Hi, I have placed questions on the forum before and had great responses. Im hoping I can continue to get great information for some additional issues/questions I have. My female GSD is now almost 11 weeks old and obviously still a puppy. Im sure I am just being impatient, but it seems that now she is not responding to me. When I say come she does not come, when I say sit, she does not sit (she did these commands previously). She doesnt like going for walks (even though i take her toy and some treats with us and try to make it fun) she seems to constantly look up at me and want to jump up on me when walking. She doesnt even seem to injoy walking. She hates riding in the car. Today has been kind of a frustrating day. We went to the lake this am where there is grass and shade to play.. She didnt want to play, she just sat there and she also whines. Is it me.. and i not enthusiastic enough? What can i do to make her have fun on walks and at the park and of coarse the car?

feeling frustrated......
sbs

Susan,

I'm not an expert, all I can do is tell you what my experience was. We brought our puppy home when he was about 9 weeks old. We taught him "come", "sit", "crate", and "down" using food rewards. He knew all those by 12 weeks, and we continued to use food rewards for those behaviors well past that age. Are you still using rewards?

His enthusiasm for walks varied when he was young, so we kept them all very short. Down the block and back was OK, 1/2 mile was too much for him until he was older. We could tell, because at some point in the walk, we'd stop, and he'd lie down. So we assumed the walk was too long for him. Sometimes, when we got to the bottom of the driveway, he would want to turn back. He's 19 months old now and looks forward to our daily walk.

Riding in the car was never an issue, so I can't advise you there. He did (and still does) ride in a crate though.

The playing, I just don't know. All our puppy ever wanted to do was play and explore, so I'm afraid I can't give you any guidance there.

One thing I will say though, at 11 weeks our puppy's world was his crate, our family room and kitchen, and the back yard when he needed to relieve himself. Maybe someone with more experience can comment on this, but perhaps you are throwing too much at her too fast.

Rich

Susan, there are so many posts about puppies and commands/training on here. Everyone of them say the same thing namely that a puppy is a baby and you just cannot expect that kind of responsiveness from a puppy.

Any "training" you're doing now is not really training at all. It's more of imprinting than actual training. Please look up some of Mike Schoonbrood's posts on puppies.

Ed Frawley just posted today about expecting too much from a puppy, and the puppy he was talking about was much older than yours.

If you lose your patience, future training will not go well and you'll mess up the relationship. You're imprinting, not training. You just cannot expect your puppy to sit when you say sit, or down, or stay, or come or anything yet. Not yet.

I agree..a pup is a pup. However...if this is a sudden change, I would get her evaluated by a vet. Sudden behavioral changes can mean that your dog isn't feeling well.

thanks..

I am assuming that you got this pup at 8 or 9 weeks and that it has been all of three weeks that you have had her?

She is more than likely still going through an adjustment period of going from littermates to alone and to a totally new world.

I would have her evaluated by your vet to rule out any illnesses and then once that is done, sit back and enjoy your pup.

Let her be a pup and don't worry about the basic commands of sit, stay, down ect being there right now. Focus on redirecting her mouth to a toy if she is biting on you, taking her out and rolling a ball for her (or throwing it, if she has caught on to that), keeping her on a crate, potty, walk and play schedule and helping her to adjust correctly to her new surroundings.

I agree that she is being imprinted right now and not necessarily trained. Yes, make her do something for the treat, but don't expect a fully mannered dog just yet.
Heck, I don't start obedience in my pups til they are 6 months old or better.
I concentrate on me being the funnest thing in the world and when they do something that is good, I get even more fun to be around.
The main command I focus on is the "come" or "heir" command. I want that solid, everything else is a cakewalk compared to that one.

 Quote: carol boche

I agree that she is being imprinted right now and not necessarily trained. Yes, make her do something for the treat, but don't expect a fully mannered dog just yet.
Heck, I don't start obedience in my pups til they are 6 months old or better.

She's really, really young. It's good to have little "training" sessions so she understands what they are, but your goal should be to make her excited about working with you, not to get that competition heel. Remember, a puppy will still be undergoing radical physical changes 11 months from now, forget 11 weeks. Have fun! Have fun with her. Make sure she knows that she has fun with you. She's going to be awesome before you know it, now is the time to goof around and be silly.

As far as obeying commands, believe me, just when you think they've got it down they decide that "sit" means "down" and "stand" means "sit". You're going to make a lot of mistakes, and if you can't laugh at yourself for being so bad at communicating with such a "simple" animal, you'll never be able to enjoy training her, and you'll overlook the simple joys that her attitude can bring to your life...even when she's being disobedient :p

We got our Pup at Christmastime, right before we got our COLD/WINTER season. So I wasn't too motivated for long walks, and the puppy I don't think would have had the energy, if I was.

Puppies need to SLEEP. I thought my pup SLEPT A LOT and I was concerned enough about it, that I did research on how much sleep a pup/dog needs on the internet. This was true SLEEP, not just resting. I'd say this lasted from age 7 weeks to 4 or 5 months of age.

We didn't start doing any real WALKS until SPRING (at 4-5 months), and even then, he'd tire quickly. Now at (10) months, he seems to have EVERLASTING ENERGY and loves to go on walks.

I think if I would/could, the pup would WALK all DAY! :-)

I'm not sure I would be concerned yet ... just my thoughts ... but there are others with more experience.

Cheers!

thanks everyone. I know she is a puppy and I remind myself all the time of this. The sit, come, down command are used only moderately. If she does not obey, I dont correct. However when she does things she shouldnt do such as bite, jump etc. how can I correct her without correcting her? I have read the information about biting and nipping and follow those words of wisdom by giving her a toy or bone instead of a hand or ankle.
As this is my first pup i am learning probably more then the pup. so forgive me if i am a novice.
I took her to the vet today for a checkup and she has gained 5 lbs. And, she was very well mannered.. i was happy with that.
anyway.. just want a happy pup....

sbs

 Quote: Susan Brandi Smith

However when she does things she shouldnt do such as bite, jump etc. how can I correct her without correcting her? I have read the information about biting and nipping and follow those words of wisdom by giving her a toy or bone instead of a hand or ankle.
As this is my first pup i am learning probably more then the pup. so forgive me if i am a novice.
I took her to the vet today for a checkup and she has gained 5 lbs. And, she was very well mannered.. i was happy with that.
anyway.. just want a happy pup....sbs

Glad to hear that her check up went well.

Redirection is the best thing you can utilize right now. I always kept a toy (rolled up towel or soft tug) in my pocket with the pups. (still do at times) That way I could redirect the minute they put their mouth on me or did something that I did not want them doing.

Just remember to work on the come command and make it SUPER fun when she gets there.