Thankyou for the information David, I have been working my dog with the Drive, Focus & Grip video for about a month now, he's getting quicker and quicker, it's an awesome experience. I will order the other videos you mentioned soon. I wasn't sure how far I could go on my own, but you cleared that up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Thanks guys. You've all been very helpful, if there's any additional comments on this subject feel free to continue posting them.

Yeah I think Cujo is normal for his age.. all dogs are different. I too thought OMG when is Kane going to start looking intimidating? (he 16 months old) Although he doesnt really pay any attention to strangers, but is friendly which is ok with me. Hes being trained a a PPD but at the time he wasnt in the aggression stage yet... just prey work.

He surprised me one evening when I took the kids to the park. I was sitting in the grass with him watching the kids and a girl (trouble maker) walks sort of towards us/past us. Kane was alert and just watched her walk. She yelled across the park to someone in a deep voice (could have been threatening) and he stood up (didnt lunge or pull) and let out a low deep growl. I was very proud of him and praised him ALOT. After that we started aggression in training and he has been doing great. He also is I think maybe more aware now of strangers... hes still ignore most of them if were in public but if someone seems suspicous or threatening he is very alert and watchfull. Sometimes all it takes is one time for a dog to realize he can be tough LOL In Kanes case I think with my praising the light bulb went on.

So yeah I think if its like the other say... hes got the genetic make up for it it will come as he matures. Plus you want a dog that can sense a real threat from one thats not.

Give him a little more time to grow up and good luck finding a trainer... if you get a good one they will give you alot of support and advice. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Very interesting thread...

My GSD is a family dog, not being trained in personal protection or anything like that...That being said, I love her attitude towards strangers. She simply doesn't care to give them the gift of her attention, unless there happens to be something threatening about them. For example, a few weeks ago we were at a festival, just sitting and hanging out on the grass...I'd say 100 people walked past us and Grace (my dog) expressed nothing more that a slight interest in them. On other occasions, in a situation where I was threatened, she tried to eat the guy...much to my surprise. So as far as socializing, I want her to be indifferent to people, but still friendly...This is something that came very naturally to her. She knows who her people are and she shows us affection that a stranger would never ever get...I've even had people comment on how excited she gets to see her people coming, compared to her reaction for strangers.

After reading the responses on here and finding some more information on Ed's site, I feel confident that I have a normal pup.

His protective nature definately has started shining thru over the past 2-3 months. He chooses carefully what he wants to bark at, you can stimulate his suspicion pretty easily when walking at night, he understands "wie is dat" (dutch for "who is that" to be me alerting him to something I feel needs his attention... depending on what it is, he makes his own decision as to wether he should bark at the situation. He will stand with his ears forward and you can almost see the gears turning in his head as he decides wether something is a threat or not.

The primary concern I had was his reaction to strangers once he's face to face with them, he's great barking at a distance/from inside the house, and he will approach things he's unsure of with caution instead of running away with his tail between his legs (I hate seeing dogs with their tail between their legs!). When he encounters a stranger on the street he will ignore them if I continue walking... UNLESS they stick their hand out and start talking to him/want to pet him, then he gets excited, licks their hand, jumps around a lil bit wanting to play. He doesn't do this to everyone though, he seems semi-selective as to who he gets excited over, he likes females better than males for some reason.

I was talking to a neighbor this morning and had Cujo in a sit/stay while discussing my neighbors new car, after 5 minutes my neighbor walks by Cujo, pets his head and continues talking to me, Cujo looked up at him and never broke his sit.

I guess what I'm worried about is wether he will let someone into the house who isn't supposed to be. He barked at the cable guy when he realized there was a stranger in the house, but as soon as he SEES who it is, he stops barking and goes back to what he was doing - I don't know if it's because he sees a member of my family with the guy so he assumes it's ok, or because he thinks its ok for strangers to be in the house.

I guess in 6-12 months I'll find out more about my dog's temprement, I'm doing my best to not let strangers interact with him, but when people don't ask my permission, they do things before I have the opportunity to say no. Like at PetSmart, I'm digging thru my wallet while they're holding up a treat telling him to sit. By the time I notice, he's sat down eating his treat.