# K-9 Training around children



## policewifemrsmitchell

I just recently bought a pure breed German Shepherd. He's 5 weeks old and I want to get him police trained asap! Would that make him more agressive though to where he can't be around kids?


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## KZoppa

I've got no advice other than where the heck did you get a 5 week old GSD puppy?! They shouldn't leave their litter and mom until at the earliest 8 weeks! 

A well bred, mentally balanced, properly socialized GSD should be able to work and be around people of all ages without difficulty. Hopefully someone else can chime in with more info. 

Is the pup intended to be used as a police dog?!


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## harmony

yep 5 weeks is to young. You can train a dog around kids, and you have to train the kids around the dog. A high energy dog with drive and aggression you better train your kids ok


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## David Taggart

> Would that make him more agressive though to where he can't be around kids?


I see, you don't know what you are talking about. K9 dogs are police dogs. Police has resources of volunteers - is it where you intend to work? You should join a Schutzhund club then, when your puppy is three months old, pass obedience there first (at 6 months) and they will tell you if your dog is up to at all, train your dog in socialization with people and other dogs in the club before he is one year old, only then you can approach kids without a muzzle. K9s bite only because their handler told them to, not because they want to.


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## harmony

David Taggart said:


> I see, you don't know what you are talking about. K9 dogs are police dogs. Police has resources of volunteers - is it where you intend to work? You should join a Schutzhund club then, when your puppy is three months old, pass obedience there first (at 6 months) and they will tell you if your dog is up to at all, train your dog in socialization with people and other dogs in the club before he is one year old, only then you can approach kids without a muzzle. K9s bite only because their handler told them to, not because they want to.




I do obedience at 9 months and no bite work before a year or more, unless it is a game of tug. And yes they do but it is directed


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## harmony

I know people start things different but I can show in OB at 9 months. And k9s are not forced in anyway to bite, they are directed because they are breed for the drive and such


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## carmspack

oh no ! "when your puppy is three months old, pass obedience there first (at 6 months) and they will tell you if your dog is up to at all, train your dog in socialization with people and other dogs in the club before he is one year old, only then you can approach kids without a muzzle. K9s bite only because their handler told them to, not because they want to. "

recipe for disaster .


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## LoveEcho

policewifemrsmitchell said:


> I just recently bought a pure breed German Shepherd. He's 5 weeks old and I want to get him police trained asap! Would that make him more agressive though to where he can't be around kids?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


What exactly do you mean by "police trained"?


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## tacticalseries

Stick with obedience for now, It will give him the smarts to work better and be more proficient. When you get your dog to bite on command, Giving them the "OUST" Command is very important and is another part of their obedience.


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## NancyJ

Oh dear.

You have a 5 week old puppy. Lets not worry about anything but keeping him a alive and socialized right now. He is going to be vulnerable to diseases so work with a vet on that. Do some research on puppy food ... what are you feeding him right now? What is your budget?

He needs to spend time with other well behaved dogs; adults who are nice and gentle with puppies. At 5 weeks he lost the critical period of playing with and bonding with other dogs. That time teaches him how to control his bite and how to relate to other dogs. 

He was sold to you way too young and you have to face the fact that anyone properly breeding dogs for police work (or anything else) is not going to let that pup go to a new home until it is 7-8 weeks old. That means you may not have a dog that has the "genetics" to be suitable for this.

He is going to start biting anyone and everyone and we have good advice on the forum for training a puppy to bite a toy not a person (including a child). That advice is good for dogs that later are used for biting sports or police service work. Please take the time to go to the puppy section and browse through the threads. At least the ones marked "sticky". There is a lot of great info here on raising a puppy.

Just get him to being a nice friendly obedience trained pet right now. There is no ASAP about training a dog for "police" work. Truth be known, the police don't even take a dog into their own training programs until it is about a year and a half old.


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## MichaelE

I can't wait to see where this thread goes... opcorn:


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## Gretchen

To have a fully trained police dog will take a couple years of training, Your probably looking at several thousands $$$. A pup taken away from it's mom at 5 weeks may have issues that will prevent it from being a K9.

A well trained dog should be OK around children. I know one or our local K9 officer, he has a male GSD that lives with a family of 5, with 3 wonderful children.


