Protection issue - Page 2

My dogs is quiet in the house, never heard him bark at the door and he has never shown any aggression towards anyone coming in the house but they are invited and the dog knows this. Your asking your dog to respond to a threat where there is non...yet. I agree he is still young and may take another year to act fully mature. I know mine is just over 2 and still developing and becoming a stronger dog. However I train weekly and I don't worry much if my dog will react when it counts.

Frankly, be happy your dog doesn't bark at everyone and everything. Dogs like that make you desregard their antics when it's the one time you should have listened. A dog that hardly barks will peak your attention much faster than one who never shuts up.

i am fairly new to gsds compared to many others on the board but here is what i think:

the gsd looks intimidating enough without barking. in my neighborhood, if i am out on midnight walks, people frequently cross the street when they see me heading down the sidewalk towards them with my gsd.

i had a lovely lab/gsd/husky for 8 years that never guarded a car or bike but around age 6 got protective of the yard. others i talk to agree that dogs get more protective as they get older, from what i have heard, 4 to 6 years old.

dogs that bark all the time are annoying. my gsd rarely barks but if she does i pay attention.

if you want a dog that barks, get a poodle. :-D. mine yaps at every noise outside, the neigbor's dogs barking etc. she doesn't look scary but her barking combined with my gsd's presence apparently scares people.

Adel sorry to say this but sounds like your dog has little to no level of civil aggression. The reason why your dog doesn't show any level of defense is because he's still a young dog. You say he engages the helper and will play with him too. This tells me that:

1) He might be equipment fixiated hense the sign of the sleeve

2) He see's the helper as his play buddy and not as sparring partner

He show's signs of aggression towards other dogs but this is because he's unsure of himself and lacks confident so he lashes out. A confident dog will know he's domiant without acting aggressive. You say he comes from VA parent(s) but that only means he has the confirmation. Your right though you have a better chance at gettng the type of working dog that is suitable for your envirnoment and purpose with a working line dog.

 My German shepherd was a pussycat, in fact he was occasionally chased by a pussycat!  It didn't matter though, he LOOKED like a German shepherd.  And he didn't bark very often, but when he did, he SOUNDED like a German shepherd!  That was enough to keep bad ppl from trying anything.

You CAN try to build his suspicion,  & many ways to do this....Encourage his barking when aroused.

Then carry it over with the same decoy to your front door, maybe he wears a mask, overcoat, stick, moves erratically etc.

No pressure, just acts suspicious. Build from there.

But I agree with others, you cant change his genetics, you can just work with what you have. My .02c

 The reason why your dog doesn't show any level of defense is because he's still a young dog.

Do you really think that it's normal for an almost 21/2 to show no defense?

he is not young if he is not showing by that time he just dose not have it in him thats all.

Every GSD I have had has shown some protective instinct by the age of 18 months. They've all barked at people who came to the door. Even one who I consider is the softest GSD I've ever owned looks like she'd bite your hand off if you tried anything. No one has ever tested her since she looks so nasty.

A 2 and a half year old dog should be showing some instinct to protect his home. Looks like you got a beautiful pussycat. He is still a German Shepherd though and often that alone is enough to scare people off.

Nope my dog wont bark at the door but if you walk up to the kennel outside...nother story. The home is my domain and I call the shots in there. The dogs are in charge of the yard and surrounding area. I have encouraged the behaviour outside and expect inside voices and behaviour when under the roof. Like a little kid, you don't have them screaming and running inside as they do outside. When outside the rules are different and they are free to do what they want until I say shut up. I allow barking at people, cats, dogs or whatever but I get up, look at the situation and watch how long they bark. If it's a few barks to chase a cat off, fine. Barking for 10 minutes because the neighbors cat walked by isn't allowed.

I used to think it was cute that my dogs howled at fire trucks, now it's a habbit I can't break but I have cut it down to about 30 seconds and then I bang on the window to signal they better shut the hell up.

I have no idea how much or how this dog was worked and how he was raised and with what rules. I'm  not going to call him a shitter because he wont bark at the door. Maybe he's so secure, he doesn't feel the need to bark at a knock. I mean...what's so threatening about a knock? Who's to say if someone just shoved their way in and acted like a nutter, that the dog wouldn't hop to it?

My dog can be petted and even handled by our decoys at club and the next minute be told to bite them. What's the big deal? I don't want my dog deciding who and when he bites, that's my job.