My 5 years old GSD (male) ...evry time I put he in the car and drive a round or I tide him in the front yard and if He see any person that walk on the sidewalk he will flaring up and barking....but if that person come close to him he become very friendly.
He have a very good drive...love to play ball...
MY question is can this dog can be train to do protect work?

John 5yrs old is a little old to start new training, it would depend on how much training he has had to this point. How often do you work Obedience and how much prey work/training does he have?

His action may be caused by weak nerves and his ball drive may not be prey drive. I say this not to insult but a Golden retreiver will retrieve a ball or game but he may not be able to channel that action to a decoy or man.

Its really hard to say without seeing the dog in person. This is MO I'm not a pro trainer.

For example my dogs ride in the car and can go amongs crowds of people and will not flare unless given a reason. Like an aggressive motion or thought?? from a person behind or in front of me. They won't bark if you walk by my house (unless in the fence) or car. My windows are dark tinted if you get too close to the car you will see it rock as almost two hundred pounds of dogs stand in alert to watch you. But if you step in my yard or put your hand on the car door. Then you get a reaction to stay away, thats my person, car or territory. They have had a little training since 8 weeks old, so they know what I want.

Here the key to if he can be trained IMO.
If his sharpness is caused by weak nerves he is not a good candiate for training. You probably don't want to teach this dog to bite. He be a fear biter if anything at all.

Sharpness with solid nerves is.If this is the case a good Pro trainer could make a PPT dog of him. You would have to already have his Ob packed for him to start. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

How much Ob does he have?

thanks Don for replying.

the dog goes through obedience and prey/work training everyday. He has great obedience.

How can I find out if my dog has weak or strong nerves?

I had a friend of mine try to scare him with agressive gestures with objects (bite tugs) while he was on a leash with me, to see how he would react. First he would back off and try to hide behind me, after that he would start to bark and jump out in front of me trying to bite the object. Once he gets a grip on the object, he would try to pull it away from my friend. Like a tug of war. And then my friend would let go and let him have the object.

After that we tried a different situation where my friend would swing an object at him and then run. My dog chased after him.

John, Letting your inexpierienced friend do this with your dog will result in nothing but trouble. Possably lawsuites. You need a knowledgeble, expierienced trainer/helper.

John - Here are some of Ed's Videos that I'd recommend. Begining Protection training and the intermediate Protection Training Video. This will give you a good idea of how to avoid mistakes withyour dog, how to pick a trainer and how you can help your dog. These test show how to recongnize weak nerves, strong nerves and Civil dogs.

In your demo with your friend did you alert your dog before he started his prey gestures? IMO The dog should not have lunged at the decoy until you alert him, he should not have gone behind you (at his age) but he should not have attacked until you gave him permission.

I like the steady stare and growl reaction until I released to bite prey item. Some people perferr the dog to be quite and then react, on command.

I want a attentive dog, one that recognize that theres a problem, this guys acting funny, I better watch him. Though its training the dogs serious. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

John, I would have your dog evaluated by someone with lots of experience in defensive aggitation before going out and buying all kinds of videos. Those are good videos Don mentioned, but they won't help if he's not genetically sound and capable of doing REAL LIFE protection which you should find out first hand.

Mike is right a pro trainer would be the best option. But if you can't find or afford a Pro trainer that has been in the business for a long time and specialize in Protection training, the Videos would be your next best options. They have IMO invaluable informantion and show different dogs from various temperment. They show what is perferred and how not to do things, they show errors that owners/handlers and trainers make unknowningly. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

There is even a temperment test that test the dog without ruining him. Its not the swim or sink test that I've witness by some trainers. Its a lot more humane, it'll make you cring at how you could have messed your dog up if you had continued to let the wrong guys work him!!!

Through these various level of dogs in traning maybe you can pick out how your dogs is reacting.
Come back to this board for answers and advice on the best trainers in your area. If you can't find a reference, the tapes gives you an idea of what to look for and most definately what you don't want in a dog or trainer.

Like Mike mentioned having the dog evaluated by a experinced PPT not a SchH trainer 65% of the good Protection dogs could not past their test, IMO.

If you want to do this type training you are going to have to start learning about it anyway. Are just one of videos they make good reference material. The Begining Protection Training Video has a 5 yrs old dog that being evaluated. Look at this and compare your dog to this one, one of the problems he had, was founded to be the handlers fault. It was corrected in that video. Good stuff. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Thanks Don and Mike.

Yes, I do have Ed video....But,still I need a second view from mine. Houston is a city...but I can't find a good trainer....Maybe I have look at a wrong place....Does any one on this board know any good trainer that live in Houston????

Thank.