hey guys this im not sure how to ask my question because im sure it has been discussed many many times and im new to this forum; this is only my second post. i have high hopes for it though because ive been looking for an active protection dog trainer's forum for some time. any way my question kind of starts with my story but ill try to keep it short. for 3or4 years now ive been fantasizing about owning a protection trained dog. i have read just about everything i can find on the subject and just recently i purchased a 7 week old APBT. his parents were great looking dogs and his dad was unusually large(85lbs.the pup passed his first vet exam with flying colors. he is now 4 months old and weighs roughly 35lbs. my dilema is this: i live in minnesota near minneapolis and there is really no protection training clubs or kennels that do the work around here. if i wanted to buy all the equipment i might be able to do an alright job but i dont know where i would get assistants everytime i needed them. besides i was really hoping to get him trained professionally or at least tested to see if his temperment will stand up to the training, because i feel hes got great potential and im not sure i could get 100% of it by doing the training myself. please, any advice you guys have would be most appreciated.

There's probably someone but it might be as far as 3 drive radius You might want to see if someone French Ring or Schutzhund clubs around might know who to talk to.

Get the tapes on the subject, immediately. You may want to just get your do Schutzhund trained and go through it to get your bearings.

I mean three hour drive. Main thing find some local clubs because they might know some people.

There are several schutzhund clubs (USA), that are within approx. 3 hr of Minneapolis. Check their website for contact numbers.

there are really? thats great can you tell me what they are or whre i can find the websites/phone numbers????

http://www.germanshepherddog.com

Finding s club is a great idea. But if you want to know what you can be doing now I would say start developing the dogs prey drive. Start playing the ball on the wall game and start playing tug of war with the towel wait for the pup to regrip the towel"counter" before you slip it"let him have it". Dont leave these toys laying around though,these toys only come out when you play with them together,also always quit the game while the pup is still into it.Some good books are by Tom Rose "Training the competetive working dog" and "Protection dogs". Good luck and have fun.

thanks david i have been playing with puppy tugs and balls etc; he has great prey drive and i will continue to work on it. again, if anyone reading this knows of someone near minneapolis to contact about personal protection, please, by all means let me know. thanks again david.