protection training

[ruffian]

Hi everyone!
We are getting a GSD puppy in Feb and are thinking about doing protection training. We have the name of a responsible trainer in the area but would like to get some books and videos as well. Can you recommend any?
We are only looking for level 1 training and not for competition (is that still considered "schutzhund"?) What age should the dog be to start training?

Thanks!

[JanisN]

Hi, Ruff!

Good books and videos... over at dogwise.com, they have a pretty extensive list. I like Gottfried Diedle's books and Ed Frawly at Leerburg has a bunch of videos, too. I've seen some and they aren't bad.

We start training schutzhund bound puppies at about four weeks. I play ball with them in the puppy room (gently rolling a ball around and making a HUGE deal when they bring it back), playing tug with them and leaving tug toys out for them to play with each other.

Once we have pups down to a managable number <grin>, we play one on one. All toys go up at that point, the only time pup gets a toy is when I give it. I hasten to add, I ALWAYS have toys in my pockets! I want the puppies to bite, I want to keep my skin. So biting is rewarded with a toy for us to play together with.

At 10-12 weeks, if we can, we go to puppy bite classes, working around the other dogs, with puppy rags and tugs. Or I work them at home. I also imprint puppy tracking at this time.

We don't start Schutzhund obedience and sleeve work until after 12 months.

And I warn you, Schutzhund is addictive!

JanisN

[LauriS]

When you say protection do you mean personal protection? As in you want your dog to go after a person if they break into your house or attack you?

If so, that is a HUGE responsibility. A personal protection trained dog MUST be "worked" to keep their training. That means you have to take them to a trainer that can set up situations for the dog to go through where they go after bad guys and such.

If you are talking the bite work in schutzhund, you'll find that most clubs require you to do all three stages - tracking, obedience AND bitework.

[opione]

Leerburg seemed to have a pretty good selection of materials and videos. They also have some postings for advice

[Smithie86]

Ed (leerburg) has some great basic videos, especially on building the relationship and focus.

[US2004]

LauriS said:

When you say protection do you mean personal protection? As in you want your dog to go after a person if they break into your house or attack you?

If so, that is a HUGE responsibility. A personal protection trained dog MUST be "worked" to keep their training. That means you have to take them to a trainer that can set up situations for the dog to go through where they go after bad guys and such.

LauriS, if the dog can't work on AND off the field, what's the point? Eventually, there has to be or SHOULD be some realism in the bite training. Or by definition, the dog is not really a protection dog.

[JanisN]

I think a lot of people have no idea what they are saying when they say they want a "personal protection dog". It's a huge commitment, both physically and emotionally. The dog has to be trained appropriately and training has to be kept up.

Really, for the average Joe, they need a big dog that will bark when an intruder approaches and scare the bad guys into going to another house down the block.

JanisN

[US2004]

I think people know what they want, but I think they are mislead into think that a Schutzhund dog(sport dog) is a protection dog. It's not that these dog's aren't capable of acting in real-life scenarios, it's just that they haven't been trained to that magnitude. So they end up with a dog trained to bite a sleeve, and once the sleeve isn't there, they don't know what to do.

You are right though, owning a dog like this is not like owning a family pet. And the committment has to be there in order to keep the dog conditioned. I think a lot of people need to check their egos when it comes to doing personal protection with their dogs, because there's a lot of hassle that comes a long with it. I just have a passion for working dogs, and for PRACTICAL, real-world training. And that means, if you're going to train a dog to bite, do it all the way, don't do it half-assed

[workingdawg]

i agree with janis and us2004, a "personal protection dog" is a H U G E responsiblity, and it is a 24hr a day, 7 day a week responsibility. the contant training and control work is not something you can just do "once in awhile". after i lost my old boy of 14.5 years last year, i decided that i simply would not take on that kind of responsibility again and train a dog to the level he was..(he was both a very REAL personal protection dog and a decent sport dog)
of course that theory lasted all of about 4 weeks

sport (schutzhund,ring etc) can be done half heartedly, but in my opinion, if you are truly training your dog for personal protection, this is a much bigger committment, one that cannot be done half @ssed. you really need to think long and hard about what you really want from that dog..it is a lifetime of never letting the dog out of your sight..not even "for a minute".