starting protection work/schutzhund! - Page 2

Bob, its clear you made your point. Well said.

Protection requires the dog be defensive. Therefore, stress must be surfaced.  If the person wants a protection dog it should be tested. Regardless of breed.  

From your post, I am assuming you have never been to a local club, or had an evaluation done on your dog by an official Decoy?
Well, the first thing you're going to want to do is pay your local Schutzhund club a visit! An experienced helper will be able to read your dog and know the correct way to work him; build a strong foundation, and then build further upon that.
You can't expect an 18 month old dog to be doing a courage test when he has only taken 3 previous bites on a sleeve.
You'll have to work up to it. But that's the fun part. :)

Though, I would not advise you to put any confrontational pressure on this dog at all, until you have built the correct foundation with a knowledgeable helper. Just play with him for now, that means alot of fetch and alot of playing around with the tug. When using a tug, make sure his bite is full and hard before letting him win it; play rough! It makes it more fun for your dog, and encourages them to fight harder. It should be all fun until he understands the game.

Good luck on your prospect!
-Emily.

Mich:

                 He did say for "sport" I personnely hate that word.

Yes. Bob, I dont like that word either, but it is scored and its a competetion. I may be wrong but it seems to be a buzz word for schutzhund.  
He did say "Sport" I think he has to decide. Sport or Protection. He should have enough on here to decide. I could of used your hat here in Michigan one week ago. LOL

I hate the word "sport" also!!  And, I hate "grip"...I prefer bite, reef, thrash, shake...monkeys grip, real dogs bite.   I don't have no stinkin' "sport" dogs!!  Where did that "sport" stuff start, anyway?  I like a dog who barks out of defense, hate a squeeky prey bark, want good balance (defense/prey) in the dog.  Some dogs are defensive and need to be balanced into prey, while some are prey dogs, who need to be balanced toward the defense side.  Okay, I'll get off my soap box!!

Where are you located?  Maybe we could suggest a good helper for you, locally.  Evaluation would be the best.  What is your dog out of.  Pedigrees sometimes show tendencies toward certain styles of working dogs.

Guys and gals.....first and foremost, I am a helper. I have evaluated my own dog. He has only been on a sleeve 3 times because that's all I needed to see what he was going to be. I purposely waited till he was older. I have no doubt he will bite a sleeve...I know he'll bark....I will do the rag/tug thing as this will be his first time on a stranger.

Mystere, I'm the only one that has done any puppy bite work with him.  That's why I asked how would people start him now....:-)