Everyone agrees that as a greenie that I have no business trying to make a protectin dog out of my soon to be new pup. This I understand and agree wholeheartedly with. I think that joining the shc club here will be great in helping me to learn to guide/train. However, I was wondering if there is anything I can do to help nurture a protective spirit w/o creating a full blown psycho dog. I'm willing to pay my dues and learn but I would still like a dog that will 'sound off' when a stranger comes to the door or when they hear an unfamiliar noise outside. Creating a bark that would seriously make someone wonder if said dog might be capable of ripping limbs off. lol. I would also like to have a dog that will put on a good bluff, enough to scare the crap outa someone. If standing our ground in the face of danger in the middle of the street is all I got, I want the dog to convince the perp that he most certainly MIGHT bite. What can I do to boost confidence without creating a monster? Any thoughts? Or is this a bad thing to want to do to? Is it something that can be taught and then controlled, when necessary?

Teach your dog to bark on command, that goes a long way. A dog standing his own ground is a whole another kettle of fish.

A well bred GSD will be naturally protective as it matures. It will take a while. Their appearance is also enough protection for many situations, and they will naturally learn to alert when strangers come over. Very few people are interested in challenging a full grown GSD.

I taught my 2 1/2 yo male to stand very tall, put his ears up straight and look all around on the command "what's up". It makes him look very dangerous. In fact, I taught him that as a command (as a game) to look for my husband, but since no-one knows that, it works very well as a deterrent. I never taught him to bark on command, because my other GSD barks far too much, and I find it irritating. This dog is very gentle, but when we walk, especially at night, he watches out. I have seen many people hesitate when they see him. Also, as he ages, he has become more protective, standing between my mother and a stranger, barking at a stranger leaning over my daughter, etc, all with no training. The only time he ever bit was when another dog bit my older GSD, then he went to her defense and bit the attacking dog. Also, in defending my mother, he threw his paws on the stranger's chest, but did not bite.

We have also done some bite training, but all as a game, with a ball or tug, not even a sleeve. Others with real experience will comment on the best training methods. I would just say that in my personal opinion, the most important thing is to get a pup with a very solid temperment, no fear issues, because the last thing in the world you want is a nervous, protective dog that is difficult to control.

I agree with teaching the bark on command, controlled bark (s).
I'd have to say, I am more skeptical and will steer *way* clear of a silent dog, or one who gives a warning bark or growl, staring me down with no tail waggin.

A barking maniac--(at just my passing by) is more of what I percieve to be a fear biter type and I tend to feel more sorry for them. I'm talking about the type of dog that goes off on any person for any reason, anytime.

This natural protector of territory and alert dog is what I will miss most about my MoJo. He had different alerts for different scenarios. He naturally possessed some and I will say he was incredibly amenable to the basic alert commands I trained. Training at night seemed to help and heighten his "watch" alerts IM (novice) O.

I taught my year old GSD to bark(speak) on command a few months ago. I heard after I taught her this that it can be one of the hardest things to train a dog to do especially if you are training for sport. It made me feel great, being somewhat intermediate in training. And she has a very big bark! Females tend to be pretty protective, at least the females that I've been around have been. My fiance works 7 nights in a row every month, so I taught her that when I say "who is it?" or "Get'em!" she becomes alert and barks if I feel freaked out or if she hears something and does a low growl, I'll ask her 'who is it?' and she goes nuts. She has learned that 'ok' is the release and if I say "we're ok" she calms down. Definitely try to teach the 'speak' command(however you want to phrase it) and you'll see that you don't need a dog that is 'ready to pounce' into a fight with people or other dogs, just one that puts on a great bluff(As Polly said--A well bred GSD will be naturally protective as it matures. It will take a while. Their appearance is also enough protection for many situations, and they will naturally learn to alert when strangers come over. Very few people are interested in challenging a full grown GSD.) It's true!