I guess an introduction is in order for starters. About 9 years ago I got a boxer puppy and stumbled upon Leerburg and learned a ton about basic obedience. I became interested in Schutzhund but quickly realized that the puppy I had simply didn't have any prey drive for that type of work. He's a family pet and a great dog.

My wifes' family has had GSD's for her entire life. As fate would have it, we ended up with a 12 week old female pup about 2 weeks ago. She doesn't come from any working lines that I know of. She's probably the smartest puppy that I've ever dealt with, good food drive, good prey drive (from my inexperienced assessment).

I've got the following Leerburg tapes:
puppy 8 weeks
establishing pack structure
old old copy of basic obedience (discontinued?)
A video with Berhhard Flinks using a ball...I can't remember the name
And somewhere I've got a video produced by Leerburg on competition heeling. I watched it once and it was a trainer with a dog on a tree stump with a prong collar on the dog...wasn't my cup of tea.

Although I recognize that I might find out within the next year that this is a puppy that isn't suitable for Sch, I still wouldn't mind learning more and getting into some of the training. I have a book that I would assume is outdated, by Susan Barwig...it's really not that great. It does say that the old school German trainers wouldn't focus on obedience until after the dog was 1 year old, instead worrying about the tracking stuff.

If anyone can point me in the right direction for what I should be doing...any type of literature / training videos etc. I would really appreciate it. I know there is a Sch club nearby but I'm a little embarassed about reaching out to them at this point.

Respectfully,

Ken Friend

Welcome!

To get detailed:


1. Are there any immediate daily behavior-type concerns?

2. Do you know anything about marker training?

power of training dogs with markers

power of training dogs with food

power of playing tug with your dog

advanced concepts in motivation




get those , learn the material in there .

educate yourself about operant conditioning and marker training .




as for the dog , you should be doing things with the dog that encourages the dog to want to be doing things with you . doesn't have to be OB , or any kind of rigid training , just fun things that plants in the dogs mind that you are a good guy to be around . marker training is the start of that path .

and don't worry about the sch club . if they are a good club training dogs for the right reasons they will welcome you and help you with your dog .

Connie,

Thank you for your response.
1. I am a bit concerned that she's a nervous dog. I work in the IT field and I bring her to work with me. When someone knocks on my office door, she'll often bark. Occasionally the hair on her back will stand up. I don't think this is a good sign because she isn't old enough to be demonstrating any kind of defense.

2. I am familiar with the basics of marker training. Just what is covered in the older Basic Dog Obedience DVD that I have. I mark "yes" when she does something desirable and reward her with a treat. She sits, downs and comes. I did have some problems with the sit because she will often come to me, look at me and sit automatically. It's good that she does that, but I have a tough time giving her the opportunity to follow the command to sit. I also know that i need to re-watch that video to figure out how to get her to stay in a position until I give her a command to break "OK".

Thanks,

Ken

I'll start with #2. I believe you're reading a lot into #1.

#2
Marker training is precisely timed.

It's a whole way of training, and was only touched on in Basic Ob. It was just coming into the public awareness for dogs then.

No, there is no command to break. Duration is added slowly and very gradually. The marker IS the release.

I'd urge that you start over with marker training, and probably with the very first pre-Ellis video, which is inexpensive (and which you can choose to watch online if you like).

http://leerburg.com/flix/videodesc.php?id=17

http://leerburg.com/219.htm

http://leerburg.com/flix/searchResults.php?searchfor=markers

http://leerburg.com/markers.htm


I'd follow that DVD with this one, which is the first of the Ellis series: http://leerburg.com/220.htm



I'd watch some free clips in "Video On Demand" see up top there?) of marker work.

There are many very experienced marker trainers here, and we will all help with Q&A and suggestions.

Did you load (charge) your marker? How did you do this (if you know what I mean by that)?

Connie, again thank you for taking the time to respond. I will tear through Ed's free book on marker training again and watch what you've suggested.

Unless I'm mistaken, "charging the mark" is about assigning value to whatever the mark is...no? So I could snap my finger and give the dog a treat, or click my heels. It's about assigning a value of a treat to the sound or phrase.

If I'm on the right track...I did that by saying "yes" whenever the pup was paying attention to me and rewarding her with a treat. I continue to do that especially with eye contact and I began to introduce the commands, I'd say "sit" while I motion over her head, when she sits I'd say yes and give her a treat.

I'm probably screwed up somewhere. =)

Mark and reward, yes, and then you know it's charged when she hears the marker and looks for the reward ....

A command to break .... this isn't a separate thing.

And you're right that offering behaviors spontaneously is not at all a negative thing.


You can ask for a sit anywhere. And when she knows it well, you want to do this (proof for venue). You won't find it hard to find opportunities to ask for a sit.

You will see all this MUCH better when you watch and read the real marker material.

"I work in the IT field and I bring her to work with me. When someone knocks on my office door, she'll often bark. Occasionally the hair on her back will stand up. "

She is new to you. New to that office. New to her whole new life.

What do you do or say to her when someone knocks on the door?

OOPs, sorry, I missed Ian's post!

Yes to all that!

if you say " yes " , that signals the end of the behaviour : you did what i wanted , here's your reward , you may go now . . . present the reward by moving it away from the behaviour so the dog learns that is the release for whatever he was doing .