I personally think our pup is extremely stubborn and prone to be dominant. For example at only 4 months old, he tried showing his dominance by "humping" when I was playing in the family room with him. I am the only one in the family he tries this with.

He also listens much better to Ty than he does to me, but I am the one who spends more time caring for him (training, feeding, walking, playing).

Also walking him, if I use a a regular lead he refuses to walk. He will sit down and pull back. If I put the prong collar on him, he walks next to me without a problm and will sit at my side if we stop. So after doing so well with the prong, I tried the regular lead again, and same sit and pull back behavior.

I have the 8wks to 8 months DVD and I read here for hours. I feel like a Fraley flunkie. Also in the video Ed states many people expect too much out of their puppies too soon. Is expecting him to sit and down too much at this age? I'm working on adding stay but without much luck at all. Currently I'm using clicker training....

Thanks.

Oh one more question...is it possible to have a family pet and sport dog in one? Ty would like to do schutzhund, which I'm not so sure of due to having young kids around often. But agility looks like something maybe the whole family could partcipate in.

Thanks again. I just want a well behaved pup that listens....and sometimes it feels like I'm asking for the impossible.

It could be that Ty is able to just be more interesting to the pup without really trying. Along with that, maybe you're trying a little too hard at the pack leader stuff and may be better off with more play then obedience for a while.

I have 3 kids and 3 "Sport dogs" with no problems. Do you have a club near you?

This pup is about 6 months old correct?

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

This pup is about 6 months old correct?

Yes, from a prior thread it looks like about that.

He'll be 5 months old next week...the 17th I believe. Yes, shame on me, I still haven't sent in his registration paperwork.

To answer another question: We have looked into the local kennel club and I am just waiting for Ty to get back from training before we go to the first meeting. Their next obedience class is in January. I've considered going to one at PetCo before then(?).

He's doing much better at leaving the 2 year old alone which I'm thankful for, but yes I want puppy to mind me in other areas because Ty isn't always around due to his career and sometimes those absences are quite extended.

But no Schutzhund club Danity?

At 5 months old he is still very very much a pup.
I would focus on doing lots of positive obedience work, marker training is a wonderful thing. But don't forget to enjoy this wonderful gangly ackward spazzy stage. It passes all too soon.

Group obedience classes are good for learning how to do things once you get home, and to work on getting them used to being around other dogs. We are
But I wouldn't do a class that has open play time, and I wouldn't expect great results while actually in class when it comes to learning new things.

Really anything extra you can do with him at this point will help to calm him down.

I'm not sure. I know Ty wanted to go down to watch a show in OKC. I haven't really researched it because honestly, it's not my thing.

Originally, the intent was for Kaz to be a family pet and for our 8 year old to show him in 4-H and maybe in Junior shows.

Thanks, Jennifer.

Socialization has been somewhat limited concerning other dogs. He's been around my friends' Pit, Lab, Beagle, Great Dane and a Daschund. He seems to be a bit on the fearful of other dogs because he does the sit/pull back/refuse to move forward when he hears the other neighborhood dogs barking when we go on our walks. These other dogs are all fenced in and are not a threat. Even our cat (who follows us on our walks) isn't scared. We're not sure where this developed because he's always been this way and has never been attacked or hurt by another dog (unless it happened while still in the care of the breeder).

I'll look into when PetCo offers their next session. Hopefully there is one before the local kennel club's in January.

Are you near OKC?