I'm looking for references for good/reliable protection trainers in Sothern Ca.
anyone know of any?

Heather,
Not knowing your exact location...I would try these highly regarded trainers

<http://goldcoastk9.com/about.htm> Rodney Spicer


If neither are close they can possibly refer you to a real working dog trainer.

Best of luck to you!

ED'S COMMENTS EDITED IN:

YOU HAVE BETTER DO YOUR HOME WORK BEFORE YOU DO BUSINESS WITH RODNEY SPICER !!!

Heather,
Please, before you make any financial commitment with a PP trainer, go and watch them train a variety of PP dogs ( multiple times if possible ).
Watch the training closely.
If they refuse to let you observe, run away - fast!
If you're unfamilar with training concepts, take an experienced dog trainer with you to get their opinion.

At the last Bernhard Flinks seminar, we had a PP dog and handler that came out from California -

*Messaged Edit 2nd to the handler not having been truthful with us*

Hi Heather,

We have been training at http://www.falcok9academy.com/home.htm for a few months now and Caroline and Andy are great. We have a puppy (9months now) with tons of drive and I don't think we would have had the patience training him if it wasn't for their help. He is in advanced obedience and is in both protection classes, he will also be starting Schutzhund in August.

Good luck,

Adam

Chris,
You're 100% right, it was unfair of me to post that information in that way, as it would leave a doubt about the other person. I had hoped that folks would PM me if interested, but if someone didn't understand that idea ( or was just lazy, not that I give a flip about lazy folks ) a doubt could be placed in people's minds.
So, my apologies there - that was not good posting on my part.

*Message edit*

Thanks Will. You're good man. I tried PMing you but your mailbox is full.

I was at the seminar and did see what Will is talking about. (You had to be blind to miss it)The women was talking about her trainers telling her this and that and nothing made sense. The poor dog was not suitable for what she wanted, even to my untrained eye.

One of my three GSDs is trained in PP and I use 2 different trainers. I went to the Flinks seminar for Schutzhund but the exposure to people whom were more experienced then I in personal protection dogs was invaluable.

Of course, there's another way of looking at this - the poor trainer is blameless and the handler is totally nuts and stretching the truth so much that we couldn't really tell what was going on.
If that's so, I'd owe the trainer a big apology also - but we could only go by what the handler told us.

Yup.
I am assuming you mean PP trainer, as opposed to Schutzhund trainer.

Heather, first you should evaluate WHY you NEED a PP dog, as opposed to a sport or good watchdog in the first place. The first questions you should be to yourself; these dogs are not pets, nor are they a resposibility to be taken lightly. True PP dogs are strong, strong dogs, and require a clear headed, strong, fair handler. Responsibilty to the dog, and to the public at large should be foremost. IF you NEED a PP dog (most people don't, they want a good watchdog that barks, looks a little intimidating, then settles down), research, research, research. Know canine behavior and motivation. There is no substitute for this, in any form of dog training. If you can't read your dog and don't know it's drive threshholds (this is the case in point about the lady at the seminar, an admitted horse person, who was given incorrect information about her dog's temperment), someone will just tell you what you want to hear, and it probably won't be the truth. Know good and poor training techniques, and what to recognise in a good PP candidate. Ask lots of questions. Expect to be asked a lot in return. Once you have found a trainer, a good one, listen to their advice. The only error that the woman at the seminar made, IMO, is not being honest to herself about her dog's abilities, and not educating herself about proper training techniques (all this was said to her at the seminar, I'm not bashing).
Then, get yourself a black belt in karate, if you can! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />