I want to get my 14-month-old Shepherd involved in Schutzhund but I haven’t done much obedience because I didn’t want to ruin his drives. What video or book do you recommend?

If you do it right you can start obedience training at 8 weeks old, and that’s what we do. Most “old school” trainers use correction based training to teach obedience, and we do not advocate that. Corrections have a place after the dog is trained, but not in the teaching phase. By using marker training you can not only teach the dog what is right, but teach him when he’s wrong without using physical correction or punishment. This training also carries over into bitework.

Read this article on Marker Training.

I’d recommend

The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food
The Power of Playing Tug with Your Dog

I have trained my young dog with these methods since 8 weeks old, I’d specifically guide you to the Michael Ellis videos for a preview of what is contained in the DVDs.

You can try using the search function on the website to find the answer to any additional questions. It is located in the left hand corner of every page on our website. Simply type in your search terms or key words and you will be directed to articles, question & answers, free streaming videos and posts on our forum.

I hope this helps. Cindy