# German Shepherd Puppy learning the ropes



## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

So my hubby has started doing some work with our young German Shepherd. Do not fear that is a plastic BB gun and is harmless as it even only shoots plastic bb's and makes a pop noise when fired. It looks real, as he bought it to do some training with. Some of the neighborhoods near here have been having some issues with people breaking in (armed) during the day. So we figured why not have our German Shepherd learn how to deter intruders if needed. She does this on command and is very protective of us. She loves kids of all ages, her cats, the goats and most all animals ,but I think she would let someone take one of our horses since he scared her as a pup lol Just thought you guys may enjoy the pictures of her practicing with daddy (aka the hubby). Also figured Maggie may enjoy this with the gate fencing idea to deter unwanted guests at the farm!

Now the UPS or mail lady she would just lick to death.


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

She's beautiful! I think that's awesome you're training her to protect your home. I have an almost 200 pound Great Dane, and I'm pretty sure he'd be of no help if we had an intruder. In fact, he's probably hold their flashlight for them while they robbed us lol. :roll:


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

Thank you. She is such a sweet girl and we have been to multiple trainers because we want this done right and safe. We are also trying to teach her when to use her own judgment and when we call her off she is to stop no matter what. She has great potential and one day we had stopped at a gas station when she was very little, about 8 to 10 weeks old, and she did not want daddy getting out of the car. It was a very odd feeling and we decided we would listen to her and go else where. She was fine with our next stopping choice. I think they know a lot more then most people want to give credit for. She has gotten inbetween me and a bear, but it was gentle and just kept going its own way (we live in the mountains). These days you can't be too safe.



> I have an almost 200 pound Great Dane, and I'm pretty sure he'd be of no help if we had an intruder. In fact, he's probably hold their flashlight for them while they robbed us lol.


 :ROFL: I am trying to picture this huge dog carrying a flash light for a burglar. . . I love Great Dane's, what color is he? My friend had a sliver/gray one that was such a looker.


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

What a beautiful girl!! German Shepherds are such great dogs.  She looks like she's enjoying the training session!

We have a Shih Tzu/Bichon Frise cross, and somehow I don't think he would be of much use against a robber... onder:


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

That's a beautiful dog. Looks like she's doing quite well with her training! :hi5:


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

Thank you guys. She is doing well, but is still very young and some times get ADHD. To her it is just a big game and she has a lot of drive. We original wanted to do search and rescue with her but with the farm we didn't really have the time to be trained and on call for those types of things. She has a nose like no other and we joking call her the ATF dog. She somehow finds beer bottles and brings them to us (I don't drink) and she can tell you where guns are (real guns not the toy one). I think it is the gun powder she smells. She is out of large boned working Czech lines and most of her siblings went into law enforcement.

Goat Song: There was a trainer in I think Washington State that I read about he trained a dachshund in schutzhund as a joke for I think it was an FBI agent. So you never know what the little ones can do too! I also had read about this little older lady (older then you and me both put together) I think in her 80's had her carry permit and had her big dog trained in Person Protection. She came home one night and someone was coming out of her house with stolen items. . . Well the dog alerted and the woman held him at gun point, made him lay on the ground and by the time the police got there she was sitting on his back and the dog was laying watching him!

The one thing that amazes me though is if your dog defends you, you must be willing to go to court to stand up for the dogs actions, but if you shoot someone for breaking in it is easier on you then if your dog defended you?!?!?! I think if they are on your land, breaking in to your house, stealing your items and threatening your life then there should be no question as to the dogs actions. Now if you were in public and your dog attacked an innocent bystander then yes.


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## mtmom75 (May 19, 2011)

DDFN said:


> :ROFL: I am trying to picture this huge dog carrying a flash light for a burglar. . . I love Great Dane's, what color is he? My friend had a sliver/gray one that was such a looker.