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## MichaelE

Our local K9 officer lives across the street. His dog also lives with the family and is very social when the switch is turned off.

When he is working he is a totally different animal.


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## LoveEcho

If your husband is a K9 officer, he doesn't choose his own dog (and definitely not from a breeder that will let them go at 5 weeks).

If he's not, you don't just "get your dog police trained." A department isn't going to just train your dog for you.

If you're talking about sport or protection training... everything else still applies- not a concern at this age, and this dog very well may not have the temperament for it.


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## NancyJ

Unfortunately, at least in the rural south-can't speak for elsewhere, often that is how a police officer gets a dog. The city departments with K9 units spend good money and buy green dogs from trusted brokers. 

Only recently did my state pass a law that police bite dogs need to be certified. Those K9 handlers who do train to a high standard and certify are doing everything they can to try to bring up the others.

It may help to back off and wait for the OP to clarify the goals for the puppy, and any info about the puppy she can share.


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## pyratemom

First and foremost, your pup being separated from its litter at 5 weeks will probably have some effect on its personality around other dogs. They should stay with their litter until at least 8 weeks where they learn bite inhibition, socialization, play ethics, etc. Not sure what kind of breeder would let you have a pup at 5 weeks but I would check into the background, health, hips, elbows, etc of the parents before making any cement plans. Right now you need to finish vaccinations, find some puppy friends to play with, and begin obedience such as sit before eating, sit before going out the door, sit to put on leash, etc. I assume when you say police training you actually mean schutzhund or protection work as most police officers don't buy their own dogs and train them. You should not start that training until at least a year and a half or two years as the strenuous running, jumping, climbing, etc is not good for such young bones. Right now you have to get through the landshark, I'm going to eat everything stage. Find a good trainer with references. Good luck.


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## MichaelE

pyratemom said:


> First and foremost, your pup being separated from its litter at 5 weeks will probably have some effect on its personality around other dogs. They should stay with their litter until at least 8 weeks where they learn bite inhibition, socialization, play ethics, etc. *Not sure what kind of breeder would let you have a pup at 5 weeks*...


The backyard kind.


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## misslesleedavis1

MichaelE said:


> I can't wait to see where this thread goes... opcorn:


ooh i second this!


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## NancyJ

We have a new user here, one we could help raise a puppy. We could also turn it into a circus so she never comes back. At this point we need more information; there is nothing more to say unless it is helpful info.


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## RubyTuesday

Nancy, when a pup is taken from the litter too young, as this one was, what are the best ways to compensate for that? Bite inhibition, especially if there are small children about, is soooo important.


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## David Winners

Interesting that the OP hasn't responded. 

David Winners


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## madis

jocoyn said:


> Unfortunately, at least in the rural south-can't speak for elsewhere, often that is how a police officer gets a dog. The city departments with K9 units spend good money and buy green dogs from trusted brokers.
> 
> Only recently did my state pass a law that police bite dogs need to be certified. Those K9 handlers who do train to a high standard and certify are doing everything they can to try to bring up the others.
> 
> It may help to back off and wait for the OP to clarify the goals for the puppy, and any info about the puppy she can share.


As tempting as it is to join the mockery, I concur. Let the OP get her goals straight and get that puppy healthy and socialized.


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## boomer11

Gretchen said:


> A pup taken away from it's mom at 5 weeks may have issues that will prevent it from being a K9.


may i ask what kind of issues would prevent this?


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## Baillif

Wonder if it was a troll. Dear forum I recently adopted a five year old shelter gsd and would like to train him to be a personal defense dog, IPO champ, service dog to the blind, narcotics and bomb detection, and also in agility. Also it would be great if he stopped peeing himself every time I raised my voice at him. I recently sent a message to a trainer I think would be able to help me but he lives 500 miles away and for some reason hasn't messaged me back. What do you think I should do?


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## Kaimeju

Baillif said:


> Wonder if it was a troll. Dear forum I recently adopted a five year old shelter gsd and would like to train him to be a personal defense dog, IPO champ, service dog to the blind, narcotics and bomb detection, and also in agility. Also it would be great if he stopped peeing himself every time I raised my voice at him. I recently sent a message to a trainer I think would be able to help me but he lives 500 miles away and for some reason hasn't messaged me back. What do you think I should do?


