For general training information
Another decision that needs to be made is
whether you will select a female or male.
Males tend to be larger than females and I think males also tend to be a little more confident and self assured.
It's my opinion that females tend to bark a little more than males.
People often ask me , whether they should get a puppy or an adult dog, for protection training? My answer is that getting a puppy is more of a gamble than getting an adult dog. However, testing a puppy and working with a reputable breeder, who knows what you are looking for, will increase the chances of getting a puppy that can develop into a dog, with the mental characteristics necessary to do protection training.
The other issue is that it's difficult to know if a puppy will develop structural problems, such as hip or elbow problems. It is wise to make sure that the puppy's parents have been checked for possible genetic structural problems.
With an adult dog, what you see is pretty much what you get.
One of the drawbacks to getting an adult dog, is that you will not get to bond with the dog through it's critical socialization period (up to 16 weeks). A potential difficulty also associated with acquiring an adult dog, is not being able to socialize the dog to your lifestyle. This could include teaching the dog to live with cats and other pets, or socializing the dog and training it to respond to family members, who may have trouble controlling an outgoing dog.
Another area that can be a disadvantage to getting an adult dog, is if you are going to use the dog for a highly specialized type of training. It is likely that an adult dog has already had some training, and it could be that this training may conflict with the training program that will make the dog deployable. In this case, it may still be better to acquire an adult dog, with the understanding that it may be necessary to drop the dog from a training program and start with a new dog.
To help prevent this type of set back, any predictable problem areas should be tested for. It should also be understood that a puppy will probably not be deployable until it is about one and a half years ( 18 months) old. If you need a dog fairly soon, it's probably best to go with an adult dog.
You will have a better chance of getting a puppy that can do protection, if you get it from a breeder, that is breeding for those characteristics. The puppies genetic history, can be an important factor in selecting the right pup.
Many of the protection dog sports can be thought of as temperament tests for breeding stock. With this in mind, you may want to look for a pup with titled parents. Even though the parents are titled, does not mean the puppy will be a good protection dog when it grows up, or even that the parents deserve the titles they possess. However if the parents possess the proper make up for protection, it is more likely that the pup will too.