Barbara wrote in another thread:

"Vince: When I wrote that I expect her not to be mouthy or jump..and I expect manners to be adhered to that she has learned...I'm talking about a 19 week old pup..if she would have..my correction would have been a firm NO..and/or OFF..and replaced in a sit/stay."

That does not sound positive to me, rather a negitive puppy experience, not what you want in socilation at all. Puppies have no manners at 19 weeks hahahah even adult's in the pack give special concideration with puppies that age with manners. Positive Re-direct would be my action.

Barbara:

Assuming that the learning phase of a command is complete, distractions are then introduced to proof your dog. Ed uses a level system from 1 to 10. One being a very small distraction and 10 being a huge distraction. Distractions are introduced at the lower end of the scale and slowing increased after mastering each level. Expecting a 19 week old pup to have completed the learning phase of the sit/stay command and then to keep that position while a stranger approaches him in a busy store while other dogs and people are walking about is setting the pup up for failure. This completely contradicts my prior thread's theme of always setting your pup up for success.

 Quote:

Originally posted by Lonny B.:
That does not sound positive to me, rather a negitive puppy experience, not what you want in socilation at all. Puppies have no manners at 19 weeks hahahah even adult's in the pack give special concideration with puppies that age with manners. Positive Re-direct would be my action.

Okay I am going to show my ignorance here- A positive redirect- do you mean bringing out a toy and getting the pup to focus on you and giving a reward, or would you pull out some tasty treat and ask the dog to focus on that and maybe ask for a sit and then give a treat. I think what you are saying is that you would not give a "No" or a correction at all to a young pup. As that would be a negative experince. Is this right?

This is exactly what I am trying to figure out how to deal with, with my new pup. At what age or developmental stage can you givethe correction for jumping and mouthing and carrying on around new peopleor other dogs?

Lonny that brings up another point that I will mention. If the dog is a SchH candidate putting a dog in a sit or even more relevant a down while a stranger approaches to pet my pup is sending off a signal to my dog that the stranger is dominant over my pup. I do not want this for my SchH candidate. At a later age when a stronger confidence level has been established I might add this as a proofing exercise.

GSDSAR,

That is just what I am saying... I would not give a correction to a young pup like this for being social with strangers, If he looks like he is going to jump or bite I re-direct him to me with food or toy.. whatever and put him in a sit, relese,reward for beign a good boy then allow the stranger to pat and then leave... I always tell the stranger he is in manners training, people will usually respect this and do what you ask.

Sorry had to edit this post, forgot to answer the age to correct question, my answer is never, I want him to feel he can jump up and bite people, I avoid the situation all togther. My dog is 7 months now and when I walk him in public, most people will stop and ask if they can pet him, at which time I tell them beware he may jump up and if he does just step back. I find that everyone who is ok with this don't mind the mouthyness either, they play with him and they both seem to enjoy the interaction. Everyone that comes to my house knows the rules, if they don't like it they can stay home hahahha

But he does not really care about meeting new people now it seems... he just gives a quick sniff and wonders off... if even that.. people trip when he ignores them... When he is off leash on the trail, he won't even go up to people he just trots on by like they are not even there. Aloof I think is the word.

I could be way off base here but this is what I do.

I hope to be clear when I ask these questions.
Your approach in allowing these behaviors is because you are approaching dog training in a sports specific manner? A need to "keep" what you call as "drive", Yes?
I say this incase there are others that might be reading your posts as truth to training the so called "average family" dog. Would you would then see it as a mistake? Kojak

Kojak:

I sometimes am guilty of assuming that my audience realizes when I am focusing my responses towards SchH. I do not think that this is one of them though.

Lonny B.- Thanks for the info- it sounds like a good approach to me. I dont have plans to immediately start my pup in sport, he will start with air-scent work and hopefully train as a USAR dog, so I guess I want him to feel as if he can approach anybody and it is a good thing. The re-direct is a great idea, pretty much what I had in mind , minus a correction. I guess I can use the same approach with other dogs. And if I dont know the dog, then its a "no go" on the meet.

Thanks again for the advise.