How can I get my dog to be more protective and aggressive?

Question

He is a German Shep. and I bough him for guarding and protection, but he is 7 months old and stil plays around too much and doesnt bark.....

Answer 1

You do not want to train your dog to be aggressive! German Shepherd dogs are naturally protective w/out any training. Your dog is still a puppy and will continue to be until he is around 2 years old.

Training your GSD the basics (sit, stay, come, down, etc) should be done when they are a pup. Train him alone and away from any distractions so he can listen. Pups have a short attention span, so train him in moderation.

Next step is to socialize him with other people and other pets.
Next step is to take him to a good trainer to teach him in an advanced obedience class. You can also look for "Shutzund" training for your GSD. They will help teach your dog in 3 categories, obedience, protection, and tracking. You can then compete with other dogs in this. It is very cool to watch an obedient GSD do what he was trained to do.

But, aggression is a big no-no! You will want your dog to listen to your commands, and this is done thru obedience training, and everything else I wrote above. Him being protective will come naturally, and he will start to bark soon. Just let him be a pup and everything will be ok.

Answer 2

Hi,

Firstly, nobody should want to have an aggressive dog especially one that will bite at the slightest hesitation.

Ofcourse we all want our dogs to protect us given the right circumstances. I think your puppy - as that is what he is will grow into a very nice guard dog. German shepherds are natural guard dogs and let's face it; who would break into a home where a german shepherd lives anyway! No - patience is all that is required. A dog that barks to much is just a nuisance anyway.
I would hate to have a dog that barks all the time.

A dog should be a family pet first and a guard dog second.

Answer 3

you need to take him to a very good training facility and just teach him the basics and be patient, He won't mature until at least 1 1/2 yrs old. I have a 1 1/2 year old Doberman who would not hurt a fly, but protects my daughter and myself without any aggressive training. Nurture the dog and make him a part of you and you will get what you need, if he is meant to be a family pet, he will protect you. Train him kindly and believe me, looks alone will scare the bejesus out of people. I pretend when the UPS guy or the mailman comes to the house that I need to detain the dog first, it's enough by looks alone. Aggressive dogs are not trustworthy. I had a pitbull prior to my dobe and he became so aggressive in protecting me that I had to put him down after he went after several family members throats. Being on both spectrums, sorry to preach, but to buy/adopt a dog is for companionship only, training them to be aggressive makes them unhappy. We take Mac to swim and doggie daycare twice a month to give him socialization with other dogs and the owner of Dog Gone Smart, trains dobes for all purposes, including companionship and rescue. He had one dobe who worked @ Ground Zero and the dog has never been the same. I'm not a crazy animal righteness dog person, but please, rely on looks alone and keep the dog healthy and happy. The rewards to you and your family will be so much better than to have him become aggressive with training, one false move by anyone who you care about could hurt them and make you feel horrible (experience talking here!!!!!!) Good Luck. Thanks for reading all this crap.

Answer 4

He's still a baby.Give him time already!
By about 6mos.you should notice him barking at the door when someone knocks.
But outside is still a big scary place to him and it's doubtful he'll bark at anything other than shadows and smaller animals than him.By about a year you should notice him barking at larger animals and by 1 1/2 he should be barking at strangers on the street.
If you have him around people all the time he'll most likely think all people are friends and will give them no notice.
We put ours in another room when we have guests.
Play rough with him.But not too rough.When he tries to push play to a higher level than you want to go stop.
German Shepherds are naturally mistrustful dogs so all you have to do is build his confidence right now.

Answer 5

Dogs will be protective of humans they love and trust. I assume you want a guard dog for guarding property or possessions? Although I personally disagree with this, you will have to have your dog professionally trained. Did you express your intentions to the breeder where you acquired this precious creature? Not all puppies have an aggressive temperament, so you may end up disappointed. I hope that you realize that this is a possibility and will know if and when to observe your dog's true potential and if it is not what you want, will see to it that your GSD is placed in another home where love and appreciation prevail. Have you checked out electronic surveillance systems?

Answer 6

A 7 month old pup is like a 7 year old child. They aren't aggressive or protective. As the dog becomes an adult, around the age of 2 yrs. , he will become protective unless he has a really submissive personality.

