I'd like some input please.

I've been around dogs most my life, but admittedly they've all been adult pet dogs.

I now have a new puppy, since 8 weeks (currently 15 weeks old). She's a working line GSD and has been bought with the intention of land SaR duties in mind.

So far, I've been really trying hard to keep her mind entertained on useful training - learning her name, come, sit, down etc in a very informal way through motivational techniques (treat rewarding and vocal marking). In addition to this, we've attended puppy preschool, am socialising her to as many different experiences as possible, and soon due to attend formal obedience class at a local school. We've also been twice to a local working trials club, with limited involvement ~ 3 hours in the crate with about 20 minutes training per session (with the primary intention of getting the nose working).

I have tug toys, bite toys, balls, kongs, teething rubber toys, 'rags on a rope' all in an attempt to keep her entertained. I noticed pretty quickly (say within 2 weeks) of arrival into the home that bad behaviours would come out; defensive barking/attacking at objects around the home (vacuum cleaner, the gas fire, rain drops from the roof over the patio area) through to intentionally peeing indoors for attention seeking. I went back to basics and began to restrict movement around the house by using a tether attached to me. This seems to have worked well in terms of disrupting the unwanted/unsafe behaviour, but now seem to have a puppy reluctant to do anything. This morning she seemed unwilling to eat her food (very unusual for her!) and just pawed at it; finding the activity of flipping the food bowl much more entertaining than eating the food itself.

The only times puppy is pleased seems to be when I return home from work (for the meet-and-greet stage only) and when other people and dogs are encountered whilst out or coming to the home.

I can see we have a communication problem, but really am struggling to identify what to do next? Am I expecting too much? Should I just let her be a puppy and ignore destructive/unwanted/dangerous behavour?

Im positive that there is something I need to do in order to motivate her and make her more happy. Any ideas? What has worked for you?

Your problem started here:

 Quote:

intentionally peeing indoors for attention seeking.

You're assigning way too much agency to this behavior.
Puppies don't pee for attention. They pee because their bladders are full. That's it.

She's not doing these things to piss you off.
She's doing them because they're what puppies do.


Your attitude towards the dog is eroding any foundation of a relationship you could potentially have.

One thing I can say about raising pups is as soon as you have one behavior ironed out, another one pops up. It's constant thinking on your part of how you want the dog to behave and teaching them how to do so. Having fun in the process and building the relationship with the pup is the best part.

At 15 weeks, your pup is not intentionally peeing. She's not potty trained and any accidents are actually your fault. It happens to all of us It sounds like she has minimal "bad behaviors"...I don't even want to think about my pup at 15/16 weeks. He was a holy terror. All the shaping and effort of training, teaching him to make the right choices, teaching him to think things through, etc is coming together wonderfully as he gets older (now 11 months old). It does take time and you cannot rush it.

I love this article: http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=2 It makes so much sense now that I am on the up side of raising a puppy.

If the pup is only pleased when you come home from work, something isn't going right. What kind of training, interaction are you having with her? Everything should be fun, fun, fun

Thanks both. Melissa, this is an interesting article that you've posted. Thanks very much. It is interesting how it seems to contractidct in some areas of what Ed proposes in his puppy groundwork pdf?

In terms of interactions, I dedicate an hour before leaving for work to interact with the pup, including play (usually fetch, tug-o-war, or hide and seek), grooming, feeding, toiletting and a little bit of sit/down/stand training.

In the evenings, it'll be meet-n-greet from work, a 15-20min walk around the local reserve sometimes with pit stops for wildlife (ducks and other animal investigation), more play on a long line and interaction with locals. Then we get home, rest stop, followed by dinner, toilet break and then during the remainder of the evening more play or sit/stand/down training when puppy wants to engage. I tend not to push any of this. Indeed, if puppy is resting, she rests. I dont intervene.

All play/training is using treats and vocal praise as reward. For example, with playing fetch, she'd not return with the ball, favouring to run off with it instead (or simply catch it). By offering treats in favour for the ball she's learnt that its in her interests to return. When playing tug, I make sure that often (not all times) that she wins, and again she'll run off with it, settle down, chew on that sucker, and then when ready will return with it and game commences again.

All of this has worked with my previous dogs; hence why I stated that she is my first puppy and if I'm over doing things?

At 8-10 weeks old:
"I noticed pretty quickly (say within 2 weeks) of arrival into the home that bad behaviours would come out; defensive barking/attacking at objects around the home (vacuum cleaner, the gas fire, rain drops from the roof over the patio area) through to intentionally peeing indoors for attention seeking."


You mean the 9-10-week-old puppy was playing?

And she had to pee and you (handler error, handler error) had her indoors?

This baby had to pee. So she did. You did not have her outside often enough ... simple.


"Your attitude towards the dog is eroding any foundation of a relationship you could potentially have."

Ok ok, I get that observation to her peeing is not right. I can work on that. What about the other points noted in my posts?

Feel free to point out what im doing wrong; but I would also appreciate it if you could point out what I should do in order to make it right also.

If you can stand hearing it one more time, your puppy is not intentionally peeing in the house as an attention-seeking behavior. She is incapable of forming that kind of intent. She's a dog, not a human. She doesn't think the way we do.

There are others here who I hope will chime in with specific advice relative to a working line puppy intended to do SAR work, but if you've only had adult dogs and this is your first puppy, I'm wondering if you're just a little overwhelmed by her energy, physical and mental. A lot of what you describe sounds like pretty typical puppy behavior. She's not being bad; she just needs proper guidance.

eta: Sorry, Chris, I didn't mean to harp on the peeing. Several others, including you, were typing at the same time I was.

#1 You need to find a good SAR unit and find out what it takes to join, then do so "IF" they decide you and the dog have any real potential.

#2 Your expecting adult behaviors from a puppy.

It sounds like a kid with a room full of toys and doesn't have anything to do. Get rid of all the toys and concentrate on one or two that the pup really likes. THEN view the toy as yours and something the pup has limited access to and has to earn the right to play with it.
"Ducks and other animal investigation"
A SAR dog is required to totally ignore ANY other critters. By "investigating" these things you creating a HUGE distraction for later search work.

 Quote: Chris Collins

I can see we have a communication problem, but really am struggling to identify what to do next? Am I expecting too much? Should I just let her be a puppy and ignore destructive/unwanted/dangerous behavour?

While you are expecting too much, you don't just leave her up to her own devices. Keep her tethered to you or crated when you can't supervise.

Playtime with you should be the highlight in her life. You bring out the toy and it is the.best.thing.ever!! This requires great enthusiasm on your part! Then stop the game before she looses interest. This will probably mean keeping playtime to one minute bursts until she is a little older with a better attention span.

When you let her win, don't give her a chance to take it away- be ready to swap it with a another toy/treat right away.

Don't worry about nose work right now - just work on high energy focus and engagement. And 20 minutes training sessions are waaaaay too long for a pup this age. I'd do several 1-2 minute engagement sessions throughout the day. Short, sweet and highly rewarding to her.