some background on her:

She is 8 months old, Has a high pain tolerances and her prey drive is over the top. If she has nothing to chase she bites hands, feet, legs, and will start biteing my poodle. It's not that shes aggress towards anyone. I think it has to do with how strong her prey drive is.( I could be wrong in this.)
Before coming to this site, I called a trainer,He came over and said she is untrainable," she does not take corrections and the best thing to do is put her down." this told me he does not know anything about training dogs.

After finding this site. I went and got a prong and long lead. Ordered two Training tapes ( not her yet).

here is my problem:


I just got a prong. Last night when I corrected her she acts like nothing happend. And goes righ back to doing what I corrected her on. So a poped her so hard it almost made her fall. She stoped for about 2min and went right back to what she was trying to do. So in fear of doing the wrong thing Our walk was cut short. I took her home and put her in her run.
I would like to know the best thing for me to do till I get the training tapes in my hands. Becuase in reading some stuff on the net. It looks like I have a really hard puppy/dog.
How should I correct her? I dont want to kill her drive by over correcting her. She has the strongest dive I have seen in a Rottweiler.

How can I get the prong to work on her?

Thanks for any help on this.

I don't understand why you are correcting her at all. What is she doing that deserves a correction? If she has nothing to chase then you need to provide her with a toy like a tug or ball on a string to chase, rather than correct her. If she bites your poodle, keep her away from the poodle. What are your goals with the dog? How much exercise is she getting?

For starters that trainer is an idiot. You don't put a dog down just because your too stupid to learn how to train it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> I would make sure the prong collar is fitted properly. Use the search tool on this site to read the article on fitting a prong collar and where to position it. In addition, if your dog is as hard as you say she is I might even go to an e-collar. I doubt you are going to ruin her drive. A hard dog will get over a correction. As for the biting it sounds like prey to me, but it is your responsibility to correct your dog and let her know what is acceptable and what is not. Teaching some manners is not going to kill her drive. In my own situation, I find the more my dogs get worked the less nutty they are around the house. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

 Quote:

Originally posted by Chip Blasiole:
I don't understand why you are correcting her at all. What is she doing that deserves a correction? If she has nothing to chase then you need to provide her with a toy like a tug or ball on a string to chase, rather than correct her. If she bites your poodle, keep her away from the poodle. What are your goals with the dog? How much exercise is she getting?

The reason I was correcting her. We where on our nightly walk. She was trying to eat something off the ground. I told her "leave it" she was still trying to get it. So I corrected her with a pop with the pron. She acted like nothing happend. So i said " leave it" still nothing, so I really poped her. She stoped for about 2min, she turned and tryed to reture to where this thing she wont was. I did not want to show my temper so I took her home.

From what I have read on the prong. I should not have to pop it as hard as I did on her. And them to have her go right back to what I was correcting her on. I got the prong for alot of reason, the main one was to get to quit pulling when we go walking.

Chuck does she know the "Leave it" command, at 8 months maybe not well? She does sounds a little hard headed but its because she doesn't know what is acceptable. I beleive you are quitting too soon.

Here is how I would have handled the eating off the ground thing, if the puppy doesn't have the "leave it" command down. When she bend down to sniff the thing I would say "Leave it" keep walking and as I get to the end of the lead she would correct herself and have to catchup. Don't make a big deal out of it. She probably as big as your patrol dog use to be but she is stil just a pup.

To test the command or see if she got it I would make sure come back to were the item was (after our walk) and when she gets close to the item before she bends downs I'd say "Leave it". Weather she tries to smell or eat it or not you keep walking, if she looks down but doesn't try to eat it she is learning. If she tries to eat it repeat 1st part of this. When she has returned to your side tell her "good girl and pat her". But keep walking, make a big deal out of the postive not the negative.

This is what I meant by a difference in a handler and a trainer, you are treating her like she is already trained, like your patrol dog. You have to train her, she knows only what you have trained her to do, when you know she understands the commands then you correct her. Take it a little slower and stop quitting on her. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

This is just part of having a strong willed dog, you are on your way to having a nice dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

 Quote:

Originally posted by Don B. Ackerson:
Chuck does she know the "Leave it" command, at 8 months maybe not well? She does sounds a little hard headed but its because she doesn't know what is acceptable. I beleive you are quitting too soon.

Here is how I would have handled the eating off the ground thing, if the puppy doesn't have the "leave it" command down. When she bend down to sniff the thing I would say "Leave it" keep walking and as I get to the end of the lead she would correct herself and have to catchup. Don't make a big deal out of it. She probably as big as your patrol dog use to be but she is stil just a pup.

