I fostered a 6 month old mal last year as a kind of 'breaking in' before making the final decision that I wanted one. She was a love bug, very social with everyone, but many people gave her (us) room or asked 'is that a cop dog?' in a nervous sort of way. I felt secure in the fact that people may think twice before messing with me, a fairly thin woman who doesn't look like I could put up much of a fight.

One of the things I want to teach Radar as he gets older is how to 'act mean' on command. I am not interested in doing actual protection work, since I think a barking dog is enough deterrent for me to get out of a situation I'm uncomfortable with. I want him to bark and growl while still remaining under my control and to stop when I tell him to. I have no intention of teaching him to target people or to bite.

How would I go about this? Should I get in touch with a PP trainer or similar so that it's done safely and without escalating into something more? Is this really feasible? It's not a 'must' on my list. I don't exactly walk around the ghetto in the middle of the night asking for it, and I do have a dog that will bark and growl at strangers coming into her house (pointer).

All of this comes up because we were getting ready to go for a walk and Birdie barked at the neighbor. Mr. Cocky and a half stared at them, barking and growling like only an 10 lbs puppy can. I even picked him up and he twisted his head around to follow them. It was funny at the time, but we'll be working on tolerance and leash reactivity over and over and over as he matures.

I don't have a whole lot to add here, as my dog is hardly trained at all yet. But, what you're talking about shouldn't be all that difficult.

You want to teach a bark command?

Really Ross?
How would you go about this type of training?

Let's go back to the O.P.

I was getting there Connie.....honest.

 Quote: randy allen

I was getting there Connie.....honest.

I know.

And sorry I deleted while you typed.

In my mind, I don't really think it's going to be 'easy' at all. I see lots of potential problems cropping up from doing it wrong. Such as him getting a thrill out of making people scared and running away, and it escalating into his prey driving kicking in and lunging/biting.

Connie- I don't really know what I want to teach, which is kind of what I'm asking here. I know what I want the results to be, but I don't know how to get there.

Why not just give Schutzhund a try?

Agoge isn't *that* bad.

imho, don't train "to look mean" or bark aggressively and the poor dog does not have the training needed if someone were to call your bluff and there are AH's that will put your dog to the test.