Wolf,

There are a couple of things people talk about with profesional training. One is to buy a dog already trained, or send the dog out for training, the second is to work with a profesional trainer while you train the dog. Many people are just lazy and think they can reap the rewards of a trained dog without putting in any of the work.This is, I think, what Dave is talking about. In my mind there are a couple of problems with doing this. First, there is a lot of information that you learn about the dog by doing the training. Different things will fire up a protection dog, depending on the dogs experience and the dog. You lose that information if you aren't involved with the training. You don't know the dogs history in training, you lose some ability to read the dog by not watching how he reacts to situations, and you can not use that information to direct the dog as a situation develops. Some dogs will react to someone comming up from behind that they don't see, some will react to a raised hand, some may have a problem with different types of people. If you know these things you can give commands to prevent a potentialy hazardous situation. Maintanance is another problem with a pre-trained dog. If the person isn't willing to put in the work there will be significant degredation of the training.

The second method is not seen by many as having the dog "profesionally" trained. It is just the way a novice trains a dog. Everybody requires at least some assistance with agitation if nothing else. So really getting "help" is just the way it is done.

To answer your question, much depends on your level of experience. With people with good experienc in the basics they may wait to start working with the trainer until the dog is ready to start with some bite work. For someone that needs more help you may want to start at around 12-14 weeks with in home work to get the obedience and probably tracking started. The thing that you are waiting for is the dog to complete their puppy shots so it is safe to take it out in public. That time can be spent with some basic relationship development and some work on prey development with a rag and/or ball. You can also work on teaching the dog how to take treats without removing your fingers (if you are going to use food to help with training). Some sources of information for this type of work would be the book "Purely Positive" and the tapes "Bite Training Puppies" and some of the work from the "Training Focus and Grip with Bernard Flinks". Also spend the time, either before getting the puppy or while waiting for the shot series to be completed, to find a trainer that can give you the level of support you feel you need. Watch how they do their training with other dogs, watch how the dogs work, talk with other owners, just get your homework done so you are comfortable with the trainer before you start the puppy. Confidence in the trainer is half the battle. One of the primary concerns with doing puppy training is consistancy. So if the decision about the trainer is made before the puppy is ready to start then you are less likely to have to switch trainers after you get started. If you need to switch, switch. But try and get any concerns out of the way so you don't have to.

Richard:

Stop giving such clear and concise answers. It doesn't leave room for anyone else. LOL.

Vince,

There were 10 0ther posts before I chimed in. So you had plentey of opportunity before I opened my mouth. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />