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#254529 - 10/09/09 05:18 PM 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions.
Sean Thorp
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Registered: 08/24/09
Posts: 19

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Peterbilt is a 16 wk old GSD. I have had him since he was 8 wks. I have a wife and son 5. After about a week. I started working on clicker/marker training and he learned very fast. He now understands sit, down, look at me, touch it, go to your place, and is completely house trained. He knows how to fetch and out fairly reliably He has a crate that he sleeps in and we put him in when he gets snotty. I keep a leash on him most of the time in the house. He is pretty good on leash and does not pull except on rare occasions. We take him for two walks a day for about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile each. He does walk out in front some of the times but is constantly looking back and if he starts to pull at all we stop until he comes back to us. We go through doors first. He only gets fed after a sit or going to his place. He gets about half his food via treats during training sessions (4-5 a day) at door for sitting and for generally doing things we like. He has a kong that he gets in the morning with peanut butter in it. and occasionally will get a lamb ear to chew on. He is on Wolf Cub solid food. I don't shower him in affection but do tell him he is a good dog and pet him when it seems appropriate.

Since about 10 weeks old he would occasionally get in to prey drive on my socks or shorts or legs and nip at me as I or my wife or son walk past him. I try to redirect him with a toy and it seems to work about 50% of the time. The other 50% he jumps back on the legs shorts or socks. When I tell him "no" he will stop for a bit and then start barking/howling at me and start again if/when I move. When this happens he goes right to the crate. He occasionally will grab a rug or something and start playing with it/ or eating it. We can redirect about 50% of the time the other 50% he just goes right back and ends up in the crate. If he gets something like a tissue or something else and we tell him "no" he will drop it but will go right back to it if there is another similar item.

In the past few days he has seemed to be testing boundaries more and will occasionally decide not to sit on command, or not out a toy. He also seems to be going after our legs,shorts or sock much faster now and barking/ howling more when the redirect doesn't work. When we tell him to go to his place he has also begun to resist and is starting to flop on the floor if we try to pick him up and put him there or pull him there with a leash. He has a high food drive and i can get him to do most things with it. He does not have a high toy drive or praise drive though, and petting seems to just lead to nipping unless it is when we first come home or he is very tired.

He has never shown aggression toward us. But at the same time seems very uninterested

We have not given him any real corrections other than "no" and the crate. When he was younger and wouldn't stop the nipping I would grab him by his cheeks but this only got him excited. A few times I got him in the prone position and kneeled over him as I held him down I petted him and did not scold him. When I did this he did calm down but I am worried this would damage our relationship.

I am wondering in these times he is rebelling should I be doing any correcting or just keep going to the crate. When he is biting my shorts legs and i tell him "no" and he starts barking and keeps biting should this still be only the crate. What about when he flops on the ground and nips at our hands when we go to pick him up and put him in the crate for nipping at us? My gut says he is a very strong willed dog and at some time this will have to be dealt with but I am far from an expert. We have been working hard on establishing pack structure but I may be missing something.

I have a trainer that is going to be starting with us in two weeks who has worked with Ed in the past (allpointscanine) and I am sure he will help some with this but I would also like to get some opinions on this from other experts to expand my understanding.

Thanks in advance.
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#254530 - 10/09/09 06:10 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Sean Thorp]
Melissa Thom
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What do you do for fun? It seems to me that every time he is starting to engage you with interest he gets shut down instead of trying to sculpt the outgoing behavior into something useful.

Affection doesn't equal interaction or play time. If he grabs the rug and you want him to stop... you need to redirect and keep him on it until the rug is forgotten.

You're asking a lot of discipline for a puppy. It's not bad for basic structure but remember that he is a young animal still. He will act goofy.. he will want to play.. he will be mouthy. They're little kid moments :-)
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#254531 - 10/09/09 06:18 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Sean Thorp]
Sean Thorp
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I forgot to mention he has also recently started snagging chewable items off of coffee tables and desks.
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#254532 - 10/09/09 06:23 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Sean Thorp]
Al Curbow
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this post made me miss having a puppy around!
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#254538 - 10/09/09 06:47 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Sean Thorp]
Connie Sutherland Moderator
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 Originally Posted By: Sean Thorp
I forgot to mention he has also recently started snagging chewable items off of coffee tables and desks.


