Hello All,

I have just discovered this web site a few days ago - What a wealth of information!

I don't know where to start with all the great advise I have read in the articles, E-Books, previous topics - My head is spinning.

I am not new to dogs but new to training one. We had a German that ended up to be a wonderful family pet but I want to do things differently this time.

2 weeks ago we brought a new dog into the home from a foster home so I did not have the time I intended to plan the next time around.


The puppy is a healthy newly neutered 7 month old retriever/husky mix - mostly retriever except one blue eye.
He knows sit, come, fetch, paw maybe at 20% of what this site speaks of.

His home is 5 acres of wooded property that is soon to be getting an electronic fence that has remote training capability.

THE QUESTION - finally
Since he has been in the home for 2 weeks now - Can we go back to better establish the pack? and start from there

Can both my husband and I share that role?

Then start with the basic obediance, then remote collar training?

RIGHT?

I am ordering the videos for my own training and reference.

But can you help me get started?

Thanks,
Kathleen

Also, first time posting to a forum so if this isn't appropriate - let me know

Is there a spell check among all the options?

There's no spell check that I know of. Can't you tell?

I would definitely get Basic Obedience, video numbver 302, no question.

It has much more than Basic Ob; it has a whole section on "living with dogs."

You can absolutely go back to Day One and establish pack structure. You can read Ed Frawley's articles, and listen to free podcasts:
http://www.leerburg.com/dogtrainingpodcasts.htm

You can listen to the two Groundwork podcasts and get a good beginning on pack leadership.

Also, you can read free eBooks if you prefer:
http://www.leerburg.com/dogtrainingebooks.htm

All this will get you off to a great start while you wait for your videos.

Oh, and Kathleen, I know you'll want to have a reliable recall with your pup. My own feeling is that the recall is probably the most important command you will train.

The video (#302) covers it.

And WELCOME! You came to the right place.

I am with Connie on all the info. You came to the right place. Welcome and congrats on your pup.

yes if you read my posts you will see that - yep no spell checks
At least we have the funny faces
As for pack leaders, in a pack there is alpha male and a alpha female, so both of you are in charge over the dog.Check out eds' dvd that Connie mentioned, very helpful tools.
Welcome and good luck!
http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/cadogancna/

Welcome Kathleen !

Start over right now with...

http://www.leerburg.com/groundwork.htm

It's NEVER too late to begin again with pack leadership <:-)

Thank you all!! (where's all the smilies)
- I think he may have been a tad sick before we had neutered - he got antibiotics and 6 days after the procedure now - he seems like a different dog -much more active-very nippy,playful-leash bitting.
Ugh!
It's been 14 years since I had a new dog in the house!
Can't wait for my videos!

Thanks again so much

Kathleen
Welcome! This site has been educating me for some time now and I can't recommend it highly enough! The E-books are totally right on, especially the groundwork one. We just adopted a new GSD from the local shelter and the E-book on adding a new dog into a household with already-existing dogs was just invaluable.....Ed knows his stuff! I followed the instructions and it's been the smoothest transition I've ever had with a new dog, pup or older. Congrats and good luck!!

The only thing I would disagree with here is the spell check. While it is technically true that the forum does not have a built in spell checker, the Firefox browser does, and it will flag misspellings and allow you to correct them as you type in your post