal kind of trainer, though he has retired from the police and protection dog training for the most part, and now engages more in the training Cesar-Milan style, which is what I was looking for.
John took a look at our pup, (now named Schatzie), and after a few lessons, sat me down to have a long talk. "She's a very hard dog....VERY hard dog.....I mean, she's a delightful creature undoubtedly, but she's not really a dog for the casual home and novice dog owner, (then, casting a hard look in my direction...), what in the world were you thinking getting THIS MUCH DOG? This dog is going to require a serious committment from you - she'll want to run your life in no time, and if you don't gain control of her early on - I mean REALLY be this dogs leader - it WILL get ugly. Without proper control this dog could be a monster, including becoming an aggressive liability".
A monster? Can you imagine my reaction? Red/Black though she is (a beauty!) on her pedigree paperwork you will see that there is schutzhund titling as far back as the eye can track - plain as the nose on my face. Its in her blood. Yes, she is pretty to look at, but she is also kind of a serious-minded, unflinching, no-nonsense, bossy bitch who wants to rule the roost, and who won't, by nature "back down" to you, or anyone else. Yikes!
So myself, John the trainer and the monster engaged in serious work. First, John told us to put eyehooks on various studs on our walls at home, and keep her tethered in the house, near us, (using a 2-hook airline cable about 24 inches long). The tether was a very good tip, but not a replacement for the crate, which we also had.
Early on, we practiced dominance on her by flipping her over on her side 3x a day and gently holding her there in submission, while we ran our fingers lightly in her mouth, in her ears, on her sides, getting her used to handling. John told me to socialize, socialize, and we took her everywhere, out and about, oceans, towns, cities, parks, trails, to hotels, around other dogs, we put her in a canoe, whatever experience we could find.....that alone paid off in spades. I had her cross over wooden planks, jump up on benches, over logs...it was fun, and pretty soon, I actually FELT like a pack leader, like I was the mom showing my "pack" the big, bad world. Our aussie benefited GREATLY from all this too.
Her obedience work was a snap, although it requires constant reinforcement. She's on the e-collar now, (a god-send!). Unfortunately we had to move across the country, so John did some quick training on ME, and now I am at the controls, working to finish her up on the obedience (recall, long down, and heel, verbal on or off lead).
Remember, I never WANTED a PPD-type dog or even a schutzhund candidate, I just ended up getting one because I just stupidly figured that if I got a "show dog" then I wouldn't have a "real" GSD, per se. Yea, I know, it was stupid thinking, especially when you look at her pedigree, and see that regardless of the top show lines she carries, there is pure schutzhund background, from sires and dams both.
Mike and I took the time (after the fact) to learn what we needed to socialize and control her. We are learning how to control her formidable instincts enough to where she's a decent and agreeable housepet and a very worthy protector. I am no longer naive about the power of a GSD, whether they be DDR, imports, reds, blacks, or sables, standing looking beautiful, or snarling on the sleeve of a bad guy. I'm sure we can all agree, the German Shepherd in any order, is dabomb, period. NO DOUBT ole Schatzie-girl makes me feel 100% safer than before, and much loved in the process.
As for me personally, I'm a HUGE Frawley fan, have been for awhile, buy many of his products, and the only time I have EVER deviated from anything he's ever said is that I use the continuous mode on the e-collar instead of the nick, as I still lack the skill of a real trainer to make sure I've got perfect timing on just a nick. However, my correction really equates to only a millisecond more than a nick, so its neglible.
Oh, and Ed? The red/black thing? We're not in agreeance there either, although admittedly, she's not as high drive a dog as some of the other dogs I've seen on his videos...but my trainer seems to think she could go all the way in schutzhund, so you never know.
We also lucked out SO MUCH that our aussie was the perfect fit for her. She only tolerates certain dogs, and seems to like them with that in-the-middle temperament (not alpha or submissive, per se). Our aussie takes a great deal from her good naturedly, but dishes out it out too, so they actually are ideally matched and no troubles at all. That was just dumb luck - we should have been more careful with making sure they would be compatible.
I know we have a long way to go with her - and I plan on eliciting the advice of those on this forum to help as Schatzie continues to challenge and amaze us.
Glad to be here, and hope my story helps anyone out there who ended up with more dog than they bargained for. Keep working, keep socializing...it pays off in SPADES!