IT is hard for Byron Hulbert to get any work done some days. Training Link the German shepherd while being constantly stopped by admirers is a tough gig.

The huge 10-month-old pup weighs in at 48kg and could end up around the 60kg mark by the time he stops growing at about upwards at around 18 months.

Link is in training as a personal protection dog, but Mr Hulbert said he would keep him as his demonstration dog for the company he works for, K9 Centre Dog Trainers, based in Tweed Heads South.

He services the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast region, providing a variety of different training for different working dogs and pets.

"We get stopped constantly by people saying how big he is. They are even more impressed when I tell them he is still a pup," Mr Hulbert said.

Don't think Link will be the stereotypical, snarling guard dog though, in fact just the opposite.

"He is really well socialised around kids and adults and won't even bark unless commanded to,"

Link loves the water and his daily training schedule includes plenty of swimming, something that is good for his growing bones and joints.

"Yeah, he does lots of swimming because it is low impact on his joints as they grow, he is doing more running now that he is getting a bit older."

Other activities the pair work on as part of his training involve a ball on a rope, a rag for tug-of-war games.

Because Link is such a big boy, Mr Hulbert knows not to over-work him and compared him to a rugby league prop.

"He is like a frontrower rather than a winger and I only work him accordingly. He is good in shorter stints."

Mr Hulbert said he had always loved dogs and been interested in becoming a trainer. "I was working in a stunt show overseas and decided I wanted to do it, so came back to the coast."