Okay I sent a PM to a prominent member who has written many great posts on PPD. I notice they haven't been on for a long time and therefore probably won't respond.

So I a posting my question.

Often people mention or even warn that owning a PPD is a lifestyle difference and you better be aware of this.

I am no stranger to altered lifestyles as I DAILY carry my concealed weapon with my CCW (I mention only because many posts that talk about this lifestyle it was mentioned to have a complete system to include firearms and it shows an altered lifestyle doesn't bother me). I have GSD experience as well as pit bull; but never a PPD and I wanted to know what is the lifestyle like. The daily, weekly or whatever routine. I do have an advantage of working from home. So I have more access than a 9-5 who commutes to work; not saying one is better or worse. Just that I never had this opportunity to be around so much so in my eyes its win-win.

I live on an acre with some ducks. I work at home and I want to know what that lifestyle is like so I can make an informed decision to go the PPD route for my family or just a great DDR GSD to naturally protect the family; knowing they he may or may not do anything.

Note: this isn't a question so much about a high drive dog vs calm (though that may play into it some) it is specifically about owning a PPD dog.

For example: I know this may be naive but to be honest it is a question I have. When friends and family are over or I am camping or hiking; how much do I need to watch the dog? I see these dogs in sport or what not where the sleeve and other arm are raised and they jump into action. To me that is a blurred line. No real threat many things can cause that appearance. I know this may seem stupid; but not being around them I don't know how much a liability or "hair trigger" or what not a PPD is.

None of those issues above are necessarily bad to me I just want a clear picture. Does Ed have any videos or posts on life with a PPD? The search feature displays some interesting posts when searching PPD and lifestyle; such as raw feeding and what kind of working dog are you....lol.

I thank you for your time.

first let me say i'm sorry that you live in a place where you feel you have to carry a concealed weapon , but second , good on ya for taking whatever ( legal ) steps you have to to protect you and yours .

i don't have any experience with PPD's , but let me offer this comparison : just like you have to keep track of your gun at ALL times whether you are actually using it or not , so too are you going to have to keep track of a PPD . only difference is that the gun is an inert object that can't do anything until someone handles it , whereas the dog is a living animal with it's own motivations and may or may not be under your complete control at ALL times .

considering that you already have lethal force for a possibly unfortunate situation , why complicate your life ?

someone i respect with a lot of experience with PPD's advised that they probably aren't worth the effort , considering the hugely liable position they put you in if they decide to use their protection skills on someone you didn't need protecting from .

http://leerburg.com/qa-pp.htm

http://leerburg.com/qa/qna.php?id=1645

http://leerburg.com/qa/qna.php?id=929


Do you have a local trainer, experienced in PPD or bitework sport that can assist you in training and maintenance on your dog? (This is the one thing that is similar to carrying firearms - the necessity of ongoing maintenance training) If not, stop. Read the last link again.

 Quote: Kristin Muntz

http://leerburg.com/qa-pp.htm

http://leerburg.com/qa/qna.php?id=1645

http://leerburg.com/qa/qna.php?id=929


Do you have a local trainer, experienced in PPD or bitework sport that can assist you in training and maintenance on your dog? (This is the one thing that is similar to carrying firearms - the necessity of ongoing maintenance training) If not, stop. Read the last link again.

I hope that Daniel and others with similar questions who might be reading this thread clicks here and reads carefully:

http://leerburg.com/qa/qna.php?id=929


"Do you have a local trainer, experienced in PPD or bitework sport that can assist you in training and maintenance on your dog? (This is the one thing that is similar to carrying firearms - the necessity of ongoing maintenance training) If not, stop. Read the last link again."

 Quote: Daniel.P.Hughes

.... The search feature displays some interesting posts when searching PPD and lifestyle; such as raw feeding and what kind of working dog are you....lol. ....

The default is "all forums" for a search.

But when you click on "advanced search" (upper right of your screen), there's a list of the various forums to the left on the resulting search set-up page. You can limit the search results to, say, a protection forum like we're in now (or any other forum).