I'd probably consider this to be an environmental-management thing.

As in: why are there chewable items there, at his level, and he is unsupervised? ;\)
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#254540 - 10/09/09 06:51 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Al Curbow]
Anne Jones

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Registered: 04/29/04
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What are your goals with this pup. Is he a working line pup that you plan on training in SchH or some other sport or what? If it is I wouldn't be so quick to extinguish his drive to bite. You will be setting yourself up for a whole lot of problems for later on. I would not be using his crate as a form of punishment, which it seems like you are doing from your post. It is one thing to put them in there occasionally to give them a time out ( & toss in a treat for him when you do to make it a fun place to go to) when they are really getting nuts, but that would not be very often. You would be better off redirecting him to a tug or some other toy that it is ok for him to bite & play with. Or redirect him with treats & marker training. Or use a tug or rag on a pole line to chase(prey drie) & bite. This will give him something that it is OK for him to bite without getting into trouble with you. It will also increase his desire to play with a toy. He is still a baby & needs to be treated like one. You need patience & need to enjoy his baby behavior...don't expect so much obedience so early. Let him be a pup. They are only pups for such a short time...enjoy him. I don't understand why people are in such a rush to get pups to behave like grown trained dogs. If you all don't want pups & to deal with pup behaviors, buy adult trained dog.

Edited by Anne Jones (10/09/09 06:55 PM)
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#254544 - 10/09/09 07:51 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Melissa Thom]
Connie Sutherland Moderator
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 Originally Posted By: Melissa Thom
What do you do for fun? It seems to me that every time he is starting to engage you with interest he gets shut down instead of trying to sculpt the outgoing behavior into something useful.


What a good thing to think about. \:\)

Sean, do you have fun times? Play times? You sure don't want to miss out on any of that. ;\)
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#254547 - 10/09/09 08:33 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Connie Sutherland]
Dennis Jones

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Registered: 06/13/04
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Loc: Richmond Va

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No advice from me without pictures of your pupper...


photobucket.com is your friend


with my counsel you too can have a friendly well adjusted dog just like my Erika here below....

Edited by Dennis Jones (10/09/09 08:33 PM)
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#254550 - 10/09/09 09:33 PM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Dennis Jones]
Connie Sutherland Moderator
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Registered: 07/13/05
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Loc: North-Central coast of Califor...

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 Originally Posted By: Dennis Jones
... with my counsel you too can have a friendly well adjusted dog just like my Erika here below....



... and photos to prove it, too!
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#254558 - 10/10/09 01:54 AM Re: 16 wk old GSD Leadership Questions. [Re: Melissa Thom]
Sean Thorp
Leerburg Web Board User


Registered: 08/24/09
Posts: 19

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 Originally Posted By: Melissa Thom
What do you do for fun? It seems to me that every time he is starting to engage you with interest he gets shut down instead of trying to sculpt the outgoing behavior into something useful.

Affection doesn't equal interaction or play time. If he grabs the rug and you want him to stop... you need to redirect and keep him on it until the rug is forgotten.

You're asking a lot of discipline for a puppy. It's not bad for basic structure but remember that he is a young animal still. He will act goofy.. he will want to play.. he will be mouthy. They're little kid moments :-)


Good Point. I probably have not been playing with him as I should. I do take him for walks and do training but have not been playing with him as much as I could. I have not been playing tug with him because his "out" still is not consistant when I do. I have a young son and I have been very diligent (to a fault perhaps) to not do anything that could manifest as resource guarding.

Played with him a few hours, fetch and two item fetch, and seemed to have less incidents. I will keep working on "out" so i can start to play tug.
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