I have made almost every mistake possible when buying a pup. Now I need your help!

Question

I have made almost every mistake possible buying a new puppy. Here is my story.

    I can hardly believe it's 3 a.m. and I've been reading all you have to say! Such a wealth of information! I can see many places that I have gone wrong.

    First, I didn't buy a Leerburg pup. I can clearly see that was the first mistake! In fact, I got Gatsby (sort of black & cream American) from a fairly respectable breeder... to our dismay we found that she had a heart defect (valve didn't close after birth) and she was the only one in several litters with this problem. We got our money back, but I couldn't trade in a pup that stole my heart in the first week we had her! In the seven short months she lived, I found her to be the most wonderful dog I have ever owned.

    She bonded to me immediately & would never leave my heel. I could let her out & know that she would never leave the yard regardless--she couldn't stand to be away from me for too long, I guess! She would come when called & sit well. I decided against any other training considering her short life expectancy...but she was so well-mannered that it really didn't seem necessary. I held her when they put her down & I swear a part of me died, too! I was depressed for weeks. Then the problem came--his name is Meeko.

    I just had to have another GSD to fill that void!! We, completely by chance (we weren't really looking at that point, but knew that we'd like to get another one) found Meeko--he is one of the White GSD misfits that no one likes to talk about (more info on this??). I thought he was gorgeous despite the fact that they are "inferior." We got him at 4 mos. of age--he had not been housebroken! The people had several little girls that would drag him around on the long line -- thankfully he is excellent around our sons; (They are twins, both 14 mo. old now), but often balks at the concept of a leash (not surprisingly).

    Problem is he is a runner. He will take off at the drop of a hat, driving me totally crazy. I try to approach him slowly & get him back in the house (as our neighborhood streets can get some fast traffic) as soon as I can, but often he will just bolt as soon as I get close! I am infuriated! He refuses to pay a bit of attention to me (and only somewhat to my husband)--I have always been in charge of the "training" or "handling" of any breathing creature in our house.

    Meeko has recently obtained a prong collar, but I want to make sure that I use it properly (a level 10 seems harsh to me at first, but I'm totally willing to try it if you think it's appropriate). Also he still has "accidents" in the house if we leave him for more than an hour. I can't keep him from going spastic every time we have company (I've had to pay for clothing & dry cleaning bills from his jumping up habits) & I find myself getting angry. He has a thing for the garbage (including diapers, which is really disgusting let me tell you!) I know I shouldn't get mad and I keep telling myself that he's a normal pup, and will never be another Gatsby.

    So do I need to lay down the law with him, or what? What steps can I take to undo some of the nasty habits that are already there!? I'm going absolutely insane here! I have checked out the pix of the gorgeous Leerburg pups and wish I could go back & do things differently! But Meeko is a part of our family & we want so badly to see him do well & learn how to behave better. I really don't think he's stupid--I can see the cogs & wheels just behind those beautiful black eyes ...I just need a little confidence!?!! Yikes!

    Thanks so much,
  A.J.

Accepted Answer

The mistakes that you made are no different than those made by other people every day. Unless you are in the dog business you can not be expected to know how to go about acquiring a new pet for your family. Frankly, I think the cost of my puppies is a little prohibitive for people looking for pets.

Your new dog definitely needs work. You need to start with a dog crate in your home. I like the wire cages vs. the plastic crates. The wire cages give the dog more room to see things around him and they seem to relax better in them. Kennel-aire in Minneapolis makes a good one.

Once the dog is crate trained (it takes about a week) he should be put in the crate every single time you leave the house and every time you have company. This will eliminate the peeing when you are gone, the jumping on people when you are there.

Once the pup has had some basic dog obedience he will calm down. Then he can be around strangers. But until he will mind and go lay down when you tell him to, he should be crated.

The garbage problem is another matter. I would start by putting mouse traps on top of your garbage. If he ignores them and is willing to get snapped, then escalate to a rat trap. This is going to keep most dogs out of the garbage.

There may be a problem with the dog’s diet that causes him to eat your kids poop. Make sure you are feeding an all-natural diet. I would also give him a good human vitamin every day. Dog vitamins are pretty poor.

The running can be cured with a drag line and a prong collar. Keep the line by the door. Every time the dog goes outside he gets a 20 foot line attached to him. They never know where the end of that line is. So you always want to be within reach of the line when you call. If he does not come he should be corrected (this is assuming that you have done your motivational training and he knows what the word "come" means).

I strongly recommend that you get my training video titled Basic Dog Obedience. You need this tape badly. It will solve all the problems you refer to and a lot more. A major part of your problem is related to the fact that you have a poorly bred dog. His genetic make-up limits what he is capable of learning and how well he learns.