I recently got an 18 month old male German Shepherd. His mother is from Slovakia and hid father is Czech.

I have been going thru the pack structure program. Day one he was calm and submisive in the crate. On Day 2 same on leash with me in the house. Now, I am letting him drag a leash in the house and still no problems.

With that said I started to work his drive and I was disappointed to say the least. I have a kong on a rope. The first day he went after it with a moderate drive. But, after a few minutes he lost interest. I have been working with him for 1-2 minutes 2-3 times each day. Now when we are towards the end, I take the toy and put it away. I have swithced to a tug type toy. He seems to like it better and his drive is higher as we go along.

The question is: With building drive and focus DVD (which I have), will I be able to get his drive to his peak potential. He has had some basic obediance and is very calm and submisive.

Also, I was looking into Shutzhund training with him. If he does not have enough drive when and how will I know? Are there any other competitve events that we could participate in. One thing I have noticed is when we are on walks he keeps his nose on the ground most of the time. This makes me believe that he might be a great tracker.

Steven;
Could you give us just a little more information concerning your dog's background. What type of training have you done with him?
Did you do the obedience training or did someone else? Was it compulsion based. Need to know the personality of your dog also.
Thanks, this will help me help you.
Roni

I just got him on Friday. He has a very good temperment. I have walked him everyday. On walks he pays no attention to other dogs. On occasion, if another dog is aggressive through a fence, he will alert on them. But, I make a light correction on the leash and say sshhhh rather loudly and he snaps right out of it. He never makes aggressive moves towards other dogs.

The obedience was done prior to my getting him and I do not know the method used. I have not been giving him very many commands, since we are building pack structure.

I have not done any training with him. Except building drive excercies. I will present the toy and move it quickly behind my back and switch hands just like on the DVD. At the moment I think he is at his peak, I let him bite it. I then run the circle and go into my arms. I switch between playing tug and running again. At the end I take the toy and put it away. At this point he is still trying to get to the toy. He does fine in this excersise. He has a calm firm grip (I am not able to pull it out of his mouth)and does not chew it. He will bite ans hold. I only do this for 1-2 minutes at a time.

Steven,
At the beginning of the dvd it's said some dogs prefer tugs. Have you tried a tug? Or a bite tube? Also a Kong is pretty heavy, if you accidently hit the dog with it, it will hurt. If you're going to insist on a ball toy, I would suggest something softer.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

I am ording the med tug and orbee ball. I will try those.

OK FIRST of all you just got the dog and he doesn't trust you.
YOU WILL NOT see his drive until his comfort level comes up.
I would not do any obedience exercises, no command stuff, no corrections for command stuff. Pack structure corrections are ok, but take into consideration the personality of the dog.
TRUST IS KEY HERE. I would tether him to you, and all things come from you, including feeding him from your hand. This seems to help accelerate the bonding process.
Have fun!!!

I understand what you are saying. I have been going thru the pack structure program. According to the DVD, once he is calm and submisive you can move to phase 2. So, that is what I did. Once in phase 2 he was calm and submissive, So, by day 3 he was dragging the leash in house. Every where I go he goes. At this point he is not teathered to me. But, he follows me everywhere. I do not tell him to he does. If I move he is looking. If I get up he gets up.

Although the DVD has a ton of information, it does not specifically say when to move on and that trust has been established. This is based on the fact that every dog is different.

Do I continue with build pack struture and not do drive work? Or his he where he is suppose to be? I can take more time. But, is this time or his behavior? His behavior is showing trust.

A dog can accept you as a leader before they are really comfortable with and trust you. It's like getting a new job, you know who your boss is, you respect your boss for the position he holds, but trust and a good working relationship does not come right away.

I would say that his behavior is saying that he understands your position as leader. Trust is built through time spent with your dog. Allowing him to learn the rules of living with you (pack structure) and that you are a consistent and fair leader. Letting him learn that the good things in life come from you.

I would go for at least 2 weeks before moving on to the next step.

Ok, makes sense. Should I be doing the drive building excercises? Or should I wait the two weeks before doing anything other than pack structure?

I would follow Roni's advice as far as corrections, tethering and feeding.

I think that you can go ahead with the drive building exercises for something to help exercise the dog and keep him mentally stimulated along with walks and such, but I would keep him on a long line in case you have to get control at some point or another.