Hey all, I need some good advice on instruction/equipment for 9 week old pup that we might be bringing home the first or second week of Jan. Remember long term object is a ppd. Thanks ahead for any advice I could use any and all I can get. Already bought a puppy kong, a fillable knaw bone and a freezable liquid bone. Already feed barf diet to current dogs, have natural training treats, I need a good collar, long leash...what else? I want to be prepared for when he comes home, I don't want to be running around like a chicken wondering what to do next. I don't even know what I am supposed to start training for at that age. Still seems pretty young. I also have a crate in my room and in the kitchen downstairs. Bring it on, people. I need to hear it! All of it!!

Here is a few to start with. I would start by watching Ed's DVD's and bond with your pup for the first couple weeks or so until a solid routine is established.
Congrats and have FUN!!

http://www.leerburg.com/117.htm
http://www.leerburg.com/120.htm
http://www.leerburg.com/101e.htm

A good camera. They grow so fast!

Robbin,
If your long-term goal is a PPD, starting off with a puppy is a mistake. There is so much that is temperament based for a PPD that your chance for success is much higher in getting a 12 to 18 month old dog that you can actually test for the correct temperament.
It is not uncommon for people that start off with puppies to go through three of them before they get one that will actually work out as a PPD ( and there are several forum members here that have gone through exactly that.... ).
Or they just end up settling for a dog that won't actually protect them. That's way more common than getting a puppy that will actually work out, especially for a beginner.

This is a classic beginners mistake, you'd save yourself a lot of cash ( and possibly grief ) by spending a *long* time looking through the Protection threads - most of the information that would prevent you from making elementary errors has already been written in those threads.

Will,
I certainly appreciate the advice. I have two major issues with getting an older dog. One, I don't know who has trained the dog previously and with what methods. Second, I have small children that I would like to have the advantage of being in the background whilst I am raising and training this pup so that they wont be so predisposed to getting on it's nerves and getting bit, er, guess I have three, lol and third I have a cat that I am sure that a high drive 18 month old dog is going to be chomping at the bit to rip to shreds. These are the reasons that I am looking at pups. Okay, that said, the breeder that I am working with is also a full time trainer. She has a ppd of her own. Competes at a national level in Schutzhund and that subscribes to (most)all of Ed's theory's on dog training. She has been instructed by me that if neither of these two pups that she is getting from Germany fits the bill (in her opinion, as someone who is in the know, cuz we all know I'M NOT, LOL) then I am going to get one, I am going to have to trust her judgement. I have also told her that if neither can cut the mustard then I will wait for another litter to come round. I know it's a crapshoot but I feel it is as much of a crapshoot on finding a dog that will integrate into my families life as well at such an advanced age. Wow! Dag burnit! Why does this all have to be so crapping complicated!! GRRR! (I know, I know...stupid newbie)

Robbin,
Who said anything about the young dog being trained before you buy it? A dog is often bought at the age of 12 to 18 months with little or no training - it's called a "green" dog and the advantage is that you can screen the dogs hips by that age and test it in defense ( usually ) which you can't do with a puppy. Hence it's the best age for getting a dog for a critical application such as PPD work.
Of course........you would have read that already in the Personal Protection threads if you had taken my advice about reading those.....

So will a breeder/ importer replace a puppy that you keep up until the age that you can do the needed testing to see if it'll work out as a PPD ( like until 12 to 18 months old? That'd be a hell of a guarantee and I doubt that *anybody* would be willing to so that.

And if you puppy doesn't have the needed temperament or drives to become a PPD ( which is more likely than the puppy ending up suitable ), are you willing to part with a dog after having it for a year and a half? Won't you and your family be attached to it by then?
The answer to those questions is usually "yes" and then if your puppy grows into a dog that can't do PPD work....you're stuck with a pet. I've seen this occur at least 50 times already for past clients and believe me, it's the norm.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble or anything, I'm just trying to pull you over into the real world and alert you to the way that things *usually* happen. Maybe you'll luck out and beats the odds. But you can save yourself grief and money by doing it right the first time and stacking the odds in your favor.

This only becomes as "complicated" as you make it. There is *tons* of excellent advice in the old Personal Protection Dogs threads ( and this is a topic that requires fairly specific knowledge for.......mistakes in this area don't end up with a bad agility run or some else that fairly benign, they end up with a bite or becoming a victim...... or worse ).

Wont a dog of this age without any basic training be an unruly member of society? If temperament is any kind of an issue won't the odds of danger to the kiddies be increased?

I wonder if there are any good trainers that I can work with out her in my neck of the woods. I have heard so many horror stories about trainers in Arizona. The basic concensus is that most of them suck and don't really have a clue what they are doing. I ran into a k9 unit last night and the officer was very nice. He had a mal that was imported from Holland. Hubby wasn't impressed, said they were a greyhound looking version of a gsd, lol. Anyway, I asked him who they used for training and he said that they had an internal program. I was hoping I could have gotten a good reference. Most of the trainers that I have heard of still use a lot of the old cumpulsion training and intimidation methods. Otherwise I might not consider doing all the training myself in my stupid inexperienced state, lol. Any suggestions?