Hello Akinwale, Protection training requires a high level of obedience, socialization, off-leash reliability, trust and respect. Protection training - where the dog is trained to actually bite in a dangerous situation is something that I only recommend a professional with years of experience with such training do - if done wrong by someone less experience you can actually ruin a dog and create terrible aggression instead. Protection dogs are typically trained using drive training - which is like a form of positive reinforcement, where the dog is rewarded with tug of war type bite bag for biting an assistant in a padded body suit who is pretending to attack, not through fear or intimidation to get them to bite. Protection dogs are actually socialized extremely well around people prior to the training so that they are friendly and confident around people when not working, and not spooky or mean. This allows them to tell when someone is acting normal or suspicious - because they understand what normal human behavior looks like, and for the owner to bring the dog places with them safely to protect them instead of being a hazard in public due to aggression. Look for a trainer who understands these things and has a lot of success working with dogs such as Police Dogs and privately trained protection dogs - training protection work. As far as barking, a trainer can help you with this part too, but this is something that can be taught more easily on your own than bite work. To help with this area I would need to know a bit more about what you are wanting to teach. Are you wanting to teach pup to bark at all strangers, strangers who come onto your property, strangers who are acting "suspicious", or just strangers that approach you in general. There are a lot of specifics that you have to decide about when and how often you want pup to bark. The training is then practiced in those locations around people, who are doing those types of things, commanding the dog to "Speak" in those situations, then rewarding pup. After lots of practice you slowly phase the Speak command out and just practice that situation, waiting for pup to bark on their own, then rewarding, giving a Speak command hint if pup doesn't bark after a few seconds (you will need volunteers to help with this part most likely - such as someone to practice walking around your yard suspiciously while you command your dog to "Speak!" and reward him for barking). https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-speak For the heeling, check out the article and video linked below: Heel article - The turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Heel Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTiKVc4ZZWo Most German Shepherds are also naturally protective and have a decent defense drive. Generally instinctual aggression like protectiveness will naturally exhibit itself between 1-2 years of age when a dog reaches maturity. Socialization to build confidence and so pup knows what's normal and isn't suspicious of the wrong things, and obedience should be focused on during the first year. You can encourage that defense drive as a puppy through play, with games like flirt pole chasing and tug, with a release command. You may be interested in joining a local Schlutzhund or IPO group once pup is older and has the necessary obedience and socialization training already. You don't want a dog who is unsocialized, fearful, overly suspicious, and a bite liability - those dogs are often euthanized, owners sued, and owner unable to take the dog with them places for protection. You want a highly trained, balanced, well socialized dog, who has been taught intentionally how to recognize danger, alert when someone new is around, and bite and hold on command if necessary, releasing and not biting when told also. That takes training, not avoiding socialization at this age. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

April 18, 2022

Hello Boi, First, at this age most puppies are a bit like rebellious teenagers. The combination of hormones, developing minds, a lack of training - including impulse control practice, and puppy energy makes most puppies this age a bit naughty, rambunctious, and distracted. My advice is often to train anyway. It will often feel like nothing is being learned, but if you can stay consistent and persevere there often comes a day when pup is a little more mature when you notice that pup is actually obeying the training you have been doing. Teaching pup at this age is still important for future outcomes. My guess is that pup has learned or is still learning basic obedience, especially at this age - the initial goal with Basic Obedience is just to teach pup what a word means and motivate them to learn. This usually results in a puppy who can obey when things are calm and somewhere familiar like your living room. What comes next is intermediate obedience. For intermediate obedience, you will gradually work up to distractions and pup developing the skills to obey in those situations too - at first the distraction might be someone walking through the room, a squirrel in the yard, a leaf blowing by, ect...Start with less distracting environments, then gradually move onto harder environments and spend intentional time practicing in each of those new environments until pup can focus there too. For example, in your home without others around is easiest, your backyard is a bit harder, your front yard is even harder, your neighborhood is even hard, your home with guests present is even harder, a pet store is even harder, ect...Go out of your way to practice at the current level pup needs to learn at and to create the distractions pup is ready to learn to overcome during training sessions when you can control things - so that pup can also respond when things are more out of your control in every day life, but keep the distraction level what pup is ready for at that point in the training so pup can still succeed with your help - the goal is to guide pup and provide consistent, calm boundaries at this point. Second, you may need to switch some of your training methods if pup knows the commands well from basic and intermediate practice but is sometimes choosing to disobey. For example, when teaching Sit I would first recommend using the Treat Luring method from the article linked below. Once pup knows that method well and has worked up to some distractions, you could enforce the command using the Pressure method from that same article when pup chooses to disobey something they know. The pressure method will still reward some but will also give a gentle consequence for disobedience to encourage pup to obey even when they don't find it as fun. Sit - Pressure method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-sit Some other methods to help enforce commands when pup is ready: Reel In method for Come: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-whippet-to-recall Turns method for Heel: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel The Leash Pressure method for down: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-lay-down Finally, check out the Consistency and the Working method from the article I have linked below. You can use everyday things pup wants as motivators to get pup to obey, such as telling pup to Sit before giving breakfast and waiting until they do so before putting the food down. Often you will have to wait pup out pretty long the first time, fifteen minutes being normal. Repeat your command just once every five minutes. When pup finally complies, give the food and praise calmly. As pup sees that you are consistent, calm, and firm, pup should start to obey more quickly as you practice. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you A drag leash can also be kept on pup when you are home to supervise, to ensure it doesn't get caught on things. When you give pup a command like Leave It, Place, Off, Come, Out, ect...You can calmly pick up the end of the leash and help pup follow through with your command, like walking pup over to where you called them from originally - showing pup that you mean what you say and they need to follow through without having to get angry or let pup get away with ignoring you. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

March 14, 2022