How to Train Your German Shepherd Dog to Be a Guard Dog

Hello BillieJo, Work on commands that build impulse control and respect for you over the next six months - that will lay a great foundation for more formal protection training later. Continue to pursue socialization with pup even though that can seem counter-intuitive, because a good protection and guard dog needs to know what's normal in the world, especially around people, so that they can tell when something is wrong correctly and not just react to everything and be unreliable. Good socialization also boosts confidence. Pup should be friendly at this age. If they aggressive or fearful at this age I wouldn't recommend using them for protection because they won't be safe enough around your family or your friends to be able to stay with you to protect. A good protection dog is only aggressive when something is suspicious and they are familiar enough with people in general to be able to tell what's suspicious and not. Getting pup around a lot of people and places is great, but also work on pup's manners and obedience in those settings so pup is learning to focus on you around those exposures - like practicing heeling past people at a park, a Down-Stay at an outdoor shopping area, sitting for being petted, ect... To help pup learn better self-control and focus, practice the following commands over the next few months. Work up to pup gradually being able to do these things around distractions and for longer periods of time. For example, work up to an hour long Place command, heeling past people at the park, holding a Down-Stay while you walk away at the park while pup is on a long training leash and harness. Those types of commands can also help with respect and trust for you - which is important for guarding work later. Thresholds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-w28C2g68M Out - which means leave the area: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Leave It method - good for the mouthing too: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Place command: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Down-Stay: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Heel- Turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Off- section on The Off command: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-train-dog-stay-off-couch/ Come - Reel in method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-whippet-to-recall Check out the article linked below for good respect building tips: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you Many dogs will naturally guard if it's in their genetics and you have laid a good foundation of respect and obedience, once they mature mentally between 1-2 years of age. You will notice that around a year most Shepherds become a lot more protective and territorial. If pup doesn't, you can also teach pup to bark automatically when someone enters the property and be more watchful in general using reward based training. For anything that would involve bite work, you would need to pursue training with a professional protection trainer who knows how to utilize pup's defense drive, build confidence, utilize rewards like a bite bag and tug, and have the right staff and equipment to practice things like arms holds - this training should only be done with a professionals help and should not encourage fear or true aggression when done correctly - it's more like teaching pup a task, teaching alertness, obedience, building confidence, and encouraging a natural defense drive - opposed to poorly done training that encourages suspicion and fear to get a bite from the dog. Think about a police or military dog - they don't bite every person they see, but if someone is moving aggressively toward the officer, trying to get into the police car without the officer there, or fleeing the area and the officer tells them to pursue - they will move toward the suspicious person, bite, and hold that person there with confidence and tenacity . For the alerting, first teach pup to bark by teaching the Speak command. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-speak Once pup knows the speak command, recruit friends pup doesn't know to step onto the property or come to the door while pup watches from a window or inside somewhere. Command speak and reward with a treat when they do. Practice with telling pup to speak each time the person is there, until pup barks on their own when the person tries to enter without saying speak. At that point, have the person come onto the property, wait seven seconds to see if pup will bark on their own, reward if they do, and command speak if they don't - then reward but give a smaller reward when you tell pup opposed to when pup does it on their own. Practice until pup will bark each time someone enters the property. Practice with different people you can recruit, that pup doesn't know so that pup will learn to do this with anyone who enters the property and not just that one person. Draw pup's attention to people outside or people on your property, and reward pup when you see them watching someone in general - so that pup will begin watching people and staying more alert as a habit. Pup doesn't have to bark to reward this one - just reward when pup is watching someone and you notice that. I also recommend teaching the Quiet command, so that you can tell pup when to stop barking after they alert. Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

June 21, 2022

Hello Kingsley, What specifically are you concerned about? His size and musculature? At 18 weeks pup isn't expected to fill out for several months. If you have any concerns with how pup is developing physically I highly recommend speaking with your vet. I am not a vet, and that would be more of a medical concern. If you are referring to pup's lowered tail and wiggling he is doing by the appearance of the photos, a healthy, well balanced dog should be act excited and potentially a bit submissive around others in this stage. This is an important stage to socialize pup, even as a guard dog, because socialization will lay the foundation for pup understanding what's normal in the world and not being fearful of people and reactive to all people - which later helps pup be confident enough to learn guard dog work and to be able to tell the difference between someone who is supposed to be around (like your family, guest, or the next door neighbor) versus someone suspicious. Socialization and obedience should be the priority the first year. More formal training often starts closer to 9 months, and most natural guarding instincts surface between 1-2 years of age when pup matures mentally and sexually (even when neutered). Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Oct. 26, 2021