I have a 14 week old Rottweiler puppy that I received when he was 8 weeks old. The day after he came home we hired a trainer that also specializes in protection work. Right from the start he has been given corrections while obedience training. He is now 14 weeks old and can Sit, Down, Stay for about 10 min. and come. He still loves to play fetch, and will play tug all day if you are willing. After reading some on this sight, I am a little worried about his future in Protection work since he has had so much obedience from the start. Also the only guidance the trainer will give on protection work is to play fetch and tug (that is until he is at least 18 months).

My other concern is that I did not socialize him much up to this point; he did not have all his shots until recently. However he has been socialized with my daughter’s friends/parents and kids riding bikes down the street ect. Is the lack of socialization going to affect him? Also one last question, today on our walk a car with an adult Rottweiler pulled up to us. When the car stopped the adult Rottweiler started barking and growling, our dog got scared and tried to run. This is the first time I have seen him show signs of fear, is this a bad sign?

There will be more experienced members who will reply, but 1) Welcome! You came to the right place
2) It is never too late to socialize. Your goal will more than likely be to want a neutral attitude towards other dogs which will be achieved through solid obidience work (watch me commands and sits and downs. He'll learn that you will handle the situation for him ) It sounds like you are taking him around many of the right things so far.
I won't go into the protection, as I know nothing but there are those here who do!
Enjoy that new puppy and we always love pictures of little furballs

Fetch and tug is good advice. I probably trained my Rott the same basic way you have, but if i was you, I'd try to get away from all the corrections and look into some more play based and reward based obedience. Its a lot more fun for both of you.

As far as him being scared by the other dog, I don't think there's really a definate answer. If he recovered after just being startled, I doubt its anything to worry about. Either way, at 14wks I don't think I'd worry too much about it.

Keep him out seeing the world in as safe a way as you can. Thats socialising.

Thank you for your comments and the welcome! After reading a lot more about corrections, I believe that I will back away from the corrections a little.

He was fine with the dog at first, until the dog started acting very aggressive,growling and barking. He started to run and I called him back. He came back and went to a sit, and then when the dog started acting aggressive again he tried to run away.

Honestly, the words "corrections" (assuming physical corrections here) and "14 week old" used together really turns my stomach. Have you looked into Marker Training at all?

I have a 16 mo old GSD that has been trained using markers and very, very few physical corrections. He is in full butt-head adolescence; yet it only takes the word "no" or the phrase "quit being a d!ck" (inadvertently taught that one) to stop a behavior. He loves to work, he is engaged with me, and he is always wanting to learn more. I trained my other GSDs using more corrections and then went back and reworked things once I saw how great markers worked.

Here are some articles to help get you started:
http://leerburg.com/markers.htm
http://leerburg.com/corrections.htm

As for being scared of another dog, give him plenty of opportunities to be around neutral dogs and he will work right out of that.

Great advice, Melissa.

I would stay away from the "trainer that also specializes in protection work" that gives corrections for OB to 8 week old puppies. Nothing good will come out of this "training".

 Quote: ana kozlowsky

Great advice, Melissa.

I would stay away from the "trainer that also specializes in protection work" that gives corrections for OB to 8 week old puppies. Nothing good will come out of this "training".

So would I, Ana.

I know I am just "me too" ing, but I believe that this point deserves some "me too" enforcement.

Well I am also a little worried about correction training at a young age, which is why I am seeking advice from someone other than the trainer. And from people that have a lot more knowledge than I.

This is the first dog that I have trained/had trained by a trainer, all the other dogs I have owned were when I was a child.

The current trainer I have has graduated from the Master Training Course from the National K-9 Learning Center in Ohio. He is certified in Basic and Advanced Obedience, Behavior Modification, Tracking, Personal Protection, Police K-9, Scent Detection, Utility, Puppy Development, Assistance Dog and Retrieval.

I have seen his credentials and talked to references (all positive). And the work that he has done with our dog so far is amazing. He sits, stays, downs, heels on command, now on leash and off. He is always walking around with his tail and head up and never shows signs of being scared (other than the aggressive dog incident).

I feel that I have one chance with this puppy, and I don't want to mess up his chances of being a Protection Dog.

Again thank you everyone for your comments. I very much appreciated the advice, and will take everything into consideration.

What credentials? I looked at the website for the Nat k9 Leaning Center in ohio that you trainer received his dog training education from....didn't see any mention of ANY of the so-called trainers having ANY titles in any protections sports like Schutzhund, IPO, PSA, or Ring sports etc etc etc. No police K9 handler experience or awards..NOTHING. I would certainly think that if they possesed these types of titles that they would be displaying them or at least mentioning them. Just states that they are CGC evaluators. Makes me wonder ?????

I don't believe that these are people that I would want 'showing me the ropes' in training any protection work. If I am going to pay my hard earned cash to someone...I want to KNOW by undesputable proof(titles of numerous dogs, awards etc in the venue that I want to train or compete in) that they know what they are doing. Just because someone can teach a pup (with physical corrections) to do basic OB...doesn't mean that they really know what they are talking about.

I personally would not be using any kind of corrections on pups. Managing & controling their enviroment is how you 'correct' them. Not with any physical punishment of ANY kind. JMHO If you are correcting a young puppy physicaly...what are you going to have to do to correct an older dog that defys the rules?!!! You are going to have to correct the snot out of them for infractions by the time they are 6 mo old. Not the way that I want to raise a pup.

JMHO for whatever it's worth.

ETA....you should be socializing the crap out of that puppy. He should go everywhere & see everything! And I mean everything you can think of from cars, to trains, busses,evevators, electric & revolving store doors, walk on every surface you can find...slippery, grated metal like fire escapes, all kinds of stairs ...ones you can see thru & otherwise. Climb on everything & anything. See wheelchairs, bikes, motorcycles, skateboards, climb on playground equipment. Go to the lake the beach.etc etc etc. THAT'S socialization...not just meeting a few people.

Thank You everyone for the Advice.

This weekend I spent a lot of time socializing Koda (Petsmart, Petco, Ace Hardware, walking up and down stairs, any place I could think of) and he did great!

The one thing I noticed is that he does not like strangers petting him. Strangers can walk/run up to him and he does not flinch. Koda will even walk up to every stranger that I let him. He will sniff and wag his tail, But the second a stranger trys to pet him he will move away to avoid being petted. He does not run or try to hide. When the stranger puts their hand out Koda will go right back to sniff and lick, even after he avoided the petting.

He is doing a little better with other dogs. He will want to sniff but thats about it. But when the other dog gets excited, Koda wants nothing more to do with the situation.

Is this normal, or do I have a lot more work to do?