Several times per week I receive a phonecall from someone wanting to purchase a personal protection dog, however, they want to begin with a puppy. They typically want the puppy to be 8-9 weeks old at the time of purchase and they later want the dog to be a protection dog for their home and family. The problem is simply this, German Shepherd does not automatically equal protection dog. I am not arguing that German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and other common protection breeds are trained for protection every day. What I am saying is that purchasing a puppy in hopes that it will later become a protection dog is a risky proposition and a challenging endeavor.
In order to raise a puppy to be a good personal protection dog, you must first understand the importance of socialization and what role it plays in the development of the pup. You must also understand and encourage some behaviors, such as mouthing, from this pup that are often discouraged in an average pet dog. More importantly, you must be skilled at performing the drive development exercises that are necessary to make you pup a protection dog, and this assumes that he is genetically predisposed to have the proper drives and temperament.
Some of the biggest reasons that people want to buy puppies for protection dogs are so that the pup will bond with them, so that the dog will “get along” with their children and so that the puppy can understand from an early age that this is their family and home and “naturally” become protective.
Unfortunately, we often find that any of the reasons for getting pups, really ever work out. We see owners who purchase puppies that never really bond to them. We see pups that get older and have behavioral disorders and will often bite the children, become fear aggressive or resource guard their food. And lastly, these breeds are not as “naturally” protective as many people assume. Therefore, people will often end up with an adult German Shepherd or Malinois that is not at all what they expected it to be.
When you are considering a personal protection dog for your home or family, keep in mind that a puppy may not always be the best place to start. Purchasing an adult or young adult dog has some wonderful advantages. First of all, you know what the dogs temperament is like and the chances of this changing dramatically over the years is slim. Secondly, you will know that this dog has the desired drives and ethic to do the work that you need. By getting an adult you won’t have to deal with puppy behaviors, housebreaking, etc. And most importantly, you will have a loyal family companion that has the mentality to deal with a serious threat if the need where to ever arise.
