Is it to late to train a german shephard to gaurd your family at 10mths old?

Question

Also please provide good resouces,train tips, ect

She is very gentle with everyone. I am hoping to teach her to react to a situation. Last night someone was at the window. I'm not sure what they were doing. Could have been just a drunk. She only waited to be cuddled by the stranger. She is super sweet. I really want her to know the difference.

Answer 1

I do not believe there is a time or age limit on training dogs. I am curious as to what you mean by "guard your family" though. German Shepherds are extremely loyal family dogs ( I have 2) and as such will look to protect the "pack" (that is the family). Despite this, the dog should not be put in a position to be the Alpha, all other family members, even little kids, should be dominant to the dog. This does not mean the dog will not protect the family; all pack members, regardless of their rank, work together to protect the pack b/c their survival depends on it. (By dominant I do not mean aggressive).
I recommend checking out all of Cesar Milan's resources. Also, search for a German Shepherd Rescue site and see what resources/links they have available. BrightStar German Shepherd Rescue in Rochester, NY is one site you might take a look at. I rescued my one dog from there.
Best of luck!

Answer 2

What kind of guarding do you want? Just the basic, barking at strangers when they come near the house? Alerting you when someone's at the door? Most dogs do these on their own, and all you need to do is encourage it with praise.

If you're wanting for more than that, you'll want to look into schutzhund training, though that requires some serious dedication, and I'm not sure how many facilities will help you train your dog in this if it's not going on to police or protective work.

Answer 3

It's not too late. In fact it's better. He/she will naturally protect the house and love love love you and everybody you love.
What to do to make her feel welcome:
Show her where the food and water is.
Let her sleep inside and teach her/him where.
Take h. for walks ON A LEASH!!! as often as you want.
DON"T let h. run loose in a neighborhood; maybe on a big farm, but at first keep the dog carefuly fenced in in case h. wants to run away. I don't mean tied up all the time; h. wont like that and will turn out meaner and angrier.
Never beat the dog. You let h. know you are the boss with a stern voice, a leash, and looking for positive reinforcement on behaviors you want.
Give h. treats for obeying you.
A 10 month old may come housebroken if h's lived with people already. If not, take h. out and give rewards for doing it outside. If you have an accident in the house, just say
"bad dog no no, outside, and clean it up and forgeddabout it. It may happen once in a while, like when I stay away for 16 hours or so, but I leave washable throwrugs in a room next to the bathroom (They won't go in the bathroom because of "shower" man.) and they always go on the rug, which is easier to clean than the floor. Carpets are worse and you might want to close some rooms. I have all tile floors so it's no big deal..
You might need a cage to keep h. in if h. starts chewing things around the house. Keep some toys to chew on. and realize h's chewing up your favorite shoe because you left h. alone without calling or anything and she missed you and was mad at you for leaving.

Answer 4

You shouldn't have to train them to do this, they will do it automatically. Any training to be aggressive is a really bad idea for a family dog. 10 months is a good age to train in anything as they are settling down but still young. I think you will find that if anything threatened your family the dog would defend you to the death anyway, if it doesn't then no amount of training will give it that instinct, it just has to be there already.

Answer 5

It is not too late. But you have to remember that now all dogs are guardian quality. Each dog has a different personelity-just becuase he or she is a german shepard doesn't mean that it will be a good protector. Generally the protection gene isn't very apparent until the animal gets a little older, and not all are protectors by nature. Protection is not usually something that you teach, but something that comes naturally to them.

Answer 6

You want to go to a professional for this and have them explain what you're getting into. A dog that's a liability will be euthanized and you will be sued if you do not take care.
That being said, Schutzhund training educates the handler as well as the dog. If you are participating in the training then you will understand how it works.

http://leerburg.com/925.htm

Answer 7

If anything she may be too young - obedience training is required for any protection work anyway so whay don't you start with an obedience class and byt the time she's done it there is a not so bad cahnce that the expanding horizons has made her more protective anyway

Answer 8

There is no training required for protection. Your dog will naturally protect your family by the time he/she is 2 yrs old. Right now it is just a baby. Never train a dog to "protect". They will do it naturally.

Answer 9

Your dog is never to old to learn new tricks! However, please make sure you get professional advice on how to train your dog on guarding. A shepherd is very good at guarding, and could hurt someone terribly by accident. You shouldn't encourage tough behaviour from your dog, especially when you have children, without expert handling.

Answer 10

Shepherds don't 'need' to be trained to be protective of their family- they just are. the best way to help him be better at it is to continue to socialize the heck out of him, so if ever your family needs his protection, he will know it, sensing the difference between a 'normal' situation and a dangerous one.