I'm sure many people are thinking this. It's probably good that people are still trying to offer real advice since this thread might show up if others google "police puppy training german shepherd" or some such. 


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## NancyJ

Baillif, if someone is NOT a troll and had a sincere question, you just really insulted them and every insult makes it that much more likely they will not come back and seek the help they need. What the point is that? Why do people jump on a feeding frenzy? It is childish, at best.

If you think someone is a troll, then just don't play along and let it go. Internet trolls thrive on attention, including the popcorn and troll comments. Alternately you can give advice for the reason mentioned by Kaimeju.


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## RubyTuesday

When I die & find myself condemned to an eternity of flames I'll probably be surrounded by those ghastly popcorn guzzling thingies. bleh...BUT, in the meantime I'm still curious as to the best ways to alleviate the effects of being taken from the litter too young.


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## NancyJ

We have a dog on our SAR team who is VERY well adjusted and quite the charming character who was found, as a singleton, at about 3 weeks of age dumped on the side of the road. They thought he was a 'possum when they first found him. I want his handler to write a story about him. He had his first live find about a year ago; an old person with dementia.

His owner went out of her way to provide socialization opportunities for him so it *can* be done.


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## doggiedad

ok, you bought a 5 week old GSD. i think that's a little young
to be taken away form it's litter mates etc. you have to traing
and socialize extremely.



policewifemrsmitchell said:


> I just recently bought a pure breed German Shepherd. He's 5 weeks old and I want to get him police trained asap! Would that make him more agressive though to where he can't be around kids?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## RubyTuesday

Nancy, was anything done to ensure good bite inhibition? A friend had a singleton (not GSD) who lacked bite inhibition due to having no littermates. Fortunately she wasn't reactive. Her threshholds were extremely high & she lived a long life with only 2 incidents that were due to my friend's drunken spouse inadvertantly hurting the poor dog when she was terminally ill & already in a lot of pain.


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## NancyJ

I do not know but the dog is rock solid and was not a shepherd. He is some kind of sharpei husky looking mix.....but she made sure he got exposure to other puppies and adult dogs.


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## Bequavious

RubyTuesday said:


> Nancy, was anything done to ensure good bite inhibition? A friend had a singleton (not GSD) who lacked bite inhibition due to having no littermates. Fortunately she wasn't reactive. Her threshholds were extremely high & she lived a long life with only 2 incidents that were due to my friend's drunken spouse inadvertantly hurting the poor dog when she was terminally ill & already in a lot of pain.


I think you can do a lot to teach bite inhibition especially with a "land shark" breed like the gsd. When you're playing you start out letting them bite your hands and stuff, but if it's too hard you "yelp" and ignore them for a bit before resuming play. Then as time goes on, they have to bite you softer and softer until there isn't really any pressure at all. At that point you can teach them not to put their mouths on people at all if you want. This is a good thing to do even if you have other dogs, because they won't be as sensitive as people are.


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## selzer

Ah well, I would suggest returning this little guy to his litter, and go and find a dog from specific lines that is already an adolescent with the correct drive, temperament, and who has his hips and elbows already tested to be trained for police-work.

But, probably, whoever sold you a tyke not old enough to leave its dam, probably isn't a good place for the pup anyway. And, I think it takes time and experience with the breed to realize what you are looking for in a green dog, or to find the right people to help you make that choice and not fleece you and drop a dog on you that they want to down load.

ASAP. Is there a reason you need the dog trained for police work ASAP? What I am going to suggest is keeping the little one, and spend the next 2-3 years raising it, training it, and at the same time, train yourself in the various lines, the various outlets there are for dogs, what dogs so well in police work, and so forth. 

Good luck with the whelp.


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## NancyJ

The OP has not responded in 3 days so I suggest we put it to bed.


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## VCViking

policewifemrsmitchell said:


> I just recently bought a pure breed German Shepherd. He's 5 weeks old and I want to get him police trained asap! Would that make him more agressive though to where he can't be around kids?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


 
Has anyone actually asked her if she is in actual possession of the puppy? By coming out of the gate swinging, why would she come back.

Perhaps she purchased the puppry but the breeder still has the dog and she is thinking ahead. It is possible she just did not communicate herself properly.


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