When should my dog show protection? - Page 1

I have a gsd that is 2.9 yrs old and will not be protective of his surrounding.  I got him when he was 11 mons and he was already socialized.  I was hoping that he will become protective of his surroundings when he grows older.  Yet, I have not seen that in him.  He will not bark or even growl at any stranger that comes to my house.  He wags his tail.  I worked him in schutzhund.  His drive, prey, and hardness is there, but he doesn't show any signs of protectiveness of his surrounding.  Is this normal for a socialized dog?  If it is, how do I go about to make him become more protective of his surrounding?  The main thing is, I want to be able to feel safe having him around with my kids when I'm not present.

Any suggestion will greatly be appreciated.

Thank you.

If you don't have a whole bunch of training, you don't want him to get aggressive. He is a deterrent as is...and nobody is suing you for medical damages. I'm glad my girl sits quietly in the car without going psycho.  

If he is not showing any territorial aggression by now, he won't I'm afraid.  All of my dogs started barking  around 6-8 months.

That kind of thing is genetic.  I guess you could teach him to bark on command, but  he will never be a deterrent IMHO.

I agree with Red Sable, if you haven't seen it by now it's probably not likely to happen.  If you wanted him to be more protective of the home you probably should have started doing things a little more different to raise his suspicion level up so that he didn't think every time someone came to the door they were coming to play with him & love on him but rather he should have been able to process that not EVERYONE that comes to his house is a welcomed guest.  My dog gets put on a down stay in my foyer and if I am letting someone in that is a welcome guest that he can accept he gets a command and knows he can relax. If it's a stranger or repair man he stays on his down stay and knows this person is not a "friend" but he's to keep his eye on things.

With my 3yr old male we did a lot of socializing up til he was around 7months old.  After that I started cutting it back to raise his suspicion level of strangers & getting him to react to the doorbell ect.

Part is genetics but part is also conditioning. 

Get back with me in two months, I should be done writing my fourth book. This book is titled. A Dog's Bark   How to handle train and own a watchdog. I think it will be helpful.

Interesting that you mention prey drive. Some dogs that are very high in prey drive and super low in defense show the characteristics you describe. The threshold for them to feel a threat is so high that it seems like it isn't there. I am very familiar with this, as my boy, now 10 and a half is just like that. A PREY MONSTER! He will not go into defense on the training field, just not how he is wired. In his younger years I felt very much like you describe. As a single female, I often doubted that he would be protective of me if needed. Don't give up hope though. I wouldn't be surprised if your boy wouldn't make you proud in a bad situation. There have been two instances where my dog has indeed shown the protective tendencies- twice in 10 yrs, but I am still here and well, so he is doing something right. Many dogs truly know, I believe, when there is a serious threat, but they just don't sweat the small stuff. I would MUCH rather have this than the opposite, a dog that goes off at any sound or anything out of the ordinary. Both are mostly genetics, with a good dash of environment and socialization. Good luck! Theresa

 Thank you for the replies.  

My gsd's pedigree is good...has Gent od Policie, Reno Jipo-me, and many other good Czech gsds.  I am somewhat glad and feel safe that he is the way he is, any stranger can pet him.  Yet, at the same time, I would also like him to at least bark once in a while when stranger comes. 

His drive is high, so Sheesh, I hope he is what you're saying about your 10 years old gsd.

I personally like a balance of prey and defense,( because I believe that is the proper GSD temp)  so I agree with you menyuamhmoob. 

Leerburg has some good ideas on his The First Steps of Defense, and his PPD  DVD.  I know a few on here don't like him, but I think he has a lot of good information, and I agree with a lot of what he says.  Might be worth a look.

if he aint got it then he just aint got it but on the other hand its a good thing you wouldent like your dog jumping and growling at everybody so i would be happy with what you have got

I don't think a gsd can show protection young enough!  My little one was defending her dropped leash in a field at 3 months...

Just because a pup has defensive drive doesn't mean that it is going to be a ruthless and undiscriminating killer like some here would have you think.  It is an important component of the gsd.

Now, when you make comments such as "it is great that strangers can pet him and he is good..." that is cause for concern in my books.  IMHO I think a dog's defensive drive can be deflated by encouraging contact with strangers- especially on your property- and by bringing them to communal dog pens where you "force them to play nice" so that the wingnuts don't go manic over their ornamental lapdog being sniffed at the wrong way.

Just sayin'...