Urgent!! need advice on training a guard dog!!

[watchdogps]

I'm probably coming in late, but I would cancel and rethink the whole thing. First off a rott/gsd isn't an LGD. It comes from breeds with the potential to have a lot of play/prey drive. Do the people who have the dog know what to look for in an LGD? I doubt it. Even within LGD breeds you need to know how to evaluate the pups. Some will be good for certain stock, some with other types. Some not at all.
Besides that, with the conflict of opinions on how to raise the dog it is more fair to the do to wait until you can agree than to get it and have people doing opposing things and confusing it and setting it up for failure.

 

[Zonoma]

An intelligent dog, especially a family-loyal breed like you are considering, knows when someone belongs and when they don't. The difference between a socialized dog and unsocialized one is this: A socialized dog will try to chase intruders off without harming ones that it considers 'harmless' (aka children). An unsocialized one will attack to kill because it will not know the difference between 'harmless but doesn't belong' and 'dangerous and doesn't belong'.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. I don't know about you but I'd rather lose eggs and even chickens to someone's punk kid than have my dog kill them. Better yet, I'd like punk kids to TRY and take my chickens but get the bejeezers scared out of him by a big dog who was smart enough not to try and kill him.

 

[chikinwing]

I completly agree with what Dainerra said in reference to the breed/breeds of dog and the importance of training. All dogs should be obedience trained and socialized. If you are getting a puppy then definitly get it into training classes. Like someone else said, the trainers do really train the owners. You and your family need to learn how, when, and why a dog responds the way they do, and to get them to respond and react to situations the way you need them too. It takes as mentioned consistency and patience with shorter but more frequent training sessions. I am glad that your stepfather has decided to let the puppy get training, you will be soooo much happier with a well balanced, socialized, and trained dog. And the dog will love you for it! Good Luck