# Protection?



## sdeboer90 (Sep 25, 2013)

We would like to train our GSD for protection like a police K9.
When should this training start and how do we go about training him? He is 4 months old

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Find a good PSA/SDA/IPO club, be careful who you decide to train with. You can start shaping some of the foundation now, but the pup should be older before beginning much of the training. 

Enjoy your puppy, keep his confidence level high and visit some different clubs so you can decide which is the best fit. 

Some of the 'protection' dog trainers are not what they appear to be...and the ones charging thousands for board and trains should be looked into very, very carefully.


----------



## Deno (Apr 3, 2013)

The main thing now is to concentrate on socialization & obedience. Scour the internet and read and watch all you can lay your hands on. The consensus is not to start before he's a year old, but you will find many who start on many phases before this age. You will find there is more than one way to skin a cat, you just have to filter thru them and figure out what works with your dog. Not all dogs are cut out for this. The main thing to keep in mind is that this can be dangerous and that you and all other human pack members have to have the dogs upmost respect. I found my BIG BAD 95 pound male Dex viciously challenging my daughter who is a part time pack member, she lives on campus. After the 3rd time I convinced her she had to take part in his training, we have never had a problem since. He challenged my wife once, my wife is not as hard headed as my daughter. Now that there is no doubt about his status in the pack, we are one happy family. Like you, I thought I wanted a fully trained working dog. I stopped training Dex quite a while ago once I got where I wanted to be. On my own, I have a dog that would protect the inside of my house to the death, the side effect of this is all visitors have to be met outside before they come in.Anyone who drives up our driveway is met with an unreal scary greeting, if someone tries to walk up to the house they are met with the same. Last but not least, on my command, he will go after a threat with great zeal. I can take Dex anywhere off the lead without any worries of him getting into trouble .You may want to go to a professional trainer, but it is possible to get to this point without one,I did it with Lew Burkes book, the internet, good common sense and a lot of hard work. I don't want this to sound like it was easy and without any other problems. I did have a decoy in street clothes get bit 3 times before I could get Dex off of him.


----------



## 45yearsofGSDs (Sep 19, 2013)

Let him/her become familiar with every facet of their life, learn your routines and your life. When they feel they are an adamant part of you and realize that YOU are the alpha, protection will come naturally. Time and money needn't be spent because their goal is to serve and protect. At least that's been my experience and method and have never paid anyone to even tell me how I should "tell" my dogs how to sit. I take care of them and they take very good care of me. When they're with me, (which is about 99% of the time,) I carry nothing with me - they are my backup, my security entourage.


----------