Answer 7

He should be about 12 months or older to start in protection. Get yourself a good tug. Look here for them http://www.schutzhund-training.com/toys_tugs.html Think about joining a Schutzhund club. If you are going to be training in protection, you need a helper. He will be started on a puppy sleave at first. http://www.schutzhund-training.com/ Look at USA http://www.germanshepherddog.com/ or DVG America http://www.dvgamerica.com/ I start my working pups very young with playing with the tug. Normally from 6 weeks on. Make sure that you get his obedience skills up to par before starting Schutzhund. Playing with the tug as a pup is very important. Play ball with him everyday to keep up his drives. You can give him a command to sit and stay, throw the ball, give him a command to watch it, before you let him retrieve the ball.
Schutzhund is a sport that the dogs enjoy to do. My one male loves protection work, he is a big baby when it comes to people. Loves people too. I used a K9 for stud several years ago. That male could take anyone down, but he was a wonderful boy when it came to people.
Police officers never isolate a dog that needs to be used with them on the street. Leave the puppy in the dog until the puppy becomes a dog. Even K9's are socilized fully with people.

Answer 8

If you want him to be aggressive & guard-dog trained, there are certain procedures that would help,even though it might seem cruel. (Don't do this if you don't want your dogs aggressive)

1. Isolate him without any human contact. The only contact he should have is with his master, who gives him food. In wolf packs, the leader of the pack provides the foods, so the other recognizes him as the superior.
The isolation is needed for him to be introvert and only listen to commands of his master.

2. Strict training : When he is bad you either growl, or if needed spank him once. When he is good give alot of positive reinforcement like praises, petting his HEAD (for this reason, do not pet him unnecessarily, and cuddle him etc) and 1 edible treat (bought in petstores) everytime he listens to your command. Have ONE set command in one word, so that he will not be confused. "Sit", "Stay", "Bark" , "Attack", etc. and only train one command at a time. Move on to the next command only when he's mastered the previous.

3. Give alot of beef and beef bones for him to add muscle bulk. Mix a little beef blood progressively so that he gets the taste of "blood", so that when he bites intruders he will not get repelled by the blood and let him go.

*The deal is not abuse him (mentally, emotionally, physically) but to strict DISCIPLINE him.
You need experience for "guard-dog" training but everyone starts somewhere :) Or get a professionally trainer.

P.s.
No it doesn't matter how old he is, the earlier for basic training at least, the better!! I trained my dogs when they were 3-4 months!
Good luck.

Answer 9

YOUR DOG IS STILL A PUPPY. BE GLAD THAT HE HAS A GOOD TEMPERAMENT. TRAIN THE PUPPY ALL THE BASIC COMMANDS SO HE RESPECTS YOU. AN AGGRESSIVE DOG IS A DANGER TO EVERYONE.
I OWN A GSD HE IS NOW 10 HE IS VERY WELL BEHAVED AND ATTENDED PUPPY CLASSES WHEN HE WAS YOUNG.
HE WILL BARK AT NOISES OR UNFAMILIAR PEOPLE.HE IS PROTECTIVE OF ME AND MY CHILDREN. THIS IS SOMETHING HE ACQUIRED ON HIS OWN.
THE KEY IS HE WILL FOLLOW COMMANDS AND WILL JUST NOT BITE OR HARM SOMEONE.I ALSO HAVE A GOLDEN RETRIEVER AND HE IS VERY GENTLE WITH THIS DOG.
THERE IS VERY FINE LINE BETWEEN A DOG WHO PROTECTS HIS FAMILY THROUGH A WARNING AND A DOG WHO WILL BITE SOMEONE.
TAKE YOUR DOG TO TRAINING, READ BOOKS ,LOOK ON LINE FOR INFORMATION.
DOGS ARE PACK ANIMALS THEY LOOK TO YOU TO BE A GOOD AND KIND LEADER.

Answer 10

Just because he's a GSD doesn't make him naturally aggressive. He needs to be trained. Get him to a reputable guard dog breeder - one that will allow you to be involved in the training.
You're actually very fortunate. You'll have a great dog to play with when he is not in patrol mode.