To test the command or see if she got it I would make sure come back to were the item was (after our walk) and when she gets close to the item before she bends downs I'd say "Leave it". Weather she tries to smell or eat it or not you keep walking, if she looks down but doesn't try to eat it she is learning. If she tries to eat it repeat 1st part of this. When she has returned to your side tell her "good girl and pat her". But keep walking, make a big deal out of the postive not the negative.

This is what I meant by a difference in a handler and a trainer, you are treating her like she is already trained, like your patrol dog. You have to train her, she knows only what you have trained her to do, when you know she understands the commands then you correct her. Take it a little slower and stop quitting on her. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

This is just part of having a strong willed dog, you are on your way to having a nice dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the input. She knows "leave it" in the house. I will try what you said and try not to quit on her. I might be making alot of misstakes, can't wait for the training tapes to get here. I am probbly doiing alot wrong.

Thanks

Chuck wrote - Before coming to this site, I called a trainer,He came over and said she is untrainable," she does not take corrections and the best thing to do is put her down." this told me he does not know anything about training dogs.

Where did you find this guy? Don't tell me at a Pet Mart or Pet store? In general all they know about dogs are Fi Fi and Me Mi bacon and eggs toy types dogs. Untrainable at 8 months that dummy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> You profiled him right, you haven't forgot how to be a cop.

She sounds like a normal 8 month old GSD to me. Why should she 'suddenly' have to start listening to you when she sounds like she's been ruling the roost since you got her. Hey, life is good when you are in charge! And she certainly won't 'suddenly' start listening to you with a few pops on the prong when she has been pretty much ignoring you for months and hasn't learned to respect your guidance and leadership yet.

I know others dislike group classes, but I think they work great for me and my dogs. I usually start at about 6 months, BEFORE they are huge and really able to start the bullying (and their hormones and juvenile stage is kicking in more). ANYWAYS, whether group classes or personal classes, you (and me me me, I'm in classes with my 6 month old right now and she's my THIRD dog) need help! And classes are the best way to get the IMMEDIATE guidance and learning that the human part of the team needs.

If your dog is evil and mean and vicious and killing humans/dogs/etc. Then I'd maybe be agreeing with the trainer you went to (um, maybe). But nothing you posted about your dogs behavior is any different than my dogs have tried with me. If one instructor is no good, go to another, and another. If you post your town (or nearest if you are afraid to give out the info) there are others on this site who may be able to give specific recommendations. Search for clubs over the internet, trials in your area (you can go and talk to other owners and discover where they are going).

Training GSD's can be MUCH more challenging than other pups. The intelligence, drive and ENERGY that make them so good for so many 'jobs' is exactly what makes them a handful for we owners/handlers.

The other thing I'd recommend is exercise. I know my 6 month old can go hiking offleash, tearing thru the woods, for HOURS and for MILES and barely have that take the edge off her energy level. Though I'm not sure you can have your dog offleash, she'd still be able to take a heck of a lot of exercise.

Originally posted by Jenn Kavanaugh:
She sounds like a normal 8 month old GSD to me. Why should she 'suddenly' have to start listening to you when she sounds like she's been ruling the roost since you got her. Hey, life is good when you are in charge! And she certainly won't 'suddenly' start listening to you with a few pops on the prong when she has been pretty much ignoring you for months and hasn't learned to respect your guidance and leadership yet. Where did you get this info.... She does not rule the nest and never will. I know better than that. I came to this BB to get help, I Had some problems after not being able to spend time with her. I was out of town and the wife does not know who to handle her like she should. She treats her like the toy poodles we have. This is why she is really hard to handle now. I have back to where she needs to be at this stage. I hope to see where I need to start with her when the training DVD's get here.

Training GSD's can be MUCH more challenging than other pups. The intelligence, drive and ENERGY that make them so good for so many 'jobs' is exactly what makes them a handful for we owners/handlers. I know this, and know what I am in for. That’s why I am getting the training tapes and going to do the training myself. This way I know it's done right. I have some of the K9 officers here that are going to help me when I get to that stage of training.


The other thing I'd recommend is exercise. I know my 6 month old can go hiking offleash, tearing thru the woods, for HOURS and for MILES and barely have that take the edge off her energy level. Though I'm not sure you can have your dog offleash, she'd still be able to take a heck of a lot of exercise. Its to hot for this type of work out for her. I do most of her training and exercise late in the after noon around 7-8pm. Rottweiler do not like the heat.

Almost forgot, I have asked about trainers. The close' one is 1.5 to 2hrs from me. I will just do the training myself. And ask the K9 officers for help.