(That's just for future reference .... I'm not sure I've read a thread like what you're looking for .... more like posts here and there.)

 Quote: Daniel.P.Hughes

... not being around them I don't know how much a liability or "hair trigger" or what not a PPD is.

You don't want your PPD to have a hair trigger. He will learn some very specific cues as to when he needs to react, and he must be solid as a rock up to that point. I don't mean to seem disingenuous, but hopefully you will study and get to the point where you understand what is required before you get a PPD. Many people think they want or need one and have no clue how to live with a high-drive or working dog, much less one that is hard enough to do real protection work.

As mentioned, if you are not familiar with bitework, it is a MUST that you work with a good trainer.

Do you know any LE K-9 handlers who keep their dogs at home? They would probably be a very good resource as to what living with a protection dog is like.
I also agree with what everyone else has said, once you have a PPD you pretty much have to keep an eye on them when they are interacting with friends/strangers, you never know what they might consider a threat.
Theres also the liability aspect to consider, as well as if your community has any dangerous dog laws that require stricter confinement/control.

 Quote: Jodi Moen

Theres also the liability aspect to consider, as well as if your community has any dangerous dog laws that require stricter confinement/control.

And an increase on your homeowners insurance, if they will even still cover you.

Most insurance settles ALL bite claims, regardless of the circumstances.

http://www.akc.org/insurance/homeowners_inscenter.cfm

The answers to your questions will depend greatly on how the dog is trained. Do you just want an aggressive display? Bite only on command? Bite only on command and on defense of dog / handler? Bark and hold on threat display? Bite on threat display? Bite in protection of any and all family members?

The more you allow the dog to make decisions, the more you have to watch the dog.

The dog chosen for the job is critical, and will change depending on the criteria you place on the finished dog.

Early socialization to normal life is very important. The dog needs to know what normal is, and needs to be comfortable in strange places. If the dog is experiencing a busy street for the first time after bite training and becomes stressed out, he may react to someone folding a newspaper in an inappropriate way.

If the dog is trained to bite only on command, to work within a small perimeter of the handler, to provide an aggressive display on command or to alert to a possible threat and to be under control of the handler at all times, living with the dog isn't very different from living with a normal working line GSD. Either way, you need to supervise interactions with strangers, manage situations that may place people or the dog in danger and consider risk versus rewards anytime you take the dog somewhere.

I can tell you from experience that having a dog that wants to bite everyone is a dangerous and exhausting venture.


There are no hard and fast rules to your situation. Dogs are individuals and are a product of their genetics and training. It's up to you to decide what living with your dog will be like.

I have no PPD But I have a dog that has attacked people.
Life with a dog that will turn around "out of nowhere" attack people and not let go until you physical pull the dog off, might actually be tougher than living with a properly trained confident PPD.
Because, the trained dogs I have met, are cool and confident until its "time to work".

Its a CONSTANT job.
You learn to double check triple check everything, it becomes 1st nature.
You grow eyes out of the back of your head. There's no breaks allowed.
But after years of it, you kinda get used it to. I have been living with a severely messed up dog for literally half my entire life, so its all 1st nature to me i guess.

You have to keep the dog away from friends if you cant completely control the situation, or don't have a 100 percent solid dog. When your dog could see your friend hug you, and decide it was a threat, you have a huge liability.

I don't know how old you are, but one of my friends decided it was time to randomly break out a dance. Could have ended up real bad. Luckily i am always overly cautious-prepared. So nothing happened.
The other day my mother pretended to jump/dance, right in front of us. Luckily all this training for the past 8 years paid off! And my dog turned to me for approval/praise instead of attacking my mother.
I did let my mother know that she almost got taste tested by my dog though. She knows better.

Again, I don't own a PPD. Just a weim. But living with a dog that is a liability like mine, its freaking non stop, alert mode i must be in.

If living with a PPD is anything like this, are you sure you want this? Why?
For protection you can always get a dog to back on command. Most people would take that as a warning to get the heck away while they can :P