He's a brindle. I think his color makes him look pretty tough, but he's really not lol.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

:laugh:


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Wow what a girl  The best dog I've ever known in my entire life was a German Shepherd I got as a pup. OMG she was just amazing! She was so wonderful and loving, miss her like crazy! She passed away when she was 11, lived with my dad - they had become so close I couldn't bare to seperate them.
She was perfect with other animals, kids, and anyone who 'belonged' but if an outsider came she'd scare them enough to keep them in their vehicle or leave the property! She'd not hesitate to run off strays either. You could tell her something and it's as if she totally understood what you wanted from her. Everyone loved her and respected her.
I WISH to have another dog like that. We want to get our 5yo daughter a dog, and the only kind that comes to mind is a German Shepherd.


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## Natural Beauty Farm (Mar 18, 2011)

What are you trying to teach her to do?

We use blanks to desensitize the dogs we train, but in the pictures it looks like the dog is being trained to "target" the gun. By the time the gun makes a noise it is too late.....and I do not see any protection gear on your husband, so what are your goals with her drive other than negative frustration....

You really do not want to train a dog to only react on voice commands. Fear takes the voice away.

There is a proper way to train a dog, that brings out natural protections for those it feels are part of the pack. Please do not go into training thinking that you will be able to train her to only react in certain situations after getting a que from the family and therefore she will be safe and a pet at all other times. This path can lead to a dangerous situation that confuses a dog and destroys their self esteem and could turn a great dog into one that will have to be destroyed.

I'm not trying to be mean, but after 35 years experience in Schutzhund training with GSD, I have seen it all and unfortunately I have been asked many times to try and correct what someone with good intentions tried to do. My suggestion is normally to put the dog down and allow someone who trains for a living to train the next one. 

I have sat by childrens beds after the family dog who was agitated in the wrong way bit them after being startled and once I was called to a house by the police after a mother raised her voice to a young girl, the girl threw a temper tantrum and the family "protector" attacked and killed the girl because she was acting "irrational" and the dog had been trained to protect the family from such behavior.

Check out Leerburg dog training videos, they have some good intros on-line that you can watch for free. Micheal Ellis has a 90 min basic training video on their site that goes into the right ways to bring out prey drive and do what I think you would like your dog to do.


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks guys!

HoosierShadow: I am sorry for your loss. My family has grown up with German Shepherds and I think by far they are the best breed of dogs for families. Now if they are very high drive, the first 2 years can be rough to get through, but they will never let anything happen to your family. I did have a rescue Black and Tan Coonhound that my uncle got his hands on (long story) and she was so thin and miss treated. She turned into the best dog I ever had. Great with family/kids but very protective, even more so then the German Shepherds we had. We finally lost her to cancer a couple of years ago. So if I was to pick for a family dog it would either be a German Shepherd or a Black and Tan Coonhound. 

Natural Beauty Farms: Thank you. We have seen the Leerburg videos before we started with a trainer that is about a 2 hour drive from here. We are not teaching her to bite, if that helps with why the hubby is not wearing his sleeve. She is rewarded with her Kong (on a rope) after she makes the jump at the gun. We do not want her trained to bite and only want her at a level to make a burger/intruder to think twice. I am sure you know how there are those that bark to warn off intruders, even those trained to lunge on a leash (without bite) and then a couple different levels of personal protection dogs. If you know of any trainers closer to the Knoxville TN area that would be great to know. We have been working with a veterinarian that breeds GSD and has her own trainers for tracking, PP, schutzhund and herding. The herding trainer is actually out of state but they travel to the group meetings. We take her to the Schutzhund practices and just do obedience with her. We are open to any helpful information and understand you are not being mean. We just don't want her trained to bite. She would basically just be a distraction for an intruder until we can take care of them ourself. 


We do let her work off some of her drive on a jumps course (it is actually set up for the miniature horse, but she loves to run it too). She loves to go for jogs and we hike the property a lot. We are on 80 acres and have a huge trail to the "long bottom" (field on back side of mountain) and she always lets me know when there are snakes or even turtles near the path. I still would love to have her trained in Search and Rescue, but we would never have the time away from the farm to let her actually work any.


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## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

Beautiful dog! We had a german shephard that looked similar to her when I was a kid.


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## Lamancha Lady (Dec 13, 2011)

Beautiful girls.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Very nice...great work.... :hi5:


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