ok, here's the story: I have always had APBT's whether for show or therapy dogs or just pets. I recently had to get rid of most of my dogs due to space and other factors. I kept one little pup out of the last litter I had. She is extremely protective over the house and yard and will bark/growl whenever anyone pulls into the driveway or walks on our side of the street, even when she's inside. Sometimes she's so smart it amazes me: she knows even before looking out the window who it is and whether or not she knows them. She's trained in your basic garden variety obedience, sit, down stand and sit stay, down, come. sit up from a distance and down from a distance. She also knows go get *enter object here* (if she knows what your talking about or you can point to it) and she knows get it (she'll attack anything stuffed with enthusiasm). I guess my question is would she make a good protection dog, or is it too late to start? There arent many dog people in my area, not to mention PP trainers. Is it worth trying? I know usually APBTs dont make good protection dogs, at least mine never did, but for some reason Remy seems to already have the instincts, is it possible to just refine them?

I forgot to say that her prey drive is out the roof. When we play tug of war, she will not let go. Under any circumstances. I let my cousin puppysit her a few weeks ago when I was away on business and he (being the jackass he is) played tug of war her really rough and he wound up lifting her into the air and she dropped because the towel broke and she spit that out and jumped straight back into the air and caught the rest of the towel (and his hand). Needless to say he wont be watching her anymore. I am concerned about her nerves though: when I'm home she's very aggressive(?) with people who walk into the house. She'll run up to them and do almost a schutzhund bark and hold. Shell physically block them from walking past her. I've never seen what shes like with people in the house when I'm not here, but one time the cat got out and it started snowing so my neighbors opened the back door (they have a key) and put the cat inside and they said they heard her barking and growling from inside 'her' room. I'm just not sure if she's mentally strong enough. Her mother wasnt a very good mother and stopped nursing at three weeks and then Remy and two other pups came down with coccidiosis so I've always had an extremely close relationship with her. She's pretty sensitive with me and my boyfriend but with everyone else who plays with her, she'll get pretty agitated if they dont do what she wants and she'll kind of bark/growl at them, but in a playful way. Sorry to ramble, I'm just not sure whats good or bad behavoir for a PP dog. Oh yeah, and her mother was pretty defensive with strangers (i didnt raise the dog so I thought that it was due to her upbringing) but after she had this past litter, she broke through a window when the neighbor out back got too close to our side of the woods and tried to attack him. He had to beat her off with a shovel. Eventually she left him alone once he got far enough back in his yard, but I couldnt have a dog I couldnt control and she'd get loose from anything other than a ,logging chain so I put her down. I dont want Remy to turn out like that so is it possible to curb the aggression early and maybe divert it into protection?

anyone?

You've mentioned quite a variety of behaviors, many of which could be interpreted several different ways, depending on other signals the dog was sending. THat's what makes it difficult (impossible) to give you a decent answer to your question, other than to say, no it's not too late to find out if she can do protection work. But you have to find someone who is skilled at it in your area and let them have a first hand look at her and evaluate her for you.

how would I go about finding someone?

for a start...post where you are and how far you are willing to travel. Be forwarned that many trainers will not train the pit bull type breeds because of liabilty issues...I know of several that absolutely will not train any breed remotely resembling a pit - cane corse, doggo argentina, pit bull etc...the ones I have witnessed will not come right out normally and say why, but be rather vague as they do not want a confrontation about it...and yes, I have seen some clubs where they are trained and titled...

I'm in Calvert County MD. I'm willing to travel as far as DC or maybe VA.

I think there is a DVG club where quite a few non tradional breeds are trained...commonwealth...look on teh DVG home page

http://www.dvgamerica.com

I think that is the website address