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May 19, 2011

I just got a 8 week old GSD that I want to raise as a service dog. We have your tracking through drive tapes at our department. What should I do with my new pup?

Full Question:

I have an eight week old GSD puppy that I would like to train as a police service dog. I have tested him according to your procedure and found him to be excellent. The dog has a great prey drive at this point.

My question is when, and how, do I begin tracking training with him?

I purchased your video on Tracking through Drive for my current police K-9 and found it to work well.

Thanks,
Scott
K-9 Handler

Ed's Answer:

Glad the test helped.

There are a couple of points.

TTD should not be used on a dog until its 12 months old. The early stages of tracking are motivational foot step tracking. I have written about this on my web site in the Q&A on tracking The video for this is Video 203. TTD is way to much exercise and pups don’t have the concentration to cover those distances and remain in drive.

You should start the foundation of bite work right now. It’s done in prey drive. You do ALL OF THE FOUNDATION bite work training between 8 weeks and 12 months by yourself. Here are the videos that show you how:
- Building Drive Focus and Grip
- Preparing Your Dog for the Helper

If you want a service dog, keep your pup THIN, DON’T over exercise, and x-ray the pup at 5 months. If its got bad hips you want to know at 5 months and not 12 months.

Good luck

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